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diff --git a/old/10147.txt b/old/10147.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a248a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10147.txt @@ -0,0 +1,23552 @@ +Project Gutenberg's America's War for Humanity, by Thomas Herbert Russell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: America's War for Humanity + +Author: Thomas Herbert Russell + +Release Date: November 20, 2003 [EBook #10147] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA'S WAR FOR HUMANITY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger, Juliet Sutherland, and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + +AMERICA'S WAR FOR HUMANITY + + +Pictorial History _of the_ World War _for_ Liberty + +_By_ THOMAS H. RUSSELL, A.M. LL.D. + +_Noted Historical and Military Writer. Member American Historical +Association_ + + + + +[Illustration: Giants of Democracy] + + +[Illustration: +_Above_--Machine-gun team of an American balloon company at work on the +French front, trying to get an enemy airplane. These anti-aircraft guns +are known as "Archies" + +_Below_--Men of the 313th U.S. Field Artillery cleaning and polishing +75-millimeter shells, to be sent over to the Hun at night. Dirty +or rusted shells are dangerous to use. (_U.S. Official Photos_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Scene in Chateau Thierry after the battle that +brought undying glory to American arms, and especially to the Marine +Corps. The effects of the heavy bombardment by the artillery of the +Third Division are plainly to be seen. (_Photo from I.F.S._) + +_Below_--American and French soldiers looking over the town of Chateau +Thierry after the battle. This was the scene of America's first great +victory in the war. The town was stormed and the enemy routed by the +troops the Germans had chosen to belittle. (_Copyright by C.P.I.; Photo +from W.N.U._)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--American automatic rifle team +making it hot for the Huns. Note the protective barricade of ammunition +boxes and sandbags. + +_Below_--How hand grenades are thrown at the enemy in the trenches. +American soldiers soon became expert at this superlative kind of +baseball. (_U.S. Official Photos_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Surrender +of the German high-seas fleet. A British warship, which towed an +observation balloon, leading the line of seventy German vessels into the +Firth of Forth. _(Copyright, U. & U.)_ + +_Below_--Surrendering the German submarines at the port of Harwich, +England. Note the listless attitude of this particular German crew. +_(Copyright, I.F.S.)_] + + +[Illustration: Drafting the armistice terms by +the Allied plenipotentiaries at Versailles. On the left side of +the table from left to right are shown: Gen. du Robilant; next man +unidentified; Italian Foreign Minister Sonnino; Italian Premier Orlando; +Col. E.M. House; Gen. Tasker H. Bliss; next man unidentified; Greek +Premier Venizelos; Serbian Minister Vesnitch. On the right side of the +table from left to right: Admiral Wemyss, with back to camera; Gen. +Sir Henry Wilson; Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig; Gen. Sackville West; +Andrew Bonar Law; Premier David Lloyd-George; French Premier Georges +Clemenceau; and French Foreign Minister Stephen Pichon. (_French +Official Photo, from I.F.S._)] + + +[Illustration: The American delegates to +the Peace Conference at Versailles: _From left to right_--Colonel E. +M. House, Secretary of State Robert Lansing, President Woodrow Wilson, +Henry White, General Tasker H. Bliss. The photograph was taken in +the Murat Mansion, residence of the President while in Paris.] +[Illustration: The Human Flag--A wonderful triumph of artistic military +formation and photography, showing 10,000 Jackies at Great Lakes, +Illinois, the largest naval training station in the world, with nearly +60,000 sailors in the making, and a naval band of over 1,000 pieces. +_(Copyright,_ _U. & U_.)] + + +[Illustration: A typical aerial battle. +Destruction of a Boche plane by dauntless American aviators, swooping +like eagles upon their prey, regardless of the anti-aircraft shells that +burst all about them, and helping by their intrepidity and skill to +clear the air of the Hun and maintain the supremacy gained by the Allies +in aerial warfare. Thousands of American flyers were trained and ready +to carry the war into Germany when the Teuton forces collapsed and cried +"Enough!" _(Photo from I. F. S_.)] [Illustration: _Above_--An American +supply train in the town of Esnes, seen from the cemetery. In the +background Hill 300, which was held by the Germans since early in the +war and has been the scene of many attacks and great slaughter. Note the +utter ruin of the town as it was found by the Americans. + +_Below_--An American patrol arriving at the ruins of the house used as +an observatory by the German Crown Prince during the famous battle of +Verdun. It is said that he watched the operations in comfort while +seated before the eyepiece of a periscope carried up through the roof. +(_U. S. Official Photos_.)] + + +[Illustration: Departure of President Wilson +from New York, December 3. 1918, on the steamship George Washington, +formerly a German liner, on his voyage to France to attend the Peace +Conference. This event made a new record in American history, it being +the first time a President has ever left the country for any length of +time. A destroyer is seen escorting the President's ship down the harbor +to Staten Island, where the battleship Pennsylvania assumed the chief +escort duty. _(Copyright, I. F. S_.)] + + +[Illustration: +_Above_--General Pershing decorating Private Nick Connors, Infantry, +42nd Division, with the Distinguished Service Cross, for bravery at +Chateau Thierry. + +_Below_--Y. M. C. A. Secretary H. F. Butterfield, with a volunteer +detail of the 104th Infantry, 26th Division, loaded with cigarettes, +chewing gum, and tobacco for the boys of the 104th, who were chasing the +retreating foe in France. _(U. S. Official Photos.)_] + + +[Illustration: The +United States battleship Pennsylvania, showing an unusual view of some +of her heavy guns. This vessel is the pride of the Navy and was selected +to escort President Wilson on his voyage to Europe to attend the Peace +Conference. She led the way across the Atlantic, steaming ahead of the +George Washington, on which the President and his party of 200 were +passengers. She carries twelve 14-inch and twenty-two 5-inch guns.] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--American observation balloon being brought down +to its anchorage. One of many similar balloons used to direct the fire +of artillery and observe the movements of the enemy, a service of +considerable danger as the balloonists are constantly exposed to airplane +attack. Each observer is harnessed to a parachute and jumps when the +balloon is attacked and in danger of destruction. (_Copyright by C. P. +I., from W. N. U_.) + +_Below_--Canadian officers of a Royal Air Squadron, lined up with their +machines behind the front in France. It was the splendid work of these +gallant fellows and thousands more like them--British, French, and +Americans--that kept the supremacy of the air in the hands of +the Allies. _(Canadian Official Photo, copyright by U. & U_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Remarkable photograph of a flame-throwing attack +by French troops. The "flammenwerfer" or flame-thrower was originated +by the Germans, like other diabolical methods of warfare. The Allies +perfected the machine and turned it on the enemy with great success, and +the Germans did not like their own medicine. Note the reservoir on the +soldier's back. _(Copyright. U. & U._) + +_Below_--A Belgian scouting party in Flanders, making its way over a +pontoon bridge, and dressed in the new khaki uniform of the Belgian +army, which turned the tables on the Hun. _(Photo, U. & U._)] + + +[Illustration: Part of the American army of occupation on its way +to Germany. After celebrating for awhile the announcement that the +armistice had been signed, the American troops at the front realized +that there was still serious work, though of a different kind, ahead +of them, and started for the cities across the Rhine with a firm +determination to carry on till all the fruits of their victory +were obtained. An American dispatch rider is seen at the right, +fraternizing with a French soldier. _(French Official Photo, from U. +& U._)] + + +[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING, Commander American +Expeditionary Forces in France, in August, 1918, had an army of +1,500,000 Americans in France, doing glorious service with their allies +against the common enemy. His selection for command was approved by +all Americans; he is the idol of his men. _(Copyright, U. & U._)] + + +[Illustration: A divisional headquarters on the British front in France +during the progress of a battle, showing troops in reserve, German +prisoners, and stretcher-bearers at work. (Australian official +photograph)] + + +[Illustration: Canadians entering a wood just evacuated by the Germans +and passing an enemy gun which has been rendered useless and abandoned +by the Huns in their retreat. The Canadians are advancing in the face +of machine-gun fire. (Canadian official photograph.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Going over the top. Allied troops with full +equipment are seen leaving their trench and advancing to attack. This +is the moment that tried men's souls, and showed themselves and their +comrades the stuff that was in them. _(Photo from I. F. S._) + +_Below_--Scene when Cambrai was captured by the British, showing large +numbers of British troops moving forward across the battlefield. In the +foreground the men are seen leaving a communication trench. _(British +Official Photo, from I. F. S._)] + + +[Illustration: Scene at Gen. Sir E. H. Allenby's historic entry on foot +into Jerusalem, December 11, 1917, after its capture by the British from +the Turks, who had held the Holy City under Moslem domination for +centuries. All Christendom hailed the event with rejoicing. Every sacred +building, shrine, and traditional holy spot will in future be +scrupulously maintained and protected. The Holy City was not bombarded +by the British, but was evacuated by the Turks and surrendered by the +leading inhabitants when Gen. Allenby's forces, after defeating the +Turkish troops repeatedly in the field, reached Gazara, three miles from +Jerusalem. Subsequently the entire Turkish army in Palestine was +captured or dispersed in disorder. _(Copyright, U. & U_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Easing the pain of the wounded in an evacuation +hospital in France. The Red Cross nurses in the photo (two girls from +Aberdeen, S. D.), are giving wounded Yank a newspaper from God's country +and some chocolate, and he evidently appreciates their work. + +_Below_--The first batch of American troops to return.from France after +the armistice. The photo shows the camouflage of S. S. Mauretania as +she arrived in New York harbor, bearing 5,000 men, of whom 1,100 were +wounded. _(U. S. Official Photos_)] + + +[Illustration: Homecoming of +American soldiers from Europe. An upper deck of the steamship +Mauretania, sister ship of the ill-fated Lusitania, as she steamed into +New York harbor, bringing back the first batch of returning troops. +These men were all of the aviation service who had been in training +in England. Their faces show how glad they were to see the Goddess of +Liberty once more. _(Copyright, I. F. S._)] + + +[Illustration: War Map Showing Naval and Military Forces of Europe at a +Glance.] + + +[Illustration: and Naval Bases. (_Specially drawn by G. +F. Morrell for the London Graphic_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Company M and Company K, 336th U. S. Infantry, +82nd Division, advancing on the enemy's positions and driving out the +Huns, while the 307th Engineers of the 82nd Division clear the way by +blowing up wire entanglements. (_Official U.S. Photo_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Below_--Photo taken from the body of the German soldier +at the left (in gray sweater) near Chateau Thierry. The three women in +the picture were at the time operating a German machine-gun under +armed guard. (_Photo from U. & U_.)] + + +[Illustration: Resting after the +battle--a most unusual photo, reminiscent of the famous historical +painting, "The Bivouac." After a tremendous battle, in which these +Italian troops of the Florence regiment acquitted themselves with great +glory the men were so completely tired out that they threw themselves +on the ground to snatch a brief rest. This regiment was one of the +mainstays of the Italian defense when treachery aided the Teutons in +driving the Italians back across the Piave River _(Copyright, U. & U.)_] + + +[Illustration: Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the great strategist in supreme +command of the allied forces on the Western front, who wrested the +initiative from the Germans and sent them reeling back in 1918. (_French +Official Photo by U. & U._)] + + +[Illustration: Leaders of France and England +on the battle front. Left to right: M. Thomas of the French Cabinet; +Sir Douglas Haig, Marshal Joffre, and Premier Lloyd George. (_British +Official Photo from I.F.S._)] + + +[Illustration: _Top_--One of the fast +"Whippets," or small British tanks, that created havoc and terror in the +German ranks in 1918. They precede the Infantry and completely destroy +machine gun nests. (_British Official Photo from I.F.S_.) + +_Bottom_--The first American-built tank, called the "America," biggest +of all, weighing 45 tons and propelled by steam. (_Copyright, U. & U._)] +[Illustration: Canadian and German wounded receiving first aid in a +village which only a few hours before was in the hands of the Germans +responsible for the scene of ruin and devastation which it presents.] + + +[Illustration: Canadian and Imperial troops helping themselves +to free coffee supplied by the Canadian Y.M.C.A. at a roadside +stand made of biscuit boxes. The Helpful work of the "Y" was highly +appreciated by the troops in France and Flanders. (Canadian official +photograph.)] [Illustration: How the news of the armistice of November +11, 1918, was received on the French front. The picture shows a scene +along the French lines immediately after hostilities ceased. Myriads of +men sprang into sight from the concealment of the trenches, exposing +themselves to the view of the enemy for the first time in more than four +years, without fear of consequences. Note the fleet of tanks ready +in the foreground, also the wire entanglements and No Man's Land. +(_Copyright, I.F.S._)] + + +[Illustration: _Top_--Close view of the first +Handley-Page bombing aeroplane built in America. It is proposed to fly +these planes across the Atlantic under their own power, driven by Twin +Liberty motors of 400 H.P. each. + +_Bottom_--Submarines of United States Navy at base in an Atlantic +port awaiting orders for coast defense duty. (_Copyright, U. & U._)] +[Illustration: Wounded Canadians being carried to the rear by German +prisoners taken in the pursuit of the retreating Boche army in the fall +of 1918. (Canadian official photograph.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Field +dressing station on captured ground near Cambrai, during the last great +drive on the British front. The wounded are being brought in by German +prisoners taken during the drive, as seen in the foreground. A typical +scene at a dressing station, where first aid is given the wounded. +(_British Official Photo, from I.F.S._) + +_Below_--A dashing attack by French poilus, advancing with full packs, +bayonets fixed, and typical daring and courage. The spirit of the +poilu is admirably illustrated in this snapshot. (_Photo by I.F.S._)] +[Illustration: _Top_--How British fighting men advance to attack after +going over the top, spread out in thin columns. Very different from +mass formations of the enemy and less costly to human life. (_British +Official Photo, from I.F.S._)] + + +[Illustration: _Bottom_--A remarkable actual war photograph of British +machine gunners operating from German second line; captured in the great +Cambrai drive. The men are coolly preparing mess. (_Copyright, U. & +U._)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--Red Cross men tenderly caring for the +wounded. The services of the American Red Cross were invaluable to the +army in France and won the admiration of all the Allies. + +_Below_--Wounded man making his way painfully back to the rear, with +grim determination to keep going and all the grit of the typical +American soldier. (_Official Photos by Signal Corps, U.S.A_.)] + + +[Illustration: The longest-range field gun in the world, produced by +the Ordnance Department, U.S. Army, for service in France, though the +hostilities ceased before they reached General Pershing. More than a +hundred of these guns are said to have been prepared for shipping to +France, and their range and power would probably have astonished the +Germans, as did the great naval guns, mounted on railway cars and manned +by American seamen, that did such effective work in the closing days +of the conflict. (_U.S. Official Photo_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--A +company of American infantry enjoying a well-earned rest after capturing +the German second-line trenches in the forest of Argonne, the scene of +desperate and protracted fighting in the fall of 1918. (_Copyright by +C.P.I., Photo from U. & U._)] + + +[Illustration: _Below_--A party of Serbian officers trying the effects +of gas while on a visit to the Western front. They entered a British +trench filled with gas for practice purposes, and are seen adjusting +their gas masks for protection. (_British Official Photo, Copyright by +U. & U._)] + + +[Illustration: _Top_--A great Australian howitzer in action +in France under a camouflage screen. Note the size of shells, which +require four men to handle. (_Australian Official Photo; copyright, U. & +U._) + +_Bottom_--American Army Postoffice in France on Mothers' Day, 1918. +Letters and packages from the folks back home are the American soldiers' +greatest comfort on the battle front. (_Copyright, Committee on Public +Information_.)] + + +[Illustration: An American battery of howitzers ready to +fire upon the Huns from the ruins of a town in France. This was one of +the first United States official photographs of the American advance +in the Argonne, a district that is not all forest by any means, but +comprises much cultivated territory and many towns and villages that +have been wrecked by ruthless German fire. (_Photo by Signal Corps, +U.S.A_.)] + + +[Illustration: CHARGE OF THE BRITISH 9TH LANCERS ON A GERMAN +BATTERY DURING THE BATTLE OF MONS + +The battery had inflicted heavy losses on the British troops. All the +gunners were cut down and the guns put out of action.--Drawn by Dudley +Tennant for The Graphic, from notes by a trooper.] + + +[Illustration: German prisoners captured by Canadians during a French +raid, with one of their captors. The Canadians became noted for the +success of their raids by day and night and seldom failed to bring back +prisoners. (Canadian official photograph.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--American negro infantrymen advancing toward the +front in the Argonne along a screened highway. It can truly be said of +these American soldiers and their ilk in the campaign in France that +"the colored troops fought nobly." + +_Below_--Men of the 132nd U.S. Infantry, 33rd Division, in a front line +trench, looking toward the valley of the Meuse, where it is estimated +70,000 men lie buried. (_U.S. Official Photos_.)] + + +[Illustration: THE FIRST NAVAL RESERVE UNIT TO LEAVE FOR SERVICE IN +THE WAR. + +The First Battalion of the Naval Militia of New York passing in review +of Mayor Mitchell and other officials on stand at Union League Club, 39th +Street and Fifth Avenue. (_Copyright by U. & U., N.Y._)] + + +[Illustration: Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, England's famous Field +Marshal and Secretary of State for War, who lost his life at sea while +on a mission to Russia, June 5, 1916. + +Gen. Sir E.H. Allenby, British commander in Palestine and Syria, who +defeated the Turks and captured Jerusalem, the Holy City, in December, +1917.] + + +[Illustration: Copyright, Underwood & Underwood, N.Y. + +Top: United States Warship North Dakota. + +Bottom: New type of rapid-firing machine gun used by the United States +Army.] + + +[Illustration: _Top_--Inspection of Czecho-Slovaks at railroad +station, Vladivostok, before leaving for interior of Siberia in campaign +against the Bolsheviki; later aided by American troops. (_Copyright, U. +& U._) + +_Bottom_--"Blue Devils of France"; battle-scarred veterans of the +fighting lines leaving the White House after their reception. +President Wilson shook hands with every one of these gallant soldiers. +(_Copyright, I.F.S._)] + + +[Illustration: British cavalry engaged against +German infantry driven out of shelter of the trees by fire and smoke +near Chantilly. The charge down the grassy glade of the flaming forest. +The woods had been set on fire by British infantry in order to smoke out +a large force of Germans who had secreted themselves in the forest. As +soon as they emerged they were charged with destructive effect by the +British and sustained heavy losses.--_Drawn by Frederic de Haenen from +a sketch by Frederic Villiers_. (_Sun Printing and Publishing Assn_.)] + + +[Illustration: _Above_--How a commanding general works while his troops +are fast asleep. A night scene in the tent headquarters of Maj.-Gen. +Adelbert Cronkhite, U.S.A., division commander on the front in France. +The general stands at the right and his chief of staff, Col. Wm. H. +Waldron, at the left. + +_Below_--U.S. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker getting ready to try +on an American infantryman's pack at a rest camp in England. (_U.S. +Official Photos_.)] [Illustration: President Wilson and General Pershing +receiving American troops at Humas, near the front, on Christmas day, +1918. The President is seen wearing the fur coat made from trophies +of the hunt, presented by Southern friends. Mrs. Wilson stands at the +right.] + + +[Illustration: _Top_--American fighters in France, just out of +the trenches, are seen at a wayside station of the American Red Cross, +receiving welcome refreshments within gunfire of the battle front. +(_Photo from I.F.S._)] + +[Illustration: _Bottom_--First aid given to a wounded German prisoner by +American soldiers near the front. An example of American fair play in +striking contrast to Boche methods. (_Copyright, Committee on Public +Information_.)] + + +[Illustration: King Albert I of Belgium, the beloved +sovereign who never lost the confidence of his stricken people during +the four years of their intense suffering. + +Marshal Petain of France, the hero of Verdun, who led the victorious +French into Strassburg and heads the French army of occupation in +Germany.] + + +[Illustration: Canadian soldier examining the rifle and kit +of a German killed by Canadian cavalry a few minutes before, while +protecting the rear of the German retreat. (Canadian official +photograph.)] + + +[Illustration: Canadian troops resting in a trench on the +hard-won Wotan line of the Germans, which was captured on the previous +day after a desperate struggle that resulted in the rout of the enemy. +(Canadian official photograph.)] + + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE GREAT GERMAN 16-INCH SIEGE GUNS USED AT ANTWERP + +The above photograph shows the gun train complete, ready for +transportation. The motive power is furnished by the powerful motor +truck at the right, which also carries most of the artillerymen forming +the gun crew. About thirty men are needed to manipulate the gun in +action. The huge shells and ammunition are conveyed in separate trucks +or caissons. As a fort-wrecker this powerful piece of ordnance is most +effective. Its total weight is nearly 100 tons. The gun proper is at the +left and its Krupp sliding breech can be plainly seen at the side. In +the center is the gun carriage, with its very powerful recoil apparatus. +When the gun is in action these two sections are joined, being so +constructed as to fit together readily. The bursting projectiles were +called by the British soldiers "Jack Johnsons," "Black Marias" and +"Coal-boxes," from the thick black smoke they produced. These epithets +ignored their awful death-dealing qualities. (_Copyright, U. & U._).] + + + +[Illustration: _Above_--African troops of the French army en route to +the Riviera to enjoy a well-earned rest after the battle of Douaumont, +in which their ranks were considerably depleted. These colored fighters +of France are commanded entirely by white officers and have done +splendid service. (_Copyright, U. & U_).] + + +[Illustration: _Below_--Colored Canadians imitating the Germans that +they captured in this dugout near the Canal du Nord, as they put up +their hands and shouted "Kamerad!" (_Canadian Official Photo, from +U.S_).] + + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE HUGE KRUPP SIEGE MORTARS, GERMANY'S +MOST POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST FORTS.] [Illustration: French Artillery on +the Firing Line--The Modern Field Guns of the French and the Krupp Guns +of the Germans Have Proved to be Terrible Weapons of Destruction.] + + +[Illustration: This French soldier, tempted by the payment to him of +a hundred francs, signaled a message to the Germans, giving them the +position of the French batteries near Rheims. He was the first French +traitor of the war, and being caught in the act, met an ignominious +death by the roadside. (_Copyright, U. & U._).] + + +[Illustration: 1. French +Cuirassier being fed by Belgian woman. 2. Major Richardson of the +British Army and two of his bloodhounds used to find wounded soldiers on +Belgian battlefields. (_International News Service_.)] [Illustration: +Canada's Premier on a visit to the Western front in Europe, with a +notable group of Canadian officers. Sir Robert Borden is the central +figure of the seated row, and the other civilian in the picture is Mr. +Calder. Between them is seen General Currie, in command of the Canadian +forces in Europe, who have earned undying fame for the great +Dominion during the war. (_Canadian Official Photo, from W.N.U._).] + + +[Illustration: French Cavalrymen Bivouacked in the Streets of Paris, +Sleeping on the Fodder of Their Mounts, Standing in the Background.] + + +[Illustration: FOUNDERING OF THE BRITISH CRUISER ABOUKIR + +A few minutes after the Aboukir was struck by a torpedo from the German +submarine U-9 early on September 22, 1914, she listed to port at an +angle of 45 degrees and the captain sang out from the bridge: "Every man +for himself!" The drawing depicts the scene that followed, as described +by a survivor. Two-thirds of the crew of 650 were drowned or killed by +the explosion. The boats of the cruisers Hogue and Cressy, which were +soon after also torpedoed and sunk, are seen coming to the rescue. The +total loss was over 1,400 lives.--_Drawn by Charles Dixon, R.I., for The +Graphic_.] + + + + +"_LaFayette, we are here_"--_General Pershing_ + + + + +THE OFFICIAL STORY OF AMERICAN OPERATIONS IN FRANCE + +_By_ GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING _Commander-in-Chief_ + + +WILLIAM DUNSEATH EATON CONTRIBUTING EDITOR _Author "The War in Verse and +Prose" "A Soldier of Navarre" etc._ + + +SPECIAL CHAPTERS BY HON. JAMES MARTIN MILLER _Former United States +Consul to France Author "Spanish-American War" "Prussian-Japanese War" +etc._ + + + + +DEDICATION + +To the soldiers and sailors of the United States and Canada; to the men +of the armies and navies of nations allied with us; to the splendid +courage and devotion of American, French, British and Belgian women, who +have endured in silence the pain of losses worse than death, and never +faltered in works of mercy for which no thanks can ever pay; to all the +agencies of good that have helped save civilization and the world from +the most dreadful menace of all time, this volume is dedicated. + +To the honor of those nations upon whom the laurel of victory has +descended. To those who have vouchsafed for us the permanence of the +higher ideals of humanity and civilization. + +To those who have sheltered posterity from the dominance of barbarity, +brutality, serfdom, bigotry and degradation. + +To those who have striven against the Teuton and the Turk that God-given +and God-ordained freedom may triumph. + +To those noble stoics of Belgium, of France, of Serbia, of Roumania, +of Poland and all other peoples who have felt the mailed fist of the +ruthless oppressor; who have looked upon their devastated fields, their +dismantled cathedrals, their violated hearth-stones and the desecrated +graves of their kindred, and that peace, tranquillity, contentment and +prosperity may again be restored to them in bounteous meed. + +To those heroes who by their valor, their vigor and their inspired +devotion to right and patriotism have so nobly fought and conquered. + +To those martyrs whom God in his immutable manifestations has chosen +for the ultimate sacrifice of their lives upon the altar of freedom and +humanity's cause. + +In honor to these who have attained this glorious victory. In honor to +the commingling flags of the allied nations reflecting in their rainbow +hues a covenant of everlasting peace in this their hour of triumph, +may we all consecrate our purposes and our lives to a brotherhood of +mankind, a spirit of broadest humanity and universal peace on earth. + +--_L.J. Robinson_. + + + + +PREFACE + + +With the signing of an armistice November 11, 1918, by the +plenipotentiaries of the nations at war, active hostilities were halted +while the sweeping terms of the truce were being complied with by +Germany. The collapse of the Teutonic forces came with a suddenness that +was surprising, and the collapse was complete. The German army and navy +ceased to be a menace to the civilized world--and all civilization +rejoiced with an exceeding great joy. + +Remarkable events in the world's history followed with amazing rapidity, +and are duly recorded in all their interesting details in these pages. +The flight and abdication of the Kaiser; the abject surrender of the +German high seas fleet and submarines to the British Grand Fleet and its +American associates; the withdrawal of the defeated German armies +from Belgium and France; the return of the French flag to Alsace and +Lorraine; the occupation of Metz, Strassburg, Cologne, and Coblentz by +Allied and American forces, and the memorable entry of Belgian troops as +conquerors into Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen); the sailing of the President +of the United States to take part in the Peace Conference--all these +events and many others form part of the marvelous record of the recent +past, furnishing material that has never been equaled for the use of the +historian. + +Now the eyes of all America are turned to the eastern horizon, and +would fain scan the wide waters of the Atlantic, on the watch for the +home-coming heroes of the great conflict. A million young Americans are +coming home--but a million more will stay abroad awhile, to safeguard +the fruits of victory and insure the safety of the world. Truly the +story of their achievements, in permanent form, should find a place in +every American home, for in the words of General Pershing, their great +commander: + +"Their deeds are immortal and they have earned the eternal gratitude of +their country." + +T.H.R. + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + +PRESIDENT WILSON'S WAR MESSAGE + +I WHY WE WENT TO WAR + +Review of America's Good Reasons for Fighting--Memories of Beautiful +France--Why I Was Not Accepted as Consul to Germany--Why We Went to +War--Work or Fight--Rationing the Nations, by Hon James Martin Miller, +Former US Consul to France--What the Yankee Dude'll Do + +II UNITED STATES ENTERS THE WAR + +The President Proclaims War--Interned Ships Are Siezed--Congress Votes +$7,000,000,000 for War--Enthusiasm in the United States--Raising an +American Army--War to Victory, Wilson Pledge--British and French +Commission Reaches America--American Troops in France + +III AMERICANS AT CHATEAU THIERRY + +Personal Accounts of Battle--Gas and Shell Shock--Marines Under +Fire--Americans Can Fight and Yell--Getting to the Front Under +Difficulties--The Big Day Dawns--The Shells Come Fast--A Funeral at the +Front--Impression of a French Lieutenant--Keeping the Germans on the +Run + +IV AMERICAN VICTORY AT ST MIHIEL + +First Major Action by All American Army--Stories to Folks Back +Home--Huns Carry Off Captive Women--Hell Has Cut Loose--Major Tells +His Story--Enormous Numbers of Guns and Tanks--Over the Top at 5: +AM--Texas and Oklahoma Troops Fight in True Ranger Style--Our Colored +Boys Win Credit + +V THE WAR IN THE AIR + +Air Craft--Liberty Motors and Air Service--The Danger of Aviation--Air +Plane's Tail Shot Off--Champions of the Air--Lieut. Lehr's Personal +Stories of Air Fighting at the Front--American Aviator Grabs Iron Cross +as Souvenir--Eyes of the Army Always Open + +VI CAUSES OF THE WORLD WAR AND HOW WAR WAS DECLARED + +VII INVASION OF BELGIUM + +Belgians Rush to Defense of Their Frontier--Towns Bombarded and Burned +--The Defense of Liege--Destruction of Louvain--Fall of Namur--German +Proclamation to Inhabitants--Belgian Capital Occupied by the Germans +Without Bloodshed--Important Part Played by American Minister Brand +Whitlock--March of the Kaiser's Troops Through the City--Belgian Forces +Retreat to Antwerp--Dinant and Termonde Fall + +VIII BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY + +Earl Kitchener Appointed Secretary for War--A New Volunteer +Army--Expeditionary Force Landed in France--Field Marshal Sir John +French in Command--Colonies Rally to Britain's Aid--The Canadian +Contingent--Indian Troops Called For--Native Princes Offer Aid + +IX EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR + +Belgian Resistance to the German Advance--The Fighting at Vise, Haelen, +Diest, Aerschot and Tirlemont--Mons and Charleroi the First Great +Battles of the War--Allies Make a Gallant Stand, but Forced to Retire +Across the French Border + +X GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS + +Allies Withdraw for Ten Days, Disputing Every Inch of Ground with the +Kaiser's Troops--Germans Push Their Way Through France in Three Main +Columns--Official Reports of the Withdrawing Engagements--Paris Almost +in Sight + +XII BATTLE OF THE MARNE + +German Plans Suddenly Changed--Direction of Advance Swings to the +Southeast When Close to the French Capital--Successful Resistance by +the Allies--The Prolonged Encounter at the Marne--Germans Retreat, with +Allies in Hot Pursuit for Many Miles + +XII THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN + +Slow Mobilization of Troops--Invasion of German and Austrian +Territory--Cossacks Lead the Van--Early Successes in East Prussia--"On +to Berlin"--Heavy Losses Inflicted on Austrians--German Troops Rushed to +the Defense of the Eastern Territory + +XIII THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN + +Declaration of War by Austria--Bombardment of Belgrade---Servian +Capital Removed--Seasoned Soldiers of Servia Give a Good Account of +Themselves--Many Indecisive Engagements--Servians in Austrian Territory + +XIV STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD + +Thrilling Incidents of the Great War Told by Actual Combatants--Personal +Experiences from the Lips of Survivors of the World's Bloodiest +Battles--Tales of Prisoners of War, Wounded Soldiers, and Refugees +Rendered Homeless in the Blighted Arena of Conflict--Hand-to-Hand +Fighting--Frightful Mortality Among Officers--How It Feels to Be +Wounded--In the "Valley of Death"--A Belgian Boy Hero--A British Cavalry +Charge--Spirit of French Women--In the Paris Military Hospital--German +Uhlans as Scouts--How a German Prince Died--Fearful State of +Battlefields + +XV THE MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS + +Movements of British Battleships Veiled in Secrecy--German Dreadnoughts +in North Sea and Baltic Ports--Activity of Smaller Craft--English Keep +Trade Routes Open--Several Minor Battles at Sea + +XVI SUBMARINES AND MINES + +Battleships in Constant Danger from Submerged Craft--Opinions of Admiral +Sir Percy Scott--Construction of Modern Torpedoes--How Mines Are Laid +and Exploded on Contact + +XVII AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS + +Aerial Attacks on Cities--Some of the Achievements of the Airmen in the +Great War--Deeds of Heroism and Daring--Zeppelins in Action--Their +Construction and Operation + +XVIII BATTLE OF THE AISNE + +Most Prolonged Encounter in History Between Gigantic Forces--A Far-Flung +Battle Line--Germans Face French and British in the Aisne Valley +and Fight for Weeks--Armies Deadlocked After a Desperate and Bloody +Struggle + +XIX FALL OF ANTWERP + +Great Seaport of Belgium Besieged by a Large German Force--Forts +Battered by Heavy Siege Guns--Final Surrender of the City--Belgian and +British Defenders Escape--Exodus of Inhabitants--Germans Reach the Sea + +XX THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS + +Typical Precautions Used by the German Army--The Soldier's First-Aid +Outfit--System in Hospital Arrangements--How Prisoners of War Are +Treated--Regulations Are Humane and Fair to All Concerned CHAPTER PAGE + +XXI HORRORS OF THE WAR + +Plan to Send Santa Claus Gifts From America to War-Stricken Children of +Europe--A Widespread Response---Movement Endorsed by Press, Pulpit and +Leading Citizens--Approved by Governments of Contending Nations + +XXII LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR + +Results of the Battle of the Rivers--Fierce Fighting in Northern +France--Developments on the Eastern Battle Front--The Campaign in the +Pacific--Naval Activities of the Powers + +XXIII SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA + +Torpedoed by a Submarine--Crisis in German-American Relations--The +Diplomatic Exchanges + +XXIV A SUMMER OF SLAUGHTER + +Submarine Activities--Horrors in Serbia--Bloody Battles East and +West--Italy Declares War and Invades Austria--Russians Pushed Back in +Galicia + +XXV SECOND WINTER OF THE WAR + +XXVI CLIMAX OF THE WAR + +XXVII WORLD'S GREATEST SEA FIGHT + +XXVIII BATTLES EAST AND WEST + +XXIX CONTINUATION OF WAR IN 1917 + +XXX GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STOBY + +XXXI WHEN THE DAYS OF RECKONING DAWNED + +XXXII HOME FOLLOWS THE FLAG + +XXXIII TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE + +XXXIV HONOR TO THE VICTORS + +XXXV CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD WAR +INTRODUCTION + + + + +PRESIDENT WILSON'S EPOCHAL ADDRESS + +CALLING FOR ACTION AGAINST GERMANY, DELIVERED BY HIM TO THE CONGRESS IN +EXTRAORDINARY SESSION, APRIL 3, + +"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 3d 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 or the western coast of Europe or any of the ports controlled by +the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. + +HOPED FOR MODIFIED WARFARE + +"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 area 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. + +RELIED ON LAW OF NATIONS + +"I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would be in +fact 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. + + + + +_PRESIDENT WILSON'S WAR ADDRESS_ + +CHALLENGE TO ALL MANKIND + +"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 cannot 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 feelings 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 26th 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 intentions. +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 cannot 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. + +MUST ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY + +"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. + +COURSE WE MUST PURSUE + +"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. + +ARMY OF 500,000 MEN + +"It will involve the immediate addition to the armed force of the United +States already provided for by law in case of war at least 500,000 men, +who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principal 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. + +MUST SUPPLY THE ALLIES + +"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. + +"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. + +SEEKS FREEDOM OF WORLD + +"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 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 twenty-second of January last; the same that +I had in mind when I addressed the congress on the third of February +and on the twenty-sixth 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 insure 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. + +NO QUARREL WITH GERMANS + +"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. + +MENACE OF INTRIGUES + +"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 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 give 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 interest of mankind to any narrow interest of +their own. + +WELCOME TO FREE RUSSIA + +"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 thought, in all the +intimate relationships of her people that spoke their natural instinct, +their habitual attitude toward life. The autocracy that crowned the +summit of her political structure, as 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 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. + +SOUGHT TO IGNORE PLOTS + +"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 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. + +FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS + +"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 gage 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 +people, the German people included; for the rights of nations, great and +small; the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and +of obedience. + +SEEK NO SELFISH ENDS + +"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 right 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. +SILENT AS TO AUSTRIA + +"I have said nothing of the governments allied with the imperial German +government 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. + +"On these premises 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. + +GERMANS IN AMERICA + +"We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and +shall desire nothing so much as the early reestablishment 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. + +CIVILIZATION IN BALANCE + +"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." + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHY WE WENT TO WAR + +MEMORIES OF BEAUTIFUL FRANCE--WHY I WAS NOT ACCEPTED AS CONSUL TO +GERMANY + +BY HON. JAMES MARTIN MILLER + +FORMER UNITED STATES CONSUL IN FRANCE + + +To have lived on the principal battle ground of the world war was a +privilege the author did not appreciate at the time. As representative +of the United States Government in the Consular district of France that +includes the departments of the Aisne, Ardennes, Marne, Aube, Meuse, +Vosges, Haute-Marne and Meurthe-et-Moselle, he lived and had his +headquarters at Reims, some years before the war. Reims is (or rather +was) a beautiful city of 112,000 people. The story of the city goes +back to the days of the Roman empire, and bears the mark of many Gallic +insurrections. In comparatively later times Joan of Arc caused Charles +VII to be crowned in the great Cathedral there--one of the most +glorious and stately in all Europe, now a ruin. A history of the eight +departments (or small states) mentioned above would include a history +of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, and of the greatest and most +desperate of all wars, the one just brought to a close. + +My Consular district bordered on Belgium, Luxemburg and Alsace-Lorraine. +The Marne, the Aisne, the Vesle, and other streams whose names adorn +with sad pride so many of America's battle-flags, flow through it. After +1914 Belgium saw very little fighting; but this district saw almost four +years of continuous and enormous battle. It was overrun time and again. +Neither Belgium nor any other country suffered such devastation, nor +such material destruction. Today it is a vast graveyard. Hundreds of +thousands of men dyed its soil with their lifeblood. All America and all +the world knows about Chateau Thierry and St. Mihiel, and the gallantry +of American troops in those two brilliant and significant actions. It is +difficult to realize the stupendous tragedy that through all those years +hung over that beautiful country, whose fields were once as familiar to +me as any fields of home. I look back to that time with affection, in +the glow of happy memories. + +Americans before this war had held the Monroe Doctrine in high +reverence. Presidents had strengthened it in their messages. Candidates +for office for more than half a century had argued as a campaign issue +that the United States must never be drawn into foreign entanglements; +that no European nation ever would be allowed to interfere in the +affairs of the American continents. This doctrine was so deeply +rooted that objectors everywhere rose up when we began to talk of +"preparedness" against the ultimate day when we could no longer keep +out of the fight. Many declared it would be "unconstitutional" for the +United States to send troops to Europe. The war lords of Germany took +advantage of this traditional sentiment among our people and felt sure +that the United States never would come in, no matter how many American +lives nor how much American property Germany might destroy, nor how many +of our ships German pirates might sink at sea, without warning. The +German government had built up a propaganda in this country that at one +time threatened to poison the minds of all our people. There were some +among us who hated England, and wanted to see Germany win for no other +reason than that. Others hated Russia, and so desired Germany to win. +Germany's secret intrigues in Mexico came near to getting us into a war +with that country. In the face of all these things there was a strong +sentiment among our people and even in Congress favorable to Germany. It +is easy now to say that we should have gone to war when the Lusitania +was sunk, but pro-German feeling was so noisy and so strong, even though +it was held by a minority, that the Congress itself was affected and +withheld its hand. + +Public sentiment had to be crystalized so that it would stand back of +the administration. With our lack of a secret service capable of coping +with the German agents who were busy everywhere and all the time, we +were at a disadvantage in gathering evidence to convince our people that +the Germans were menacing our very existence. Even after the secret +service was built up it took many months of hard work and several +thousand government men to uncover and stamp out their organizations +and their ruthless plots. The slimy tracks of the German ambassador at +Washington had to be followed through devious underground channels that +no one had suspected. The embassy had filled the country with German +poison gas, and backed the German campaign of wholesale arson. Germans +living here, many of them American born, were busily counteracting +public opinion as the evidences accumulated. + +Democracies are always at a disadvantage in dealing with monarchies; in +the initial stages of war at least. We have seen it demonstrated that +a democracy must become autocratic if it is to carry on a war +successfully. But an American autocracy takes the shape of a temporary +delegation of unusual power in conditions that cannot wait for the slow +action of ordinary times; and those who exercise it are put in power +by the people themselves, to do the people's will. It was necessary to +consolidate not only the direction of the nation itself, but of our +military affairs abroad. We soon got the home situation in hand, and +then the President of the United States threw his influence, backed by +all the American people, toward bringing the allied armies and those of +the United States under one head in the person of General Foch as +Field Marshal. This was not accomplished until after the great Italian +disaster, when it looked as though the Austro-Hungarian armies would +crush Italy. The same may be said of the threatened disaster to the +British army early in 1918, when von Hindenburg began his great drive +toward Calais and Paris. Here were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and +Bulgaria, four monarchies dominated by the German government, fighting +nearly all the democracies of the world, not considering Russia, which +dropped out shortly before the United States effectively entered the +war. + +We will not consider Japan's position as a nominal member of the +entente, except for her action at the beginning of the war in capturing +Kiauchau, China, the German fortified port and naval base in the Orient, +and sweeping Germany out of the Pacific by taking the Marshall islands. +Beyond this, Japan sent soldiers to Eastern Siberia to help in police +duty, and in guarding the great stores of supplies accumulated by the +Russians at Vladivostok. These stores had been bought largely upon the +credit extended to Russia by the United States. + +With Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary gone as monarchies, Japan is +the greatest of the remaining imperial states. We have seen more than a +dozen kings, emperors, princes and grand dukes pass into the discard as +a result of a war which they themselves brought on. + +France tried to discard kings and princes in 1798. The sovereignty of +the people was proclaimed in that war, but the governments which have +ruled France since have been many, and presented wide differences. In +this present age, no doubt it will be much easier to establish a stable +democracy upon the wreck of a monarchy than it could have been a century +ago. Still, the construction of a democracy is a difficult ordeal for +people who have always been imperialists. The several monarchies, big +and little, that have fallen in this war, present most perplexing +problems. There are boundary and racial disputes of the most bitter kind +between some of their peoples. But the great democracies of the world +that won this war are taking the part of "big brothers" to these, and +are seeing to it that their petty quarrels and internal differences +are held in check. Each of these countries, even though they establish +democracies, will have strong royalist parties that will constitute +a standing threat. France even to this day has a royalist group of +considerable strength. Their persistent claim is that France will again +be a monarchy. The United States is really the only democracy without +such a party. It is the only republic that was not founded on the ruin +of a monarchy. + +WHY I WAS NOT ACCEPTED AS CONSUL TO GERMANY + +I have had some personal experience with the late German Imperial +Government. As a war correspondent it was my duty to give to the world +an account of the forcible deportation of King Mataafa from Samoa to the +Marshall Islands, where he was kept in exile six years. The Germans had +shoved him aside to make room for Malieto, an imbecile and a German +figurehead. I was there again when Mataafa, at the end of those six +years, returned to Samoa, to the great joy of his people. + +A few years later I discovered that Germany's policy was to "mark" any +individual who wrote or spoke in criticism of anything German. + +I was appointed United States Consul to Aix la Chapelle, Germany, four +years after those articles appeared. My appointment came from President +Roosevelt, and was confirmed by the United States Senate. When I arrived +in Germany I found I was United States Consul so far as the United +States Government was concerned, but I was put off in the matter of my +exequatur (certificate of authority) from the government to which I +was accredited; and without an exequatur, I could not act. I was kept +cooling my heels in the consulate several months before I found out what +was the matter. My newspaper articles describing what the Germans had +done in Samoa, published four years earlier, were being held against me. +My presence in Germany was not desired. + +I had crossed the Atlantic with Prince Henry, the Kaiser's brother and +Admiral of the German Navy, in February, 1901, when the Prince brought +his party of a dozen or so militarists to this country to "further +cement the amity and good will" existing between the great republic +and the great empire. It later developed that this was a well planned +operation in German propaganda. As a representative of the Associated +Press, I had written of it. That was just after I had written the Samoan +articles. + +Speck von Sternberg was the German Ambassador to Washington. He was +in Paris. I went there to see him and ascertain, if I could, why my +exequatur was withheld. The Government at Washington could get no +information on the subject. The whole affair was clothed in mystery. + +After some conversation I suggested to Ambassador von Sternberg that +perhaps the foreign office at Berlin was withholding the document +because of my writings on German colonial matters. Then it came out--my +guess was true. Some underlings in the foreign office had the case in +charge. The Ambassador suggested that as I knew Prince Henry, I would +better write him at Kiel. I did this, with the result that the obstacle +was removed and the exequatur issued. + + + + +WHY WE WENT TO WAR + +_German Propaganda in the United States and Mexico_--_Sinking of the +Lusitania_--_Unrestricted Submarine Warfare_. + +WHY WE WENT TO WAR + +During two years preceding our entrance upon war, Germany had been +carrying on open warfare against us, within our own borders. For more +than thirty years Germany's policy of preparatory penetration had been +in course. As we know now, every country, all round the globe, but +especially the United States in North America and Brazil and Venezuela +in South America, had been filled with Germans, ostensibly settlers, +business men and followers of the higher professions, but for the +greater part agents of Germany, in continuous contact with Potsdam and +under Potsdam direction. It was the business of these imported Germans +to foster the German idea, exalt Germany's leadership in military power +and in science and the arts, impress their language, their literature, +music and customs upon our people, and to do all those things which +might work for the day when Germany, having faked a partnership with +Almighty God, should reach out for world dominion. + +The processes were pressed with that strange blend of industry, +stupidity, mendacity and cunning which characterize the Prussian and all +his acts. Under our noses a German solidarity was attempted here, and in +part achieved. Organizations having Prussian ends in view were numerous, +large, popular and unsuspected. Threading them through and through was +a spy system unbelievably thorough and amazingly adroit. Potsdam had +us marked as a nation of easy going money getters, to be bled white, +crammed with her muddy kultur and taught the goose-step, at her imperial +leisure, after France and England had fallen to her guns. + +But her blend of qualities, no matter how strong in itself, was +nullified by just one lack: the total inability of the Prussian mind to +understand the mind of the world exterior to Germany. In the day of test +it failed. + +Because of that inability, and knowing full well how readily the German +mind could be terrorized, the outbreak of war in Europe brought an +outbreak of blind German violence in the United States. We were to be +impressed by the German power to strike. Our soil was chosen as a garden +of domestic sedition, and of foreign conspiracy against powers with +which we were at peace. To keep us busy with troubles of our own, German +propaganda and German money in Mexico raised on our southern border a +threatening spectre of war. We were to have been rushed into conflict +with Mexico and kept employed there while being terrorized by wholesale +arson and sabotage at home, so that by no chance could any friendly +European power look to us for help. The scheme came near to succeeding, +for our people were aroused by Mexican aggression, and the flaunting +insults of Mexican authority, prompted by German agents. The policy of +our Government saved us from falling into a trap that might have held us +fast while Germany overran the whole of Europe and made ready to come +a-plundering here at her own time and convenience. + +If the truth had been known by the people then as clearly as it was +known at Washington, nothing could have held us back: We would not have +bothered with Mexico at all. We would have joined the free nations of +Europe, and nobody may guess what would have happened. Certainly we +could not have assembled the men and the resources we actually and +swiftly did assemble later, when the real hour sounded. We would have +cut a sorry figure and gone into the mess confusedly. Washington knew. +The President knew so well that through 1915 and 1916 he and others in +high places never ceased crying a warning to "prepare." The President +himself toured the country and told the people everywhere that with a +world on fire we could not hope to escape unsinged. + +He said openly as much as he dared. Under the surface the Government +did much more. The rapid movement of events once we were declared +a combatant would have been impossible otherwise. That rapidity of +effective action surprised the world only because it had all been +planned before a word was said. + +In the years of our neutrality our course as a nation was surely shaping +itself for war, without an outward sign or act. Ruthless destruction of +property and of life became too open, too frequent, too outrageous, for +the patience of even a long-suffering, tolerant people such as we. The +first impulse of genuine resentment was given when the Lusitania went +down with its neutral passengers, a defenseless ship on a peaceful +errand, drowning more than a hundred Americans of both sexes and all +ages without the slightest notice, or the faintest chance of escape. + +Any nation other than ours would have gone to war in a moment over +such a blow in the face. We did not. Farther, we endured a sudden and +flagrant increase of German propaganda in high quarters and low, and of +German insolence openly and defiantly parading itself. The catalogue of +provocations grew daily, and daily bred anger, but our temper held until +in February of 1917, when Germany proclaimed unrestricted piracy by +submarines, and under the thin pretext of starving out the British +Isles, American and other ships were destroyed with all on board, +wholesale. + +Even then our hand was withheld until Germany advised us that we might +send just one ship a week to Europe, one ship and no more, provided that +solitary ship were painted in a manner prescribed in the permission, +and then held strictly to a course laid down by the German admiralty. +Germany, a third rate naval power, had arbitrarily forbidden us the +freedom of the seas. + +Then our patience broke. For this and all the other causes Germany had +given us, and for our own safety and the rescue of a world that without +us would have perished, the United States went to war. + +WORK OR FIGHT + +Back of every American soldier about fifty men and women were needed +in order that he be supplied with everything his physical, moral and +military well being might require. They were put there. The result was +a sweeping change, an immense expansion of energy in the United States +itself. The draft took care of the army. No time or trouble had to be +given to filling the ranks and keeping them full. The enormous sums of +money necessary to finance our allies as well as ourselves were promptly +oversubscribed in a series of loans, the first and least of which ran +into three billion dollars, the fourth into six billions, a sum larger +than any single loan ever floated by any other nation. Idleness was +abolished. The order to "work or fight" was strictly enforced upon all +the people, rich and poor alike, for any attempt to except any one or +any class would have been blown away in a gale of laughter. In a space +incredibly brief the United States became a nation of actual workers, in +which every individual did his or her share, submitting meanwhile, with +good grace and no murmuring, to being rationed. Interstate utilities +were taken over and operated by the government, including the railway, +telegraph and telephone lines; and government fixed prices on the +necessaries of life. Everything was subordinated to the one and only +purpose of winning the war. All that we were and all that we had was +thoroughly mobilized behind the fighting arms, the army and the navy. + +RATIONING THE NATIONS + +Almost immediately after the first military and naval preparations had +been set in operation the United States Government, taking no chance as +against the future, began to regulate the lives and living of Americans +at home. A policy of conservation, so well devised that it went into +effect without the slightest disturbance of daily living and daily +routine, was at once adopted. + +England, France and Belgium had to be fed. Belgium had to be clothed and +housed as well as fed. Out of our abundance had to come the means to +those ends, as well as to equip and maintain vast armies of our own, +from bases three thousand miles away in Europe and twice as far in Asia. +The whole nation was mobilized for war. + +Britain and France had come through more than three years of +close-lipped but bone-cracking effort, in which every aspect of domestic +life was changed, the final ounce of strength exerted, privations +unheard of endured in grim silence. America saved them, and not alone by +force of arms against the common enemy. + + WHAT THE YANKEE DUDE'LL DO + + BY TOM H. DEVEREAUX. + + Uncle Samuel blew the bugle call, + For his boys to fall in line, + And they came, yes, by the million, + On the march at double time, + With muskets on their shoulders + They answered to the call + To defend our nation's honor, + And for Liberty of all. + They buckled on their knapsacks, + And they loaded up their guns, + To the tune of Yankee Doodle, + They whipped those Turks and Huns; + For their hearts were with the colors + Of the red, the white and blue, + And they've shown those fiendish Prussians + What the Yankee Dude'll Do. + + REFRAIN + + Singing rally round Old Glory, boys, + And fight for freedom true, + Rally to the Stars and Stripes + As your fathers did for you. + Oh! we sailed across the ocean deep, + With the red, the white and blue, + And we've shown that devilish Kaiser + What the Yankee Dude'll Do. + + From our north land, and our east land, + To our far-off Golden Gate, + From our south way down in Dixie + And the old Palmetto State, + Bravest sons of all the nation came + To fight our country's foe, + Who would follow our Old Glory, + Where her stars and stripes might go; + To the battle cry of Freedom, + All our men would surely come, + And fight for world-wide Victory + At the call of fife and drum. + We have proved to all creation + That our boys are real true blue, + And we've shown those fiendish Prussians, + What the Yankee Dude'll Do. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +UNITED STATES ENTERS THE WAR + +_The President Proclaims War_--_Interned Ships Are Seized_--_Congress +Votes $7,000,000,000 for War_--_Raising an American Army_--_War to +Victory Wilson Pledge_--_British and French Commission Reaches America_. + +On April 2, 1917, Congress having been called in special session, +President Wilson appeared before a joint session of both houses and +in an address worthy of its historical importance asked for a formal +declaration that a state of war existed with Germany, owing to the +ruthless and unrestricted submarine campaign. He recommended the utmost +practical co-operation with the Entente Allies in counsel and action; +the extension of liberal financial credit to them, the mobilization +of all the material resources of the United States for the purpose of +providing adequate munitions of war, the full equipment of the Navy, +especially in supplying it with means for dealing with submarines, and +the immediate enrollment of an army of 500,000 men, preferably by a +system of universal service, to be increased later by an additional army +of equal size. The President took pains to point out that in taking +these measures against the German government, the United States had +no quarrel with the German people, who were innocent, because kept in +ignorance of the lawless acts of their autocratic government, which had +become a menace not only to the peace of the world, but to the cause of +fundamental human liberty. The object of the United States, said the +President, was to vindicate the principles of peace and justice +as against selfish and autocratic power, and to insure the future +observance of these principles. + +After due debate the following joint resolution, declaring war with +Germany was adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives and +signed by the President on April 6, 1917: + +"Whereas, the imperial German government has committed repeated acts +of war against the government and the people of the United States of +America; therefore, be it + +"Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between +the United States and the imperial German government which has thus been +thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that the +President be, and he is, hereby authorized and directed to employ the +entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources +of the government to carry on war against the imperial German +government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all +of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of +the United States." + +THE PRESIDENT PROCLAIMS WAR. + +Immediately after signing the resolution of Congress, President Wilson +issued a formal proclamation of war, embodying in it an earnest appeal +to all American citizens "that they, in loyal devotion to their country, +dedicated from its foundation to the principles of liberty and justice, +uphold the laws of the land and give undivided and willing support to +those measures which may be adopted by the constitutional authorities in +prosecuting the war to a successful issue and in obtaining a secure and +just peace." + +The President further enjoined all alien enemies within the United +States to preserve the peace and refrain from crime against the public +safety, and from giving information, aid, or comfort to the enemy, +assuring them of protection so long as they conducted themselves in +accordance with law and with regulations which might be promulgated +from time to time for their guidance. The great mass of German-American +citizens promptly avowed the utmost loyalty to the United States, but +numerous arrests of suspected spies followed all over the country. + +INTERNED SHIPS ARE SEIZED. + +Following the declaration of war all the German merchant vessels +interned in ports of the United States were seized by representatives of +the Federal authority, their crews removed and interned, and guardians +placed aboard. These ships in American waters numbered 99, of an +aggregate value of about $100,000,000, and included some of the finest +vessels of the German merchant marine; for instance, the Vaterland, of +54,283 tons, valued at $8,000,000, and numerous other Atlantic liners. +The disposition to be made of the German ships was left to the future +for decision, with great probability, however, that they would be used +to transport munitions and supplies to the Allies in Europe through the +German submarine blockade. + +CONGRESS VOTES $7,000,000,000 FOR WAR. + +Prompt action was taken by Congress to furnish the sinews of war. +By April 14 a bond and certificate issue of $7,000,000,000 had been +unanimously voted by both houses, and preparations were made to float +a popular subscription for the bonds. Three billions of the amount +was intended for loans to the Allies, and the remainder for active +prosecution of the war by the United States. The debates in Congress +indicated that the country stood solidly behind the President in a +determination to bring the military autocracy of Germany to a realizing +sense of its responsibility to civilization. RAISING AN AMERICAN ARMY. + +Legislation was immediately presented by the War Department to the +military committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, to +provide for raising an army for active participation in the war. This +legislation was described by President Wilson as follows: + +"It proposes to raise the forces necessary to meet the present emergency +by bringing the regular army and the National Guard to war strength and +by adding the additional forces which will now be needed, so that the +national army will comprise three elements--the regular army, the +National Guard and the so-called additional forces, of which at first +500,000 are to be authorized immediately and later increments of the +same size as they may be needed. + +"In order that all these forces may comprise a single army, the term of +enlistment in the three is equalized and will be for the period of the +emergency. + +"The necessary men will be secured for the regular army and the National +Guard by volunteering, as at present, until, in the judgment of the +President, a resort to a selective draft is desirable. The additional +forces, however, are to be raised by selective draft from men ranging +in age from 19 to 25 years. The quotas of the several states in all of +these forces will be in proportion to their population." + +Recruiting for the army and navy became active as soon as war was +declared. On April 15 President Wilson issued an address to the nation, +calling on all citizens to enroll themselves in a vast "army of +service," military or industrial, and stating that the hour of supreme +test for the nation had come. The United States prepared to rise to its +full measure of duty, confident in the patent justice of its cause, and +echoing the sentiment of its President when he said: + +"The hope of the world is that when the European war is over +arrangements will have been made composing many of the questions which +have hitherto seemed to require the arming of the nations, and that in +some ordered and just way the peace of the world may be maintained by +such co-operations of force among the great nations as may be necessary +to maintain peace and freedom throughout the world." + +ENGLAND WELCOMES U.S. AS AN ALLY. + +The news of the President's proclamation of war, following the action +of Congress, was received in England and France, Russia and Italy, with +enthusiasm. A great service of thanksgiving was held in St. Paul's +Cathedral, London, attended by the King and Queen, ministers of state, +and an enormous congregation that joined in singing "The Star-Spangled +Banner" and the national anthem, while the Stars and Stripes by official +order was flown for the first time in history from the tower of the +Parliament buildings at Westminster and on public buildings throughout +the British empire. A high commission was appointed to visit the United +States for a series of war conferences, and Premier Lloyd George +expressed the national satisfaction in glowing terms of welcome to the +United States as an ally against Germany, paying at the same time +an eloquent tribute to the masterly address of President Wilson to +Congress, which stated the case for humanity against military autocracy +in such an unanswerable manner, the British premier said, that it placed +the seal of humanity's approval on the Allied cause and furnished final +justification of the British attitude toward Germany in the war. + +POPULAR DEMONSTRATION IN PARIS. + +In France, the Stars and Stripes were flung to the breeze from the +Eiffel Tower on April 22, and saluted by twenty-one guns. This marked +the opening of the ceremonies of "United States day" in Paris. + +The French tricolor and the star-spangled banner were at the same hour +unfurled together from the residence of William G. Sharp, the American +ambassador, in the Avenue d'Eylau, from the American Embassy, from the +city hall, and from other municipal government buildings. + +It was a great day for the red, white and blue, 40,000 American flags +being handed out gratis by the committee and waved by the people +who thronged the vicinity of the manifestations, which included the +decoration of the statues of Washington and Lafayette. + +Members of the American Lafayette flying corps, a delegation from the +American Ambulance at Neuilly and the American Field Ambulances were the +guard of honor before the Lafayette statue. + +Ambassador Sharp and his escort were received at the city hall by the +members of the municipal council and other distinguished persons. Adrien +Mithouard, president of the municipal council, welcomed Ambassador +Sharp, who was greeted with great applause when addressing the people of +Paris. He said: + +"Citizens of Paris: May I say to you, on this day you have with such +fine sentiment set apart to honor my country, that America remains no +longer content to express to France merely her sympathy. In a cause +which she believes as verily as you believe to be a sacred one, she +will consecrate all her power and the blood of her patriotic sons, if +necessary, to achieve a victory that shall for all time to come insure +the domination of right over wrong, freedom over oppression, and the +blessings of peace over the brutality of war." + +The French Government also appointed a war commission to visit the +United States forthwith for conference. + +Resolutions expressing the great satisfaction of the Allied nations at +the action of the United States were adopted by the British House of +Commons, the French Chamber of Deputies, the Russian Duma, and the +Italian Parliament. ENTHUSIASM IN THE UNITED STATES. + +War being declared, the people of the United States were not slow in +letting the President know that they stood solidly behind him. From all +parts of the country came assurances that the action of the Government +was approved. Organizations of every conceivable kind passed resolutions +pledging their support to all war measures decided to be necessary to +carry the war to a successful issue. Recruiting was at once started for +both the Army and the Navy. The recruiting depots were thronged daily +and thousands were enrolled for active service while Congress was +debating the respective merits of the volunteer system and the +"selective draft" advocated by the general staff of the Army and +approved by the President and his cabinet. + +The full quota of men desired for the Navy, to place the ships already +in commission in a high state of efficiency, was soon secured. More men +offered themselves for naval service, indeed, than could be accepted +pending the action of Congress. Volunteers for the aviation corps, the +marines, the field artillery, the engineer corps, and all the various +branches of the military establishments came forward freely, and a +general desire was expressed to send an American force to the trenches +in Europe at the earliest possible moment consistent with proper +training for the field. + +As the reports of American diplomats from the war zone, freed from +German censorship, were given to the public, the martial spirit of +America grew apace. Ambassador Gerard's corroboration of German +atrocities in the occupied territory of France, and Minister Brand +Whitlock's report on the situation in Belgium and the illegal and +atrocious deportation of Belgian citizens for hard labor, ill treatment, +and starvation in Germany, added fuel to the flame of national +indignation, already running high as the result of continued destruction +of American merchant vessels and the loss of American lives by submarine +piracy and murder, continued almost without cessation since the infamous +sinking of the Lusitania, one of the never-to-be-forgotten crimes of +German ruthlessness. + +One hundred million free-born people were at length aroused to action. +The Navy was ready for immediate service where it could do most good, +and promptly took over patrol duty in the western Atlantic, relieving +British and French men-of-war for service elsewhere. The raising of an +army of a million or more men for active participation in the war waited +only on the action of Congress. + +American women responded nobly to the President's call for universal +service, flocking to the Red Cross headquarters in every city and +setting to work immediately in the preparation of comforts for the great +army gathering on the horizon. They were promptly organized, so that +their efforts might count to the best advantage. In August, 1916, the +United States Navy included 356 war craft of all kinds, as against +credited to Great Britain, 404 to France, and 309 to Germany, The latter +figure does not include an unknown number of submarines of recent +construction. + +THE BRITISH COMMISSION ARRIVES. + +On Sunday, April 22, the British war commission reached Washington, +headed by the Right Hon. Arthur James Balfour, secretary of state for +foreign affairs and former premier. The commission included Rear +Admiral Sir Dudley R.S. De Chair, naval adviser to the foreign office; +Major-General G.T.M. Bridges, representing the British army; Lord +Cunliffe of Headley, governor of the Bank of England; and a number of +other distinguished officials and naval and military officers, with +clerical assistants. The party met with an enthusiastic welcome in +Washington. Mr. Balfour was received by the President in private +conference next day, and after a round of receptions and social +functions of various kinds, arrangements were made for the business +meetings affecting war policies, which were the object of the visit. + +Mr. Balfour informed the President that the British commission had come +to Washington not to ask favors, concessions, or agreements from the +United States, but to offer their services for the organization of the +stupendous undertaking of fighting Germany. He said that if the United +States was confronted by the same problems that confronted England at +the outset of the war, the British commission could be of service in +pointing out many grievous mistakes of policy and organization that +proved costly to the British cause. He was, in turn, assured by the +President that the United States would fight in conjunction with the +Allied until the Prussian autocracy was crushed and Americans at home +and abroad were safe from the ruthlessness of the Berlin government. + +MARSHAL JOFFRE IN WASHINGTON + +The French war commission soon followed the British envoys, arriving +in Washington on Wednesday, April 25, on board the presidential yacht +Mayflower from Hampton Roads. Headed by M. Rene Viviani, minister of +justice and former premier of France, the commission included the famous +hero of the Marne and idol of the French army and people, Marshal +Joffre; also Admiral Chocheprat, representing the French navy; the +Marquis de Chambrun (Lafayette's grandson), and other distinguished +Frenchmen. The fame of Marshal Joffre and the traditional friendship +for France secured for the party an enthusiastic popular greeting. +Its members were accorded similar official receptions to those of the +British commissioners, and they similarly expressed their desire to be +of service to the American people by giving the Washington government +the benefit of their costly experience in three years of war. ALLIES +CONTINUE THEIR WESTERN DRIVE + +Following the spring drive of the Allies on the western front and the +retirement of the Germans to the so-called Hindenburg line, the British +and French continued their offensive during the months of May, June and +July, 1917, which concluded the third year of the great struggle. Great +battles in the Champagne and along the Aisne were fought by the French, +who in April had captured Auberive, and they advanced their forces +from one to five miles along a fifty-mile front, inflicting great and +continual losses on the enemy. At the end of the third year, the French +line ran from northwest of Soissons, through Rheims, to Auberive. French +troops also appeared in Flanders during this period and co-operated +with the British on the left of Field Marshal Haig's forces. The chief +command of the French armies was in the hands of General Petain, the +gallant defender of Verdun, who was appointed chief of staff after the +battle of Craonne. + +The continuation of the British offensive northeast of Arras, following +the bloody battle of Vimy Ridge, which was firmly held by the Canadians +against desperate counter-attacks, placed the British astride the +Hindenburg line, and the Germans retired to positions a mile or two west +of the Drocourt-Queant line. These they held as the third year closed at +the end of July. + +In June, 1917, the British began an attack on Messines and Wytschaete, +in an effort to straighten out the Ypres salient. By this time their +flyers dominated the air, and they had gained the immense advantage of +artillery superiority. By way of preparation, the British sappers and +miners had spent an entire year in mining the earth beneath the German +positions, and the offensive was begun with an explosion so terrific, +when the mines were sprung, that it was heard in London. Following +immediately with the attack, the British won and consolidated the +objective ground, capturing more than 7,500 German prisoners and great +stores of artillery. This victory placed them astride the Ypres-Commines +canal, having advanced three miles on an eight-mile front. Portuguese +and Belgian troops assisted in this offensive, which resulted in the +greatest gain the Allies had made in Belgium since the German invasion. +Fighting in this terrain had been confined for many months to +trench-raiding operations. + +GERMAN LOSSES TO JULY + +It is estimated that during April, May, and June the Germans suffered +350,000 casualties on the western front. The totals of the German +official lists of losses for the entire war to July 19, 1917, were as +follows: Killed or died of wounds, 1,032,800; died of sickness, 72,960; +prisoners and missing, 591,966; wounded, 2,825,581; making a grand total +of casualties of 4,523,307. The German naval and colonial casualties were +not included in this total. + +FURTHER GAINS IN FLANDERS + +Fighting continued almost steadily in Flanders during the month of +August, although the Allies were greatly hampered in their operations +by heavy rains and mud. On a nine-mile front east and north of Ypres, a +long drawn-out battle carried the advancing French and British troops +more than a mile into the intricate hostile trench system on August 16, +after successive advances on previous days. From Dreigrachten southward +the French surged across the River Steenbeke, capturing all objectives, +while at the same time the British occupied considerable territory in +the region of St. Julien and Langemarck, captured the latter town, and +carried the fighting beyond Langemarck. The main difficulty encountered +was the mud in the approaches to the town, the infantry plunging deep +into the bog at every step. Not infrequently the soldiers had to rescue +a comrade who had sunk to the waist in the morass, but they continued to +push forward steadily, facing machine-gun fire from hidden redoubts and +battling their way past with bombs and rifle fire. There were concrete +gunpits about the positions in front of the town, which was flooded from +the Steenbeke River, but the infantry divided and bombed their way about +on either side until they had encircled the town and passed beyond, +where the Germans could be seen running away. Little resistance was +offered in the town itself, but the Germans suffered severely from the +preliminary bombardment, which worked havoc in their ranks, according to +the prisoners taken in the Langemarck region. The contact between the +French and British forces was excellent throughout the fight; in fact, +the perfect co-operation of the two armies continued to be one of the +minor wonders of the war. + +CANADIAN VICTORIES AT LENS + +Canadian troops added to their laurels by the storming and capture of +Hill 70, dominating the important mining center of Lens, in northern +France, August 15, following up their victory by the occupation of the +fortified suburbs of the city and apparently insuring its redemption +from German hands, after a struggle that had lasted for two years. + +The men of the Dominion swept the Germans from the famous hill, defeated +all counter-attacks, and thus gained command of the entire Loos salient. +It was on this hill that the British forces under Sir John French were +badly broken in their efforts to reach Lens in the first battle of Loos, +in September, 1915. Hill 70 was the last high ground held by the Germans +in the region of the Artois, and its fall menaced their whole line south +to Queant and north to La Bassee. + +The Canadian attack began at 4:25 o'clock, just as the first hint of +dawn was appearing. All night the British big guns had been pouring a +steady stream of high explosive shells into the German positions, +great detonations overlapping one another like the rapid crackling of +machine-gun fire and swelling into a mighty volume of thunder that shook +the earth and stunned the senses. Then, a short time before the hour set +for the attack arrived, the batteries ceased abruptly and a strange, +almost oppressive stillness crept over the terrain which until then had +been an inferno of crashing noise and death. It had been raining and +gray clouds still hung over the trenches where crouched the Canadian +infantrymen, waiting eagerly for the arrival of the moment which would +summon them to attack. + +Suddenly, ten minutes before the time set for the advance, every British +gun within range broke out with a hurricane of shelling, and solid lines +of crimson lightning belched from the German trenches as the explosives +broke about them. To this lurid picture was added the spectacle of +burning oil, which the British threw on the enemy lines. Great clouds of +pinkish colored smoke rolled across the country from the flaming liquid +and the murky sky threw back myriad colors from the conflagration below. + +The moment of attack arrived, and as the British guns dropped their +protecting barrage fire in front of the Canadian trenches, the clouds +parted and the yellow crescent moon appeared. Under the light of this +beacon the Canadians leaped over the parapets and began their methodical +advance behind their barrage fire. + +The British barrage was without a flaw, says an eyewitness. Behind it +the Canadians mounted Hill 70 and swept along the rest of the line. On +the crest of the hill, where so much blood had been, spilled before, +heavy fighting might have been expected, for the position was well +manned with machine guns. The resistance here, however, was not strong, +and it was not until the dwellings in the outskirts of the suburbs were +reached that vigorous fighting occurred. The ground over which the +infantry advanced was honeycombed with British shell holes and the +barbed wire defenses had been leveled, so that they gave little trouble. + +FIGHT IN CELLARS AND DUGOUTS + +The first serious resistance from the Germans was met at a point where +the enemy was strongly intrenched in connecting cellars and there +sanguinary fighting occurred. The place was a sample of many other +suburbs about Lens. The city is surrounded by colliery communities which +are so close together and so near the city proper that they really form +part of the town. Lens, before the war, had a population of 30,000, but +had become a mass of ruins. + +Following their usual tactics, the Germans had carried out systematic +destruction of the houses and had constructed strong underground +defenses. The whole city was undermined with tunnels and dugouts, which +had been reinforced with concrete, and most of the ruined buildings had +been turned into machine-gun emplacements. + +The effect of the preliminary British bombardment was most demoralizing +to the enemy. The first German prisoners taken were in a completely +dazed state as a result of the terrific bombardment they had undergone, +and other Germans were seen to flee to the rear, deserting their posts +as the attack began. + +The result of this preliminary fire was shown in the speed of the +Canadian infantry's advance. The extreme depth reached in the first +stage was 1,500 yards, and this was achieved in ninety-three minutes. +This new front, taken into conjunction with positions secured previously +in the southwestern outskirts of Lens, established an angular line like +a pair of shears whose points reached out to the north and south of the +city. + +As the Canadians pushed in on the northwest, a simultaneous advance +was started by the troops on the lower blade of the shears, and close +fighting began, with the Germans intrenched in their concreted cellars, +which were linked up with barbed wire and filled with hundreds of +machine guns. The capture of the entire city of Lens was then only a +matter of time, as Hill 70 insured the holding of the ground won by +the Canadians, German reinforcements being placed under the range of +irresistible fire from that dominating height. Among the prisoners taken +in the attack were many German lads apparently not more than 17 years of +age. + +The German commander, Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, made frantic efforts +to recapture the lost positions around Lens. The taking of Hill +stirred the German high command as nothing else had done on the western +front for many months, and a grim battle was waged for several days. +On August 16 the enemy came on ten separate times, but they seldom got +close enough to the Canadians for fighting with bayonet or bomb. The +Prussian Guards participated in the counter-attacks and were subjected +to a terrible concentrated fire from the British artillery and Canadian +machine guns. Their losses were frightful and all German efforts to +retake Hill 70 came to naught, while their hold on the central portion +of the mining city became most precarious, as the Canadians consolidated +the advantageous positions their valor had finally won. + +RUSSIAN VICTORIES AND COLLAPSE + +After the Russian revolution in March, 1917, the military affairs of the +new nation entered upon a curious phase. At first the Russian army made +a feint to advance on Pinsk, to cover the actual operations resumed +in the month of July against Lemberg. This latter front extended for +eighteen and a half miles and was held by troops known as "Regiments +July First." These troops, reinvigorated by the consciousness of +political liberty, confounded German military prophets by the magnitude +and extent of the offensive which they began. Led by Alexander Kerensky, +the revolutionary minister of war, and observed by American army +officers, they forced the Teutons to evacuate Brzezany, and then +captured many important positions, including terrain west and south of +Halicz and strongly-defended positions northwest of Stanislau. On July +11 Halicz was taken, thus smashing the Austro-German front between +Brzezany and the Carpathians. + +This Russian operation broadened by mid-July, so that it extended from +the Gulf of Riga to the Roumanian front, a distance of 800 miles. The +Germans were reported to be rushing troops from the Italian and French +fronts. Widespread enthusiasm was created throughout Russia, and the +moral effect on the other entente powers was tremendous. + +Before the third year closed, at the end of July, however, Russia's +offensive suffered a collapse. German spies, anarchists, peace fanatics, +and other agitators succeeded in destroying the morale of some of the +Russian troops in Galicia, where a retreat became necessary when unit +after unit refused to obey orders. Brzezany, Halicz, Tarnopol, Stanislau +and Kaloma were lost, together with all the remaining ground gained +during the offensive. The Russians surrendered many prisoners, heavy +guns, and an abundance of supplies and ammunition. + +The death penalty was invoked as a check to further insubordinations and +the provisional government introduced a policy of "blood and iron" in an +effort to avert disaster. + +South of the Carpathians and in the Vilna region there was little +disaffection among the Russian troops, and Russia had not yet thrown up +her hands, although the situation on the eastern front was disappointing +to the Allies. Alexander Kerensky, a popular hero, became the strong man +of Russia. A counter-revolution was promptly and forcibly crushed in +Petrograd and an "extraordinary national council," meeting at +Moscow, August 25, took steps to end the crisis. All loyal Russians, +conservative and radical, were called to the aid of Kerensky, who +ignored factional and party lines and succeeded in bringing something +like order out of the political chaos in the new republic. Every effort +was made to restore the power as well as the will of Russia to gain +ultimate victory, and Elihu Root, head of a United States commission to +Russia, assured the American people on his return from Petrograd that +the ill effects of the revolution would soon pass away, leaving Russia +once more united for action against the Teuton foe. + +On August 15, Nicholas Romanoff, the deposed czar of Russia, and his +entire family were removed from the palace at Tsarskoe-Selo, near +Petrograd, and transported to Tobolsk in Siberia. Fifty servants who +were devoted to him accompanied the ex-emperor into exile. Instead of +the gorgeous imperial train in which he was wont to travel, an ordinary +train composed of three sleeping cars, a dining car, and several +third-class coaches was used for the transportation of Nicholas and his +party, which included the former Empress Alexandra, whose pro-German +attitude was a prime cause of his downfall. On arrival at Tobolsk the +ex-czar and his entourage were received as political prisoners. + +GERMAN SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN FAILS + +The campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was relied upon +by Germany to win the war by the extinction of the British mercantile +marine and the stoppage of transatlantic supplies, had proved a failure +by August, 1917, after six months' duration. While the tonnage destroyed +by the undersea instruments of frightfulness was sufficiently serious to +cause grave alarm on both sides of the Atlantic, it formed but a +small percentage of the ships actively and continually engaged in the +transportation of munitions and supplies, while it was practically +counterbalanced by the activities of Allied shipbuilders and by the +seizure for Allied service of interned German ships in the countries +that entered the war subsequent to February 1, 1917, when the campaign +of unrestricted destruction began. Determined efforts were made by the +British, French and United States navies to cope with the undersea +enemy, and these were increasingly successful. Many merchant ships and +transports were convoyed to safety by the destroyers of the three great +naval Allies, and by August the fear that Britain could be starved out +by means of German submarines had practically disappeared. The record of +sinkings of British vessels for the first twenty-four weeks after the +"unrestricted" warfare began was as follows: + + Over Under + 1,600 1,600 Smaller + Week tons. tons. + + First............ 14 9 + Second........... 13 4 + Third............ 16 8 + Fourth .......... 19 7 + Fifth............ 18 13 + Sixth ........... 17 2 + Seventh.......... 19 9 + Eighth .......... 40 15 + Ninth............ 38 13 + Tenth............ 24 22 + Eleventh ........ 18 5 + Twelfth.......... 18 5 + Thirteenth ...... 18 1 + Fourteenth ...... 15 3 + Fifteenth........ 22 10 + Sixteenth........ 27 5 + Seventeenth ..... 21 7 + Eighteenth ...... 15 5 + Nineteenth ...... 14 3 + Twentieth........ 14 4 + Twenty-first..... 21 3 + Twenty-second ... 18 3 + Twenty-third..... 21 2 + Twenty-fourth ... 14 2 + + Total............ 474 164 + + Grand total of ships sunk...... + + + +KING OF GREECE DEPOSED + +King Constantine I of Greece was forced by the Allies to abdicate his +throne on June 12, 1917, in favor of his second son, Prince Alexander. +The kingdom remained, but not a pro-German one as before. In order to +block the designs of the King and court, who were doing their best to +deliver Greece to the Germans, the Entente powers were obliged to make +a succession of demands upon the Greek government, including the +demobilization of most of the army, the surrender of the fleet, and the +withdrawal of Greek troops from Thessaly. In an effort to enforce their +demands the Entente allies landed marines in Athens--who were fired +upon--and finally declared an embargo on imports into Greece. Turmoil +and intrigue continued, and pressure was brought to bear upon +Constantine which compelled him to abdicate the throne. Venizelos +returned as premier and Greece was announced as a belligerent on the +side of the Entente. + +THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN + +In the Trentino the Italians took the offensive in June and after +terrible fighting captured the Austrian positions on Monte Ortigara and +Agnello Pass. These they were forced to relinquish, however, in the face +of Austrian counter-attacks. + +The Italian campaign on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, continued +throughout the summer, was perhaps the most scientific of all the +campaigns, involving tremendous technical difficulties, which were +solved with amazing ingenuity and skill. The campaign was largely an +engineers' and an artilleryman's war, waged in the mountains, much of +it in regions of perpetual snow--highly picturesque and spectacular. +Finally, it was as little destructive as war well can be, because the +Italians were fighting in territories which they hoped to hold after the +conflict, and they spared the towns and villages to the greatest extent +possible. + +BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST + +The capture of Bagdad by the British in March, 1917, after a brilliant +campaign in Mesopotamia, had a deep moral effect in the Orient, +particularly in Arabia, where the natives revolted against Turkish rule +and established an independent government in Mecca. + +In the Holy Land the British in 1917 opened a new era in the history of +the East. Their advance by August 1 had carried them nearly to Gaza. +Their objective was Jerusalem, which the Turks partly evacuated at their +approach, after doing untold damage in the holy city and inflicting many +atrocities upon the inhabitants. + +WAR MISSIONS OF THE ALLIES + +In cementing America's association with the nations which had become +her allies, numerous exchanges of missions were arranged. France, Great +Britain, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Japan and other entente belligerents +sent delegations to the United States as a step toward unification, +military, financial and otherwise. The United States sent missions to +Russia and other countries. + +AERIAL ATTACKS ON LONDON + +Cities from Bagdad to London were subject to aerial raids by the +Germans during the summer, notable attacks being those by Zeppelins and +aeroplanes on London and the eastern coast cities of England. In five +attacks on England in May, June and July, 298 persons were killed and +863 injured. Insistent demands were then made by the English people for +reprisals in kind. + +AN ESTIMATE OP CASUALTIES + +An estimate of the total war losses, made near the close of the third +year of the war and voiced by Arthur Henderson of the British War +Council, placed the number of men killed at 7,000,000 since August, +1914. French general headquarters on August 1 estimated that 1,500, +Germans had been killed up to March 1. Mr. Henderson estimated the total +casualties of the war at more than 45,000,000. + +WHEN THE THIRD YEAR CLOSED + +The third year of the world war closed in July, 1917, with the fortunes +of conflict favoring the Entente, except for uncertainty as to the +outcome of the Russian situation. On the western front in Europe the +Teutons found themselves on the defensive at the advent of the fourth +year. They were fighting on lines newly established after forced +retirement from terrain which they had won in earlier days at a +tremendous sacrifice. + +Following the declaration of war by the United States, Cuba and Liberia +declared themselves on the side of the Allies. Panama pledged the United +States her aid in defending the Panama Canal. Costa Rica put her naval +bases at its disposal. China, Bolivia, Guatemala and Brazil severed +diplomatic relations with Germany. Uruguay expressed her sympathy with +the United States. Late in July Siam entered the war against the central +powers, and on August 14 China formally declared war against Germany +and Austria. This made a total of seventeen nations arrayed against the +central powers. + +As to the prospects for the fourth year of the war, which opened in +August, 1917, American sentiment was expressed by the _New York Sun_, +which said editorially: "We expect today as at first that the end will +be catastrophic overthrow for the Kaiser and the military party of +Germany, and a dreary expiation by the German people of their sin in +allowing themselves to be dragooned into the most immoral enterprise of +the ages." + +UNITED STATES WAR ACTIVITIES + +The Army bill providing for raising a new national army by selective +draft duly passed the House of Representatives and the United States +Senate and was signed by President Wilson on May 18, 1917. The President +forthwith issued a proclamation calling on all male inhabitants of the +United States between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for the draft on +the following June 5. At the same time he formally declined the offer +of Col. Roosevelt to raise a volunteer army for immediate service in +France. + +On June 5, the day of registration, 9,700,000 young men of all classes +registered in their home districts throughout the country. It was then +decided to call approximately 650,000 men to the colors as the first +national army. The formal drawing of the serial numbers allotted to +registrants occurred in Washington late in July. District boards were +appointed to examine the men drafted and receive applications for +exemption, also appeal boards in every State. The month of August +was largely occupied in preparing the quotas from each district and +meanwhile cantonments were made ready for the training of the new army, +while thousands of prospective officers received intensive training in +special camps at various points, east and west, and were commissioned in +due course. Orders were then issued for the men selected to report at +the cantonments in three divisions of 200,000 men each, at intervals of +fifteen days, beginning September 5. The National Guards of the various +States were also mobilized August 9, mustered into the Federal service, +and ordered to special training camps, mostly situated in the South. The +work of assembling equipment and supplies for the new army was rushed +and the whole country hummed with the task of preparation. + +AMERICAN TROOPS IN FRANCE + +France and Great Britain having joined in a request for the dispatch +of an American expeditionary force to France at the earliest possible +moment, the United States government on May 18 ordered 25,000 troops +to France under the command of Major-General John J. Pershing. A large +force of marines was subsequently ordered to join them, bringing the +strength of the expedition up to approximately 40,000 men. General +Pershing and his staff preceded the troops to Europe, reaching London +June 8 and Paris June 13, and being enthusiastically welcomed in both +the Allied capitals. + +Convoyed by American warships, the first and second contingents of +American troops crossed the Atlantic in safety, despite two submarine +attacks on the transports in which at least one U-boat was sunk. Without +the loss of a ship or a man the troops were landed in France on June +and 27, to be received with outbursts of joy by the French populace, +who saw in their coming the assurance of final delivery from the German +invaders. Training camps awaited their coming and there, behind the +French lines they spent the months of July and August in active +preparation for service under the Stars and Stripes against the German +enemy on the western front. + +U.S. WARSHIPS BUSY + +America's destroyer flotilla arrived in British waters in May and +immediately co-operated with the British fleet in the patrol of its home +waters and the hunt for German submarines. The flotilla was commanded by +Vice-Admiral Sims and did effective work from the very start. + +On August 11 it was announced in Washington that Admiral Sims had sent +to the Navy Department a series of reports detailing the work of the +American ships and men under his command. These were said to present +a thrilling story of accomplishment, telling of many encounters with +U-boats and also of the rescue of numerous crews of ships which had been +destroyed by submarines off the coasts of England and Ireland. + +Soon after war was declared by the United States, American warships took +over from British and French vessels the patrol of American coasts, +while Brazil added her navy to that of the United States for the +protection of South American waters against the common enemy. + +THE FIRST "LIBERTY LOAN" + +On May 2, a few weeks after the United States entered the war, +subscriptions were opened for the first block of $2,000,000,000 of the +"Liberty loan" of $7,000,000,000 authorized by Congress in April. Great +popular interest was evinced and all classes of the American people +hastened to subscribe for the 3-1/2 per cent bonds, so that when the +books were closed on June 15 it was found that the loan had been +oversubscribed by $1,035,226,850 and the list of subscribers contained +no fewer than 4,000,000 names. Most of the amount raised was used +for loans to the Allies, to be expended in the United States for war +munitions and supplies. + +A war budget appropriating $3,340,000,000 for current expenses of the +war was passed by Congress and signed by the President June 15; also an +Espionage bill which among other important provisions gave the President +power to place an embargo on all exports. On July 14 the House of +Representatives passed an Aviation bill appropriating the sum of +$640,000,000 for the construction and maintenance of an aerial fleet for +home and foreign service. + +FOOD CONTROL BILL PASSED + +On August 10 President Wilson signed the Food Control bill adopted by +Congress after prolonged debate, and he at once announced the +formal appointment of Mr. Herbert C. Hoover as United States food +administrator. Mr. Hoover, whose work as chief of the Belgian Relief +Commission had made him world famous, stated the threefold objects of +the food administration under the bill as follows: + +"First, to so guide the trade in the fundamental food commodities as to +eliminate vicious speculation, extortion, and wasteful practices, and to +stabilize prices in the essential staples. Second, to guard our exports +so that against the world's shortage we retain sufficient supplies for +our own people, and to cooeperate with the Allies to prevent inflation of +prices; and, third, that we stimulate in every manner within our power +the saving of our food in order that we may increase exports to our +Allies to a point which will enable them to properly provision their +armies and to feed their peoples during the coming winter." + +INTERNAL HANDICAPS IN AMERICA + +While the United States was busily engaged in raising its new national +army, innumerable difficulties arose to be contended with by the Federal +and State governments and local authorities. Not the least of these was +caused by enemy propaganda of various kinds, designed to interfere with +the success of the selective draft. Active opposition to the draft +developed in many districts, especially in the Western states where +the organization calling itself the "Industrial Workers of the World," +notorious as the "I.W.W.," had a considerable following, including many +aliens, and gave the State and municipal authorities much trouble. +Attacks on munition plants, strikes, and incipient riots were frequent, +until the Federal government declared its determination to meet all such +demonstrations with the strong arm of the law. Pacifists and pro-Germans +of various stripes did their utmost to retard war preparations, and +caused much annoyance, without, however, preventing the steady march of +the selected men to the training cantonments, where the first divisions +of the national army gradually assembled. The presence in the country +of so many aliens of enemy birth constituted a difficulty, but this had +been foreseen and partly provided against, and the true American spirit +of patriotism steadily prevailed over all obstacles to the successful +prosecution of the war for humanity. Uncle Sam prepared to strike--and +strike hard. + +INTERNAL TROUBLES IN GERMANY + +Meanwhile, internal troubles developed in the German empire. Weary of +the war, with hopes of final victory dwindling month by month, a strong +peace party arose in the Reichstag, committing itself to the policy of +a peace without annexations or indemnities, and for a brief time the +Reichstag refused to vote a war credit. This brought the Kaiser, Von +Hindenburg, and Von Ludendorff in hot haste to Berlin, to exert the +utmost possible pressure of the military party on the recalcitrants. For +the time being their power prevailed, but the German Chancellor, Von +Bethmann Hollweg, was sacrificed, together with the Foreign Minister and +other leading officials of the empire. The Chancellor was succeeded by +Dr. Georg Michaelis, a statesman of colorless and practically unknown +quality, suspected of being a mere mouthpiece of the Kaiser, appointed +to register his decrees and continue the policy of the autocracy in the +conduct of the war. But many peace proposals came out of Germany during +the summer and every possible German effort was made to break the +solidarity of the Allies. + +THE POPE PROPOSES PEACE + +On August 14 Pope Benedict addressed to all the belligerent nations +a proposal for a peace agreement, stating the general terms which he +believed might be found acceptable as a basis for the cessation +of hostilities. These included disarmament of the nations, mutual +condonation of damages, the establishment of the principle of +arbitration for the future, the evacuation of Belgian and French +territory by the Germans, reciprocal restoration of the German colonies, +and a peace-table agreement as to Alsace-Lorraine, Poland, the Trentino, +Armenia and the Balkan states. + +Nothing being said as to the causes of the war and the criminal +responsibility attaching to the authors of the great conflict, and all +the nations at issue being classed as equally entitled to the benefits +of the condonation proposed, the message from the Vatican met with a +cool reception from the Allied nations, including the United States, +especially as they entertained grave suspicions that it was inspired +from Berlin, by way of Vienna. The answers of President Wilson and +the British and French governments were therefore awaited with little +expectation that the hour for peace had struck. + +The British attitude toward peace proposals was expressed July 20 by Sir +Edward Carson, member of the war cabinet, who said: + +"If the Germans want peace we are prepared tomorrow to treat not +with Prussianism, but with the best of the German nation, and as a +preliminary to such a treaty and as an earnest of their sincerity that +they don't want to acquire any territory or show violence towards +others, we tell them to come forward and offer to enter negotiations. We +make as the first condition of such a parley that they shall withdraw +their troops behind the Rhine. + +"When they have shown something like contrition for the wrongs and +outrages against humanity which they have committed on poor little +Belgium, in northern France, in Serbia, and in those other regions which +they needlessly drenched with blood, we will be willing to enter into +negotiations to see what can be done for release of the world from the +terror of arms." + +CANADIANS HOLD THEIR GAINS + +On August 21 Canadian troops smashed their way with bombs and cold steel +farther into the German defenses of the ruins of Lens, and defeated a +desperate simultaneous attack by the enemy, which developed into one of +the most sanguinary hand-to-hand conflicts on this battle-scarred front. +The attack began at dawn with the capture of 2,000 yards of German +positions on the outskirts of the shell-torn mining center, the +Canadians driving their lines closer about the heart of the city and +gaining possession of many railway embankments and colliery sidings in +the northwest and southwest suburbs which had been strongly fortified +for defense with a series of shell-hole nests of machine guns. The +battle raged fiercely for twenty-four hours. + +When the Canadians went "over the top" in the thick haze of early dawn +of the 21st, they saw masses of shadowy gray figures advancing toward +them. The Germans had planned an attack to be delivered at the same +moment, and sent in wave after wave of infantry in desperate efforts to +regain their lost positions. In the words of an eyewitness, the Germans +fought like cornered rats among the shell holes and wire incumbrances of +"No man's Land," where the struggle raged, bomb and bayonet being the +principal weapons. As the Canadian bayonet did its deadly work, in some +of the bitterest fighting of the war, the German officers tried in vain +to rally their men and the enemy infantry gradually fell back to the +trenches they had left. The Canadians followed closely and, leaping on +the parapets, hurled masses of bombs down among great numbers of troops +which had been collected for the attack. The Germans tried to flee +through the communication trenches, but the Canadians leaped among them +with bayonets and bombs, killing many and sparing few as prisoners. +Throughout the day the entire line was a seething caldron, but the new +Canadian positions were firmly held as night fell. + +Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig after the battle sent a message of +congratulation to Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie, commanding the +Canadian forces, and refuted the German claim that the Canadians had +attacked with four instead of two divisions when Hill 70 was captured by +the gallant fellows from the Dominion. The commander-in-chief also gave +the Canadians credit for having reached all their objectives in the +battles of the previous week. + +Eight heavy assaults were delivered against the Canadians at Lens by the +Germans during the night of the 21st, but in each case the enemy was +thrown back at the point of the bayonet and by afternoon of August +the Canadians had consolidated all the new positions gained. During the +battle of Lens up to this time (from August 15 to 22) the Canadians took +1,378 prisoners, 34 machine guns and 21 trench mortars. The number of +prisoners taken bore only a small ratio to the losses inflicted on the +Germans, who appeared exhausted when the assaults ceased. + +On August 22 the British launched another fierce attack on the enemy +in the Langemarck sector of the front and forced their way to a +considerable depth in the neighborhood of the ridge known as Hill 35, +strongly defended by Irish troops against Prince Rupprecht's Bavarians. +At the same time a new battle at Verdun was in progress, but the +French held all their gains against reserves massed by the Germans for +desperate counter-attacks. + +ITALIANS IN A GREAT OFFENSIVE + +On the Isonzo front the Italian commander, General Cadorna, launched a +great offensive while the British were active in Flanders and by August +23 had broken through the whole Austrian line, capturing the town of +Selo, which was the pivot of the Austrian defense, and considered +impregnable, and inflicting upon the enemy, in this eleventh battle of +the Isonzo, the greatest losses he had sustained since the capture of +Goritz. More than 13,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners were captured during +the battle, with thirty guns, and all counter-attacks were repulsed with +heavy losses. The whole Selo line fell before the heroic onslaught of +the Italians, and the loss of this important position was a serious blow +to the Austrians. On August 22 Italian warships were showering shells on +Trieste, the big Austrian port on the Adriatic which was the objective +of the Italian campaign. + +HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN! + +"In the welter of the conflict an emperor of Austria-Hungary has died, +full of years and of sorrow, a czar of Russia has stepped from his +throne, and a king of Greece has lost his crown," said a well-known +publicist, reviewing the war up to this time. + +"Not one of the prime ministers or ministers of foreign affairs who +conducted the diplomatic maneuvers preceding of immediately following +the beginning of the war in the six most important countries of Europe +is still in power. In Russia, Goremykin and Sazonoff are forgotten +behind a line of successors, equally unstable. In France, Delcasse left +the foreign office and Viviani ceased to head the cabinet, following the +collapse of Serbia in the second autumn of the war. + +"The tragedy of Roumania a year later contributed to the overthrow of +Asquith and his foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, in Great Britain. +San Giuliano of the Italian foreign office and Salandra, the +prime minister, have passed. Count Berchtold, foreign minister of +Austria-Hungary in 1914 (the empire has no prime minister), has passed +into oblivion, while Von Jagow gave up the management of Germany's +foreign affairs last autumn. Von Bethmann-Hollweg, the last of the group +to lose his grip, has just gone down, despite the fact that he was not +responsible to any elective body. + +"Ministers of war in the belligerent countries have not been more +stable. Kerensky follows a long procession in Russia. France has had +four war ministers from Millerand to Painleve, inclusive, while Lord +Kitchener, organizer of Great Britain's most marvelous war achievement, +a volunteer army of some 4,000,000 men, sleeps below the waters of the +North Sea. + +"History has as ruthlessly brushed aside most of the army commanders of +the early days. Von Kluck, who led the Germans on Paris, is retired. +Rennenkampf, with whom the Russians meanwhile swarmed into East Prussia, +is a memory only. Sir John French has been recalled to England. That +little group of generals who saved France and Europe at the Marne is +decimated. Foch and Castelnau, and Manoury are no longer in command, +while Gallieni, worn out in the service of his country, was borne on his +last journey through the streets of Paris on a sunny spring day in 1916. + +"Even Joffre has been superseded in a military sense, though not as an +idol of the nation. France still holds him as close to her heart as +Germany possibly could hold Von Hindenburg--almost the only one of the +war's early commanders to retain his military power." + +RUSSIAN CAPITAL IN PERIL + +On August 23, Riga, the Russian seaport which is the gateway to +Petrograd, was reported in peril from the Germans, who were conducting a +determined advance on the north of the eastern front under the immediate +direction of Field Marshal Von Hindenburg. With a Japanese mission in +Washington, headed by Viscount Ishii, it was expected that steps might +be taken to send Japanese troops to the aid of the Russians. + +Russia's critical internal situation, aggravated by the new German drive +against Riga, was watched by officials in Washington with the gravest +concern. While the taking of Riga would not necessarily be a decisive +blow, it would make the Baltic more than ever a German lake, leaving the +Russian fleet in the position of the mouse in the rathole to the German +cat, just as the Kaiser's fleet was the mouse to the English fleet +outside. + +The outcome of the forthcoming extraordinary national council to be held +at Moscow was therefore awaited in Washington with the keenest interest, +scarcely less keen than in Russia itself. The immediate fate of Russia, +it was felt, depended upon the action of the council in its efforts to +throw off the demoralizing socialistic control of the Russian army and +workmen. German intrigues in Russia were known to be exerting powerful +influence to bring about anarchy within the new democracy. + +CLOSING IN ON LENS + +An advance by the Canadians in the neighborhood of the Green Grassier on +the southern edge of Lens added greatly to the strength of the British +line, which continued to tighten steadily about the heart of the city. + +The Grassier is a great slag heap, and lies only about 300 yards south +of the central railway station of Lens, and overlooks it. + +The Canadians made their assault before dawn this time, and the attack +was preceded by a protracted and exceedingly intense bombardment of the +German positions. The Germans, exhausted by the long strain of constant +counter-attacks, found the Canadians in their midst with little warning. +But the defenders did not give up without a struggle, and there was +fierce bayonet fighting. + +The Grassier was an important buffer between the Canadians and the +defenses of the city proper, and the Germans reached it through tunnels +connected with the network of passages and dugouts beneath Lens. + +Part of the ground about the Grassier was inundated, due to the waterway +near by having broken its banks, and this, in conjunction with the +great number of machine-gun emplacements on the elevation, made it a +particularly difficult position for attack. + +An advance upon two German colliery positions adjoining the Grassier to +the northwest, earlier in the night, also involved stiff hand-to-hand +fighting. About the Grassier were numerous shell-shattered buildings, +many of which had been strongly fortified by the Germans. The Canadians +bombed their way systematically through these defenses, silencing the +machine guns and clearing out the defenders. + +The fighting on August 23 was on the edge of the city proper, rather +than in the suburbs. Notwithstanding the tremendous strain upon the +Canadians during the previous week, there was no diminution in the +strength of their attacks. They worked steadily and methodically, +gradually weaving a net about the Germans, who were living miserably in +their underground positions within the great coal center. + +MANY GERMANS CAPTURED + +In the three days' fighting on the western front from August 21 to 23, +the Entente Allies captured 25,000 German prisoners and by September +1 the total for August had reached more than 40,000, according to +Major-General Frederick B. Maurice, chief director of the British war +intelligence office. This topped the figure of prisoners which the +Germans claimed to have taken in a single month on the Russian front, +although their total undoubtedly was composed by at least half of mere +stragglers from the mutinous and disorganized Russian units. + +On September 1, 1917, the positions recaptured by the French around +Verdun were safely consolidated in their possession, every German effort +being thrown back in disorder. The fighting had developed into a big-gun +duel, in which the French continued to maintain undoubted mastery, and +they were firmly established once more on the left bank of the Meuse, +which the Germans had intended to hold at all costs. Thus ended the last +hope of the Crown Prince of Germany, who apparently was obsessed with +the desire to conquer Verdun, in the neighborhood of which thousands of +the flower of the German army found only a burial place, without any +laurels of victory. + +ALLIED GAINS IN THE WEST + +The early autumn of 1917 witnessed steady gains by the British and +French forces co-operating in Flanders and to the South of the Belgian +border along the western front. The artillery on both sides was +constantly active, but with evident superiority on the part of the +Allies. Repeated German attacks were repulsed in the Champagne and along +the Meuse, while in the Ypres region the Allied troops made frequent +gains in spite of the concrete defenses established by the enemy to +strengthen their entrenched positions. + +Repeated successes of the Allies along the Chemin des Dames finally +forced a German retreat along a fifteen-mile front which the Crown +Prince had made strenuous efforts to hold. The Germans were compelled to +retire because French victories on October 21-23 enabled French guns to +enfilade the Ailette Valley behind the German positions, exposing the +enemy to a series of disastrous flanking attacks and hampering the +German communications. On October 30-31 the French bombarded the German +lines vigorously. The enemy had already moved their artillery across the +Ailette to a ridge north of the river. On the night of November 1 they +completed their preparations for retreat and withdrew their infantry. +French patrols approaching the German lines on the morning of November +2 were fired upon at first, but on renewing their reconnoissance soon +after dawn found the German trenches empty. + +It was impossible for the Germans to keep their front line supplied with +ammunition or food, the carriers of which were obliged to pass through a +tornado of shells and machine gun bullets while crossing the Valley of +the Ailette, where their every movement could be observed by the French. +Eventually the position became untenable and the Germans retired during +the night to the Northern side of the Ailette Valley. The best elements +of the Crown Prince's army had sustained severe losses and were +compelled to go to the rear to reconstitute their diminished ranks. The +evacuated territory North of the crest of Chemin des Dames included +several towns that had been pulverized by bombardment, and the retreat +brought the important city of Laon within range of the French guns. + +The captures by the French in this sector from September 23 to November +1 included 12,000 prisoners, 200 heavy field guns, 220 trench mortars, +and 720 machine guns. In ten days, from September 21 to 30, twenty-three +German airplanes were destroyed and twenty-eight forced to descend badly +damaged. + +THE FIRST AMERICAN CASUALTIES + +The first list of Americans killed and wounded in combat with the enemy +reached Washington on October 17, in an official report from Rear +Admiral Sims of an encounter between a German submarine and an American +destroyer. One American sailor was killed and five sailors were wounded +when the submarine torpedoed the destroyer Cassin on patrol duty in +European waters. The destroyer was not sunk and after making a gallant +fight reached a British port. + +Two days later Rear Admiral Sims reported that the American troop +transport Antilles, homeward bound from France, was torpedoed and sunk +by a German submarine on October 17. Seventy men of the 237 aboard lost +their lives, including four naval enlisted men, sixteen army enlisted +men, three ship's officers, and 47 members of the ship's crew. The +Antilles was under convoy of American patrol vessels at the time it was +sunk. + +FRENCH TRIBUTE TO U.S. DEAD + +At the burial on November 7 of the first three American soldiers killed +in the trenches in France by a raiding party of Germans, a guard of +French infantrymen, in their picturesque uniforms of red and horizon +blue, stood on one side and a detachment of American soldiers on the +other while the flag-wrapped coffins were lowered into the grave, as a +bugler blew taps and the batteries nearby fired minute guns. The French +officer commanding in the sector paid an eloquent tribute to the fallen +Americans, his words being punctuated by the roar of the guns and the +whistle of shells. In conclusion he said: + +"In the name of the French army and in the name of France, I bid +farewell to Private Enright, Private Gresham and Private Hay of the +American army. + +"Of their own free will they had left a prosperous and happy country to +come over here. They knew war was continuing in Europe; they knew that +the forces fighting for honor, love of justice and civilization were +still checked by the long-prepared forces serving the powers of brutal +domination, oppression and barbarity. They knew that efforts were still +necessary. They wished to give up their generous hearts and they had not +forgotten old historical memories while others forgot more recent ones. + +"They ignored nothing of the circumstances and nothing had been +concealed from them--neither the length and hardships of war nor the +violence of battle, nor the dreadfulness of new weapons, nor the perfidy +of the foe. Nothing stopped them. They accepted the hard and strenuous +life; they crossed the ocean at great peril; they took their places on +the front by our side and they have fallen facing the foe in a hard and +desperate hand-to-hand fight. Honor to them! Their families, friends and +fellow-citizens will be proud when they learn of their deaths. + +"Men! These graves, the first to be dug in our national soil and only a +short distance from the enemy, are as a mark of the mighty land we and +our Allies firmly cling to in the common task, confirming the will of +the people and the army of the United States to fight with us to a +finish, ready to sacrifice as long as is necessary until final victory +for the most noble of causes, that of the liberty of nations, the weak +as well as the mighty. Thus the deaths of these humble soldiers appeal +to us with extraordinary grandeur. + +"We will therefore ask that the mortal remains of these young men be +left here, left with us forever. We inscribe on the tombs, 'Here lie the +first soldiers of the republic of the United States to fall on the soil +of France for liberty and justice.' The passer-by will stop and uncover +his head. Travelers and men of heart will go out of their way to come +here to pay their respective tributes. + +"Private Enright! Private Gresham! Private Hay! In the name of France, I +thank you. God receive your souls! Farewell!" + +ITALY INVADED BY TEUTONS + +In the first week of October Austrian forces, heavily reinforced by +Germans, opened a gigantic drive in an effort to crush Italy. It soon +resulted in wiping out all the gains made by the Italians under General +Cadorna on the Isonzo and in the Trentino, and in a determined invasion +of Northern Italy by the enemy, with the city of Venice as its immediate +objective. + +The Teuton attack began on the morning of October 24, after an intensive +artillery fire in which specially constructed gas shells were thrown at +various places. The offensive covered a 23-mile front, from Monte Rombon +Southeast through Flitsch and Tolmino and thence Southward to the +Bainsizza Plateau, about ten miles Northeast of Goritz, the scene of +desperate fighting in the drive by the Italians which wrested important +mountain positions from the Austrians. + +The greatest shock came from the North, where the Isonzo was first +crossed by the enemy. At this point there occurred a weakening of +certain troops of the second Italian army, which gave the overwhelming +German contingents an opportunity to pass forward between a portion of +the army on the North and that on a line farther South. Then began the +double exposure of the Southern force to fire in the front and on the +flank which required a steady falling back until the entire Italian +army was moving towards newly-established positions farther West. The +commanding height of Monte Nero, which the Italians had occupied after +deeds of great valor, was defended against onslaughts from three +sides which gradually resulted in envelopment and the capture of many +thousands of Italian troops and hundreds of guns. + +A general retreat of the Italian forces was then carried out, with +shielding operations by rear guards, and the main body of General +Cadorna's army retired to the Tagliamento. The Germans encountered +stubborn resistance on the Bainsizza Plateau and heaps of enemy dead +marked the lines of their advance. In one of the mountain passes a small +village, commanding the pass, was taken and retaken eight times during +desperate artillery, infantry and hand-to-hand fighting. + +Goritz was shelled heavily and what remained of the city was further +reduced to a mass of debris. One of the main bridges from Goritz across +the Isonzo was blown up by the Italians and the enemy movement thus was +further impeded. + +West of Goritz the town of Cormons also was shelled heavily. The great +German guns opened enormous craters and literally tore the towns to +pieces. + +The heaviest pressure began to be felt on the Carso front on Friday, +October 26. The Teutons then increased their bombardment to deafening +intensity and supplemented this with huge volumes of poison gas and +tear-shells. The humid air and light winds permitted great waves of the +deadly gases to creep low toward the Italian lines, the rear guards +protecting themselves with gas masks and by hiding in caverns. + +Amid the onslaught of overwhelming masses of the enemy, the Italians +fell back slowly. The retreat, as in other instances of the war, was +the most terrible for the civilian inhabitants. There was an enormous +movement Westward. All the roads were packed with dense traffic, with +four or five lines abreast of teams, automobiles, motor trucks, pack +mules, artillery wagons, and ox carts. The soldiers marched or rode, +singly, in groups, in regiments, in brigades, or in divisions. + +"It was such a time as the world has seldom witnessed," said a Red Cross +spectator. "Even fields and by-roads were utilized for the colossal +migration. The only wonder was that the great army was able to withdraw +at all and establish itself along the new line of defense. + +"Many heartrending scenes were witnessed along the route, as the +torrential rain and the vast zone of mud increased the misery of the +moving multitude. Food was scarce and many went without it for days, +while sleep was impossible as the throng trudged westward. The military +hospitals were evacuated, with all other establishments, and pale and +wounded patients obliged to join in the rearguard march or fall into the +hands of the enemy. The roads were strewn with dead horses. + +"Families with eight or ten children, the youngest clinging tightly to +the grandfather, trudged amid ranks of soldiers of many descriptions." +The safe retirement of the Tagliamento was due to the unexampled heroism +of large bodies of Italians, of such spirit as the Alpine troops on +Monte Nero, who refused to surrender, and the regiments of Bersaglieri +at Monte Maggiore, the members of which perished to the last man rather +than yield ground. It was by such resistance in the face of overwhelming +forces of the enemy that the civil population was able to retire. And it +was owing to the valor of Italian aviators, combating the Austro-German +army of the air, that the fleeing women, children and old men, who +crowded the roads, were not struck down by bursting bombs. + +By November 1 General Cadorna's forces had effected their retirement +behind the Tagliamento River line, but at the cost of tremendous losses, +aggregating 180,000 prisoners and 1,500 guns. It was soon seen, however, +that the Tagliamento line could not be successfully held against the +enemy and a further retirement was carried out, Southward through the +mountainous country to a shorter line along the Piave River East of +Venice and Northwesterly to the Trentino boundary. This gave French and +British reinforcements the opportunity to arrive in sufficient numbers +to aid in checking the invaders. + +As one result of the Italian reverses, General Cadorna was relieved of +the chief command, though he was credited with a masterly retreat. He +was succeeded by General Diaz. + +The Austro-German offensive continued steadily for three weeks and on +November 21 was being pressed on three main fronts: First, along the +Piave River; second, from the Piave to the Brenta; third, from the +Brenta across the Asiago Plateau. The Italian troops were holding firm +and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. The spirit of the Italian +people was calm and public opinion strongly supported the most stubborn +resistance to the invader. Although all the fruits of Italy's two years +of strife had been swept away in a single month and a dread enemy was +reaching ever forward, seeking her most treasured possessions of art and +industry, the internal dissensions which Germany probably hoped to start +had not appeared. The population of Venice, however, had been reduced +from 160,000 to 20,000. + +ANARCHY RAMPANT IN RUSSIA + +The Imperial government of Russia, headed by Premier Kerensky, was +ousted on November 7, when a period of practical anarchy set in. On the +evening of that day a congress of workmen's and soldiers' delegates +assembled in Petrograd, with 560 delegates in attendance. Without +preliminary discussion the congress elected officers pledged to make +"a democratic peace." They included fourteen so-called Maximalists +or members of the Bolsheviki (majority), the radical Socialist party +suspected of pro-German tendencies, headed by Nikolai Lenine and Leon +Trotzky; also seven revolutionary Socialists. These leaders at once +sent an ultimatum to the Kerensky government, demanding their surrender +within 20 minutes. The government replied indirectly, refusing to +recognize the Bolsheviki committee. Rioting then broke out and the +Winter Palace, headquarters of the provisional government, was besieged +by troops favorable to the rebels. The cruiser Aurora, firing from +the Neva River, and the guns of the St. Peter and St. Paul fortress +bombarded the palace and early next morning compelled the surrender of +the government forces defending it. Women of the "Battalion of Death," +armed with machine guns and rifles, were among the defenders, who held +out for four hours. Soon the Bolsheviki were in complete control of +the city, Kerensky was in flight, several members of his cabinet were +arrested by the rebels, and the provisional government was no more. + +Several weeks of political and industrial chaos in Russia followed +the Lenine coup d' etat, which was a triumph, probably temporary, +of extremists. A number of the commissioners appointed by the +Lenine-Trotzky faction to carry on the government, gave up their posts +within a few days, characterizing the Bolsheviki regime as "impossible" +and as inevitably involving "the destruction of the revolution and the +country." + +On November 23, Leon Trotzky, styling himself "National Commissioner for +foreign affairs," addressed to the embassies of the Allies in Petrograd +a note proposing "an immediate armistice on all fronts and the immediate +opening of peace negotiations." An official announcement was also made +that the Bolsheviki government had decided to undertake without delay +the reduction of the Russian armies, beginning with the release from +their military duties of all citizen soldiers conscripted in 1899. + +SECOND "LIBERTY LOAN" OVERSUBSCRIBED + +The second "Liberty Loan" of the United States war bond issues was +largely oversubscribed by the patriotic citizens of the country. When +the books closed on October 27 it was announced that the subscriptions +received from approximately 9,000,000 persons amounted to over +$5,000,000,000, the amount of the bond issue being $3,000,000,000. + +BRITISH SMASH HINDENBURG LINE + +By a series of attacks on the morning of November 21 that took the +German enemy completely by surprise, the British Third army, under +command of Lieut.-Gen. Sir Julian Byng, broke through the Hindenburg +line on a front of 32 miles between St Quentin and the Scarpe. The +following day, when they consolidated the new positions gained, 10, +German prisoners were sent to the rear, with a large number of guns and +quantities of material abandoned by the astonished enemy, while at one +point the victorious troops were 6-1/2 miles in advance of their former +positions and the city of Cambrai was brought within easy range of their +guns. + +It was the greatest and most successful surprise of the war. There was +no preliminary bombardment to warn the enemy, and the advance continued +steadily for two days, when the towns of Masnieres, Marcoing, Ribecourt, +Havrincourt, Graincourt, and Flesquieres, long occupied by the enemy, +all were behind the British lines. + +Just before dawn on the 20th there was absolute quiet along the whole +line. A few minutes later British tanks were rumbling along over "No +Man's Land" flanked and followed by the infantry. The tanks smashed down +the barbed wire entanglements and were atop the trenches and, dugouts +before their German defenders were aware of their peril. + +The German artillery could lay down no barrage, and line after line of +trenches had been captured before they got into action. Then the British +guns opened, but not for barrage purposes. They were shelling and +silencing the enemy artillery. + +Following through the gaps made by the tanks, English, Scottish, and +Irish regiments swept over the enemy's outposts and stormed the first +defensive system of the Hindenburg line on the whole front. + +The infantry and tanks then swept on in accordance with the program and +captured the German second system of defense, more than a mile beyond. +This latter was known as the Hindenburg support line. + +English rifle regiments and light infantry captured La Vacquerie and +the formidable defense on the spur known as Welsh ridge. Other English +county troops stormed the village of Ribecourt and fought their way +through Coillet wood. + +In severe hand-to-hand fighting at Flesquieres near Cambrai, on the +21st, British troops, preceded by tanks, stormed the town. The Germans +fired on the tanks with seven big guns at short range. The British +infantry charged the guns, captured them, and killed the crews. Three +other big guns were captured in a similar manner at Premy Chapelle. +British cavalry captured a battery at Rumilly, sabering the crews. + +Highland territorial battalions crossed the Grand ravine and entered +Flesquieres, where fighting took place. West Biding terriorials captured +Havrincourt and the German trench, systems north of the village, while +the Ulster battalions, covering the latter's left flank, moved Northward +up the West bank of the Canal du Nord. + +Later in the day the advance was continued and rapid progress was made +at all points, English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh battalions secured +the crossings on the canal at Masnieres and captured Marcoing and Neuf +Wood. On the following day, Wednesday, November 21, reinforcements which +the enemy hurried up to the battlefield to oppose the British advance +were driven out of a further series of villages and other fortified +positions. + +Thousands of cavalry co-operated with the great army of tanks and +infantry in continuing the successful assault begun on November 20. Open +fighting went on at many places and the mounted troops, who long had +waited for a chance to vindicate their existence in this war, rendered +invaluable services in "mopping up". + +AMERICAN COMMISSION IN EUROPE + +A special American Commission, headed by Colonel Edward M. House, +personal friend and trusted adviser of President Wilson, arrived in +London on November 8, on its way to attend the Allies' conference which +met in Paris November 22, to perfect a system of co-ordination among the +nations at war with Germany and secure a better understanding of their +respective needs. + +BRITISH NEAR JERUSALEM + +On November 24 the British forces contending against the Turks in +Palestine had advanced to the suburbs of Jerusalem, after inflicting +a severe defeat upon the enemy at Askelon, with Turkish casualties of +10,000. More than seventy guns were captured at Askelon, and the British +subsequently occupied the ancient port of Jaffa (Poppa). The fall of +Jerusalem was then considered imminent and the end of Turkish dominion +in the Holy Land was plainly in sight. + +[Illustration: ITALIAN BATTLE FRONT, MAY 4, 1918. + +The Heavy Line Shows the Position of the Hostile Armies, When the +Austrians Threatened A New Drive in 1918. The Shaded Line Shows the +Italian Positions Before the Austro-German Offensive, in the Fall of +1917.] + +WIN AND LOSE AT CAMBRAI + +For the first time since the war began England celebrated on November +the victory of Field Marshal Haig and General Byng at Cambrai, in the +old-fashioned way, by the ringing of bells in London and other cities. +Heavy fighting continued for several days at the apex of the wedge +driven into the German line, especially at Bourlon Wood and the village +of Fontaine, where attacks and counter-attacks followed in rapid +succession. + +Up to November 30 the British held their gains near Cambrai and that +city lay under their guns. Then the Germans in a determined attack +surprised the British in their turn, and forced them, back from +their new positions for a distance of about two miles, nearly to the +Bapaume-Cambrai road. + +Next day, by fierce fighting, the British recaptured Gouzeau-court. The +battle then raged over a fifteen-mile front, desperate efforts being +made by the Germans to regain all the ground taken by the British west +and south of Cambrai. The British had had no chance to dig themselves in +and consolidate their positions in the ground won, and on December 1 and +2 the struggle was in the open, a fierce hand-to-hand conflict unlike +anything previously seen in the war. The British lost guns, for the +first time in more than thirty months. They also lost many men, +taken prisoner by the enemy, but soon succeeded in checking the +counter-offensive. + +In their attempt to deliver a great simultaneous encircling attack, +to surround the victorious British in their new Cambrai salient, the +Germans sent forward great forces of infantry, supported by a terrific +bombardment. The British met the shock brilliantly, finally held their +own, and the German drive was declared to have missed its end, at +enormous sacrifice of life. + +On the night of December 5 the British strengthened their line by +abandoning certain untenable positions near Cambrai, falling back +deliberately and successfully, unknown to the enemy, upon a well-chosen +line which ruled out the dangerous salient made by Bourlon Wood. Here +they prepared to maintain their hold upon the captured length of the +Hindenburg line against any pressure. + +The German casualties in the battle of Cambrai were estimated at 100, +men, greatly exceeding those of the British in consequence of the nature +of the massed attacks made by infantry in the counteroffensive. + +As the year 1917 closed there was a succession of German attacks and +counter-attacks by the British in the Cambrai sector, the British lines +holding firmly at all points and continuing to hold during the winter. +SOME RESULTS OP THE YEAR + +The British War Office issued the following statement of captures and +losses during 1917: Captures--prisoners on all fronts, 114,544; guns, +781. Losses--prisoners, 28,379; guns, 166. + +The following figures, obtained from reliable sources, tell the real +story of Germany's "ruthless" submarine campaign against British +shipping. Tonnage of British, ships of more than 1,600 tons in August, +1914--16,841,519; loss by enemy action in 3-1/2 years, less new +construction, purchase, and captures, 2,750,000; remaining tonnage +January I,1918--14,091,519. + +On December 3, 1917, it was announced officially in London that East +Africa had been completely cleared of the enemy. Every German-colony was +then occupied by Allied forces. + +DISASTER AT HALIFAX + +As the result of a collision in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, +between the French munition ship "Mont Blanc" and the Belgian relief +ship "Imo" on December 6, thousands of tons of high explosives blew up, +killing more than 1,260 persons, injuring thousands, and destroying +millions of dollars in property in the city. + +JERUSALEM CAPTURED BY BRITISH + +Advancing steadily upon Jerusalem in the Palestine campaign against the +Turks, the British forces under General Allenby finally, on December 10, +captured the Holy City and restored it to Christendom. The Turks were +driven to the north, with heavy losses, the port of Joppa was occupied, +and Palestine was slowly but surely freed from Mussulman dominion. +General Allenby formally entered and took possession of Jerusalem on +December 11 with a small representative force of British and colonial +troops, being received and welcomed with impressive ceremonies by the +inhabitants. + +WAR DECLARED AGAINST AUSTRIA + +The United Stages Congress on December 7, 1917, passed a resolution +declaring a state of war to exist with Austria-Hungary. Austrian aliens, +however, were permitted free movement in the United States, only Germans +being classed as alien enemies and subjected to restrictions as such. + +It was announced by the Secretary of War during the winter that 500, +American troops would be on the fighting line in France in the spring of +1918 and that a total of 1,500,000 men would be available for the front +during the year. + +A portion of the French front was taken over by the United States troops +under General Pershing early in 1918 and in a number of trench raids and +patrol engagements in the last weeks of winter they gave a good account +of themselves, receiving their baptism of enemy fire and gas with the +utmost gallantry and winning several minor engagements. A small number +of Americans were captured in German raids up to March 10, but the +losses inflicted upon the enemy more than counterbalanced those +sustained. + +RUSSIA FORCED INTO "PEACE" + +On November 28, a few days after German emissaries had been sent to +Petrograd to parley with the peace faction in disorganized Russia, the +Bolshevik _de facto_ government under Nicolai Lenine and Leon Trotzky +began negotiations for an armistice with Germany; and on December 3 an +armistice was arranged. The Cossacks under General Kaledines and General +Korniloff began a revolt against the Bolsheviki, who organized their +forces as Red Guards, and a virtual reign of terror was inaugurated in +Russia while negotiations for a separate peace with Germany proceeded +with numerous interruptions. The administration of Lenine and Trotzky +became an absolutely despotic regime, all forms of opposition, being +summarily dealt with, while crime was rampant and blood flowed freely in +Petrograd and Moscow. The Ukrainian provinces formed a separate republic +and proceeded to make peace with Germany and Austria. + +Formal announcement of the armistice with the Petrograd government was +made at Berlin December 16, with the statement that peace negotiations +would begin immediately at Brest-Litovsk on the Eastern front. Russia +thus violated her pledge to the Allies not to make a separate peace. + +The peace delegates of Russia and Germany began their sessions December +23. On Christmas Day Ensign Krylenko, the Bolshevik commander-in-chief, +reported that the Germans were transferring large numbers of troops to +the Western front against the Allies, contrary to one of the Russian +conditions of the armistice. Early in the new year, January 2. 1918, the +negotiations at Brest-Litovsk were suspended for several days, owing +to the nature of the German terms of peace, which demanded that Russia +surrender to Germany the territory including Poland, Courland, Esthonia +and Lithuania. Foreign Minister Trotzky declared that the Russian +workers would not accept the German terms. + +Germany, however, stood pat and on January 10 negotiations were resumed, +continuing at intervals for several weeks. In the middle of February the +Bolshevik government announced that it had withdrawn Russia from the +war with the Central Empires and had ordered the demobilization of +the Russian armies, but refused to sign a formal treaty of peace with +Germany. Premature rejoicing ensued in Germany, and on February +Berlin announced a resumption of war with Russia. Two days later the +German armies began an advance into Russia along the whole front from +Riga south to Lutsk; occupying the latter city without fighting. + +A complete surrender to Germany followed. Lenine and Trotzky stating +that they would sign the peace treaty on the German terms, which +included all the territory claimed by Germany along the eastern coast of +the Baltic Sea, comprising the western part of Esthonia, Courland with +the Moon Islands in the Gulf of Riga, most of the provinces of Kovno +and Grodno, and nearly all of Vilna, with a huge indemnity. Despite the +surrender, the Germans continued their invasion of Russia, with an +eye to booty, and captured without organized resistance of any kind +thousands of guns and vast quantities of rolling stock, motor trucks, +automobiles, and munitions of war. The invasion continued well into the +month of March in the general direction of Petrograd, while to the south +Austria, at first seemingly reluctant to join the German incursion +into helpless territory, also invaded the Ukraine on the pretense of +"restoring order." + +SINKING OF THE "TUSCANIA." + +The first serious disaster to American troops on the voyage to France +occurred on February 5, when the steamship "Tuscania," a British +transport with 2,179 United States troops on board, was torpedoed and +sunk by a German submarine off the north coast of Ireland. The close +proximity of British convoy and patrol boats enabled most of those on +board to be rescued, 1912 survivors being landed within a few hours at +Buncrana and Larne in Ireland. The lives lost included 267 American +soldiers besides a number of the crew. The attacking submarine is +believed to have been destroyed by the British patrol before the +"Tuscania" sank. + +LONG-DISTANCE PEACE TALK + +Early in 1918, while the Russian debacle complicated the war situation +in Europe and the United States hummed with war activities, a series of +speeches by statesmen of the powers at war resulted in demonstrating the +futility of all hopes of a general peace. + +In an address to Congress on January 8 President Wilson, following and +indorsing a notable speech by the English premier, Mr. Lloyd-George, +laid down fourteen definite peace and war aims of the United States, +closely agreeing with the expressed aims of the European Allies; "and +for these," said Mr. Wilson, "we will fight to the death." Subsequently, +in February, Mr. Wilson stated four general principles on which the +nations at war should agree in seeking a satisfactory peace. The German +chancellor, Von Hertling, addressing the Reichstag, declared that +Germany could agree to Mr. Wilson's basic principles of peace, but +British and French statesmen promptly pointed out that the German +practices in Russia, and elsewhere as opportunity offered, failed to +agree with Von Hertling's profession of the Wilson principles. German +suggestions of an informal discussion of peace terms were therefore +declined by the allied powers, and in March, 1918, all eyes were turned +toward the Western front in anticipation of a long-threatened German +drive. + +THE WORLD'S GREATEST BATTLE + +All previous battles of the Great War paled into comparative +insignificance when the German offensive of 1918 opened on the Western +front, March 21, with a desperate and partially successful attempt of a +million men to break through the British line, attacking fiercely from +the Ailette to the Scarpe, along a front of sixty miles. For weeks the +battle raged over the territory of the Somme, and when a second German +drive occurred farther north, from Givenchy to Ypres, fully 3,000, +men were engaged on both sides, and all records of human combat were +broken. + +The loss of life was appalling, but in the absence of official reports +while the fighting was in progress, could only be guessed at, though the +world knew that the rivers of France and Flanders ran with blood. The +Germans attacked in masses and successive waves, and paid the penalty of +their desperate strategy. For though the British, and later the French, +lines were bent backward for miles, and gaps were occasionally torn in +them by the foe's furious attack, the Allied defensive withstood the +onslaught and after a month of the most terrific struggle the world has +ever seen, both British and French forces presented an unbroken front to +the disappointed enemy. + +The city of Amiens, one of the keys to Paris, had been a chief objective +of the German drive, but all efforts to capture that important railroad +center failed. True, Noyon, Peronne, Bapaume, Albert and Montdidier, +on the south, and Festubert, Neuve Chappelle, Armentieres, and +Paaschendaele, to the north, were successively captured from the Allies, +in spite of the most gallant and heroic resistance. But then the lines +held firmly, and all the Germans had to show for an awful sacrifice +of life and morale was a few miles of advance into territory already +devastated by war. + +On April 21, when the Hun offensive had lasted a full month, not only +were the armies of the Allies intact, and better still, their spirit and +morale unbroken, but the utmost confidence prevailed among them. All the +Allied forces, British, French, Canadian, and American, on the Western +front, had been by this time placed under the supreme command of the +eminent French strategist, General Ferdinand Foch, an important step in +the co-ordination of effort that met with universal approval among the +Allied nations. + +GENERAL PERSHING OFFERS AID + +A magnanimous offer by General Pershing, approved by President Wilson, +to brigade the United States troops in France with the British and +French forces, was gratefully accepted by General Foch. While the +Americans bore only a minor part in the big battles, or rather the +continuous battle of March and April on the Somme, and had no part at +all in the fighting in Flanders, they held splendidly to their section +of the front-line trenches in the vicinity of Toul, and gave the enemy a +taste of their quality in many a trench raid. Several attacks by German +storm troops were also beaten off, the most important of these occurring +late in April, when the Americans defeated a force of some 1,200 picked +Hun troops, driving them back to their own lines with a loss of 400, +while the total losses of the Americans was about 200. + +GERMANY PREPARES TO STRIKE + +The great German drive had been in course of preparation for months +before it began. The Russian situation had been settled, and large +bodies of troops were thereby released for service on the Western front. +The Kaiser and his general staff then determined upon a final effort +to win a decisive victory in the west. Their plan was to vanquish +the British and French, if possible, before the United States could +transport a sufficient number of men to France to turn the tide of +numbers in favor of the Allies, and enable them to take the offensive +with good prospects of success. + +German troops were therefore concentrated near the points chosen for +attack, and this was done with the utmost secrecy, the troop trains +running unlighted at night, so as to escape the observation of Allied +aviators. Two hundred divisions in all were gathered for the German +drive, and fully half of them were assembled near the British front +on the Somme. March 21 was set as the date for the attack and every +precaution was taken to render it a surprise to the British. The German +troops were led to believe that they would be irresistible, and that +Paris, their long-looked-for goal, would soon be won. + +Meanwhile the Allies had not been idle. Expecting the drive, but not +knowing where it would strike first, preparations had been made all +along the line, not merely for strenuous defense of the positions held, +but also for eventualities in case of enforced retreat. New positions +back of the lines were prepared, reserves were distributed at strategic +points, and full co-operation between the Allied armies was arranged +for. The British took over the section of the French front between St. +Quentin and Chauny, in addition to their former front, and by so doing +relieved the strain on the far-flung French line. + +The Germans counted for victory upon their concentration of vast bodies +of troops and the element of surprise, hoping to break through between +the British and French armies before Allied reserves could be brought up +in sufficient numbers to halt them. + +OPENING DATS OF THE BATTLE + +On the day set, Thursday, March 21, the great battle opened, after a +six-hour bombardment, the British 3rd and 5th armies being attacked +simultaneously. The German infantry advanced in waves, of which there +seemed no end, and these were followed by batteries of trench mortars, +until the front line of German trenches had been reached. Then, wave +after wave, the advance was continued, in the face of a furious British +fire, until the defenders were compelled to draw back through sheer +force and weight of numbers. The German waves moved forward at the +calculated rate of 200 yards every four minutes, wherever it was found +possible to do so. Each wave, on reaching its objective point, dropped +to the ground and opened fire with rifles and machine guns, placing a +barrage 2,000 yards ahead of them, under cover of which the succeeding +wave advanced. Thus each wave passed over the one ahead of it, and fresh +troops were constantly coming to the front. With such tactics, against a +spirited and determined foe, the losses of the attackers were naturally +enormous. In fact, it was estimated that the casualties suffered by the +Germans during the first few days of such fighting amounted to 250, +men. But, driven on by ruthless commanders, they continued to advance in +masses, though mowed down by the British at every successive step. + +"All the German storm troops, including the guards, were in brand-new +uniforms," said the correspondent of the New York Times. "They advanced +in dense masses and never faltered until shattered by the machine-gun +fire. The supporting waves advanced over the bodies of the dead and +wounded. The German commanders were ruthless in the sacrifice of life, +in the hope of overwhelming the defense by the sheer weight of numbers. +* * * Still they came on, with most fanatical courage of sacrifice. +When the first lines fell, their places were filled by others, and the +British guns and machine-guns could not kill them fast enough." Two +batteries of field artillery at Epehy, it is said, "fired steadily with +open sights (that is, pointblank) at four hundred yards for four hours, +into the German masses swarming over No Man's Land." + +On the first day, some field batteries aided the Germans, but these were +soon left behind in the advance over difficult and shell-torn ground, +and the battle became one of rifle and machine-gun fire and hand-to-hand +combat. + +On the north the British 3rd army made a splendid resistance and +held its ground well, but the 5th army farther south, which bore the +principal brunt of the attack, under General Gough, was gradually forced +to retreat, though in good order, in a northwesterly direction, towards +Amiens. French troops were ordered from the southwest to reinforce the +British in the vicinity of Noyon. There the French stemmed the tide of +Germans, and the drive was soon turned northward, with Amiens as its +evident objective. + +ALLIED LINES BEGIN TO HOLD FIRM + +The battle continued along these lines, with the British still slowly +retiring, with their faces to the foe, until the 26th of March, the +French stretching their lines farther and farther to the left to keep in +touch with the British, and never failing to maintain connection between +the two armies. The Germans' fond hope of cutting them apart was doomed +to disappointment. French and British cavalry aided in keeping the line +intact, and for the second time since the early days of the war the +horsemen came into their own, doing valiant service in covering the +retreat of the British and impeding the enemy's advance at many points +where their aid proved invaluable. + +On March 27 and 28, the situation began to improve. British +reinforcements arrived at the points of greatest danger, and the defense +stiffened, then held the lines firmly before Amiens, and at a distance +from that threatened city sufficiently great to prevent its successful +bombardment by all but the heaviest artillery of the enemy. The +devastated and shell-torn condition of the terrain taken over by the +Germans was unfavorable for bringing up the great guns to within +striking distance. From that time on, the Allies were supremely +confident of their ability to cope with any forces. + +While the Allied armies, especially the British, lost heavily in men and +guns during the Hun advance, many of the German divisions engaged in the +drive were literally cut to pieces. The 88th division was reported by +prisoners to be practically annihilated. The same prisoners, taken in +counter-attacks, expressed the utmost surprise at the relatively small +number of dead whom they had found in the British and French trenches +as they advanced. They had been informed by their officers that the +offensive would be over in eight days, and that a complete victory over +the Allies would be won within three or four weeks. + +GERMAN DRIVE IS HALTED + +The eighth day of the German offensive, far from finding the Huns +victorious, resulted in tremendous attacks by the Germans being stopped +by the unbeatable British, while the French won a brilliant victory at +the south of the line. Meanwhile the Germans had begun another attack in +the Flanders sector, with the object of wresting from the British the +control of Messines Ridge, which dominated the lowlands of Flanders and +had been so gallantly won by the Canadians in the previous year. They +gained a partial footing on the ridge, but the greater part of it was +grimly held, and all efforts of the enemy to advance through Ypres +towards the Channel ports were frustrated. + +Another sector was added to the north end of the battle line on the +eighth day, March 28, when the Germans attacked heavily on both sides of +the River Scarpe toward Arras. Here some of the fiercest fighting of +the offensive soon developed, but the ground gained by the Germans was +insignificant. Daily, however, they claimed to have captured thousands +of Allied troops and hundreds of guns; while, on the other hand, +enormously long ambulance trains were reported passing through Belgium +with the German wounded, the hospitals in northern France not having +sufficient accommodation for the sufferers. On every battlefield of the +100-mile front--for the fighting now covered that enormous stretch of +territory, in two sections, north of La Bassee and south of Arras--the +German dead lay literally in heaps. + +On March 29, the ninth day of the great battle in France, the German +drive was practically halted, and both British and French reports noted +a decrease of the fighting, enemy activity being manifested only by +local attacks all along the front, which was being strengthened each day +by the arrival of Allied reinforcements. + +PARIS BOMBARDED AT LONG RANGE + +Soon after the great offensive opened, the city of Paris was surprised +by being bombarded from a distance of approximately 70 miles by a new +German long-range gun, which was discovered by French airmen to be +concealed in a concrete tunnel in a wood behind the German lines, A +number of persons were killed and wounded by the nine-inch shells from +this new weapon, 54 women being killed when a shell struck a church in +the suburbs of the city on Good Friday. The Allied commanders refused to +regard the long-range gun as of any great military importance except +as a means of spreading terror among the civilian population,--and +the population of Paris refused to be terrorized by such a method, +exhibiting the same spirit as that of the people of England with regard +to the futile aerial raids. + +French estimates of the German losses for the first eleven days of the +offensive placed them at between 275,000 and 300,000 men. The Germans +claimed that during the same period they had captured 70,000 prisoners +and 1,000 field guns. + +ANOTHER ATTACK ON AMIENS + +Having been foiled in an attempt on March 31 to break through the valley +of the Oise, Paris ceased to be the German objective, and another +offensive against Amiens was undertaken on April 4. By this time a +French army had repaired the ragged line between the French on the south +and the remainder of the British army of General Gough, whose enforced +retirement had been conducted in good order. Though outnumbered two to +one, the British and French repulsed the attack on Amiens with heavy +losses to the Germans, who were effectually stopped at a distance of +fifteen kilometers (nine miles) from that city. This ended the first +phase of the great battle. + +BATTLE RENEWED IN THE NORTH + +The second phase of the battle which was expected to prove decisive +began April 9 with an attack on the British, aided by Portuguese troops, +on a front of fifteen miles, from La Bassee to Ypres. The center, held +by three Portuguese divisions, was broken through, and on April 12 the +situation seemed critical. Determined counterattacks by the British, +however, and reinforcements by the French, stopped the Germans in the +next few days, and this offensive, like that farther south in the valley +of the Somme, gradually died out, leaving the Germans with gains of only +a few square miles of devastated territory to show for their continued +heavy losses. And the reserve forces of the Allies were still intact, +the strategy of General Foch in this respect being universally applauded +as correct under the circumstances. + +SHELLS FIRED BY THE MILLION + +In the beginning of the offensive which thus failed to accomplish its +object, the most desperate means were employed by the Germans to break +down resistance; In the first six hours of bombardment on March 21, when +three great German armies were massed for the attack, under Generals Von +Bulow, Von Marwitz, and Von Hutier, commanding from the north to south +in the order named, it is estimated that at least 1,500,000 shells were +fired by one single army--that opposed to General Gough's forces on the +south, while the British 3rd army, under General Byng, to the north, was +similarly assailed. Most of the shells contained gas and were designed +to destroy the occupants of the trenches about to be stormed. Only the +utmost individual valor and persistency of the thin British line, as it +retired still fighting, prevented the desperate and over-confident foe +from turning the gradual retreat into a decisive defeat. As it was, +the Germans paid dearly for every yard of ground they gained, as their +successive waves of troops swept over the zone of trenches and then +engaged the groups of Allied forces in the open beyond. + +All the German units were under orders to advance as far and as fast as +possible, being provided with three days' rations and two days' water. +After the first few days, the difficulty of bringing up supplies, with +the expected objectives far from being gained, aided in slowing up and +then halting their advance. Behind the German storm troops great numbers +of reserves were assembled, to fill up the gaps torn in the ranks and +restore the divisions to their normal strength as fast as they were +depleted by the defense. The German tactics took no account of human +life, but expended it in the most reckless manner, with appalling +results throughout the drive. The Allies, on the other hand, sought at +all times to conserve their forces by intrenching as fast as possible at +every point during the period of their retirement. Their artillery was +constantly in action, and aided greatly in checking the German. advance. + +ALLIES CONTROL IN THE AIR + +German aeroplanes played no great part in the advance, although they +bombed the British and French rear nightly, and the air service of the +Allies proved superior throughout the battle. For the first time in a +great battle British and French airmen attacked the enemy infantry from +low altitudes with their machine guns and bombs, and rendered invaluable +assistance in damming the swelling tide of the Hun hordes. Having gained +the mastery of the air, as they did prior to the British drive on +the Somme in 1916, they retained it until the foe was halted. To a +considerable extent they replaced the heavy guns of the Allies by their +constant bombing and gun fire. + +Between March 21 and March 31, the French and British pilots shot down +more than 100 German planes, losing about one-third of that number in +the air battles. After the first few clays there were practically no +German machines in the air over the fighting front, as was the case +on the Somme in 1916, but at the end of March the Hun planes began to +reappear in mass formation patrols, sometimes consisting of as many as +fifty planes in a group of patrols. Then followed a period of intense +air fighting, of which a single day's record of the French may be cited +as an example. On April 12, the Allied aviation report shows that French +fighting scouts made 250 flights, fought 120 combats in the sky, shot +down eight Germans and damaged 23 others, burned five enemy balloons, +damaged five more, and bombarded German troops with 45 tons of +explosives. + +GERMANS FAIL IN THEIR OBJECT + +The last part of the month of April was marked by a succession of minor +attacks by the Germans along the entire front of the halted offensive, +and by the development of counter-attacks by the Allies at various +points where it was deemed necessary or advisable to strengthen their +defensive positions, but up to May 1 the Germans were as far as ever +from their main objectives in the west. Judged from the standpoint of +their confident expectations, and the promises of success held out as +an encouragement to their troops, the long-heralded and long-prepared +spring offensive of 1918 was a failure. Their much-vaunted strength of +numbers and of organization failed as completely to gain a decisive +result as their initial drive on Paris in 1914. Though they threw into +the fighting in March and April about 125 divisions, they failed to +separate the French and British armies, which was a prime object of +their strategy, and they sustained losses which, while not irreparable, +must have greatly affected the morale of their men. "Remember Verdun!" +said a famous French commander, commenting on the drive. "The Boche is +making this tremendous effort and sustaining these losses to effect +a complete rupture of our front, and if he does not do that he has +failed." + +BRITISH LOSSES MADE GOOD + +On April 25 the British minister of munitions announced in the House +of Commons that the losses of guns and ammunition sustained by Field +Marshal Haig's forces in France and Flanders during the big German drive +had been more than replaced. The losses were placed by Mr. Winston +Spencer Churchill at nearly 1,000 guns, between 4,000 and 5,000 machine +guns, and a quantity of ammunition "requiring from one to three weeks to +manufacture." More than twice the number of guns lost or destroyed had +been placed at the disposal of the British air and ground services, said +the minister. + +GERMANS START ANOTHER ATTACK + +Another determined attack in the Somme region was begun by the Germans +on April 24, after three weeks' further preparation. The enemy evidently +had not abandoned hope of capturing Amiens, and, he again began +hammering at the gateway to that city. The first onslaught was repulsed +by the British, but on the following day, April 25, the enemy succeeded +in gaining about a mile of ground. The combined British and French +armies were covering the roads to Amiens, with reserves close at hand, +and part of General Pershing's American forces were co-operating with +the French. The utmost confidence prevailed that the united forces under +General Foch, who was called by Marshal Joffre "the greatest strategist +in Europe," would not only meet and defeat this renewed drive by the +enemy, but that before long the tide of battle would turn strongly in +favor of the Allies, whose reserve armies were held in leash by their +supreme commander, awaiting the strategic hour to strike. + +BOTTLING UP U-BOAT BASES + +One of the most thrilling exploits of the war occurred on the night of +April 22, 1918, when British naval forces performed an almost incredible +feat, by entering the harbors of Ostend and Zeebrugge, German submarine +bases, and practically bottling them up. French destroyers co-operated +with the British in the daring undertaking. + +At midnight, under cover of a remarkably developed smoke screen, +furnished by the raiders themselves, five old British cruisers were run +aground in the harbor channels, blown up, and abandoned by their crews. +The ships were loaded with concrete. An old submarine, loaded with +explosives, was also run under a bridge connecting the mole, or +breakwater, at Zeebrugge with the shore, and there blown up, so as to +prevent interruption of the raiders while they were doing their work +alongside the mole. + +Facing dangerous and unknown conditions of navigation, the harbor was +rushed by British monitors and destroyers, under heavy fire from the +shore batteries. A storming party of volunteers, sailors and marines, +was landed under extreme difficulties from the cruiser Vindictive. This +party boarded a German destroyer lying alongside the mole, defeated her +crew, and sank the ship. The concrete-laden vessels were duly sunk with +a view to blocking both harbors, and every gun on the mole at Zeebrugge +was destroyed. The effects of the raid were not easily ascertainable. It +was soon learned that the submarine base at Zeebrugge at least had been +put out of business for a while. The gallantry and daring of the deed +were generally recognized as fully in keeping with the best traditions +of the British navy. The loss of life was quite heavy, but the British +lost only one destroyer and two coastal motor boats, many of the raiders +returning safely to the other side of the Channel. Even the men on the +exploded submarine succeeded in escaping. The officer who planned the +raid, however, was among the killed. + +GERMAN ATTACK ON YPRES FAILS + +On Monday, April 29, the German 4th army under General von Arnim, having +gained possession of Mount Kemmel, a dominating position, began a +general assault on the British hill positions on the Kemmel front, +southwest of Ypres. The intention was to capture Ypres forthwith, by the +overwhelming power of numbers, and the day's fighting was a crucial test +of the holding power of the Allies in the Ypres salient. The result of +the attack was a stunning defeat for the enemy, who was repulsed all +along the line and suffered frightful losses. + +In the words of a French general, "It was a great day for the Allies!" +The repulse of the German attack was a real defeat, for it upset all the +confident calculations of the enemy, who from the height of Mount Kemmel +had seen, first Ypres, and then channel ports, within his grasp. It +brought disappointment and disillusion to his troops, who had been urged +on to their disastrous massed attacks by flamboyant promises of success. +The effect was seen in a renewal of German peace propaganda, which all +the Allies had learned by this time to disregard as unworthy of the +slightest serious attention. + +"Extraordinary nervousness and depression prevail in Germany, owing to +the losses in the western offensive," said Reuter's correspondent at +Amsterdam on April 29, quoting a German military writer, Capt. von +Salzmann, who said: "Our losses have been enormous. The offensive in +the west has arrived at a deadlock. The enemy is much stronger than our +supreme command assumed. The region before Ypres is a great lake, and +therefore impassable. The whole country between our Amiens front and +Paris is mined and will be blown up should we attempt to pass." + +The preliminary bombardment southwest of Ypres April 29 started in the +early morning and took in the ten-mile front from Meteren, west of +Bailleul, to Voormezeele, two miles south of Ypres. Infantry attacks in +this area followed with great fury, and sanguinary fighting continued +all day. The Germans at the outset advanced with fixed bayonets, but +they came under such an intense machine-gun fire that most of them were +never able to employ the steel. The French at Locre and the British at +Voormezeele repulsed every attack, thrusting the enemy back whenever he +gained a footing in advanced positions, and firmly holding every point +around Ypres at the end of the day. + +General von Arnim's losses were particularly staggering at Locre, where +he used battalion after battalion in a vain attempt to hold the village, +a key to Mount Rouge. The previous German capture of Mount Kemmel did +the enemy little good, for the Allied artillery kept the crest of the +hill so smothered with shell fire that it was impossible for the Huns to +occupy it in force. + +The attack, which was the fourth great battle of Ypres, was the biggest +effort the Germans had made in the Flanders offensive, the enemy +employing thirty fresh battalions of reserves, in addition to the large +number of divisions in position at the beginning of the battle. The +net result was a tremendous setback for the Germans, who paid an awful +price. Next morning the battlefield in front of the defenders' positions +was covered with the bodies of gray-uniformed men. + +AMERICAN TROOPS IN ACTION + +American units were in action in Picardy, east of Amiens, on April 28, +having reinforced the British and French in that sector, to aid in +keeping the foe from Amiens and Paris. Their baptism of fire in the +direct line of the German offensive made their previous experiences pale +into the insignificance of skirmishes. During the various engagements in +which they participated in the last days of April and the first week of +May they acquitted themselves with great credit. + +After a preliminary bombardment of two hours, a heavy German attack +was launched against the Americans in the afternoon of April 30 in the +vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux, and was repulsed with heavy losses to +the enemy, who left dead and wounded on the field, while the American +losses were reported as "rather severe." There was hand-to-hand fighting +all along the line, and the violent struggle lasted for a considerable +time before the enemy was finally thrust back, leaving prisoners in the +American hands. Their French comrades were full of praise for the marked +bravery displayed throughout by the American troops, who were fighting +at one of the most difficult points on the whole battle front. + +U.S. TROOPS BUSHED TO PRANCE + +As a result of the great German offensive movements and territorial +gains in the spring of 1918, there was a tremendous increase in the +military activities of the United States, particularly in rushing troops +to Europe. After the selection of General Foch as generalissimo of the +Allied forces, the American troops in the war zone were brigaded with +the French and British all the way from the North Sea to Switzerland, +and their numbers steadily increased. + +In the United States the training of the new National Army, national +guards, and officers in the numerous cantonments and training camps was +intensified and hurried. As fast as the men were brought into condition +they were shipped to France. At first much of the space on the +transports was devoted to supplies and materials for the camps and +depots in France, but as the situation became critical owing to +successful enemy offensives, fewer supplies and more men were sent. +Great Britain lent her ships and the number of transports was largely +increased, so that each month of 1918 showed a greater movement of +troops across the Atlantic. + +The troop movement record for the spring and summer months of 1918 was +a wonderful one, in view of the submarine menace. In April, 117, +American troops were successfully transported; in May, 244,345; in +June, 276,382, and in July 300,000, The month of August found more than +1,500,000 Americans in France, England and Italy. This immense number of +men were carried over without the loss of a single eastbound American +transport. + +AN ARMY OF 5,000,000 PLANNED + +On August 5, 1918, plans were announced for increasing the effective +strength of the United States army to 5,000,000 forthwith, by an +extension of the draft age limits and rapid intensive training. Official +statements showed that the armed forces of the United States already +amounted to a total of 3,074,572 men, including 2,570,780 in the army +and 503,792 in the navy. The national army at this date contained +1,400,000 men, the regular army 525,741, the national guard 434,511 and +the reserve corps 210,528. The regular navy had 219,158 men, the marine +corps 58,463, the coast guard 6,605, and the reserve 219,566. On June +of this year 744,865 men reaching the age of 21 since June 5, 1917, were +registered for selective draft purposes. + +DEFEATING THE SUBMARINE DANGER + +Meanwhile giant strides were taken in the American program of +shipbuilding to offset the ravages of submarine warfare. The U.S. +Shipping Board was reorganized and galvanized into a high state of +efficiency. Under the leadership of Charles M. Schwab, director-general +of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, and Edward M. Hurley, chairman of +the board, the work in the shipyards on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, +and on the Great Lakes, was speeded up until ships were being built at +the rate of 5,000,000 tons a year. In the first three weeks of July, +1918, twenty-three ships of 122,721 deadweight tons were completed, +making a total of 223 new vessels built under the direction of the board +up to that time, the aggregate tonnage being 1,415,022 tons. On July +alone eighty-two vessels were launched, their splash being "heard around +the world." + +With the increased tonnage being put out by the British, French, and +Italian shipyards, and the output of neutral countries friendly to the +Allies, this practically put an end to the submarine peril. In addition +the United States requisitioned seventy-seven Dutch ships with an +aggregate tonnage of about 600,000, while arrangements were made with +Sweden for about 400,000 tons of shipping and contracts were let for the +building of a considerable number of ships in Japanese shipyards. + +The knowledge that there were over a million American troops facing the +enemy on the battle fronts in Europe came as a decided shock to the +German army and people, who were forced to realize the failure of their +submarine campaign. + +AMERICANS PROVE THEIR METTLE + +After the American forces in France had their first serious encounter +with the Germans on April 20 at Seicheprey, a village near Renners +forest, which they recovered from the enemy in a gallant counter-attack, +the fighting was of a more or less local character throughout the rest +of the month and in May, with varying fortunes. + +On May 27 the Germans began another great offensive, taking the Chemin +des Dames from the French and crossing the Aisne. On the following +day they crossed the Vesle river at Fismes. But on this day also the +Americans won their first notable victory, by capturing the village of +Cantigny and taking 200 prisoners. The United States marines added to +their laurels in this fight and held the position firmly against many +subsequent counter-attacks. + +Continuing their drive toward Paris, the Germans occupied Soissons on +May 29, Fere-en-Tardenois May 30, and next day reached Chateau Thierry +and other points on the Marne, where they were halted by the French. + +In the early days of June several towns and villages fell to the +Germans, but the French by counter-attacks recaptured Longpont, Corcy, +and some other places. On June 6 American marines by a spirited attack +gained two miles on a two and a half mile front, taking Hill 142 near +Torcy and entering Torcy itself. The following day, with French aid, +they completed the capture of Vilny, Belleau, and important heights +nearby. In another battle northwest of Chateau Thierry the Americans +advanced nearly two and a half miles on a six-mile front, taking about +300 prisoners. + +These battles confirmed the impression that the American troops as +fighters were equal to their allies. + +ANOTHER ENEMY OFFENSIVE + +On June 9 the Germans began the fourth phase of their offensive, planned +by their high command to enforce peace. They attacked between Montdidier +and the Oise, advancing about four miles and taking several villages. On +the next day they claimed the capture of 8,000 French. The same day the +American marines took the greater part of Belleau Wood. On June 11 they +completed the capture of Belleau Wood, taking 300 prisoners, machine +guns and mortars. The French at the same time defeated the Germans +between Rubescourt and St. Maur, taking 1,000 prisoners. Other battles +followed on the 12th and 13th, but on the 14th the latest German +offensive was pronounced a costly failure. + +From this time to the end of the month the fighting was of a less +serious character, though the Americans in the Belleau and Vaux region +gave the Germans no rest, attacking them continually and taking +prisoners at will. + +JULY 4 CELEBRATED ABROAD + +America's Independence day, 1918, was officially celebrated in England, +France, and Italy, as well as in the United States, making it a truly +historic occasion. On that day Americans assisted the Australians in +taking Hamel with many prisoners. On the 8th and 9th the French advanced +in the region of Longpont and northwest of Compiegne, taking Castel and +other strong points near the west bank of the Avre river. July 14, the +French national holiday, was generally observed in America and by the +American soldiers in France. Then, on July 15, the Germans began the +fifth and disastrous last phase of the offensive which they started in +the spring, on March 21. + +STINGING DEFEAT FOR AUSTRIA + +But Italy meanwhile had scored a great success against the Austrians. +French and British regiments, with some Americans, were helping to hold +the Italian line when, on June 15, the Austrians, driven by their German +masters, began an offensive along a 100-mile front, crossing the Piave +river in several places. For two days they continued violent attacks, +penetrating to within 20 miles of Venice, at Capo Silo. Then the +Italians, British, and French counter-attacked with great vigor and soon +turned the Austrian offensive into a great rout, killing thousands, +taking other thousands prisoner, and capturing a vast amount of war +material, including many of the Austrian heavy-caliber guns. The entire +Austrian, plan to advance into the rich Italian plains, where they hoped +to find great stores of food for their hungry soldiers, resulted in +miserable failure. + +The defeat increased the discontent in Austria-Hungary and added to the +bad feeling entertained towards Germany. Peace feelers were thrown out +by Austrian statesmen, but the continued influence of German militarism +prevented them from receiving serious attention by the Allies. + +A WATERLOO FOR THE CROWN PRINCE + +When the German divisions of the Crown Prince of Prussia began their +last desperate offensive on July 15, they attacked from Chateau Thierry +on the west to Massiges, along a 65-mile front, crossing the Marne at +several places. + +East and west of Reims the battle raged, with the Allies holding +strongly everywhere and the Germans suffering heavy losses. The enemy +aimed at Chalons and Epernay and hoped by turning the French flank at +Reims to capture the cathedral city without a direct assault upon its +formidable defenses. General Gouraud, the hero of Gallipoli, was in +command of the French forces on the right, while General Mangin and +General de Goutte held the left. Most of the Americans taking part in +the battle were under the command of these noted generals, and strong +Italian and British forces were with General Gouraud's army. The French +constituted about 70 per cent of the Allies engaged. + +GENERAL FOCH STRIKES + +In a single day the German offensive was effectually blocked at the +Marne. Despite the enemy's utmost efforts he could make no further +advance. + +Then Foch, the great French strategist and Allied generalissimo, struck +the blow for which he had patiently bided his time! + +Apparently having advance information of the German plans, or perhaps +surmising them, General Foch had been preparing a surprise for the Crown +Prince. In the forest of Villers-Cotterets on the German right flank, +he had quietly massed large forces, including some of the best French +regiments, together with the foreign legion, Moroccan and other crack +troops, and many Americans. Everything possible had been done to keep +these troop movements secret from the enemy. + +On Thursday morning, July 18, 1918, a heavy attack was launched in force +at the Germans under General von Boehm all along the line from Chateau +Thierry on the Marne to the Aisne river northwest of Soissons. + +The Germans were taken completely by surprise, and town after town was +captured from them with comparatively slight resistance. When the first +shock of surprise was over, their resistance stiffened, but the Allies +continued to advance. Mounted cavalry were once more used to assist the +infantry in the open, while tanks in large numbers were used to clear +out enemy machine-gun nests. + +The American troops, fighting side by side with the French, did their +work in a manner to excite the admiration of their allies, and acquitted +themselves like veterans. Thousands of prisoners were taken, with large +numbers of heavy guns and great stores of ammunition, besides thousands +of machine guns, many of which were turned against the enemy. The +strategy of General Foch received world-wide applause. His master stroke +met with immediate success. + +By the 20th of July Soissons was threatened by the Allies. The Germans, +finding themselves caught in a dangerous salient and attacked fiercely +on both flanks, hurriedly retreated to the north bank of the Marne and +were rapidly pressed back farther. Their condition was critical and the +German Crown Prince was obliged to call for assistance from Crown Prince +Rupprecht of Bavaria, commanding in the north. Taking advantage of this, +the British and French in the north made frequent attacks, gaining +ground and taking prisoners at numerous points. + +For ten days the Allies continued their victorious progress on both +sides of the Soissons-Reims salient, the Germans continuing to retire +under strong pressure. They were forced back to the Oureq river, then +to the Vesle, where they made a determined stand. Fere-en-Tardenois and +Fismes fell into the hands of the victorious French and Americans, the +latter gaining a notable victory in the occupation of Fismes over the +vaunted Prussian guards, who had been brought up to endeavor to stay +their progress. The first week of August saw most of the Reims salient +wiped out by the German retreat, while rear-guard actions were being +fought along the Vesle as the Germans sought defensive positions farther +in the rear. + +The prisoners captured by the Allies in their drive up to that time +numbered more than 35,000 and more than 700 heavy guns also fell into +their possession, with immense quantities of ammunition and stores. The +Germans, however, succeeded in destroying many of the ammunition dumps +and vast supplies which had been stored in the salient for their +expected drive on Paris. + +As they retired the Germans burned many of the occupied French villages, +pursuing their usual policy. As many as forty fires were observed on the +horizon at one time as the Allies advanced. + +Soissons was retaken on August 2, and the valley of the Crise was +crossed by the Allies, who dominated the plains in the German rear with +their big guns. + +The German losses in the great battle and retreat from the Marne were +variously estimated at from 120,000 to 200,000. General von Boehm +avoided a first-class disaster, but his defeat was a serious one and had +far-reaching moral consequences among the enemy. + +It was estimated that from the beginning of their offensive in March, +the German armies lost more than 1,000,000 men in killed, wounded and +prisoners. The Austrians in their ill-fated offensive of 1918 lost more +than 250,000 men. + +FOCH A MARSHAL OF FRANCE + +On August 6 General Ferdinand Foch, commander-in-chief of the Allied +forces, was elevated by the French council of ministers to the rank of a +Marshal of France. In presenting his name Premier Clemenceau said: + +"At the hour when the enemy, by a formidable offensive, counted on +snatching the decision and imposing a German peace upon us, General +Foch and his admirable troops vanquished him. Paris is not in danger, +Soissons and Chateau Thierry have been reconquered, and more than +villages have been delivered. The glorious Allied armies have thrown the +enemy from the banks of the Marne to the Aisne." + +AMERICANS AT FISMES + +The American troops covered themselves with glory at many points in the +Allied drive, notably in the hand-to-hand fighting in the streets of +Fismes on August 4, when they captured that German base. The fighting +was said to have been the bitterest of the whole war, the Prussian +guards asking no quarter and being bayoneted or clubbed to death as they +stood by their machine guns. + +BRITISH VICTORY IN THE NORTH + +On the Amiens front, in Picardy, the British Fourth Army, under General +Rawlinson, and the French First Army, under General Debentry, stormed +the German positions on August 8 on a front of over 20 miles, capturing +14,000 prisoners and 150 guns, and making an advance of over seven +miles. + +ALLIED GAINS IN PICARDY + +Before the Germans had time to recover from the surprise of Marshal +Foch's attack on the Marne, and while they were still retreating to +the Vesle, the Allies delivered another heavy blow, this time on the +Albert-Montdidier front in Picardy. Here the British and French suddenly +attacked in force on the morning of August 8, stormed the enemy +positions along a thirty-mile front and on the first day of the attack +penetrated to a depth of seven miles. + +For several days the enemy retreated, closely pursued by allied cavalry +and tanks, which for the first time fought in a combination that proved +irresistible. The tanks used were of a new small variety, known as +"whippets," which rapidly wiped out the machine-gun nests with which the +enemy sought to stem the tide of the victorious onrush. Some American +troops fought with the British in their advance and gained high praise +from the Allied commanders. + +By August 15 the total number of prisoners captured by the British +Fourth Army, under General Rawlinson, was 21,844. In the same period of +one week the prisoners taken by the French First Army amounted to 8,500, +making a total of 30,344 Germans captured in the operations of the +Allied armies on the Montdidier-Albert front, besides 700 heavy guns, +quantities of machine guns, and other important spoils of war. + +North of the Somme, between Albert and Arras, the Germans continued to +fall back to the old Hindenburg line, where there were strong defensive +positions, with the British and French keeping in close touch with +their retreat. On August 15 they had definitely given up the towns of +Beaumont-Hamel, Serre, Bucquoy, and Puisieux-au-Mont, and at several +points had crossed the Ancre river. + +Field Marshal Haig announced that the proportion of German losses to +those of the Allies in the Picardy offensive were greater than at any +other period of the war. The total Allied casualties were not as large +as the number of Germans taken prisoner. + +JOY IN AMIENS AND PARIS + +One important result of the British drive was that Amiens, the "dead +city of Picardy," began to come to life again. Its population of +150,000, including 40,000 refugees, had fled before the German offensive +in March, 1918, but the former inhabitants began to return when the +menace of the invader disappeared, as the invader himself was chased +back toward the Somme. A service of thanks to the Allied arms was held +in the Great Cathedral of Notre Dame in Amiens, August 15. Despite the +damage from German guns and bombs, the cathedral retained the title of +the most beautiful in all France. + +The city of Paris, at the same time, quietly celebrated the great change +in the situation wrought in one short month. Just four weeks before, on +July 18, the residents of Paris had been awakened by the sounds of such +a cannonade as they never had heard before. It was General Mangin's +counter-preparation against the great German attack which the enemy +believed was to bring him to the gates of Paris. In the meantime the +Germans, who were at the gates of Amiens, Reims, and Compiegne, had been +soundly beaten and outgeneraled at every point, and the initiative had +been forced from them by the military genius of Marshal Foch. The effect +upon the Germans was apparent from the fact that General Hans von Boehm, +the German "retreat specialist" had been appointed to the supreme +command on the Somme front. The German withdrawal north of Albert was +looked upon as the first application of his tactics. It was General von +Boehm and his former command, the German Eighth Army, that stood the +brunt of the Allied pressure in the Marne salient previous to the +retreat of the Huns to the north of the Vesle river, where they were +still standing in the middle of August. + +BOLSHEVIKI EXECUTE EX-CZAR + +Former Czar Nicholas of Russia was executed by the Bolsheviki in July, +1918, having been held as a prisoner since his dethronement. + +[Illustration: BATTLE LINE ON THE WESTERN FRONT AUGUST 21, + +Shaded portions of map show territory gained by American and Allied +troops during July and August, 1918. Most of the territory gained by +the Germans in their 1918 offensive was recaptured by the Allies before +September 1, 1918.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AMERICANS AT CHATEAU THIERRY + + _Personal Accounts of Battle--Gas and Shell Shock--Marines Under + Fire--Americans Can Fight and Yell--Getting to the Front + Under Difficulties--The Big Day Dawns--The Shells Come + Fast--A Funeral at the Front--_Impression of a French Lieutenant-- + Keeping the Germans on the Run._ + +The name of Chateau Thierry will be long remembered in the United +States, for it was there the American fighting quality was for the first +time clearly impressed upon the Germans, to their immense astonishment, +and with far-reaching effect. The German people and the German army had +been told that the United States had no army, navy, or fighting quality; +that the talk of an American army in Europe was "Yankee bluff," and +nothing more; that even if we could raise an army we could not send it +across the ocean, first because we had no ships, second because if we +had ships the submarines of Germany would surely sink them. Yet here at +Chateau Thierry they were confronted by United States troops and soundly +beaten. + +That effect upon the Germans was in itself of tremendous significance; +but the historic effect was greater, and will grow in importance with +the passage of time, for it is a fact, unperceived by onlooking nations +at the moment, that it was the turning point of the war; and that the +turning was accomplished by troops of a nation that hated war and was +supposed to be incapable of military development; and that these troops +had met and whipped the choicest troops of a power that above all things +was military, that had assumed proprietary rights in the art of war, and +believed itself invincible. + +Late in February, 1918, General Ludendorff had told a Berlin newspaper +correspondent that on the first of April he would be in Paris. It was +inconceivable to the Germans that with the thorough preparation of a +mighty army for an offensive that by sheer weight of numbers should +drive through an opposition twenty times as strong as that which then +confronted them, they could not with ease push in between the French +and British forces, thrust straight through to Paris (as a spectacular +performance rather than a vital military operation), and then walk over +to the channel ports of France and bring both France and England to a +plea for mercy. + +From the 21st of March until along in May, 1918, it looked as though +they might succeed. That is, to anyone unaware of the strategy of +Marshal Foch, who sold terrain by the foot for awful prices in German +lives, and held an unbroken front until such time as American forces +could be brought into action, instead of wearing out his reserves and +weakening his power for an offensive. + +Unity of command had been accomplished by that time at the urgent demand +of the United States Government. Foch had saved France and the world at +the first battle of the Marne. Being given supreme authority over all +the allied forces, as soon as the arrival of American troops in great +numbers had been thoroughly established, he was ready; and the offensive +passed from German to allied hands. + +The tremendous German drive, which Ludendorff had confidently promised +the German people would bring a smashing and decisive victory, was +stopped. Retrocession began. On the Marne again, in July, 1918, in the +sector held by Americans an action began at Chateau Thierry which +forced the German retreat that in a few weeks was to shake the heart of +Germany, scare out Bulgaria, Austria and Turkey, in the early autumn +bring Germany to a plea for peace, send Ludendorff himself into +retirement, dethrone the Kaiser, do away with the imperial form of +government, set up a republic, and create conditions that would quash +for all time the power of Prussia to disturb a decent world. + +Floyd Gibbons, correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, a noncombatant who +wanted to see the combat he was there to report, was in that memorable +action. He lost his left eye there, and was otherwise severely +shattered, but he got his story through. His home paper some months +afterward gave Gibbons well earned credit for that contribution to +current history. It said he "helped to put the Marines where they belong +in the war's history, for he was with them in their early exploits and +fell in one of their battles. Six thousand out of 8,000 engaged was +their toll. They fought with the French through Belleau Wood, heartening +the brave, tired, discouraged poilus, and after they came out upon the +other side the name of the battlefield was changed to the 'Wood of the +American Marines.' Mr. Gibbons says that when Marshal Foch began his +great offensive, which in cosmic importance is second only to creation, +he selected the units in which he had the most faith. These units were +chosen not because they were braver nor more sacrificial, but because +they knew. They were the Foreign Legion of France, two divisions of +American Regulars, and the United States Marines." + +From that day there was no change in the favorable fortunes of war on +the western front. + +AMERICANS CAN FIGHT AND YELL + +An eyewitness of the first days of the Chateau Thierry battle thus +describes the capture of the Beauleau wood: + +"The Americans moved stealthily with fixed bayonet until they got into +the edge of the woods and atop of the German machine gun-tiers. Then +the farm boys cheered, and the lumberjacks shouted, and the Indians +yelled. They were where they could mix it at close range with the Boche, +and that was what they wanted. + +"Their yells could be heard a mile away. They were up against two of the +Kaiser's redoubtable divisions, the Two Hundredth Jaegers and the Two +Hundred and Sixteenth reserve division. They fought with vim and joy. + +"They had lost comrades at the hands of the Germans and now were to +avenge them. No quarter was asked or expected. The Germans had orders to +fight to the death and the Americans needed no such order. + +"Without much artillery on either side and without gas, the Americans +fought the Germans through that woods, four kilometers (nearly three +miles) long, for six hours. At last we got through and took up a +position across the northern end of the woods. + +"Perhaps the most sensational part of the fight was when about +Germans got around behind our men. They were chased into a clearing, +where the Americans went at them from all sides with the bayonet, and I +am told that three prisoners were all that were left of the Germans." + +"How did you do it?" inquired a dazed Prussian officer, taken prisoner +at Chateau Thierry by an American soldier. "We are storm troops." + +"Storm hell!" said the American. "I come from Kansas, where we have +cyclones." + +That was and is the idea. This spirit enabled American soldiers to go +wherever they wanted to go. A European officer on observation duty +with the United States force at Chateau Thierry wanted to know how our +soldiers got through as they did. + +"They seem to have been trained somewhere," he said, "for they fight all +right. But that doesn't explain to me the way they keep going." + +The American officer with whom he was talking gave this explanation: + +"They were thoroughly trained in our camps at home in all but one thing. +They were not trained to stop going." + +It was a splendid exhibition, the first of many of its kind. + + +A PERSONAL ACCOUNT + +The following is one of hundreds of thrilling experience stories that +could be told by officers and men who fought at that front. + +Details of the participation of the United States Marines in the +counter-attack of the allies against German forces on the Marne, July +18, are given in a letter written shortly afterward by Major Robert L. +Denig, of the United States Marines, to his wife, in Philadelphia, +and which had been forwarded to Washington for the historical files of +the Marine Corps. + +It is the best and truest form of war history, and important in that +it gives details of action during those July days when American troops +stopped the German drive. + +It also establishes the fact that the Marines who helped stop the German +drive on Paris at Belleau wood early in June were honored by being +brought from this wood to Vierzy and Tigny, near Soissons, for +participation with a crack French division in the great counter-attack +which started the disintegration of the German front in the west. + +Names that became familiar through the fighting in Belleau wood are +mentioned in Major Denig's letter as being prominent in the allied +counter-attack--Lieut. Col. Thomas Holcomb, Lieut. Col. Benton W. +Sibley, Lieut. Col. John A. Hughes, Capt Pere Wilmer and others who took +a prominent part in the fighting. The letter in substance follows: + +"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. Our turn to enbus came near midnight. + +GETTING TO THE FRONT UNDER DIFFICULTIES + +"We at last got under way after a few big 'sea bags' had hit near by. +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 till the next day. + +"After twelve hours' ride we were 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, more than +a half-million men. Some French officers told us that they had never +seen such concentration since Verdun, if then. + +THE BIG DAY DAWNS + +"The next day, July 18, 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. + +"We finally stopped at the far end of the forest, nearing a dressing +station. This station had been a big, fine stone farmhouse, 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. + +"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 4,000, come up and take +positions. + +"At 3:30 the next morning the regiment was soon under way to attack. We +picked our way under cover of a gas infected valley to a town where we +got our final instructions and left our packs. + +GAS AND SHELL SHOCK + +"We formed up in a sunken road on two sides of a valley that was +perpendicular to the enemy's front. 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. + +MARINES ADVANCE UNDER FIRE + +"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. + +"Lieut. Overton was hit by a big piece of shell and fell. Afterwards +I heard he was hit in the heart. He was buried that night and the pin +found, which he had asked to have sent to his wife. + +"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. + +"About sixty Germans jumped up 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. + +DIGGING IN + +"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 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. + +"Gates, with his trousers blown off, said he had sixteen men of various +companies; another officer on the right reported he had and could see +some 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. + +THE SHELLS COME FAST + +"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. + +"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. + +"We had a machine gun officer with us, and at 6 o'clock 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. At +the start he remarked: 'This looks easy; they do not seem to have much +art.' + +"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. At 9 o'clock we got a message congratulating us, and saying the +Algerians would take us 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. + +"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 gully and town, the latter by now +all in ruins. The place was full of gas. We pushed on to the forest and +fell down in our tracks and slept all day. + +A FUNERAL, AT THE FRONT + +"That night the Germans shelled us and got three killed and seventeen +wounded. We move a bit farther back to the cross road 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 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 Capt. LeRoy T. Hunt wounded. We then moved further to the +rear and camped for the night. Dunlap came to look us over. 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 remarks +as I tried to sleep: 'Hell! he only turned around!' 'Send up a flare!' +'Call for a barrage!' etc. + +"The next day we were back in a town for some rest and to lick our +wounds." + +IMPRESSION OF A FRENCH LIEUTENANT + +A French lieutenant thus describes the American fighting quality: + +"The finest thing in the combat was the dash of the Americans. It was +splendid to see those grand fellows, with their tunics thrown off and +their shirt sleeves rolled up above their elbows, wading the rivers with +the water to their shoulders and throwing themselves on the Boche like +bulldogs. + +"Any one who has seen such a sight knows what the American army is good +for henceforth and to the end of the war. At the sight of these men, +magnificent in their youth, physical force, good temper and dash, the +Germans fled 'with every leg' or surrendered without awaiting the order +to throw away their arms and take off their suspenders, which is the +first thing a prisoner is told to do, in order that he may be compelled +to keep his hands employed and out of mischief. + +"The Germans hurried toward our lines gripping their trousers, haggard +and mad with terror. + +"Would that every mother in France who has lost a son in the war could +have seen that epic sight. They would have seen themselves revenged, and +it would have been some consolation to them in their sorrow." + +KEEPING THE GERMANS ON THE RUN + +The trench deadlock in northern France and Belgium was broken by +Ludendorff's fatuous drive in March, 1918. After the allies had stopped +it and inaugurated their counter-offensive all Europe made a startling +discovery. The Germans were tenacious enough in trench warfare; in +open fighting, known as war of maneouvre, they could not stand before +American and the allied troops. Incessant attacks, rapidly delivered at +the same time at many points on the long line between the North Sea and +the Swiss border, were more than they could withstand. The mechanically +trained troops of the central empires were futile before armies of men +who did their own thinking and delighted in fighting an enemy they could +see from the feet up. German armies had twice been almost at the gates +of Paris. The first time they were driven back they dug themselves in. +That was in 1915. The second time, in the spring of 1918, they were +allowed no time for digging in. From the July days of 1918, when +American soldiers at Chateau Thierry beat the best troops that ever +were trained in Prussia, they were kept going. How industriously may be +inferred from the story of the young corporal who was sitting on the +roadside trying to tie the soles of his shoes to the uppers, in a hurry. +Somebody asked him what was the matter. + +"O, nothing much," said he. "Only I came over here to kill Germans, but +they never told me I'd have to run 'em to death." + +A STRANGER TO HIS OWN CHILD + +There never was a war so prolific of personal incident in every shade of +experience possible to human life. The devastated provinces of France +offer perhaps more of these happenings than any other part of the +steel-swept, shell-wrecked fronts of all Europe. An Associated Press +correspondent tells one that is especially touching. + +He was motoring toward Denaen, one of the cities the Germans had +occupied through four hard years, when a French officer going in the +same direction asked him for a lift, explaining that he had lived there +but had neither seen nor heard from his wife during all that time. + +Entering the city and turning into his street the officer saw the first +house was in ruins. He gave a nervous start. A few doors farther on was +his home. The officer climbed out with an effort, his eyes fixed on the +place. + +There was no sign of life. The windows were shuttered and on the door +was a sign showing German officers had been living there. The officer +pulled the bell with shaking hand. No one answered. He backed away like +a man in a trance and leaned against the car, trembling. + +Suddenly the door opened and an aged servant appeared, leading a +beautiful baby girl with a wealth of golden curls. The officer took one +step toward the child and halted. He was a stranger to his own flesh and +blood. The child hid behind the nurse, peering out in fright. + +The half blind eyes of the old nurse had recognized her master and she +held out her hands, repeating, "Monsieur! Monsieur!" in ecstasy. He +crossed the road and grasped her hands, but the baby drew back. + +A door opened end a comely young matron came to see what was going on. +She caught sight of her husband, then stopped. Her hands flew to her +breast. She swayed for a second. With a sob of joy she hurled herself +into his arms. + +The correspondent moved away. And thus they were left, the nurse beaming +on the happy couple and the curly headed youngster looking with troubled +eyes at this strong man who had appropriated her mother so completely +without a word. + +WHAT PERSHING THOUGHT OF HIS YANKS + +An American newspaper man who returned from Europe about the time +hostilities ceased was informed that General Pershing suggested to +Marshal Foch in June 1918, that he thought it bad policy to stick around +waiting for the boche and that he felt the time had come to jump in and +attack--"But" he was told, "we have not got the troops." + +"Whats the matter with the Americans?" Pershing asked. + +"They are not yet trained" was Foch's reply. + +"Try them and see" said General Pershing. "They will go, anywhere you +send them, and I will bet my life on it." + +Pershing took the initiative in urging the offensive, supplied the +troops that gave Foch his mobile reserve enabling him to strike his +blow, and those American troops "delivered the goods." + +HEALTH OF ARMY SURPRISING + +Official reports to the war department show that the general health of +the American army during the war had been surprisingly good. The death +rate for all forces at home and abroad up to August 30th, 1918, was 5. +per 1,000 men per year, or little more than the civilian death rate for +men of the same age groups. + +There were 316,000 cases of influenza among the troops in the United +States during the late summer and fall of 1918 and of 20,500 deaths, +between September 14th and November 8th, 19,800 were ascribed to the +epidemic. + +ARMY REACHED TOTAL OF 3,664 + +An official report shows that on the day the Armistice was signed more +than twenty-five per cent of the male population of the United States +between the ages of 19 and 31 years, were in military service, the army +having reached a total of 3,664,000, with more than 2,000,000 of this +number in Europe. As compared with an army strength of 189,674 in March +1917, one week before war was declared by the United States. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +AMERICAN VICTORY AT ST. MIHIEL + + _First Major Action by All American Army--Stories to Folks at + Home--Huns Carry Off Captive Women--Hell Has Cut Loose-- + Major Tells His Story--Enormous Numbers of Guns and Tanks-- + Over the Top at 5:30 A. M.--Texas and Oklahoma Troops Fight + in True Ranger Style--Our Colored Boys Win Credit._ + +The first major action by an all American army was that which began +before the St. Mihiel salient September 11, 1918. The Germans had +occupied that salient almost four years, and had built it into what they +believed to be an impregnable position. The Americans, under direct +command of General Pershing, reduced it in a three days' advance. + +The salient was a huge bulge, almost twenty miles in depth, turning +southwest from Combres at the north base and Hattonville at the south +and looping down around the towns of St. Mihiel and Ailly. It was +powerfully held by masses of enemy troops. + +General Pershing's army attacked from the west, south and east all the +way from Bouzee to Norroy, and by September 13th had pushed it back to a +straight line drawn from Combres to Hattonville. The French attacked at +Ailly, the apex of the salient as it was on September 11. + +The entire operation was conducted with rapidity and with irresistible +energy. The dash and enthusiasm of the American soldiers astonished +and delighted the French and British as completely as it staggered the +Germans. + +By September 13th the Americans had taken forty-seven towns and +villages, reduced the German front from forty miles to twenty, captured +the railway that connects Verdun with Commercy, opened the cities of +Nancy and Toul to the allies, and with the French and British on the +east, created a new battle front on a line running from Hattonville on +the west to Pagny on the east--Pagny being a town on the Moselle river, +at the German border. + +The importance of this victory could hardly be overestimated. It opened +the way to and was followed up by the demolition of the whole German +line from the Swiss border to the North Sea, and hastened the great +German retreat. In the action itself, September 11 to 13, about 15, +Germans were taken prisoner by the Americans. + +STORIES TO THE FOLKS BACK HOME + +Sidelight stories of what happened in the St. Mihiel fight, mostly in +letters written home by men who were in it, go far toward showing how +completely the Germans were taken off their guard. Corp. Ray Fick of the +103d Infantry wrote home in this wise: + +"We got into the woods and then kept on going until we reached a big +city where there was a brewery, but they had set fire to the whole city +before they left. We got some beer and wine just the same. It was a +little stale, but it was fine. The Huns' warehouses were all fixed for +the winter and the boys got cigars and cigarettes, but I was a little +too late to get in on it. + +"The whole thing was very interesting all the way through. The Huns sure +did make themselves scarce in a hurry, but they kept many prisoners, a +troop train and an ammunition train. + +"Cigarettes are scarce and we look for smokes all the time. The Red +Cross and the Salvation Army are the ones who look to our comforts. If +any one wants to give, tell them the Red Cross and the Salvation Army +are the ones to get it." + +HUNS CARRY OFF CAPTIVE WOMEN + +But Corporal Fick uncovers another Hun procedure that has no fun in it. +While the Huns lost no time in getting away from there, they took care +to carry off their captured women slaves. + +"The women they have held captives for the last four years," he writes, +"were driven ahead of them, but they were brought back by the Americans. +Truckload after truckload passed us on the way, and they sure were happy +to be free again." + +"HELL HAS CUT LOOSE" + +Another soldier wrote to his father telling about the first day of +attack as he saw it: + +"Hell has let loose. The woods are a mass of whistling shell and +shrapnel. Every time the big twelves go off the flash lights up the +entire camp like a flashlight picture, then the ground heaves and +tumbles like old Lake Michigan does on a stormy day. + +"The infantry have cleared the top and have gone on far in advance, +almost outside of the range of fire. Our big objective has been wiped +off the map and our men are preparing to keep right on going after them +and backing up the doughboys who are doing such great work. + +"I went up to the front last night on an ammunition caisson (which is +the only way to get up there) and saw the thing commence. It started +with one solitary gun of ours (a big one, too). Then the others joined +in on the chorus, and it has been steady ever since. + +"When the doughboys were told that they were going over the top at the +zero hour, you never heard shouting to equal it; the Board of Trade on a +Monday morning was just a whisper in comparison. + +"Dad, that is the general feeling of our boys over here--always waiting +to move up. I told a lad in one of the outfits that the artillery was +right back of them and would blow them through to the objective if they +did not make it, and he laughed and said, 'Hoboken by Christmas.' They +were all in the best of mood and roaring to go." + +These letters are good specimens of the thousands that have come over +the sea. They not only give good sidelights on an event that will loom +large in history, but they show the indomitable cheer and high spirit of +our soldiers. + +MAJOR TELLS HIS STORY + +Concurrently with the action that originated at St. Mihiel on September +11, 1918, another great battle developed northwest of Verdun. It lasted +about three weeks, and is graphically described by Lt. Col. B.M. +Chipperfield (then a major) of the 23d Division. Lt. Col. Chipperfield +was a participant in as well as an eyewitness of the whole engagement. +Under date of September 29, 1918, the described it substantially as +follows, in a letter to a friend at home: + +"For several days preparations had been in progress for the action that +began on Thursday, September 26th. The American troops were moved up +by night, jamming the roads with their advancing columns and transport +trains. + +"Thousands and thousands of them," wrote Major Chipperfield, "trudged +along without a light and in almost quiet. + +ENORMOUS NUMBERS OF GUNS + +"Tanks and cannon and guns of all sorts, every kind of vehicle, +ambulance wagon, and transport passed in this continuous procession. It +seemed that there was no end to it, and one could not help but admire +the wonderful resources that had been gathered together by the United +States to help perform its part in this great struggle for freedom. + +"I think the greatest collection of guns that has ever been gathered +together for participation in any conflict of the world was taken to the +front where the attack was about to be made. It is estimated there +were 6,000 of these guns, and the soldiers that were gathered together +numbered hundreds of thousands. + +"These guns and soldiers were conducted to their places so secretly and +quietly that, although they marched many miles, the enemy did not even +know a small part of the strength and could only speculate what it all +meant. + +UNDER ENFILADING FIRE + +"In the arrangement of the plan of battle our division was on the +extreme right. Across the river was a German stronghold. Here there +were located a large quantity of artillery and many machine guns. Our +officers understood that it was going to be a difficult advance, for a +bridge had to be built across a creek, but everything in our division +went like clockwork. It had all been planned in advance, and the plan +was carried out exactly as made. + +"It was arranged that at 11:30 o'clock on Thursday night the battle +was to begin. Before that time I had reached my destination at the +headquarters of the other division, and together with the rest of +the headquarters staff we were in a favorable place to watch the +commencement. + +"At 11:25 it was silent as the grave, and the night was beautiful. +Precisely at 11:30 from every conceivable direction the great +bombardment commenced. In an instant the whole night was filled with a +roar and thunder and reverberation of the cannon from, every quarter. +The shriek and whistle and whine and clamor of the shells made a fearful +chorus as they were hurled in the direction of the field occupied by our +adversaries. + +"From every quarter came the flash of the explosions, until the night +was lighted as bright as day. Signal rockets rose from every portion and +part of our lines and also from the enemy lines. It looked as though the +heavens were ablaze and raining fire. It was a scene which has probably +never been seen before upon any battlefield and may never be witnessed +again. + +"Apparently this fierce bombardment took the enemy entirely by surprise +because our fire was so deadly and the extent so great that they could +only make uncertain reply. They seemed to be stupefied. + +"For six hours this terrific bombardment continued. It is estimated +that each of the guns fired an average of three shots a minute and that +1,000,000 projectiles and charges of ammunition were used. + +OVER THE TOP AT 5:30 A.M. + +"As 5:30 approached the bombardment increased. The machine guns joined +in the chorus and a curtain of steel and fire was placed in front of our +troops and rained upon the guns and cannon of the enemy. + +"After a brief period of this fire our men started over the top, and as +they did so they swept the enemy before them in their irresistible rush. +They advanced kilometer after kilometer. They could not be resisted or +stayed at any stage of the attack. + +"Soon the prisoners commenced to come in, and they told of the terrific +effect that the great bombardment had upon the Germans. They said the +bombardment was so terrible that it disrupted their plans so that they +could not be carried out and that they could not resist the attack. + +"Several times during the night I went out to witness the scene and as +long as life lasts it will be remembered. + +ON DEAD MAN'S HILL + + "Once when two of our regiments came over a hill and saw the + valley that lay before them being terrifically shelled by the cannon + and assailed by hail from the machine guns, the whole column was + seen to pause and a look of worry came over the faces of these men + that for just an instant was pitiful. They knew that ahead of them lay + death for many and it is not strange that for several seconds the + lines were held up, but then a look of fierce determination and of + courage took the place of the former expression and with a great + resolve and courage, dash, and daring, the lines shot forward at a + redoubled step and the determination to do or die was manifested in + every action. + + "These machine guns were speedily put out of business, and + then the attack would go on. That portion of the lines that the + division of which I am a member was given for the purpose of the + attack, it was thought would take the entire day, but our division + was on its objective by early afternoon and had commenced to dig + in, from which position they could defy the Germans with impunity. + + "While the attack was going on I went up to Dead Man's Hill. + This hill is the last word in the destructiveness of war. + + "It is literally rent to atoms. Dugouts have been blown to + pieces. Hundreds of thousands of men had been killed in the earlier + battles before Verdun, and many of the bodies could not be reached + for burial, the place was so torn up." + + +OTHER PERSONAL GLIMPSES + +Many other personal glimpses of the fighting come from officers and men. +One division was made up largely of Illinois regiments, among others the +3d Illinois Infantry, commanded by Col. John V. Clinnin. The position +held by these troops was vital to the entire advance, and it required +rapid action on the first day to reach the objective at the same time as +the other units. + +Menomme creek is a little stream which is not shown on maps. It runs +eastward from the village of Septsarges to the Meuse. The stream holds +vivid memories for the Illinois infantry. It was there that it met the +most severe resistance, the Germans catching our men just as they were +relieving other young soldiers. The men fought their way down to the +creek. On the other side along the highway between Septsarge and +Dannevoux the Germans had entrenched themselves and were shelling the +road which the Americans had crossed. They were also using intrenched +machine guns at the edge of the woods. + + "I heard bullets whistling overhead," said a wounded soldier in + a hospital. "We were lying near the edge of the creek at the time +and knew that a machine gun was shooting at us, so I just started out +and got it." + +"Our colonel was right up there with us getting into line." said Private +Hiram E. Burnett. "One night when the shells were bursting all around +and several men were wounded the colonel went over the top just like any +of us." + +The Bois des Forges has been a battle ground since the war began, with +trenches in front and miles of barbed wire, machine gun nests and +concrete pillboxes inside. A frontal attack on such a stronghold +apparently meant suicide, but the Illinois men, led by Col. Sanborn and +Col. Abel Davis, took it so neatly and quickly that they bagged nearly +1,000 soldiers, fifteen officers, twenty-six guns ranging from 105s +down, 126 machine guns, twenty-one flatcars, two rolling kitchens, an +ambulance and thousands of rounds of ammunition. + +"We were looking for you in front," said a captured German officer. "We +did not expect that you would come through the swamp and outflank us. We +did not think that any Yankee outfit was so foxy." + +"A GREAT SHOW" + +"It was a great show when we crossed that river and rushed on through +the woods, cleaning up machine gun nests," said Private Gray McKindy of +Woodstock, "The machine guns in the woods started throwing bullets as +soon as we reached the river. They thought they could stop us from going +up the opposite hill, but we did it and got every gun there." + +Private Kenneth W. Steiger was one of those who went in on the second +night when his captain called for volunteers to make up a patrol. +Steiger became separated from the others in the darkness and ran into a +party of three Germans. Quickly covering them with his rifle he brought +all three back. + +Private Bernard Snyder returned with prisoners before dark on the first +day. Making use of his ability to speak German, he induced a dozen +Germans to lay down their arms, pick up stretchers and carry American +wounded back five kilometers (three miles) to where ambulances were +waiting. + +A FIGHTING CHAPLAIN + +Lieut. Jorgen R. Enger, the chaplain of a Kansas-Missouri outfit, +carried the wounded for three days from the Montfaucon woods two miles +to the ambulance. Searching in the woods in the darkness one night with +shells bursting and bullets whistling he found a husky sergeant wounded +in the foot and growing weaker and weaker from loss of blood. The +chaplain shouldered the man and carried him back to a dressing station, +saving his life. + +"I didn't think a chaplain would do a thing like that," said the +sergeant. "I would rather save you than save a general," replied the +chaplain. + +When not searching for wounded hidden in the tangle of under-brush the +chaplain was busy helping the surgeons at a first aid dressing station. + +"I never thought any clergyman would have the opportunities for doing +good such as I am haying," he said when I saw him. + +Col. Eugene Houghton, Wisconsin, who was a British major until America +entered the war, distinguished himself by personally leading a unit of +New York men. According to them he escaped death repeatedly as by a +miracle. + +"DESERT? NO, WANTED TO FIGHT" + +Capt. Carl F. Laurer while assisting in the examination of German +prisoners, was surprised when an American prisoner was brought before +him. "Where do you belong?" asked the captain. "I am with an aerial +squadron in the south of France" replied the prisoner. "I walked +fourteen days to get here." "Did you desert?" asked Captain Lauer. "No," +the man replied, "I want to fight. That is what I came to France for. +When I get home the folks will ask what I did in the war and when I +answer 'worked' they will say 'Why the devil didn't you fight?'" The +boy's wish was gratified and he was sent forward. + +"We have everything good and plenty--rations, ammunition and other +things. It looks like a regular Sunday." + +TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA TROOPS SHOW GREAT FIGHTING FORM + +In this district, the 36th Division, made up of troops from Texas and +Oklahoma, veterans and raw recruits together, showed splendid fighting +form. They were under terrific shell fire day after day, but they met +several murderous attacks firmly, and drove the boches back in brilliant +counter attack, chasing them in true Ranger style. All these men showed +the same spirit that animated Roosevelt's renowned Rough Riders in the +war with Spain, so many of whom were Texas and Oklahoma men. + +Reporting this fight, General Naulin, commanding the Corps of which the +2d and 36th Divisions were parts, said "the 36th Division, a recent +formation not yet completely organized, was ordered into line on the +night of October 6-7 to relieve, under conditions particularly delicate, +the 2d Division, and to dislodge the enemy from the crest north of St. +Etienne and throw him back to the Aisne. Although being under fire for +the first time, the young soldiers of Maj. Gen. W. R. Smith, rivaling in +combative spirit and tenacity the old and valiant regiment of General +LeJeune, accomplished all the tasks set for them." Every American knows +full well the bright record of the 2d Division of Infantry, the regulars +of which were composed of the 5th and 6th Marines and the 9th and 23rd +Infantry. These are the boys who stopped the Germans up in Belleau Wood +when the boches were headed for Paris and cocksure of getting there, +blandly unaware that they were goose-stepping toward an American +knock-out. + + +OUR COLORED TROOPS WIN CREDIT + +American negro troops had a considerable share in the last few months of +fighting, and acquitted themselves in a highly creditable manner. They +were great trench diggers and trench fighters, and their endurance on +the march was a marvel to the allied armies. They were very popular with +the French people, who were delighted with their good nature and their +never-ceasing songs. Regular negro melodies these songs were, nearly all +of them of the camp-meeting variety--and sung with that choral beauty +which especially distinguishes all of their musical performances. The +negro notion of war and indifference to death was instanced in the case +where a white officer overheard one of them at the zero hour call out, +"Good night ol' world! Good mawin,' Mistah Jesus!" as he went over the +top. + + "The colored boys," said Charles N. Wheeler, a distinguished + correspondent with the American armies, "are great fighters, and + are no better and no worse than any other group of American soldiers + in France, whatever the blood strain. They do take pardonable pride + in the fact that 'Mistah' Johnson, a colored boy, was the first American + soldier in France to be decorated for extraordinary bravery under + fire. + + THEY CAN FIGHT AND SING + + "The color line has about died out in the American army--in + France. They play together, sing their songs together--the blacks + and the white--and they go over the top together. They come back + together, too, the wounded, and there is no thought of the color of a + man's skin. They mix together on the convoy trains going up to the + front, and all sing together, sharing each other's dangers and their + joys. It is not an uncommon sight to see a crowd of white doughboys + around a piano in some 'Y' or Red Cross hut, singing to beat the band, + with a colored jass expert pounding the stuffing out of the piano. The + white boys enjoy immensely the wit of the colored comrades, and + many a bleak and drab day of privation and suffering is made a bit + brighter by the humor that comes spontaneously to the lips of the + 'bronze boys.' + + "The children of France love them. I suppose that is because + they wear American soldiers' uniforms. I have seen scores of white + children holding the hands of colored boys and trudging along on + the march with them or romping into their tents and sitting on their + knees and just exuding the affection that all the children of France + have for anything and everybody from the United States." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE WAR IN THE AIR + +The Hughes report on air craft, submitted in October, 1918, contained a +full account of the difficulties, drawbacks and questionable management +that had held back the manufacture and shipment of airplanes to Europe. +In September there were on the French-Belgian front between 300 and +machines, all of which were in the scout and observation classes, with +no regulation combat planes of American build; but American airmen had +conducted many successful actions against German battle planes, and a +good many Americans were operating French and British battle planes in +action back of the German lines. The combined American, British, French +and Canadian planes had before that time cleared the air of German +observation and other machines in front of the allied lines, thereby +preventing hostile observation of allied camps and artillery positions +and movements of troops preparatory to attack. + +The efficiency of this combined air service is credited with having +contributed in an important degree, first to retarding the movement of +supplies from the enemy rear to the enemy fighting line, and next +to disturbance of the enemy in retreat. The Americans especially +distinguished themselves by flying at high speed along the last of the +enemy trenches and clearing up the German troops therein by continuous +streams of machine gun fire. American flyers also made successful raids +across the German border, blowing up munitions works, railway centers, +and German troops at concentration points. Between early September and +late October, 1918, they dropped thousands of tons of high explosives +inside of Germany. At the same time, in association with British and +Canadian aviators, they put a definite end to German air raids upon the +British Isles and interior France. The Canadian air service during the +summer and early autumn of 1918 increased at the rate of 300 planes per +month, all manufactured in Canada. + +LIBERTY MOTORS AND AIR SERVICE + +After July, 1918, the output of Liberty motors for the Government caught +up with the immediate demand. It increased until in October it reached a +rate of about 5,000 a month. The Ford factory at Detroit alone reported +at the end of October an established monthly rate of increase of over +1,500. + +AMERICAN FLYERS DOWN 473 PLANES IN TWO MONTHS + +American flyers made a great record in the closing days of war. In the +period from September 12 to 11:00 o'clock on the morning of November 11, +American aviators claim they brought down 473 German machines. Of this +number, 353 have been confirmed officially. Day bombing groups from the +time they began operations dropped a total of 116,818 kilograms of bombs +within the German lines. + +THE WAR IN THE AIR + +Aviation is the most perilous of all services, calling for young bodies, +high spirit, quick wit, personal initiative, and unshakable nerve. Thus +it has drawn in the best and brightest of America's sons--brilliant, +clear-eyed, steady youths, who take the air and its perils with joyous +ardor. + +The danger, the romance, the thrill of air fighting, are things that +never were known in war until this one called into being vast aerial +navies that grappled in the sky and rained upon the earth below "a +ghastly dew" of blood. + +There are no tales of this war more fascinating than those that have +been told by these men. Courage and modesty being inseparable, our +aviators avoid print and cannot be interviewed with any satisfaction. +But sometimes they write home to a mother, a sweetheart or a pal, and +these letters now and then come to light. + +CHANCE OF LIVING NOW + +"I cannot describe my feelings, right off the bat," said Eddie +Rickenbacker, the ace of American aces, the day following the signing of +the armistice. "But I can say I feel ninety-nine per cent better. There +is a chance of living now and the gang is glad." Rickenbacker became a +captain during the last phase of the war and has twenty-four victories +over enemy airmen to his credit. To Rickenbacker, whose home is in +Columbus, Ohio, the allied command gave the honor of making the last +flight over the German front and firing the last shot from the air on +the morning of November 11, 1918. + +AIR PLANE'S TAIL SHOT OFF + +In reporting this most remarkable occurrence Edward Price Bell, an +American correspondent, wrote as follows from the front: + +A British observer, flying a powerful machine at 16,000 feet over +Ostend, had the machine's tail shot off by the direct hit of a shell--a +very unusual occurrence. The machine turned upside down, out of control, +and the pilot was thrown out of his seat. By some inexplicable maneuver +he managed to clamber on to the bottom of the fuselage of the machine, +astride of which he sat as if he was riding a horse. + +Though the machine was out of control, owing to the loss of its tail +planes, yet by moving forward and backward he so managed to balance it +that it glided fairly steadily downward, although upside down. + +He successfully brought it across the German lines, and came safely +to within a few hundred feet of the ground. Then he crashed and was +injured, but is now recovering in a hospital. + +When it is considered that this incident occurred at a height of 16, +feet, over hostile territory, and that during the airman's terribly +precarious ride he was subject to antiaircraft fire, and liable to the +attack of hostile scouts, it is not too much to say that his was a +record achievement. + +Recently, another airman was shot down, out of control, from 13, +feet, and fell fluttering like a leaf, toward the ground. At a height of +9,000 feet he fainted. Shortly afterward he came to and found himself in +the machine upside down, in a marsh, absolutely unhurt. Many airmen, of +course, have been through several "crashes" without sustaining so much +as a broken collar bone. + + +JOINS THE SKY FIGHTERS + +This story of Lieut. Manderson Lehr, who refused a transfer home and +shortly after died in combat, is taken (by permission) from his personal +letters written to a friend in this country. It is typical of many that +might be told by or about brilliant young Americans who would not wait +for America's participation in the war, but went voluntarily, with high +hearts and eager hands, to help those other boys of France and the +British Empire to whom had fallen so large and so momentous a part in +the world's salvation. + +Nearly all of these American lads, the choicest spirits of our nation, +took up whatever work they could find--anything, so long as it was +useful, or contributed in any way to winning out against the German +hordes, or stem the flood of German crime that was sweeping over Europe, +that would later, if it were not stopped, cover our continent with an +inundation of blood and desolation. Most of them, like Lieutenant Lehr, +went into ambulance service; and afterward when the air planes were +ready and needed men to fly them, took to the air. These were the men +who "put out the eyes" of the German armies and piloted the allies +to many a victory. And alas! Many of them, like Lehr, gave up their +lives--though not in vain, nor without having sent down to crashing +death, each one, his share of the flyers of the foe. + +LEHR'S STORY + +Lieutenant Lehr's story begins with a letter from France just after +his arrival in Paris on May 15, 1917, when he joined the Ambulance +Corps--later entering the air service. It covered a period of more than +a year's experiences at the front. + +The last letter from Lieut. Lehr was dated June 14th, 1918, when the big +German drive was about at its climax. According to news reports from the +front Lehr had a period of intense activity up to July 15th, when he +was reported missing. "Bud" was regarded as one of the most adept of +American fliers. + +One of the last news reports from the front told of him still flying +under French colors and having twice returned from raids with his +passenger killed by enemy attacks and of his being awarded the war +cross. The same report told of a 150 mile raid into Germany with eight +other French Machines--when a patrol of twelve German planes were +attacked and three of them sent down in flames, while all the nine +French machines returned safely. + +The following are a few of Lehr's later letters from the front: + +FLYING AT THE FRONT + +Sector----at the Front, Oct. 12, 1917.--It's blowing terrifically, +wind and rain. You can't imagine how I picture you people at home, warm, +happy and safe. I've been out here a week now. Three days of it has been +flying weather. Up 25,000 feet and ten miles into Germany is my record +so far and I've actually had one combat with a boche. He was below me, +at first, far in the distance. I was supposed to be protecting a bombing +expedition of ten machines. I saw this spot, started away from the rest +and through excitement, anticipation and the goodness knows what, I +climbed, went faster and faster until I had the sun between us and the +German below me. Then I dived; he heard me and "banked"; we both looped +and then came head on, firing incessantly. + +My machine gun was empty and the boche had more, for he got in behind +me and "Putt! Putt! Putt!" past my ear he came, so I dove, went into a +"vrille" with him on top, came out and squared off, and he let me have +it again. All I could do was to maneuver, for I had no shells left and +I did not want to beat it, so I stuck. We both came head on again and +I said a little prayer, but the next time I looked Mr. Boche was going +home. I "peaked" straight down, made my escadrille, accompanied them +home and when I got out of my furs I was wringing wet in spite of the +fact it was cold as ice where I had done my fighting. + +CONSIDERS HIS OWN TACTICS + +I looked my machine over and found five holes in it, but nothing +serious. Tomorrow is going to be bad and no one will fly unless they +call for volunteers, and then I think most of us will go. I'd like to +figure out what I did wrong. First of all, I was so excited that I fired +all my shots at the German and he maneuvered out of my way and then came +at me as I was helpless. My captain gave me "harkey" for staying when +out of bullets, so I guess the rest was O.K., but I'd hate to run from +any boche. + +MEN DIE IN FAULTY PLANES + +The machine I've been flying has been condemned, so I expect to be sent +back to get another one, a brand new one that has never been on the +front. Twenty-five pilots in the last month have been killed by wings +dropping off. I've seen twelve go and it surely takes the old pep out of +you. I was above one and saw his wing crumple, then fall. A man is so +utterly helpless he must merely sit there and wait to be killed, and +when you're flying the same type of machine it doesn't help your +confidence any. I was glad they condemned mine, for I've put my old +"cuckoo" through some awful tests and it's about ready to fall apart. + +We expect to change soon and go up to a new offensive in F----. If I get +through that I'm going to change over to the American army. They have +offered me a commission and I think I'll take it. My fingers are cramped +and my feet have long since been numb. Now I'm going to wrap up in my +fur leathers and go to bed. This is war. + +FIGHTS WITH FLYING CIRCUS + +Feb. 1, 1918.--Had a great time this last week, and made six long +bombardments. For the first three times we had no trouble getting +across whatsoever. Coming out the last three times we got some real +competition. It was in the form of the flying circus or "tangoes," which +consists of fifteen of the best pilots in Germany, commanded by Baron +von Richthofen, who seems a good sort, for when you fight him and you +both miss he waves and we wave back. We had been at it consistently for +four days, and so they sent these birds down opposite us to stop us. We +had been in Germany for some distance and had reached our objective and +bombed it. There was a heavy fog below us, so I took a couple of turns +to make sure we could see our objective. We dropped our bombs and then I +turned to the right to see the damage. I had to take a large turn, for +the "archies" were shooting pretty close. I looked for my escadrille, +and saw these machines way off in the distance. I started for them and +soon caught up with them. Then I swerved and dipped up to them, for I +thought them a little strange. I got up closer, and, wow! all three +dived at me like a rock and bullets flew by me, cutting my plane, so I +pulled up at them, fired, swerved so my gunner could let them have it +also and then saw the iron cross flash by, so I knew it was the Huns. I +started getting altitude and went up high and then the boches got the +sun between them and my plane and came again, but I thought this would +happen and "peaked." They went under me and that left me on top, so I +gave them about 120 bullets, and one went for home. The other two came +by again and I went into a tight spiral so my gunner could pump at +them--but nothing doing. They beat it home and so did I, for it had been +three to one. When I landed I had five holes in my machine. One of the +wires had been shot away and gave me some trouble in landing. + +Feb. 10, 1918.--We have been pretty busy and had some exciting times. I +almost got mine day before yesterday and feel pretty lucky to be here. +We started out on a long trip into Germany and all the way over we had +no trouble at all. After we bombed, my observer and I dived down on +some villages and used our own guns on them. We got so low that the +anti-aircraft guns were popping too close, so we beat it. We soon saw a +bunch of hangars below us and we dived down on them and shot at them. In +a few minutes a bunch of Huns came up from the hangars after us and we +beat it to catch up with the others. We got up with them and looked +behind us and there were a number of Germans sneaking down on us. + +Then the battle commenced and for forty minutes we had a hot fight. We +picked off (censored) of them and they went plunging down in flames. +Then the others went back and we all returned safely, but I noticed that +my machine worked queerly, and when I landed I had a hard time, and +barely got to the ground without smashing to pieces. + +I looked the machine over, and you should have seen it. From top +to bottom it was one mass of holes. One bullet passed through my +combination and hit a can of tobacco. Another cut a main spar on one of +my wings, and another hit my stabilizer, tearing it half in two. One +other hit my gas tank and put a hole clear through it. Luckily my gas +was low and it did not explode, but, believe me, I was lucky. + +IN THE BIG GERMAN DRIVE + +April 20, 1918.--The orderly has just tapped on my window to put down my +shade, which means the Gothas are on their way. The guns are starting. +This attack has been frightful--day after day long lines of ambulances +roll by our camp carrying large numbers of wounded. Tomorrow we shall +continue our work of knocking down their batteries and bombing their +railroads. To-night, now, they are trying to get us. + +I started on a "permission" about three weeks ago and had beautiful +visions of peace and content for a week, but was called back immediately +at the beginning of this horrible attack. Things look bad, and in a few +days we are moving farther up. + +Our work here has been hard and exciting and always working in any kind +of weather. While our loss has been heavy we have accomplished wonders. +Going over on cloudy days when the heavy black clouds hang down to +within fifty meters of the ground, spotting a group of trucks, a line of +cars, or a battery of troops, then bombing them, shooting them up with +your machine guns and shooting back up into the clouds midst a rain of +luminous machine gun bullets from the ground is interesting work. But +the terror of those on the ground, poor devils! Yet it's got to be +brought home. Out of twenty-four trips we lost eight machines. +Poor Chuck Kerwood was among them. Chuck is an American boy from +Philadelphia, and he has been with us for five months. + +I had a chance to go back to the states as an instructor, and almost +took it, but when the time came around to leave this band of men who +have been in it for almost four years, I couldn't do it. They are men, +and have pulled me out of tight holes when I was green at this game, and +they did it at the risk of their lives. Now I've seen them drop off one +at a time, fine young Frenchmen, and I guess the least I can do is to +stay right by them and I feel my work is here. + +In Hospital, May 3, 1918.--Well, here I am at last, but I fooled them +for six months. Finally one slipped up behind me. I never saw him, but +felt him. Only got it in the leg, so it isn't very serious, except that +the bullet was incendiary. They have oodles of sulphur on them and I'm +afraid of complications. This is a nice hospital in a nice location; +only thing that I hate about it is that I may not be able to get back to +my escradrille for fifteen or twenty days. + +SEVERE BOMBING BY GERMANS + +May 16, 1918--Going to have another operation tomorrow and then I think +I'll be well. And, believe me, if I am I am going back and get somebody +for this. We are now on the Somme, near Rouen. I suppose you know Baron +von Richthofen has been brought down. I'm sorry, for he was a game, +clean scrapper, and I know, for I've had several brushes with him. The +Huns came over here last night and dropped sixty bombs, killing +people and wounding I don't know how many. Several of the bombs hit +about 300 meters from here and our beds shook like the dickens. + +COMMENTS ON HIS WAR CROSS + +At the Front, June 14, 1918.--I've been back here from the hospital for +several days and we are having beautiful weather, doing lots of work and +losing lots of men, but getting results. I think by now you have all my +letters explaining the change into the American army and the croix de +guerre, which doesn't signify a great deal. Things look pretty bad now, +but the French are holding strong with the constant arrival of Americans +and I think the Hun advance is stopped. We have been working at very +low altitudes and while we have lost men heavily the work was extremely +effective. We have been shifted from one part of the front to another so +that one hardly has time to unpack before we go to a new attack. Our car +has a broken piston, so we have had to walk more than usual and my leg +gets so worn out in a short time that it is slow going. + +GREAT FRENCH FLYER BRINGS DOWN + +At the beginning of the year, Lieut. Rene Fonck, the great French +flyer and ace of aces of all the belligerent forces, had only nineteen +successes to his credit, but during the last days of fighting the wily +Lieutenant scored many victories bringing his totals up to seventy five +enemy airplanes officially destroyed, with forty more probable successes +awaiting official verification. The final list of Lieut Fonck is all the +more astonishing when it is considered that he made flights only when +he thought himself in the fittest condition, and every time he flew he +triumphed over the German Aviators. His wonderful success is accredited +to his incomparable tactics, keen eyesight and most remarkable skill. + +OTHER CHAMPIONS OF THE AIR + +Among other champion flyers of the allied forces Major Bishop of the +British is credited with seventy-two victories; Lieutenant Coppens of +Belgium, wounded during the late fighting, and with a leg amputated, +holds the record of thirty-six victories; Lieutenant Baracchini the +Italian flyer has thirty victories to his credit; Eddie Rickenbacker the +American ace is responsible for twenty-four enemy victims, and Edward +Parsons, another American flyer is credited with eight official +victories and seven more unconfirmed. Captain Kosakoff the Russian ace +held seventeen successes to his credit at the close of Russias fighting. + +ENEMY ACES ALSO SCORE + +Lieutenant Udet of Germany is the ace of enemy aces and holds the record +of sixty victories; Captain Brunmwsky of the Austrian forces is next +with thirty-four to his credit; Sergeant Fiselier the German flyer +serving for Bulgaria is credited with seven victims, and Captain Schults +also a German serving for Turkey had eleven victories. + +QUENTIN ROOSEVELT LOSES HIS LIFE + +On Sunday July 14th, 1918, a violent encounter took place between German +battleplanes and American Air forces trying to break through the German +defense over the Marne. In this engagement Lieut, Quentin Roosevelt was +brought down and killed near Chambry, then behind the German lines. He +was buried with military honors by German airmen, at the spot where he +fell. His grave was located later by one of his fellow air scouts. + +AMERICAN AVIATOR GETS IRON CROSS + +One of the remarkable feats performed by Yankee air men, was that of +Lieut. Wm. T. Webb Jr. of Buffalo, a member of an American squadron +which encountered a German battleplane while flying over the German +lines. The American flyers surrounded the German Fokker like a flock of +birds, and instead of shooting it down, which would have been easy, +they maneuvered their planes so the boche machine was forced toward the +American lines. The German airmen fought desperately, but in vain, +to break through, and was forced lower and lower to the ground. Upon +reaching the ground he refused to stop his motor until, after bumping +over two fields, a bullet was fired through his gas tank setting it +afire. The two Germans jumped from the machine to the ground uninjured. +Both wore iron crosses. Lieut. Webb landed his machine, jumped out, +grabbed an iron cross from one of the terrified Germans, and rose again +to join his companions. + +EYES OF THE ARMY ALWAYS OPEN + +Few civilians have any idea of the intense, close watch that was kept +upon the enemy throughout the struggle. Soldiers on "listening post" +would crawl out every night to and sometimes into the enemy lines and on +their return report what they had heard. By day, aviators came back from +flights over enemy positions and gave details of what they had seen. +Every hill, tree-top, church spire, tall building and captive balloon +watched every move of the enemy and reported it. These reports by the +ears and eyes of the armies enabled American and allied commanders to +plan their infantry and artillery attacks. + +AMERICAN INFORMATION SERVICE CHART + +Knowledge of conditions in Germany during the war was so accurate that +the American general staff had computed many weeks in advance almost +the exact date on which the breaking point would be reached. A chart in +Secretary Baker's office shows the fluctuations in the "morale of the +German nation" from August, 1914, to the month of November, 1918. + +The chart shows how German morale fell and rose under the influence +of the military situation, the results of the submarine campaign, the +unanimity of purpose evidenced by the different groups in the reichstag, +and the economic condition of the country. So accurate was the +information that the "morale line" reached the zero point between Nov. +10 and 15. + +The chart indicates clearly that practically every major operation of +the German military forces was inaugurated when the morale line showed +dangerous slumps. + +A big map in the war office locates not only every allied unit but the +composition of the opposition forces, their commanders, and, in most +cases, their headquarters. + +Opposite each German army unit the map shows a list of the "used" and +reserve organizations. On Nov. 11, when the armistice was signed, long +lists of divisions which had been entirely used up were noted, but the +reserves had disappeared entirely, with the single exception of two +fresh German divisions in Belgium. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. CAUSES OF THE WAR + +_National and Race Prejudices--The Triple Alliance--The Triple +Entente--Teuton vs. Slav--Influence of Russian Diplomacy--Russia vs. +Austria--Control of Balkan Seaports--England's Commercial Supremacy +Challenged by Germany--Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of +Austria by a Serb_. + +Within the space of less than a week from August 1, 1914, five of the +six "great powers" of Europe became involved in a war that quickly +developed into the greatest and most sanguinary struggle of all time. +The European conflagration, long foreseen by statesmen and diplomats, +and dreaded of all alike, had broken out. + +Beginning with the thunder of Austrian guns at Belgrade, the +reverberations of war were heard in every capital of the Old World. +Austria's declaration of war against Servia was followed by the +alignment of Germany with its Teuton neighbor against the forces of +Russia, France and England. Italy alone, of the six great powers, +declined to align itself with its formal allies and made a determined +effort at the outset to maintain its neutrality. + +Soon the highways of Europe resounded with the hoof-beats and the tramp +of marching hosts, with the rattle of arms and the rumble of artillery. +Of such a war, once begun, no man could predict the end. But the world +realized that it was a catastrophe of unparalleled proportions, a +failure of civilization in its stronghold, a disaster to humanity. + +For more than forty years the great powers of Europe had been at peace +with one another. Though war had threatened now and then, diplomacy +had avoided the actual outbreak. But that the dreaded conflict was +inevitable had long been recognized. For its coming immense armaments +had been prepared, until the burdens of taxation laid upon the people +had become in themselves a source of danger. But behind it all lay the +sinister influence of the "junker" element of Germany--the military +party, swollen with pride in the development of the German army by more +than forty years of preparation for conflict, and the naval party, eager +for "der Tag" which should bring a trial of the new German navy +against the battle fleets of an enemy. Fostering and encouraging these +militaristic sentiments was the growing desire of Germany for "a +place in the sun," which was translatable only as a desire for world +domination. Greater and wider markets for German commerce were urgently +demanded, and visions of Germany as mistress of the seas, with a great +colonial empire, and of the Kaiser as the undisputed military overlord +of Europe, already filled and fired the Teuton imagination. + +The political alignment of the great powers prior to the war was as +follows: On the one side was the Triple Alliance, including Germany, +Austria-Hungary, and Italy; while on the other was the Triple Entente, +comprising Great Britain, France and Russia. As the event proved, the +uncertain element in this line-up was Italy, which had a real grievance +against Austria in the latter's possession of the former Italian +territory known as the Trentino, and which was not consulted by Germany +and Austria prior to the outbreak of hostilities. She therefore declined +to enter the war as a member of the Triple Alliance, but was later found +in the field against Austria, and thenceforth rendered powerful aid to +the cause of "the Allies," as the members of the Triple Entente and +their supporters soon came to be known. + +It was in the Balkans, long regarded as the zone of danger to European +peace, that the war-clouds gathered and darkened rapidly. For +generations Austria and Russia had struggled diplomatically for the +control of Balkan seaports, with the Balkan states acting as buffers in +the diplomatic strife. Servia acted as a bar to Austria's commercial +route to the AEgean, by way of the Sanjak of Novi Bazar to Saloniki, +while Russia was Servia's great ally and stood stoutly behind the little +Slav kingdom in its opposition to Austrian aggression. + +AMBITIONS OF SERVIA + +Then came the recent Balkan Wars, and their outcome was viewed with +alarm. Austria uneasily watched the approach of Servia to the Adriatic +and the Aegean. The formation of the new new autonomous state of +Albania, between Servia and the Adriatic, was all that prevented Austria +from attacking Servia during that crisis. The terms of peace left the +situation, as it concerned Austria and Russia, practically as it had +been. Austria made no further progress toward the sea, and Russia +remained the ally of Servia. Bulgaria had failed in its efforts to reach +Salonica. + +At this stage another element exerted its influence. Servia awoke to the +possibility of a Greater Servia. An Empire of the Slavs had long been +dreamed of. In Austria-Hungary itself millions of Slavs were dreaming of +it and awaiting the disruption of Austria-Hungary, held together now, +as they argue, only by the indomitable will of the old Emperor, Franz +Joseph. The hatred between the Slavs and the Teutonic Austrians is +intense. The annexation by Austria of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which +Servians predominate, increased the Servian hatred and the indignation +of the whole Slav world to the point of violence. A conflict was avoided +with difficulty. These principalities had hoped to form part of a +Greater Servia. Had not Russia been exhausted by the war with Japan, +Servia would have called upon her ally and the crisis would have come +then. As it was, the Balkans teemed with plots and counterplots against +the Austrians, culminating in the assassination of the Arch-Duke and +heir-apparent to the Austrian throne, Francis Ferdinand, known for his +anti-Slav principles, and therefore feared and hated as the king to +be. The assassination occurred at Serajevo in Bosnia, where Servian +disaffection was seething. Austria immediately laid the crime on the +Servian government. + +AUSTRIA DECLARES WAR + +Failing in her peremptory demands for satisfaction, Austria declared +war, July 28, 1914, apparently for revenge, but behind her righteous +indignation she still held in view her traditional ambition, a port on +the Mediterranean, to be secured by the complete control of the +Novi Bazar route to Salonica, a route which, besides its commercial +importance, is of tremendous strategic value to the nation which +commands it. The treaty of Berlin of 1878, after the Russo-Turkish War, +had given Austria the military, political, and commercial control of the +route within the Sanjak of Novi Bazar, then a part of Turkey. + +But now, in the division of spoils following the Balkan Wars, Servia +gained control of Novi Bazar, Pristina, Uskub, and Istip, or practically +the entire route to a short distance north of Salonica, where the new +boundaries of Greece had been extended. This meant that Austria saw +herself shut out from the Sanjak, and only by the destruction and +subsequent occupation of Servia could Austria regain her ascendancy over +the route. Victory would mean a long step by Austria toward the sea. + +PLOTS AND COUNTERPLOTS + +The "balance of power" among European nations has hitherto been +maintained because the formation of a single nation out of the Balkan +States has not been possible. Although the people of these states +have similar pursuits, and live much alike in all regions, they have +preserved their original racial differences. A village of Albanians may +be within a few miles of a village of Greeks. Yet through centuries both +have remained racially distinct. Here and there the barriers have given +way somewhat, but in general the races persist side by side, sometimes +peaceably, more often in mutual distrust or open feud. Such division has +been fostered by the great nations, and new states have been created, as +recently Albania, since the formation of a great state in the Balkans by +the union of all or the absorbing greatness of one, would overthrow +the balance of power, and besides interpose an insurmountable obstacle +between Austria and Russia, and the sea. + +Thus the states have been played against each other. Sometimes the game +has been one of diplomacy, or one of force, hurling the states at each +other's throats. + +HOW WAR WAS DECLARED + + _Ultimatum, by Austria to Servia--War Declared by Austria-- + Russia Mobilizes--Germany Declares War on Russia + August 1--France and England Involved--Germans + Enter Belgium--Scenes in European Capitals_. + +On Sunday, June 28, 1914, a Servian student named Prinzep shot +and killed the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the thrones of +Austria-Hungary, and his morganatic wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, in +the streets of Serajevo, a town in Bosnia which the royal couple were +visiting. + +Nearly four weeks later, on July 23, the Austro-Hungarian government, +fixing responsibility for the assassination upon Servian intrigues, +presented to Servia a number of demands which formed a very drastic +ultimatum, requiring compliance within forty-eight hours, with the +alternative of war. Servia was required to condemn "the propaganda +directed against Austria" and to take proceedings against all +accessories to the plot against the Archduke Francis Ferdinand who were +in Servia. Austrian delegates were to supervise the proceedings, and +Servia was also to arrest certain Servian officials whose guilt was +alleged. These exorbitant conditions made it quite obvious that no +concessions on Servians part would be accepted. It was a plain prelude +to war. + +Nevertheless, a virtual acceptance by Servia followed. Acting on the +advice of Russia, Servia acceded to all that was required of her, +making only two reservations of the most reasonable character. These +reservations were found enough to serve as an excuse for war. Austria at +once declared herself dissatisfied and though the actual declaration of +war was delayed for a brief period, a state of war practically existed +between the two countries from Saturday evening, July 25. + +EFFORTS TO LOCALIZE THE WAR + +Then began efforts on the part of Great Britain to localize the war. +Sir Edward Grey, the able foreign secretary in Mr. Asquith's cabinet, +repeated solemn warnings in every chancellery of Europe. According to +the English "white book," the very day that he was notified of the +violent tone of Austria's note to Servia--the day it was presented--he +warned the Austrian Ambassador in London that if as many as four of +the Great Powers of Europe were to engage in war, it would involve the +expenditure of such a vast sum of money and such interference with +trade, that a complete collapse of European credit and industry would +follow. The reply of Russia to this warning was quite conciliatory. The +Russian foreign minister, M. Sazonoff, assured the British minister that +Russia had no aggressive intentions, and would take no action unless +forced. Austria's action, M. Sazonoff added, in reality aimed at +over-throwing Russia's influence in the Balkans. + +Thus, on Monday, July 27, Sir Edward Grey was able to state in the House +of Commons that his suggestion of a joint conference, composed of the +Ambassadors of Germany, France and Italy, and himself, with a view to +mediation between Austria and Russia, had been accepted by all except +Germany, which power had expressed its concurrence with the plan in +principle, but opposed the details on the ground that there was a +prospect of direct "conversations" (diplomatic exchanges) between +Austria and Russia. This statement was believed in England to lack +sincerity. On that Monday afternoon the Russian Ambassador at Vienna +warned Austria that Russia would not give way and expressed his hope +that some arrangement might be arrived at before Servia was invaded. + +Austria's reply came next day in the shape of a formal declaration of +war against Servia. + +GERMANY'S ATTITUDE PRO-AUSTRIAN + +On July 30 Sir M. de Bunsen, British Ambassador at Vienna, made the +following statement to Sir Edward Grey regarding the attitude of Germany +in the crisis: "Although I am not able to verify it, I have private +information that the German Ambassador (at Vienna) knew the text of the +Austrian ultimatum to Servia before it was dispatched, and telegraphed +it to the German Emperor. I know from the German Ambassador himself that +he endorses every line of it." + +Naturally enough the Russian foreign minister complained that +"conversations" with Austria were useless in the face of such facts. +Russia then declared that her forces would be mobilized the day that +Austria crossed the Servian frontier. The attitude of Germany at once +stiffened and it became evident that Germany meant to regard even the +partial mobilization of Russia as a ground for war, not only against +Russia, but also against the latter's ally, France. + +In vain Russia protested that her partial mobilization was merely a +precaution. In vain did the Czar himself offer to give his word that no +use would be made of any of his forces. Germany was aware, as subsequent +facts have proved, that her own state of mobilization was very much +further advanced than that of Russia. + + +GERMAN ULTIMATUM TO RUSSIA + +By Friday, July 31, Germany was ready for the fray and a final ultimatum +to St. Petersburg was launched. On the same day Russia declared war +against Austria. By six o'clock on Saturday evening, August 1, war +between Germany and Russia began, when Germany dismissed the Russian +Ambassador, and by Sunday morning Germany was invading France. The +next day, August 3, the German Ambassador left Paris and the French +Ambassador at Berlin was ordered to demand his passports. + +At this point Great Britain passed from the position of general +peacemaker to that of a principal. In the House of Commons on Monday, +August 3, Sir Edward Grey stated that the question whether Austria +or Russia should dominate the Southern Slav races was no concern of +England, nor was she bound by any secret alliance to France. She was +absolutely free to choose her course with regard to the crisis which had +overtaken her. But there were two cardinal points in the situation +which had arisen which ultimately concerned Great Britain. The first +essential feature of British diplomacy, said Sir Edward, was that France +should not be brought into such a condition in Europe that she became +a species of vassal state to Germany. On the morning of July 31, +therefore, he had informed the German Ambassador that if the efforts to +maintain peace failed and France became involved Great Britain would be +drawn into the conflict. + +In his speech of August 3 the British foreign minister also stated that +he had given France on the previous day the written assurance that if +the German fleet came into the English Channel or through the North Sea +to assail her, the British fleet would protect her to the uttermost. + +TO PROTECT BELGIAN AUTONOMY + +On the same afternoon, in the same place, Sir Edward Grey reiterated the +other dominant principle of British foreign policy--that England can +never look with indifference on the seizure by a great continental power +of any portion of Belgium and Holland. More than a hundred years ago it +was declared by Napoleon, who was a master of political geography, that +Antwerp was "a pistol leveled at the head of London." + +When on July 31 the British foreign minister inquired by telegraph both +at Paris and Berlin whether the two governments would engage to respect +the neutrality of Belgium, France replied with an assurance that she was +resolved to do so unless compelled to act otherwise by reason of the +violation of Belgium's neutrality at the hands of another power. The +German secretary of state, Herr von Jagow, replied that he could give no +such assurance until he had consulted the Emperor and Chancellor, and +doubted whether he could give any answer without revealing the German +plan of campaign. He furthermore alleged the commission of hostile acts +by Belgium. + +Developments quickly followed. The German government proposed that +Belgium should grant its armies free passage through Belgian territory. +The proposal was accompanied by an intimation that Belgium would be +crushed out of existence if it refused to comply. In fact, it was an +ultimatum presented at 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, August 2, to expire +within twelve hours. + +Then came Sir Edward Grey's speech in parliament on August 3, when it +was fully realized that Germany and England were on the verge of war. +What followed was related in the House of Commons next day. + +SCENES IN PARLIAMENT + +Germany's reply to the speech by Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign +secretary, indicating the attitude of Great Britain in regard to the +contemplated violation of Belgian territory by Germany was a second +ultimatum from Berlin to Brussels, saying Germany was prepared to carry +through her plans by force of arms if necessary. + +The British government was officially informed by Belgium on August +that German troops had invaded Belgium and that the violation of that +country's neutrality, which the British, foreign secretary had intimated +must be followed by action on the part of the British, had become an +accomplished fact. + +Definite announcement of Great Britain's intentions under these +circumstances was expected in the house of commons that afternoon. + +TELEGRAM SENT TO BERLIN + +On the assembly of the house the premier, Mr. Asquith, said that a +telegram had been sent early in the morning to Sir Edward Goschen, +British ambassador in Berlin, to the following effect: + +"The king of the Belgians has appealed to His Britannic Majesty's +government for diplomatic intervention on behalf of Belgium. The British +government is also informed that the German government has delivered to +the Belgian government a note proposing friendly neutrality pending a +free passage of German troops through Belgium and promising to maintain +the independence and integrity of the kingdom and its possessions on the +conclusion of peace, threatening in case of refusal to treat Belgium as +an enemy." Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign secretary, had requested +an answer within twelve hours. + +Premier Asquith then read a telegram from the German foreign minister, +which the German ambassador in London had sent to Sir Edward Grey. It +was as follows: + + "Please dispel any distrust that may subsist on the part + of the British government with regard to our intentions by + repeating most positively the formal assurance that even in + case of armed conflict with Belgium, Germany will under no + pretensions whatever annex Belgian territory." + +The reading of this telegram was greeted with derisive laughter by the +members of the house. + +Premier Asquith continued: + + "We understand that Belgium categorically refused to + assent to a flagrant violation of the law of nations. + + "His majesty's government was bound to protest against + this violation of a treaty to which Germany was a party in + common with England and must request an assurance that + the demand made upon Belgium by Germany be not proceeded + with and that Belgium's neutrality be respected by Germany + and we have asked for an immediate reply. + + "We received this morning from our minister in Brussels + the following telegram: + + "'The German minister has this morning addressed a + note to the Belgian minister for foreign affairs stating that as + the Belgian government has declined a well intentioned proposal + submitted to it by the imperial German government + the latter, deeply to its regret, will be compelled to carry out, + if necessary by force of arms, the measures considered indispensable + in view of the French menace.'" + +ENGLAND AND GERMANY AT WAR + +By 11 o'clock that evening England and Germany were at war. Their +respective ambassadors were handed their passports and Great Britain +braced herself for a conflict that was felt to threaten her very +existence as a nation. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +THE INVASION OF BELGIUM + + _Belgians Rush to Defense of Their Frontier--Towns Bombarded + and Burned--Defense of Liege--Fall of Liege-- + --Fall of Namur--Peasants and Townspeople Flee-- + Destruction of Louvain_. + +At 10 o'clock on the night of August 2 German troops crossed the Belgian +frontier, coming from Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen, temporary headquarters +of the general staff, and the bloody invasion of Belgium, involving the +violation of its neutral treaty rights, began. Simultaneously the German +forces entered the independent duchy of Luxemburg to the south, en route +to the French border, and also came in touch with French outposts in the +provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. + +The events that followed in Belgium furnished a genuine surprise to +the world. Instead of finding the Belgian people indifferent to the +violation of their territory and the Belgian army only a slight obstacle +in the road to Paris, as was probably expected by the German general +staff, a most gallant and determined resistance was offered to the +progress of the German hosts. The army of the little State was quickly +mobilized for defense and its operations, while ineffectual in stopping +the Kaiser's irresistible force, delayed its advance for three +invaluable weeks, giving time for the complete mobilization of the +French and for the landing of a British expeditionary force to +co-operate with the latter in resisting the German approach to Paris. + +Just across the Belgian border lay the little towns of Vise and +Verviers, and these were the first objects of German attack and Belgian +defense. Both were occupied after desperate resistance by the Belgians +and Vise was partly demolished by fire in reprisal, it was claimed, +for the firing by civilians on the German invaders. The subsequent +bombardment and burning of towns and villages by the Germans were +explained in every case as measures of revenge for hostile acts on the +part of non-combatants and intended to prevent their occurrence +elsewhere by striking terror into the hearts of the Belgian populace. +Whatever the pretext or the excuse, the historical fact remains that the +result of the German progress toward the Franco-Belgian frontier +constituted a martyrdom for Belgium and gained for the plucky little +kingdom the fullest sympathy of the civilized world. + + +[Illustration:--From the Literary Digest BELGIUM--THE FIRST BATTLEFIELD OF THE WAR + +The map shows the more important railroad lines connecting the cities of +Brussels, Antwerp and Namur and those of Northern France. Paris is +200 miles by rail from Brussels and 190 from Namur.] + +THE ATTACK ON LIEGE + +The ancient city of Liege was attacked by the German artillery on August +4. The town itself was occupied, five days later, but the modern forts +surrounding it continued for some time longer to hold out against the +fierce German attack. It became necessary to bring up the heaviest +modern Krupp siege guns in order to reduce them. + +Amidst all the plethora of events which crowded themselves into the +first few days following the outbreak of the war, none was more +remarkable than the Belgian stand at Liege against the German advance. + +The struggle round Liege bids fair to become historic, and the garrisons +of the Liege forts when they looked out fearlessly from the banks of the +Meuse on the vanguard of the German host, and took decision to block +its further progress, proved their claim once again to Julius Caesar's +description of their ancestors, "The Belgians are the bravest of the +Gauls." + +THE FALL OF LIEGE + +News of the fall of Liege and the occupation of the city by German +troops was received with great rejoicing in Berlin on August 8th. +Dispatches received at Amsterdam from the German capital said: + +The news of the fall of Liege spread with lightning rapidity throughout +Berlin and created boundless enthusiasm. The Emperor sent an +aide-de-camp to announce the capture of the city to crowds that +assembled outside the palace. + +Policemen on bicycles dashed along Unter den Linden proclaiming the +joyful tidings. Imperial Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg drove to the castle +to congratulate the Emperor on the victory and was enthusiastically +cheered along the way. + +PEASANTS AND TOWNSPEOPLE FLEE + +Following the fall of Liege came a number of sanguinary engagements in +northern Belgium; the unopposed occupation of Brussels on August 20, and +a four days' battle beginning on August 23, in which the Germans forced +back the French and British allies to the line of Noyon-LaFere across +the northern frontier of France. In the northern engagements the +Belgians gave a good account of themselves, but were everywhere forced +to give way before the innumerable hosts of the Kaiser, though not +without inflicting tremendous losses on the invaders. + +The retirement of the civilian population before the advancing masses of +the German army was a pathetic spectacle. It was a flight in terror and +distress. + +On Tuesday, August 18, the German troops surged down upon Tirlemont, +a town twenty miles southeast of Louvain, around which they had been +massing for some days, presumably by rail and motor cars. The stories +which had reached the inhabitants of Tirlemont of the happenings at +surrounding towns and villages had not added to their peace of mind, +and soon the moment for flight arrived. All kinds of civilians set out +towards Brussels and Ghent for refuge. At times the road was full of +carts bearing entire families, with pots and pans swaying and banging +against the sides as the vehicles bumped over the roadway. The younger +women, boys and menfolk who had been left in the towns and villages +fled on foot. Priests, officials and Red Cross helpers mingled with the +crowd. This stream of unfortunates uprooted from their homes was thus +described by an eyewitness: + + "These masses of broken-hearted people moved silently + along, many weeping, few talking. With them they brought + a few of their possessions, as pathetically miscellaneous as + the effects one might seize in the panic haste of a hotel fire. + Ox wagons, bundles and babies on dog-drawn carts or on men's + backs, bicycles and handcarts laden with kitchen utensils, all + mingled with the human stream. Here were to be seen sewing + machines, beds, bedding, food, and there a little girl or boy + with some toy clasped uncomprehendingly in a dirty hand; + they also knew that danger threatened and that they must + save what they held most dear. And even among these unhappy + people there were some more unfortunate than the + others--men and women who had no bundle, children who + had no doll. All the way to Louvain there flowed this human + stream of misery. Back along the Tirlemont road rifle firing + could be heard and entrenchments were to be seen in the town + itself." + + +These scenes between Tirlemont and Louvain were typical of those on +every road leading to the larger cities of Belgium as the inhabitants +fled before the approach of the dreaded Uhlans. + +FALL OF NAMUR + +On the afternoon of Sunday, August 23, the fortress of Namur was +evacuated by the Belgians, and the town was later occupied by the +Germans. + +The fortress was said to be as strong as Liege and it owed its +importance in the present war to the fact that it was the apex of the +two French flanks. One ran from Namur to Charleroi and the other by +Givet to Mezieres. + +Warned by their experiences at Liege, the Germans made most determined +efforts against Namur. From the north, south and east they were able to +bring up their big guns unhindered, and by assaults at Charleroi and +Dinant they endeavored to break the sides of the French triangle. Namur +finally collapsed but clever strategy enabled the French to fall back +upon their main lines. + +The fall of Namur, nevertheless, was a decided blow to the allies. This +was admitted by the French minister of war, who said at midnight Monday, +August 24, of the failure of the "Namur triangle": + +"It is, of course, regrettable that owing to difficulties of execution +which could not have been foreseen our plan of attack has not achieved +its object. Had it done so it would have shortened the war, but in any +case our defense remains intact in the face of an already weakened +enemy. Our losses are severe. It will be premature to estimate them or +to estimate those of the German army, which, however, has suffered so +severely as to be compelled to halt in its counterattack and establish +itself in new positions." + +The object of the French triangle, having its apex at Namur, was to +break the German army in two. The British troops, as related in another +chapter, were cooperating with the French at Mons. When the Belgians +evacuated Namur the Germans had knocked to pieces three of the forts to +the northeast of the town with howitzer fire. Between these forts they +advanced and bombarded the town, which was defended by the Belgian +Fourth Division. Namur was evacuated when the defenders found themselves +unable to support a heavy artillery fire. + +The Germans attacked in a formation three ranks deep, the front rank +lying down, the second kneeling, and the third standing. They afforded a +target which was fully used by the men behind the Belgian machine guns. +Some fifty or sixty howitzers were brought into action by the Germans, +who concentrated several guns simultaneously on each fort and smothered +it with fire. + +DESTRUCTION OF LOUVAIN + +At this stage of the war in Belgium an event occurred that riveted +universal attention upon the German operations. On Tuesday, August 25, +the beautiful, historic, scholastic city of Louvain, containing 42, +inhabitants, was bombarded by the Germans and later put to the torch. +The fire, which burned for several days, devastated the city. Many +artistic and historical treasures, including the priceless library of +Louvain University and several magnificent churches, centuries old, +were totally destroyed. Only the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), one of the +finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe, was spared and left +standing in the midst of ruins. + +The Rotterdam Telegraf, a neutral newspaper, declared that in the +devastation of Louvain "a wound that can never be healed" was inflicted +"on the whole of civilized humanity." Frank Jewett Mather, the +well-known American art critic, bitterly denounced the act as one of +wanton destruction, saying that Louvain "contained more beautiful works +of art than the Prussian nation has produced in its entire history." + +Thus when the first month of war ended, the Germans had made good with +their plan of seizing Belgium as a base of operations against France and +had arrived in full force at the first line of French defenses, well on +the way to the coveted goal, Paris. + +But poor little Belgium, the "cockpit of Europe," ran red with blood. + +SURRENDER OP BRUSSELS + +_Belgian Capital Occupied by the Germans Without Bloodshed--Important +Part Played by American Minister Brand Whittock---Belgian Forces Retreat +to Antwerp--Dinant and Termonde Fall_. + +After the usual reconnaissances by Uhlans and motorcycle scouts, the van +of the German army arrived at Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, on +August 20. The seat of government had been removed three days before to +Antwerp. The French and Russian ministers also moved to Antwerp, leaving +the affairs of their respective countries in the hands of the Spanish +legation. Brand Whitlock, United States minister to Belgium, remained at +Brussels and played an important part in negotiations which led to the +unresisted occupation and march through the city by the Germans in force +on August 21 and the consequent escape of Brussels from bombardment and +probable ruin. + +At the approach of the German army the inhabitants of the capital were +stricken with fear of the outcome. When the Belgian civic guards and +refugees began pouring into the city from the direction of Louvain, they +brought stories of unspeakable German atrocities, maltreatment of old +men and children, and the violation of women. + +"The Belgian capital reeled with apprehension," said an American +resident. "Within an hour the gaiety, the vivacity, and brilliancy of +the city went out like a broken arclight. The radiance of the cafes +was exchanged for darkness; whispering groups of residents broke up +hurriedly and locked themselves into their homes, where they put up +the shutters and drew in their tricolored Belgian flags. "The historic +Belgian city went through a state of morbid consternation, remarkably +like that from which it suffered on June 18,1815, when it trembled with +the fear of a French victory at Waterloo. + +"In less than twenty-four hours the Belgian citizens were chatting +comfortably with the German invaders and the allegations of German +brutality and demoniacal torture dissolved into one of the myths which +have accompanied all wars. + +"Neither in Brussels nor in its environs was a single offensive act, so +far as I know, committed by a German soldier. In a city of over half +a million people, invaded by a hostile army of perhaps a quarter of a +million soldiers, no act, sufficiently flagrant to demand punishment or +to awaken protest came to my attention." + +SURRENDER OF CITY DEMANDED + +Prior to the occupation the German commander had sent forward a flag +of truce demanding the surrender of the city. This was at midnight of +Wednesday, August 19. The Belgian commandant replied that he was bound +in honor to defend the town. + +Brand Whitlock, the United States minister, then came to the fore. He +recommended to the commandant and to Burgomaster Max the unconditional +surrender of the city, pointing out how resistance might bring increased +misfortune on the citizens. But the military commander remained adamant +until orders arrived from King Albert consenting to the surrender of the +city. + +Mr. Whitlock was later congratulated officially by the king for his +action. Undoubtedly he had a great deal to do with saving Brussels. + +HISTORIC TREASURES OF BRUSSELS + +The city of Brussels, thus occupied by the Germans, contains art +treasures that are priceless. The museum and public galleries are filled +with masterpieces of the Flemish and old Dutch school, while the royal +library comprises 600,000 volumes, 100,000 manuscripts and 50,000 rare +coins. Unquestionably the Brussels Museum is one of the most complete on +the Continent. A prominent historic landmark of Brussels is the King's +House (also called the Dreadhouse), an ancient structure, recently +renovated. Within its walls both the Counts Egmont and Hoorn spent the +last night before their execution, in 1567, by the hirelings of the Duke +of Alva, the Spanish Philip II's tyrannical governor of the Netherlands, +who, by means of the sword and the Inquisition, sought to establish the +Catholic religion in those countries. Brussels boasts another historic +relic known the world over--the equestrian statue of Godfrey of +Bouillon, who led the Crusaders to the Holy Land. It stands upon the +Place Royale, and was unveiled in 1848. + +The magnificent Town Hall of Brussels would probably have suffered +destruction, together with the city's other beautiful buildings, had not +the government yielded without a struggle. + +HEAVY WAR TAX LEVIED + +General von der Goltz, appointed by the Kaiser military governor of +Belgium, levied a war tax of $40,000,000 on the capture of the capital. +Other cities occupied by the Germans were also assessed for large +sums, which in several instances had to be paid immediately on pain of +bombardment. It was announced September 1 that the four richest men in +Belgium had guaranteed the payment to Germany of the war tax. The four +men were Ernest Solvay, the alkali king; Baron Lambert, the Belgian +representative of the Rothschilds; Raoul Warocque, the mine owner, and +Baron Empain, the railway magnate. + +BELGIANS RETREAT TO ANTWERP + +After the German occupation almost normal conditions were soon restored +in Brussels, so far as civic life was concerned. It was speedily +announced that the Germans intended to regard the whole of Belgium as +a German province and to administer it as such, at least during the +continuance of the war. The Belgian army retired to the north within the +fortifications of Antwerp, where they were joined by French troops, but +desultory fighting against the German invader continued at many points +and the Franco-British allies soon came into contact with the advancing +German army. + +THE CITY AND PORT OF ANTWERP + +Antwerp is one of the largest, most modernly equipped and efficient +ports in Europe. It is only a short distance across the English Channel, +and is the head of 1,200 miles of canals in Belgium which connect with +the canal systems of Holland, France and Germany. On the harbor alone +over $100,000,000 has been spent and extensions are in progress which +will cost $15,000,000 more. + +For the prosperity of Belgium, Antwerp is many times more important than +Brussels, the capital. While the country has an enormous amount of coal +and many factories and other industries, these would be of little value +without the imports which enter through Antwerp. + +The city has about 360,000 inhabitants. Although located fifty-three +miles inland on the Scheldt River, it has natural advantages for harbor +purposes which have been recognized since the seventh century. Napoleon +looked over the spot and started large harbor construction. + +[Illustration: ANTWERP AND ITS FORTIFICATIONS] + +Ever since that time, according to popular belief, Antwerp has +encouraged commerce. Over eighty different steamboat lines use the docks +and quays. The passenger lines include boats to New York and Boston, New +Orleans, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Grimsby, South American ports, +Cuba, the Congo, East and South Africa and the far East. + +In 1912 a total of 6,973 ocean-going vessels entered the port, and +41,000 other vessels. + +Antwerp in 1870 ranked fifth in the ports of the world. Today it is +believed to be second or third. Ten years ago the freight received from +the inland was principally by the canals. Approximately 2,300,000 tons +were received by rail and 5,500,000 tons by canal boats. + +This ratio has not been maintained, but the canal traffic now is much +larger than the rail tonnage. This gives an idea of the extensive use to +which the European countries put their canals, and the reader may guess +the value of the city at the head of the canal system to the Germans. + +BLOODLESS CAPITULATION OF GHENT + +Historic Ghent, with its quarter of a million inhabitants, was also +surrendered peaceably to the Germans, and again the energy and +initiative of an American, United States Vice-Consul J. A. Van Hee, had +much to do with the avoidance of tragedy and destruction. + +Learning that the advance guard of the German army was only a few miles +outside the city, the burgomaster went out on the morning of September +to parley with Gen. von Boehn--in the hope of arranging for the German +forces not to enter. An agreement finally was reached whereby the +Germans should go around Ghent on condition that all Belgian troops +should evacuate the city, the civic guard be disarmed, their weapons +surrendered, and the municipal authorities should supply the Germans +with specified quantities of provisions and other supplies. + +The burgomaster was not back an hour when a motor car driven by two +armed German soldiers appeared in the streets. + +At almost the same moment that the German car entered the city from the +south a Belgian armored car, armed with a machine gun, with a crew of +three men, entered from the east on a scouting expedition. + +The two cars, both speeding, encountered each other at the head of the +Rue Agneau, directly in front of the American consulate. Vice-consul Van +Hee, standing in the doorway, was an eyewitness to what followed. + +The Germans, taken completely by surprise at the sight of the foe's grim +war car in its coat of elephant gray, bearing down upon them, attempted +to escape, firing with their carbines as they fled. Notwithstanding the +fact that the sidewalks were lined with onlookers, the Belgians opened +on the fleeing Germans with their machine guns, which spurted lead as a +garden hose spurts water. + +The driver, fearing the Germans might escape, swerved his powerful car +against the German motor precisely as a polo player "rides off" his +opponent. The machine gun never ceased its angry snarl. + +The Germans surrendered, both being wounded. + +Appreciating that Ghent stood in imminent danger of meeting the terrible +fate of its sister cities, Aerschot and Louvain, sacked and burned for +far less cause, Mr. Van Hee hurriedly found the burgomaster and urged +him to go along instantly to German headquarters. + +They found General von Boehn and his staff at a chateau a few miles +outside the city. The German commander at first was furious with anger +and threatened Ghent with the same punishment he had meted out to the +other places where Germans were fired on. Van Hee took a very firm +stand, however. He told the general the burning of Ghent would do +more than anything else to lose the Germans all American sympathy. He +reminded him that Americans have a great sentimental interest in Ghent +because the treaty of peace between England and the United States was +signed there just a century ago. + +The general finally said: "If you will give me your word that there +will be no further attacks upon Germans in Ghent, and that the wounded +soldiers will be taken under American protection and returned to +Brussels by the consular authorities when they have recovered, I will +agree to spare Ghent and will not even demand a money indemnity." + +The news that Mr. Van Hee had succeeded in his mission spread through +the city like fire in dry grass and when he returned he was acclaimed by +cheering crowds as the saviour of Ghent. + +THE BURGOMASTER'S APPEAL + +Blazoned on the front of the Town Hall suddenly appeared a great +black-lettered document. It was a manly and inspiring proclamation by +the burgomaster, similar to the splendid proclamation issued by M. +Adolphe Max, burgomaster of Brussels, just before the German entry. +He assured the inhabitants that he and all the town officials were +remaining in their places, and that so long as life and liberty remained +to him he would do all in his power to protect their honor and their +interests. He reminded them that under the laws of war they had the +right to refuse all information and help to the invaders; and called +upon each citizen, or his wife, to refuse such information and help. +Finally, he urged the citizens to remain calm, and stay in their homes. + +"Vive la Belgique! Vive Ghent!" The proclamation ended in great capitals +with this patriotic cry. + +DINANT AND TERMONDE FALL + +But other cities and towns of Belgium were not as fortunate as Brussels +and Ghent in escaping damage and destruction. + +Dinant, a town of 8,000 inhabitants, fifteen miles south of Namur, and +dating back to the sixth century, was partially destroyed by the Germans +in their advance on September 3 and 4. Early reports stated that a +number of the most prominent citizens had been executed, including Mr. +Humbert, owner of a large factory, who was slain in the presence of his +wife and children. + +The Germans alleged that citizens had fired on them from the heights +about the city. They then drove all of the inhabitants out, shot some of +the men as examples, took the gold from the branch of the National Bank +and burned the business section. On September 4 the town of Termonde met +a similar fate. This town, 16 miles from Ghent, was fired in several +places before the Kaiser's troops passed on. They also blew up a bridge +over the River Escaut to the north, seeming to renounce for the moment +their intrusion into the country of the Waes district. Afterward they +directed an attack against the southwest front position of the Antwerp +army and were repulsed with great losses. + +Describing the burning of Termonde by the Germans, a Ghent correspondent +said: + +"By midday Sunday the blaze had assumed gigantic proportions and by +Sunday evening not a house stood upright. This was verified at Zele, +where there were thousands of refugees from Termonde. The Germans also +pillaged Zele. The suburb of St. Giles also suffered from bombardment +and fire." + +A courier who knew Termonde as a flourishing town with fine shops, +an ancient town hall of singular beauty and a number of churches of +historic interest, found the place on September 11 a smoldering ruin, +except for the town hall and one church, on a stone of which he saw the +inscription "1311." These two structures were left intact, without so +much as a broken window. + +Termonde was burned for much the same reason as Louvain. On September +4 a German force came back from the field after having been severely +handled by the Belgians, and the German commander, it is said, +exclaimed: + +"It is our duty to burn them down!" + +The inhabitants were given two hours' grace, and German soldiers filed +through the town, breaking windows with their rifles. They were followed +by other files of troops, who sprayed kerosene into the houses, others +applied lighted fuses and the town was systematically destroyed. + +BOMBARDMENT OF MALINES + +On Thursday night, August 27, the German artillery bombarded the ancient +Belgian town of Malines. During the bombardment many of the monuments +in the town were hit by shells and destroyed. When the artillery had +ceased firing the inhabitants of Malines were advised to leave the town. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII BRITAIN RAISES AN ARMY + +_Earl Kitchener Appointed Secretary for War--A New Volunteer +Army--Expeditionary Force Landed in France--Marshal Sir John French +in Command--Colonies Rally to Britain's Aid--The Canadian +Contingent--Indian Troops Called For--Native Princes Offer Aid_. + +After the declaration of war by Great Britain against Germany on August +4, the first important development in England was the appointment of +Earl Kitchener of Khartoum as secretary of state for war. This portfolio +had been previously held by the Rt. Hon. H.H. Asquith, premier and first +lord of the treasury. Lord Kitchener being the idol of the British army +and most highly esteemed by the nation generally for his powers of +organization and administration, as well as for his military fame, +the appointment increased the confidence of the British people in the +Liberal Government and awakened their enthusiasm for war. Parliament +unanimously passed a vote of credit for $500,000,000 on August 6. + +Lord Kitchener immediately realized the serious nature of the task +confronting his country as an ally of France against the military power +of Germany. His first step was to increase the regular army. The first +call was for 100,000 additional men. This was soon increased to 500,000. +Within a month there were 439,000 voluntary enlistments and then a +further call was made for 500,000 more, bringing the strength of the +British army up to 1,854,000 men, a figure unprecedented for Great +Britain. + +The war fever grew apace in England. All classes of society furnished +their quota to the colors for service in Belgium and France. The period +of enlistment was "for the war" and a wave of patriotic fervor swept +over the British Isles and over all the colonies of Britain beyond the +seas. Political differences were forgotten and the empire presented +a united front, as never before. If Germany had counted on internal +dissension keeping England out of the fray, the expectation proved +unfounded. Englishmen, Irishmen and Scotsmen stood shoulder to shoulder. +The Irish Home Rule controversy was dropped by common consent. The men +of Ulster and the Irish Nationalists struck hands and agreed to forget +their differences in the presence of national danger. + +Trade resumed normal conditions and the Bank of England rate, which +earlier in the week had mounted to 10 per cent, was reduced on August +to 5 per cent. + +There were some panicky conditions and a disquieting collapse on the +London Stock Exchange during the last days of feverish diplomacy, and it +was due to the financial solidity of the British nation, no less than to +its level-headedness and the promptness of government measures, that the +declaration of war, instead of precipitating worse conditions, cleared +the atmosphere. + +BRITISH TROOPS LAND IN FRANCE + +While the British army was being mobilized, the utmost secrecy was +observed regarding all movements of troops. The newspapers refrained +from publishing even the little they knew and an expeditionary force, +composed of the flower of the British army and numbering approximately +94,000 men of all arms of the service, was assembled, transported across +the English Channel and landed at Boulogne and other French ports behind +a veil of deepest mystery, so far as the British public and the world at +large were concerned. + +The old town of Plymouth, on the Channel, was the chief port of +embarkation for the troops and the main concentration point in England, +but troops embarked also at Dublin, Ireland; Liverpool; Eastbourne; +Southampton, and other cities. Not a mention of the midnight sailings of +transports carrying troops, horses, automobiles, artillery, hospital +and commissary equipment and supplies was allowed to be printed in the +newspapers, nor was it known how many troops were being sent across the +Channel. + +The landing in France was effected between the 10th and the 20th of +August without the loss of a single man, and on the 23d, having joined +forces with the French army under General Joffre, commander-in-chief, +the British found themselves in touch with the German enemy at Mons in +Belgium. + +FIELD-MARSHAL FRENCH IN COMMAND + +The expeditionary force was in supreme command of Field Marshal Sir John +D. P. French, a veteran officer of high military repute, with Maj.-Gen. +Sir A. Murray as chief of staff. Other noted officers were Lieut.-Gen. +Sir Douglas Haig, commander of the First Corps; Lieut.-Gen. Sir James +Grierson, commander of the Second Corps; Maj.-Gen. W. P. Pulteney, +commander of the Third Corps, and Maj.-Gen. Edmund Allenby, in command +of the Cavalry Division. The home army was left in command of Gen. Sir +Ian Hamilton. + +Hardly had the expedition landed in France when the death was reported +of the commander of the Second Corps, Sir James Grierson, who succumbed +to heart disease while on his way to the front, dropping dead on a +train. He was given a notable military funeral in London. Gen. Sir H. +L. Smith-Dorrien was appointed to succeed him in command of the Second +Corps. + +The British troops were received in France with loud acclaim and Field +Marshal French, on visiting Paris for a conference at the French +war office before proceeding to the front, was greeted by a popular +demonstration that showed how welcome British aid was to the French in +their critical hour. + +The British field force was composed of three army corps, each +comprising two divisions, and there was also an extra cavalry division. + +Each army corps consists of twenty-four infantry battalions of about +one thousand men each on a war footing; six cavalry regiments, eight +batteries of horse artillery of six guns each, eighteen batteries of +field artillery, two howitzer batteries, and troops of engineers, signal +corps, army service corps and other details. + +Thus the first British field force landed in France aggregated about +94,000 men, including the extra Cavalry division. These were added to +almost daily during the following weeks, until by September 20 the +British had probably 200,000 men co-operating with the French army north +and east of Paris. + +COLONIES RALLY TO BRITAIN + +At the prospect of war with Germany the dominions of the British Empire +overseas eagerly offered their aid. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, +India, all came forward with offers of men, money, ships and supplies. +The Australian premier issued a statement to the people in which he +said: "We owe it to those who have gone before to preserve the great +fabric of British freedom and hand it on to our children. Our duty is +quite clear. Remember we are Britons." + +CANADA OFFERS MEN + +A formal offer of military contingents was cabled to England by the +Canadian government August 1. A meeting of the cabinet was presided over +by Premier Borden. It was called to deal with the situation in which +Canada found herself as the result of the European war. + +The government unanimously decided to make England an offer of men. +Infantry, cavalry and artillery would be included in any force sent +forward and it would number 20,000 men if transportation could be +obtained for that number. It was estimated that within two weeks it +would be possible to dispatch 10,000 efficient soldiers, and within +three months this number could be increased to 50,000. + +Many offers for foreign service arrived from the commandants of militia +corps throughout the dominion. In all 40,000 Canadian troops were +tendered to and accepted by the British Government in the early days of +the war; also 20,000 men from Australia and 8,000 from New Zealand, a +total of 68,000 men. + +By the request of the Dominions in each case, the cost of the +equipment, maintenance and pay of the forces was defrayed by the three +governments--in itself a generous and patriotic additional offer. The +Dominions at the same time declared their readiness to send additional +contingents if required, as well as drafts from time to time to maintain +their field forces at full strength. + +TROOPSHIPS SAIL UNDER CONVOY + +The first intimation that Canadian troops had been dispatched to the +front from Valcartier Camp came on September 24, when the Hon. T. W. +Crothers, the Dominion minister of labor, announced in a speech before +the Canadian Trades and Labor Congress, assembled in convention at St. +John, New Brunswick, that 32,000 Canadian volunteers "left for the front +a day or two ago." It was understood that the troops had sailed from +Quebec in twenty armed transports, convoyed by a fleet of British +warships, which had been collected at convenient ports for the purpose. + +There were two army divisions in the force that sailed, each comprising +three brigades of infantry (12,000 men), 27 guns, 500 cavalry, and 2, +staff, signallers, medical corps and supermimaries. + +THE FINAL REVIEW AT VALCARTIER + +Before they sailed away the Canadian army marched past the reviewing +stand at the Valcartier Camp, Quebec, under the eyes of 10, +civilians. There were 32,000 soldiers equipped for active service and +everyone was impressed with the serious scene. + +The Duke and Duchess of Connaught, the Princess Patricia, Col. Sam +Hughes, the Canadian minister of militia, and Col. V. H. C. Williams, +commandant of the camp, looked on with pride as the great parade, almost +a full army corps, passed the royal standard. They marched in column of +half battalions, and took a full hour to go by. Officers commanding the +four infantry brigades: Lieut.-Col. R.E.W. Turner, V.C., D.S.O., of +Quebec, a veteran of the South African war, mentioned in dispatches for +especially gallant service; Lieut.-Col. S.M. Mercer, Toronto, Commanding +Officer of the Queen's Own Rifles; Lieut.-Col. A.W. Currie of Victoria, +Commanding Officer of the 50th Fusiliers; Lieut.-Col. J.E. Cohoe of St. +Catharines, Commanding Officer of the 5th Militia Infantry Brigade. + +The officer appointed to command the artillery brigade was Lieut.-Col. +H.E. Burstall of Quebec, of the Artillery Headquarters Staff. + +Officer in command of the Strathcona Horse, Lieut.-Col. A.C. Macdonnell, +D.S.O., of Winnipeg, a South African veteran. + +Officer in command of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Lieut-Col. C.M. +Nelles of Toronto, Inspector of Cavalry for Militia Headquarters. + +The commanding officer of the whole army division was an English general +selected by the British War Office. + +It was understood that the Canadian troops would land in the south of +England and march through London to training quarters at Aldershot and +Salisbury Plains, the infantry going to Aldershot and the artillery +to Salisbury Plains, for several weeks' training under active service +conditions before going to the firing line. + +CANADA FIGHTS AGAINST AUTOCRACY + +"Canada will spend its last dollar and shed its last drop of blood +fighting for the principle of democracy, against that of autocracy, as +exemplified in the present European conflict." + +This was the emphatic statement made by Sir Douglas Cameron, +lieutenant-governor--chief executive--of the province of Manitoba, +passing through Chicago on September 28. + +"Great Britain is not fighting for empire," he said. "It is not fighting +for greater commercial gains. We are fighting for the annihilation of +autocracy and it is the sentiment of the people of Canada that they will +fight against Germany's domination to the bitter end. + +"England does not want more commerce, except as it can be gained through +the paths of peace. We would not draw the sword to increase it, but we +will fight to the last drop of blood to protect it. + +"The men of Canada have responded nobly to the call to arms. We have +sent about 31,800 provincial troops, every one a volunteer, and we have +that many more already enlisted if they are needed. Our trouble is to +equip them as fast as they enlist. + +"In Canada we are turning our attention to agricultural pursuits. Wheat +is at a premium; a farmer can get from $1 to $1.10 per bushel in cash +for wheat on his wagon. All Europe will be in dire need of foodstuffs +next year and for some years to come and we in Canada hope to profit by +the opportunity. + +"Economic conditions in the dominion received a terrible blow when the +war came; we were shocked, staggered, and business has received a hard +setback; finances are depressed. The government has offered help to the +banks, but they do not need it yet. + +"We want immigrants in our country--Germans or any other good, strong, +virile nationality. We have no quarrel with the German people. We like +them; they are used to a high standard of living and are the finest kind +of citizens. + +"To my mind, this war cannot be of long duration. Germany, with all +its preparedness, could not lay by stores enough to support 65,000, +people for any great length of time when there is no raw material coming +in. The country will be starved out, if not beaten in the field, for I +do not believe Germany can gain control of the high seas and cover the +world with its merchantmen." + +INDIAN TROOPS CALLED FOR + +The announcement by Lord Kitchener in the House of Commons late in +August that native troops from India were to be summoned to the aid of +the British army in France "came like a crash of thunder and revealed a +grim determination to fight the struggle out to a successful finish." + +There was some talk in England of increasing the army by temporary +conscription, but Premier Asquith declined to consider any such +proposal. + +In the House of Commons on September 9 a message was read from the +Viceroy of India, which said that the rulers of the Indian native +states, nearly 700 in number, had with one accord rallied to the defense +of the empire with personal offers of services as well as the resources +of their states. + +Many of the native rulers of India also sent cables to King George +offering him their entire military and financial resources, while the +people of India by thousands offered to volunteer. + +Conditions in India were indeed so satisfactory, from the British +standpoint, that Premier Asquith was able to announce that two divisions +(40,000) of British (white) soldiers were to be removed from India. + +The aid that India could offer was not lightly to be considered. The +soldiery retained by the British and the rajahs, constituting India's +standing army, amount to about 400,000, not taking into consideration +the reserves and the volunteers. The rajahs maintain about 23, +soldiers, who are named Imperial Service Troops, expressly for purposes +of Imperial defense, and these have served in many wars. They served +with British, German, French, and United States troops in China from +September, 1900, to August, 1901, and gained the highest laurels for +efficiency and good conduct. + +The first Indian troops called for by Lord Kitchener included two +divisions of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, adding about 70, +combatants to the allied armies in France, with approximately 130 pieces +of artillery, both light and heavy, and howitzers. + +Twelve Indian potentates were selected to accompany this expeditionary +force. These included the veteran Sir Pertab Singh, regent of Jodhpur; +Sir Ganga Bahadur, Maharajah of Bikanir, and Sir Bhupindra Singh, +Maharajah of Patiala. + +The expeditionary force contained units of the regular army and +contingents of the Imperial Service Troops in India, From twelve states +the viceroy accepted contingents of cavalry, infantry, sappers and +transport, besides a camel corps from Bikanir. + +The Maharajah of Mysore placed $1,600,000 at the disposal of the +Government in connection with the expenditure for the expeditionary +force. In addition to this gift, the Maharajahs of Gwalior and Bhopal +contributed large sums of money and provided thousands of horses as +remounts. Maharajah Repa offered his troops and treasure, even his +privately-owned jewelry, for the service of the British King and Emperor +of India. Maharajah Holkar of Indore made a gift of all the horses in +the army of his state. + +A similar desire to help the British Government was shown by committees +representing religious, political, and social associations of all +classes and creeds in India. + +In the House of Lords on August 28 Earl Kitchener announced that the +first division of the troops from India was already on the way to the +front in France. At the same time the Marquis of Crewe, secretary of +state for India, said: "It has been deeply impressed upon us by what we +have heard from India that the wonderful wave of enthusiasm and loyalty +now passing over that country is to a great extent based upon the desire +of the Indian people that Indian soldiers should stand side by side with +their comrades of the British army in repelling the invasion of our +friends' territory and the attack made upon Belgium. We shall find our +army there reinforced by native Indian soldiers--high-souled men of +first-rate training and representing an ancient civilization; and we +feel certain that if they are called upon they will give the best +possible account of themselves side by side with our British troops in +encountering the enemy." + +KING GEORGE PRAISES COLONIES + +On September 9 a message from King George to the British colonies, +thanking them for their aid in Britain's emergency, was published as +follows: + +"During the last few weeks the peoples of my whole empire at home and +overseas have moved with one mind and purpose to confront and overthrow +an unparalleled assault upon the continuity of civilization and the +peace of mankind. + +"The calamitous conflict is not of my seeking. My voice has been cast +throughout on the side of peace. My ministers earnestly strove to allay +the causes of the strife and to appease differences with which my empire +was not concerned. Had I stood aside when in defiance of pledges to +which my kingdom was a party, the soil of Belgium was violated and +her cities made desolate, when the very life of the French nation was +threatened with extinction, I should have sacrificed my honor and given +to destruction the liberties of my empire and of mankind. + +"I rejoice that every part of the empire is with me in this decision. + +"Paramount regard for a treaty of faith and the pledged word of rulers +and peoples is the common heritage of Great Britain and of the empire. +My peoples in the self-governing dominions have shown beyond all doubt +that they whole-heartedly indorse the grave decision it was necessary +to take, and I am proud to be able to show to the world that my peoples +oversea are as determined as the people of the United Kingdom to +prosecute a just cause to a successful end. + +"The Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia and the Dominion +of New Zealand have placed at my disposal their naval forces, which +have already rendered good service for the empire. Strong expeditionary +forces are being prepared in Canada, Australia and New Zealand for +service at the front, and the Union of South Africa has released all +British troops and undertaken other important military responsibilities. + +"Newfoundland has doubled the number of its branch of the royal naval +reserve, and is sending a body of men to take part in the operations at +the front. From the Dominion and Provincial governments of Canada, large +and welcome gifts of supplies are on their way for use both by my naval +and military forces. + +"All parts of my oversea dominions have thus demonstrated in the most +unmistakable manner the fundamental unity of the empire amidst all its +diversity of situation and circumstance." + +A message similar to the foregoing was addressed by King George to the +princes and the people of India. + +The King's eldest son, the young Prince of Wales, volunteered for active +service at the outset of the war and was gazetted as a second lieutenant +in the First Battalion, Grenadier Guards. He also inaugurated and acted +as treasurer of a national fund for the relief of sufferers by the war. +This fund soon grew to $10,000,000 and steadily climbed beyond that +amount. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +EARLY BATTLES OF THE WAR + +_Belgian Resistance to the German Advance_--_The Fighting at Vise, +Haelen, Diest, Aerschot and Tirlemont_--_Mons and Charleroi the First +Great Battles of the War_--Make a Gallant Stand, but Forced to Retire +Across the French Border_. + +From the first day of the German entry into Belgium brief and hazy +reports of battles between the patriotic Belgians and the invaders came +across the Atlantic. Many absurd and mischievous reports of repeated +Belgian "victories" were received throughout the month of August. These +were for the most part rendered ridiculous by the steady advance of +the German troops. The resistance of the Belgians was gallant and +persistent, but availed only to hinder and delay the German advance +which it was powerless to stop. Up to August 23, there were no +"victories" possible for either side, because never until then were the +opposing armies definitely pitted against each other in an engagement in +which one or the other must be broken. + +All the time these Belgian "victories," which were no more than +resistances to German reconnoissances, were being reported, the German +line was not touched, and behind that line the Germans were methodically +massing. + +When they were ready they came on. The Belgian army retired from the +Diest-Tirlemont line, from Aerschot and Louvain, from Brussels, because +to have held these positions against the overwhelming force opposed to +them would have meant certain destruction. The rearguards held each of +these points with the greatest heroism so long as that was necessary, +and then retired in good order on the main force. + +VISE ATTACKED AND FIRED + +The first fighting of any severity in Belgium occurred at Vise, near +the frontier, early in the German advance. German troops crossed the +frontier in motors, followed by large bodies of cavalry, but the +Belgians put up a stubborn resistance. The chiefs of the Belgian staff +had foreseen the invasion and had blown up the bridges of the River +Meuse outside the town, as well as the railway tunnels. Time after time +the Belgians foiled with their heavy fire the attempts of the Germans to +cross by means of pontoons. Vise itself was stubbornly defended. Only +after a protracted struggle did the Germans master the town, which they +fired in several places on entering. + +BATTLES OF HAELEN-DIEST + +At the end of the first week of the Belgian invasion it was estimated +that the Germans had concentrated most of their field troops, probably +about 900,000 combatants, along a 75-mile line running from Liege to the +entrance into Luxemburg at Treves. With this immense army it was said +there were no less than 5,894 pieces of artillery. This was only the +first-line strength of the Germans, the reserves being massed in the +rear. Part of the right wing was swung northward and westward in the +direction of Antwerp, and swept the whole of northern Belgium to the +Dutch frontier. + +On August 10 the Belgian defenders fought a heavy engagement with the +Germans at Haelen, which was described in the dispatches as the first +battle of the war. A Belgian victory was claimed as the result, the +German losses, it was said, being very heavy, especially in cavalry, +while the Belgian casualties were reported relatively small. But the +German advance was merely checked. The covering troops were speedily +reinforced from the main body of the army and the advance swept on. + +The result of the Haelen engagement was thus described in the dispatches +of August 13: + +"The battle centered around Haelen, in the Belgian province of Limbourg, +extending to Diest, in the north of the province of Brabant, after +passing round Zeelhem. + +"At 7 o'clock last evening all the country between the three towns +mentioned had been cleared of German troops, except the dead and +wounded, who were thickly strewn about the fire zone. Upward of 200 dead +German soldiers were counted in a space of fifty yards square. + +"A church, a brewery and some houses in Haelen. were set afire, and two +bridges over the Denier were destroyed by Belgian engineers. + +"Great quantities of booty were collected on the battlefield, and this +has been stacked in front of the town hall of Diest. Many horses also +were captured. + +"The strength of the German column was about 5,000 men." + +Another report said of the encounter: + +"A division of Belgian cavalry, supported by a brigade of infantry and +by artillery, engaged and defeated, near the fortress of Diest, eighteen +miles northeast of Louvain, a division of German cavalry, also supported +by infantry and by artillery. + +"The fighting was extremely fierce and resulted in the Germans being +thrown back toward Hasselt and St. Trond." + +Meanwhile the forts at Liege, to the southeast, still held out, though +fiercely bombarded by German siege guns. The fortress of Namur was also +being attacked. The Germans had bridged the river Meuse and were moving +their crack artillery against the Belgian lines. French troops had +joined the Belgian defenders and the main battle line extended from +Liege on the north to Metz on the south. + +A visit to Haelen and other towns by a Brussels correspondent August +17, "showed the frightful devastation which the Germans perpetrated in +Belgian territory. + +"For instance, at Haelen itself houses belonging to the townspeople have +been completely wrecked. Windows were broken, furniture destroyed, and +the walls demolished by shell fire. Even the churches have not been +respected. The parish church at Haelen has been damaged considerably +from shrapnel fire, "On the battlefield there are many graves of Germans +marked by German lances erected in the form of a cross." + +ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF DIEST + +A correspondent of the New York Tribune said: + +"Across the battlefield of Diest there is a brown stretch of harrowed +ground half a furlong in length. It is the grave of twelve hundred +Germans who fell in the fight of August 11. All over the field there are +other graves, some of Germans, some of Belgians, some of horses. When I +reached the place peasants with long mattocks and spades were turning in +the soil. For two full days they had been at the work of burial and they +were sick at heart. Their corn is ripe for cutting in the battlefield, +but little of it will be harvested. Dark paths in their turnip fields +are sodden with the blood of men and horses." + +The Belgians, in contempt of German markmanship, had forced the enemy +to the attack, which had been made from three points of the field +simultaneously. The fighting had been fierce, but now that both sides +had swept on, no one seemed to know how those in the fight had really +fared. Only by the heaps of dead could one make estimate: + +"At least, there were most dead on the side toward the bridge. A charge +of 300 Uhlans, who were held in check for a short time by seventeen +Belgians at a corner, seems, however, to have come near success. The +derelict helmets and lances that covered the fields show that the charge +pressed well up to the guns and to the trenches in the turnip fields +where the Belgian soldiers lay. On the German left mitrailleuses got in +their work behind, and in the houses on the outskirts of the villages. +Five of these houses were burned to the ground, and two others farther +out broken all to pieces and burned. In a shed was a peasant weeping +over the dead bodies of his cows. + +"It would be easy now at the beginning of this war to write of its +tragedy. The villages have each a tale of loss to tell. All of the +twelve hundred men in the long grave were men with wives, sweethearts, +and parents. All the Belgian soldiers and others who were buried where +they fell have mourners. A LETTER FROM THE GRAVE + +"A letter which I picked up on the field and am endeavoring to have +identified and sent her for whom it is intended will speak for all. It +is written in ink on half a sheet of thin notepaper. There is no date +and no place. It probably was written on the eve of battle in the hope +that it would reach its destination if the writer died. This is the +translation: + +"'Sweetheart: Fate in this present war has treated us more cruelly than +many others. If I have not lived to create for you the happiness of +which both our hearts dreamed, remember my sole wish now is that you +should be happy. Forget me and create for yourself some happy home that +may restore to you some of the greater pleasures of life. For myself, I +shall have died happy in the thought of your love. My last thought has +been for you and for those I leave at home. Accept this, the last kiss +from him who loved you.' + +"Postcards from fathers with blessings to their gallant sons I found, +too, on the field, little mementos of people and of places carried by +men as mascots. Everywhere were broken lances of German and Belgian, +side by side; scabbards and helmets, saddles and guns. These the +peasants were collecting in a pile, to be removed by the military. +High up over the graves of twelve hundred, as we stood there, a German +biplane came and went, hovering like a carrion crow, seeking other +victims for death. + +"In the village itself death is still busy. A wounded German died as we +stood by his side and a Belgian soldier placed his handkerchief over his +face. Soldiers who filled the little market-place may be fighting for +life now as I write. The enemy is in force not a mile away from them, +and in a moment they may be attacked. It is significant that all German +prisoners believed they were in France. The deception, it appears, was +necessary to encourage them in their attack, and twelve hundred dead +in the harrowed field died without knowing whom or what they were +fighting." + +THOUGHT THEY WERE IN FRANCE + +A number of German prisoners were taken by the Belgians during the +fighting at Haelen-Diest. From these it was learned that the German +soldiers really believed they were fighting in France. At Diest it is +said that 400 surrendered the moment they lost their officers and were +surprised to learn that they were in Belgium. + +King Albert of Belgium was constantly in the field during the early +engagements of the war, moving from point to point inside the Belgian +lines by means of a high-powered automobile, in which he was slightly +wounded by the explosion of a shell. He was thus enabled to keep in +touch with the field forces, as well as with his general staff, and +speedily endeared himself to the Belgian soldiery by his personal +disregard of danger. + +The Belgians by their gallant fight against the trained legions of +Germany quickly won the admiration even of their foes. The army +of Belgium was brought up to its full strength of 300,000 men and +everywhere the soldiers of the little country battled to halt the +invaders. Often their efforts proved effective. The losses on both sides +were truly appalling, the Germans suffering most on account of their +open methods of attack in close order. But their forces were like the +sands of the sea and every gap in the ranks of the onrushing host was +promptly filled by more Germans. + +TIRLEMONT AKD LOUVAIN + +The fighting at Tirlemont and Louvain was described by a citizen of +Ostend, who says he witnessed it from a church tower at Tirlemont first +and later proceeded to Louvain. He says: + +"Until luncheon time Tuesday, August 18, Tirlemont was quiet and normal. +Suddenly, about 1 o'clock, came the sound of the first German gun. The +artillery had opened fire. + +"From the church tower it was possible to see distinctly the position of +the German guns and the bursting of their shells. The Belgians replied +from their positions east of Louvain. It was a striking sight, to the +accompaniment of the ceaseless thud-thud of bursting shells with their +puffs of cottonlike smoke, tearing up the peaceful wheat fields not far +away. + +BELGIANS RETIRE AT LOUVAIN + +"Gradually working nearer, the shells began to strike the houses in +Tirlemont. This was a signal for the populace, which had been confident +that the Belgian army would protect them, to flee. All they knew was +that the Germans were coming. From the tower the scene was like the +rushing of rats from a disturbed nest. The people fled in every +direction except one. + +"I moved down to Louvain, where everything seemed quiet and peaceful. +The people sat in the cafes drinking their evening beer and smoking. +Meanwhile the Belgian troops were retiring in good order toward Louvain. + +TOWN IN PANIC WITH REFUGEES + +"By midnight the town was in the throes of a panic. Long before midnight +throngs of refugees had begun to arrive, followed later by soldiers. By +11 o'clock the Belgian rear guard was engaging the enemy at the railroad +bridge at the entrance to the town. + +"The firing was heavy. The wounded began to come in. Riderless horses +came along, both German and Belgian. These were caught and mounted by +civilians glad to have so rapid a mode of escape. + +TROOPS HINDERED BY CIVILIANS + +"I remember watching a black clad Belgian woman running straight down +the middle of a road away from the Germans. Behind her came the retiring +Belgian troops, disheartened but valiant. This woman, clad in mourning, +was the symbol of the Belgian populace. + +"At some of the barricades along the route the refugees and soldiers +arrived simultaneously, making the defense difficult. All about +Tirlemont and Louvain the refugees interfered with the work of the +troops. The road to Brussels always was crowded with refugees and many +sorrowful sights were witnessed among them as they fled from the homes +that had been peaceful and prosperous a few days before. BRUSSELS FILLED +WITH REFUGEES + +"Brussels is filled with refugees from surrounding towns, despite the +large numbers who left the city for Ghent and Ostend during the last few +days," said a correspondent, writing from Ghent on August 20. + +"The plight of most of the refugees is pitiable. Many are camped in +the public square whose homes in the suburbs have been fired by the +Prussians. The roads leading into Brussels have been crowded all day +with all kinds of conveyances, many drawn by dogs and others by girls, +women and aged peasants. + +"Most of these people have lost everything. Few of them have any money. +The peasant is considered lucky who succeeded in saving a single horse +or a cow. + +"Military men characterize the German force which is moving across +Belgium as overwhelming, saying it consists of at least two or three +army corps. The advance of this huge force is covered over the entire +thirty-mile front by a screen of cavalry. The Germans had no difficulty +in taking Louvain, which was virtually undefended. + +"In the high wooded country between Louvain and Brussels the Germans +found an excellent defensive position. Having occupied Louvain, the +Kaiser's troops pushed forward with great celerity, the cavalry opening +out in fan-shaped formation, spreading across country. + +"At one point they ran into a strong force of Belgian artillery, which +punished them severely. Later in the day a Belgian scouting force +reached Louvain and found it unoccupied, but received imperative +orders to fall back, because of the danger of being outflanked and +annihilated." + +ALLIES MEET THE INVADERS + +By August 20 the Germans were in touch with the French army that had +advanced into Belgium and occupied the line Dinant-Charleroi-Mons, the +right of the French resting on Dinant and the left on Mons, where they +were reinforced by the British expeditionary force under Field Marshal +French. There was a heavy engagement at Charleroi, and a four days' +battle was begun at Mons August 23. Slowly but surely the Franco-British +army was forced back across the French border, to take up a new position +on the line, Noyon-Chant-La Fere, which constituted the second line of +the French defense. + +The German right, opposing the British, was under command of General von +Kluck; General von Buelow and General von Hausen commanded the German +center opposing the Franco-Belgian forces between the Sambre and Namur +and the Meuse. The Grand Duke Albrecht of Wuerttemberg operated between +Charleroi and the French border fortress of Maubeuge. The German Crown +Prince led an army farther east, advancing toward the Meuse. The Crown +Prince of Bavaria commanded the German forces farther south toward +Nancy, and General von Heeringen was engaged in repulsing French attacks +on Alsace-Lorraine, in the region of the Vosges mountains, where the +French had met with early successes. + +Meanwhile on August 18 the town of Aerschot had been the scene of a +bloody engagement and was occupied and partly destroyed by the Germans. +The occupation of Brussels followed on August 20-21 and the German line +of communications was kept open by a line of occupied towns. + +After overwhelming the Belgians the Kaiser's great advance army swept +quickly into deadly conflict with the allies. The first mighty shock +came at Charleroi, where the French were forced back, and on August +came the first battle with the British at Mons. + +THE BATTLE OF MONS----FOUR DAYS OF FIGHTING----RETREAT OF THE ALLIES + +All England was thrilled on the morning of September 10 when the British +government permitted the newspapers to publish the first report from +Field Marshal Sir John D.P. French, commander-in-chief of the British +army allied with the French and Belgians on the continent, telling of +the heroic fight made by the British troops, August 23-26, to keep from +being annihilated by the Germans. The withdrawal of the British army +before the German advance was compared to the pursuit of a wildcat by +hounds, the English force backing stubbornly toward the River Oise, +constantly showing its teeth, but realizing that it must reach the river +or perish. The report of Field Marshal French created much surprise in +England, as it was not known until his statement was made public just +how hard pressed the British army had been. + +The communication was addressed to Earl Kitchener, the secretary for +war, and its publication indicated that the government was responding to +the public demand for fuller information on the progress of operations, +so far as the British forces in France were concerned. + +The report, as published in the London Gazette, the official organ, was +as follows: + +FIELD MARSHAL FRENCH'S REPORT + +"The transportation of the troops from England by rail and sea was +effected in the best order and without a check. Concentration was +practically completed on the evening of Friday, August 21, and I was +able to make dispositions to move the force during Saturday to positions +I considered most favorable from which to commence the operations which +General Joffre requested me to undertake. The line extended along the +line of the canal from Conde on the west, through Mons and Binche on the +east. + +"During August 22 and 23 the advance squadrons did some excellent work, +some of them penetrating as far as Soignies (a town of Belgium ten miles +northeast of Mons) and several encounters took place in which our troops +showed to great advantage. + +"On Sunday, the 23d, reports began to come 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 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 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 if threatened seriously to draw back the center behind Mons. + +"In the meantime, about five in the afternoon, I received a most +unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph, telling me that at +least three German corps were moving on my position in front and that +a second corps was engaged in a turning movement from the direction of +Tournai. He also informed me that the two reserve French divisions and +the Fifth French Army Corps on my right were retiring. + +CHOSE A NEW POSITION + +"In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mons position, I +had previously ordered a position in the rear to be reconnoitered. + +"This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the right and +extended west to Jenlain, southeast of Valenciennes on the left. The +position was reported difficult to hold because standing crops and +buildings limited the fire in many important localities. + +"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 +aeroplane reconnaissance, 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 the +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 of Dour, Quarouble and 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 intrenched themselves, +enabling Sir Douglas Haig, with the First Corps, to withdraw to the new +position. + +NIGHT ATTACK ON THE LEFT + +"Toward midnight 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 in the morning General Allenby received a message from Sir +Charles Fergusson, commanding the fifth division, saying he was very +hard pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt of this message +General Allenby drew in his cavalry and endeavored to bring direct +support to the fifth division. + +"During the course of this operation General DeLisle 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 500 yards from his objective. + +GENERAL SMITH-DORRIEN IN RETREAT + +"The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade was brought 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 cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien was +enabled to effect his retreat to a new position. + +"At nightfall a position was occupied by the Second Corps to the west +of Bavay, 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 Bavay and cavalry on the outer flank. The French +were still retiring and I had no support except such as was afforded by +the fortress of Maubeuge. + +ARMY IN GEEAT PERIL + +"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. The operation, +however, was full of danger and difficulty, not only owing to the very +superior forces 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 Catean and the rear guard were +ordered to be clear of Maubeuge and Bavay by 5:30 a. m. + +"The fourth division commenced its detrainment at Le Cateau on Sunday, +August 23, and by the morning of the 25th eleven battalions and a +brigade of artillery with the 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-Le Cateau +road south of La Chapriz. In this position the division rendered great +help. + +"Although the troops had been ordered to occupy Cam-brai-Le +Cateau-Landrecies position and ground had, during the 25th, been +partially prepared and entrenched, I had grave doubts as to the wisdom +of standing there to fight. + +"Having regard to the continued retirement of the French right, my +exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's western corps to envelop +me, and, more than all, the exhausted condition of the troops, I +determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat till I could +put some substantial obstacle, such as the Somme or the Oise between my +troops and the enemy. + +RETREAT IS ORDERED + +"Orders were therefore sent to the corps commanders to continue their +retreat as soon as they possibly could toward the general line of +Vermand, St. Quentin and Ribemont, and the cavalry under General Allenby +were ordered to cover the retirement. Throughout the 25th and far into +the evening the First Corps continued to march on Landrecies, following +the road along the eastern border of the forest of 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 a rest. + +"The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest and about 9: +that evening the 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 to the north of the town. + +FRENCH AID IS GIVEN + +"At the same time information reached me from Sir Douglas Haig that his +first division was also heavily engaged south and east of Marilles. I +sent urgent messages to the commander of two French reserve divisions +on my right to come up to the assistance of the First Corps, which they +eventually did. + +"By about 6 in the afternoon 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. + +"During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry became a good +deal scattered, but by early morning of the 26th General Allenby had +succeeded in concentrating two brigades to the south of Cambrai. + +"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 Vavay, which was my _paste de commandemente_ during the +fighting of the 23d and the 24th, I visited General Sordet and earnestly +requested his cooperation 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--namely, the 26th. + +GERMANS USE HEAVY GUNS + +"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. + +"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 support. + +"The French cavalry corps under General Sordet was coming up on our left +rear early in the morning, and I sent him an urgent message 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. + +ARMY FACED ANNIHILATION + +"At length it became apparent that if complete annihilation was to +be avoided retirement must be attempted, and the order was given to +commence it about 3:30 in the afternoon. The movement was covered with +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 the final +completion of this most difficult and dangerous operation. + +"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 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 could never have been accomplished unless a +commander of rare and unusual coolness, intrepidity and determination +bad been present to personally conduct the operations. + +"The retreat was continued far into the night of the 26th and through +the 27th and the 28th, on which date the troops halted on the line from +Noyon, Chauny and LeFere. + +PRAISES SORDET'S HELP + +"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. +General d'Amade also, with the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Reserve +divisions, moved down from the neighborhood of Arras on the enemy's +right flank and took much pressure off the rear of the British forces. + +"This closed the period covering the heavy fighting which commenced at +Mons on Sunday afternoon, August 23, and which really constituted a four +days' battle. + +"I deeply deplore the very serious losses which the British forces +suffered in this great battle, but they were inevitable, in view of +the fact that the British army--only a few days after concentration by +rail--was called upon to withstand the vigorous attack of five German +army corps. + +"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 troops by the +divisional, brigade and regimental leaders, the command of small units +by their officers and the magnificent fighting spirit displayed by the +noncommissioned officers and men. + +[Signed] "J. D. P. FRENCH, "Field Marshal." + +TOLD BY A WOUNDED SOLDIER + +A British soldier, who was wounded in the fight during the retreat from +Mons, told the following story of the battle there: + +"It was Sunday, August 23, and the British regiments at Mons were +merry-making and enjoying themselves in leisure along the streets. +Belgian ladies, returning from church, handed the soldiers their prayer +books as souvenirs, while the Belgian men gave the men cigarettes and +tobacco. + +"About noon, when the men were beginning to think about dinner, a German +aeroplane appeared overhead and began throwing out a cloud of black +powder, which is one of their favorite methods of assisting batteries to +get the range. + +"No sooner had the powder cloud appeared than shrapnel began to burst +overhead and in a moment all was confusion and uproar. But it didn't +take the regiments long to get into fighting trim and race through the +city to the scene of operations, which was on the other side of the +small canal, in the suburbs. "Here our outposts were engaging the enemy +fiercely. The outposts lost very heavily, most of the damage being done +by shells. The rifle fire was ineffective, although at times the lines +of contenders were not more than 300 yards apart. + +"The first reinforcements to arrive were posted in a glass factory, the +walls of which were loop-holed, and we doggedly held that position until +nightfall, when we fixed bayonets and lay in wait in case the enemy made +an attempt to rush the position in the darkness. + +DESTROY BRIDGES BEHIND THEM + +"About midnight orders came to retire over the canal and two companies +were left behind to keep the enemy in check temporarily. After the +main body had crossed the bridge was blown up, leaving the two outpost +companies to get across as best they could by boats or swimming. Most of +them managed to reach the main body again. + +"The main body retired from the town and fell back through open country, +being kept moving all night. When daylight arrived it was apparent from +higher ground that Mons had been practically blown away by the German +artillery. + +"Throughout the morning we continued to fight a rearguard action, but +the steady march in retreat did not stop until 6 o'clock in the evening, +when the British found themselves well out of range of the German +artillery in a quiet valley. + +"Here all the troops were ordered to rest and eat. As they had been +without food since the previous morning's breakfast it was rather +amusing to see the soldiers going into the turnip fields and eating +turnips as though they were apples. + +"At 8 o'clock all lights were extinguished, the soldiers were ordered +to make no noise and the pickets pushed a long distance backward. Long +before dawn the troops were hastily started again and continued the +retirement. + +"By noon the enemy was again heard from and a large detachment was +assigned the task of fighting to protect our rear. + +WATCH DUEL IN AIR + +"During the afternoon both the German and British armies watched a duel +in the air between French and German aeroplanes. The Frenchman was +wonderfully clever, and succeeded in maneuvering himself to the upper +position, which he gained after fifteen minutes of reckless effort. Then +the Frenchman began blazing away at the German with a revolver. + +"Finally he hit him, and the wounded German attempted to glide down into +his own lines. The glide, however, ended in the British lines near my +detachment, the West Kent Infantry. We found the aviator dead when we +reached the machine. We buried him and burned the aeroplane. + +"At dusk a halt was made for food, and as the Germans had fallen behind +the English spent a quiet night. At dawn, however, we found the Germans +close to our heels, and several regiments were ordered to prepare +intrenchments. This is tedious and tiresome work, especially in the heat +and without proper food, but we quickly put up fortifications which were +sufficient to protect us somewhat from the artillery fire. + +"It was not long before the German gunners found the range and began +tearing up those rough fortifications, concentrating their fire on the +British batteries, one of which was completely demolished. Another found +itself with only six men. Both these disasters bore testimony to the +excellent markmanship of the German gunners. + +OFFICER, SPIKES THE GUNS + +"As it became evident that we must leave these guns behind and continue +the retreat, an officer was seen going around putting the guns out of +action, so that they would be of no use to the Germans. His action +required cool bravery, because the Germans, having found the range, +continued firing directly at these batteries. + +"Things rapidly got hotter, and the commanding officer ordered a +double-quick retreat. We were not long in doing the retiring movement to +save our own skins. + +"I was wounded at this time by a Maxim bullet. For a moment I thought +my head had been blown off, but I recovered and kept on running until +I reached a trench, where I had an opportunity to bandage the wound. I +rushed off to the ambulances, but found the doctors so busy with men +worse off than I that I went back to my place in the line." + +THE BATTLE AT CHABLEROI + +The loss of life in the Franco-German battle near Charleroi was +admittedly the greatest of any engagement up to that time. It was at +Charleroi that the Germans struck their most terrific blow at the +allies' lines in their determination to gain the French frontier. Though +the tide of battle ebbed and flowed for awhile the French were finally +forced to give way and to retreat behind their own frontier, while the +British were being forced back from their position at Mons. The fighting +along the line was of the fiercest kind. It was a titanic clash of +armies in which the allies were compelled to yield ground before the +superior numbers of the German host. + +One of the wounded, who was taken to hospital at Dieppe, said of the +fighting at Charleroi: + +"Our army was engaging what we believed to be a section of the German +forces commanded by the crown prince when I was wounded. The Germans at +one stage of the battle seemed lost. They had been defending themselves +almost entirely with howitzers from strongly intrenched positions. The +Germans were seemingly surrounded and cut off and were summoned to +surrender. The reply came back that so long as they had ammunition they +would continue to fight. + +"The howitzer shells of the Germans seemed enormous things and only +exploded when they struck the earth. When one would descend it would dig +a hole a yard deep and split into hundreds of pieces. Peculiarly enough +the howitzer shells did much more wounding than killing. The other +shells of the Germans, like cartridges, the supply of which they seemed +to be short of, did only little damage. + +AEROS CONSTANTLY ABOVE + +"The German aeroplane service was perfect. An aircraft was always +hovering over us out of range. We were certain within an hour after we +sighted an aeroplane to get the howitzers among us. Whenever we fired, +however, we did terrific execution with our seventy-five pieces of +artillery. I counted in one trench 185 dead. Many of them were killed as +they were in the act of firing or loading. + +"The ground occupied by the Germans was so thick with dead that I +believe I saw one soldier to every two yards. You might have walked for +a mile on bodies without ever putting foot to the ground. They buried +their dead when they had time, piling fifteen or twenty in a shallow +pit." + +THE FRENCH IN ALSACE-LORRAINE + +On August 9 the advance guard brigade of the French right wing, under +General Pau, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, invaded +Alsace, fought a victorious action with an intrenched German force of +equal numbers and occupied Muelhausen and Kolmar. The news of the French +entry into the province lost in 1871 was received all over France with +wild enthusiasm. The mourning emblems on the Strasburg monument in Paris +were removed by the excited populace and replaced by the tricolor flag +and flowers in token of their joy. Muelhausen was soon after retaken by +the German forces, only to be recaptured later by the French and then +evacuated once more. + +On the day of the first French occupation of Muelhausen France declared +war against Austria in consequence of the arrival of two Austrian army +corps on the Rhine to assist the main German army. + +After the French occupation of Muelhausen a large German army was sent +to the front in Alsace-Lorraine and succeeded in dislodging the French +from that city, but not without severe fighting. + +Two weeks after the war began the French defeated a Bavarian corps in +Alsace and for awhile General Pau more than held his own in that former +province of France. On August 21 the Germans drove back the French who +had invaded Lorraine, and occupied Luneville, ten miles inside the +French border. + +About the same time the French reoccupied Muelhausen, after three days' +fighting around the city. Another French army was reported to be within +nineteen miles of Metz, But before the end of the month the French had +been compelled to evacuate both their former provinces. They continued +during September, however, to make frequent assaults on the German +frontier positions, but without regaining a sure foothold on German +soil, the bulk of their efforts being devoted to the defense of their +own frontier strongholds. + +FIGHTING AROUND NANCY + +An official dispatch from the foreign office in Paris, dated August 28, +said: + + "Yesterday the French troops took the offensive in the + Vosges mountains and in the region between the Vosges and + Nancy, and their offensive has been interrupted, but the German + loss has been considerable. + + "Our forces found, near Nancy, on a front of three kilometers, + 2,500 dead Germans, and near Vitrimont, on a front + of four kilometers, 4,500 dead. Longwy, where the garrison + consisted of only one battalion, has capitulated to the Crown + Prince of Germany after a siege of twenty-four days." + +FRENCH TRAPPED IN ALSACE + +The German view of early operations in Alsace-Lorraine was given in the +following dispatch September 2 from the headquarters of the general +staff at Aix-la-Chapelle: + + "The French forces were trapped in Alsace-Lorraine. + Realizing that the French temperament was more likely to be + swayed by sentiment than by stern adherence to the rules + of actual warfare, the German staff selected its own battle + line and waited. The French did not disappoint. They + rushed across the border. They took Altkirch with little opposition. + Then they rushed on to Muelhausen. Through the + passes in the Vosges mountains they poured, horse, artillery, + foot--all branches of the service. Strasburg was to fall and + so swift was the French movement that lines of communication + were not guarded. + + "Then the German general staff struck. Their troops + from Saarburg, from Strasburg and from Metz, under the + command of General von Heeringen, attacked the French all + along the line. They were utterly crushed. The Germans + took 10,000 Frenchmen prisoners and more than one hundred + guns of every description. Alsace-Lorraine is now reported + absolutely cleared of French troops. + + "The armies of Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm and of + Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria are moving in an irresistible + manner into France. In a 3-day battle below Metz + the French were terribly cut up and forced to retreat in almost + a rout. It is declared that in this engagement the French + lost 151 guns and were unable to make a stand against the victorious + Germans until they had passed inside of their secondary + line of defense." + +THE GERMAN "SPY POSTERS" + +Just prior to the declaration of war, cable dispatches from Paris told +of a remarkable series of posters dotting the countryside of France. +These posters, innocently advertising "Bouillon Kub," a German soup +preparation, were so cleverly printed by the German concern advertising +the soup, that they would act as signals to German army officers leading +their troops through France. + +In one of our photographic illustrations, one of these "spy posters" is +seen posted on the left of an archway past which the French soldiers are +marching en route to meet the Germans near the Alsace frontier. + +The ingenuity of the signs was remarkable. Thus a square yellow poster +would carry the information, "Food in abundance found here," while a +round red sign would advertise, "This ground is mined." Many geometrical +figures and most of the colors were utilized, and animal forms, flowers +and even the American Stars and Stripes were employed to convey their +messages of information. + +The French Minister of the Interior got wind of the system, and orders +were telegraphed throughout France to destroy these posters. Bouillon +Kub, therefore, is no longer advertised in France. + +A SOLDIER'S EXPERIENCE UNDER FIRE + +A wounded French soldier described his experiences under fire during +the Alsace campaign. He said in part: "There! A blow in the breast, a +tearing in the body, a fall with a loud cry and a terrible pain; there +I lay one of the victims of this terrible day. My first sensation was +anger at the blow, my second an expectation of seeing myself explode, +for, judging by the sound of the ball, I believed I had a grenade in my +body; then came the pain, and with it helplessness and falling. + +"Oh, how frightful are those first moments! Where I was hit, how I was +wounded, I could form no idea; I only felt that I could not stir, saw +the battalion disappear from sight and myself alone on the ground, amid +the fearful howling and whistling of the balls which were incessantly +striking the ground around me. + +"With difficulty could I turn my head a little, and saw behind me two +soldiers attending on a third, who was lying on the ground. Of what +happened I can give no account except that I cried for help several +times as well as I could, for the pain and burning thirst had the upper +hand. At last both of them ran to me, and with joy I recognized the +doctor and hospital attendant of my company. + +"'Where are you wounded?' was the first question. I could only point. +My blouse was quickly opened, and in the middle of the breast a bloody +wound was found. The balls still constantly whizzed around us; one +struck the doctor's helmet, and immediately I felt a violent blow on the +left arm. Another wound! With difficulty I was turned round, to look for +the outlet of the bullet; but it was still in my body, near the spine. +At last it was cut out. They were going away--'The wound in the arm, +doctor.' This, fortunately, was looked for in vain; the ball had merely +caused a blue spot and had sunk harmlessly into the ground. + +"I extended my hand to the doctor and thanked him, as also the +attendant, whom I commissioned to ask the sergeant to send word to my +family. The doctor had carefully placed my cloak over me, with my helmet +firmly on my head, in order in some measure to protect me from the +leaden hail. + +"Thus I lay alone with my own thoughts amid the most terrible fire +for perhaps an hour and a half. All my thoughts, as far as pain and +increasing weakness allowed, were fixed on my family. Gradually I got +accustomed to the danger which surrounded me, and only when too much +sand from the striking bullets was thrown on my body did I remember +my little enviable position. At last, after long, long waiting, the +sanitary detachment came for me." + +THE REAL TRAGEDY OF WAR + +It is not a pleasant picture--this story of the French soldier. It has +little in it of the grandeur, the beat of drums, the sound of martial +music, which is supposed to accompany war. The tread of marching feet +has died away, the excitement is gone, and man the demon is supplanted +by man the everyday human creature of suffering and home folks and fear. + +It is only a personal account of an individual experience, yet in it may +be found the real significance and the real tragedy of war; for, after +the fighting is over, after the intoxication of legalized murder has +gone, after nations turn their attention from victories to men, it is +the aggregate of individual experiences which counts the costs of war. + +Thousands of German, French, Belgian, Austrian, Russian, and British men +in the prime of life have been miserably slain and lie in obscure graves +of which the enemy now is the guardian, while others writhe in the +agony of lingering wounds or sullenly brood over their fate in the dull +routine of military prisons. In every part of the warring countries +mothers weep over the sons they shall see no more, and wives over the +husbands snatched from them forever. In many a mansion, in many a +comfortable home, in many a peasant's cottage, the empty chair is +eloquent of the absent father, brother, husband or son who shall be +absent forever. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +GERMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS + + _Allies Withdraw for Ten Days, Disputing Every Inch of + Ground With the Kaiser's Troops--Germans Push + Their Way Through France in Three Main Columns-- + Reports of the Withdrawing Engagements-- + Paris Almost in Sight_. + +Flushed with their successes over the Allies at Mons and Charleroi, +the Germans pushed their advance toward the French capital with great +celerity and vigor. During the last week of August and the first few +days of September, it appeared inevitable that the experience of Paris +in 1870-71 was to be repeated and that a siege of the city by the German +forces would follow immediately. + +It was conceded that the armies of the Allies had been forced back and +that Paris was endangered. The German advance was general, all along the +line. The flower of the Kaiser's army had marched through Belgium +and pushed back the lines of the Allies to the formidable rows of +fortifications that surround Paris. The Germans advanced in three main +columns, constantly in touch with one another, from the right, passing +through Mons, Cambrai and Amiens, to the extreme left in Lorraine. The +center threatened Verdun, and from that point the right advance swept +through Northern France like an opening fan, with the fortress of Verdun +as the pivot. + +Three million men were engaged in the main struggle. When the Germans +first reached the Franco-Belgian frontier near Charleroi they were +opposed by 700,000 French and 150,000 British troops. After being driven +back the Allies began assembling 1,000,000 men between the frontier and +Paris, The Allies hoped to hold the whole German army in check while +the Russians pursued their successes in eastern Germany. French troops +guarded the entire frontier, battling to check the other German invading +columns. The holding of the Germans, once they broke through the +fortifications that formed the chief reliance of the French, would +be impossible. The next stand would be around Paris, which was well +fortified. The invaders were, of course, attempting to get through where +there were no forts. + +ALLIES MAKE STRENUOUS RESISTANCE + +Strenuous resistance to the onward movement of the German enemy was made +by the Allies from day to day, but for a period of ten days there was an +almost continual retirement of the French and British upon Paris. It was +in fact a masterly retreat, but a retreat nevertheless. From the line of +La Fere and Mezieres, occupied by the Allies after the battles at Mons +and Charleroi, they fell back 70 miles in seven days, disputing every +step of the way, but withdrawing gradually to the line of defenses +around the French capital. From Cambrai the Germans pushed through +Amiens to Beauvais; from Peronne to Roye, Montdidier, Creil, and on to +the forest of Chantilly. From the region of Le Cateau and St. Quentin +the German advance was by Noyon to Compiegne (famous for its memories of +Joan of Arc's famous sortie), at which point the Allies made a desperate +stand and the Germans had to fight for every inch of ground. They then +passed through Senlis, which was first bombarded, down to Meaux, almost +within sight of Paris, the head of the German army resting on a line +between Beaumont, Meaux and La Ferte, at which point the resistance of +the Allies finally forced a change in German plans. + +Other German forces passed through Laon, Soissons and Chateau Thierry. +Farther to the east, the road from Mezieres led the Germans to Rheims, +Mourmelon, and opposite Chalons on the River Marne. + +Another German army from the direction of Longwy, under the command +of the Crown Prince, was operating through Suippes and on the wooded +Argonne plateau, with its five passes, famous in the action of +which preceded the battle of Valmy. At the entrance to this hilly +country stands the little town of Sainte Menehould, where there was +severe fighting with the French. Here the German Crown Prince made his +headquarters. + +The great plain of the Argonne is full of most wonderful ecclesiastical +buildings and many magnificent cathedrals, townhalls and ancient +fortresses were passed by the warring armies in their advance and +withdrawal, some of these historic structures sustaining irreparable +damage. + +The German advance continued southward toward Paris until September 4. + +RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF THE BRITISH + +All reports agree that during the retirement of the Allies, the Germans +pursued the British headquarters staff with uncanny precision throughout +the ten days from Mons back to Compiegne. After fierce street fighting +in Denain and Landrecies Sir John French withdrew his headquarters to Le +Cateau, which was at once made the target of a terrific bombardment. +The town caught fire, burning throughout one night, and the British +headquarters had to be evacuated, this time in favor of St. Quentin, in +the local college. Here the same thing happened and Field Marshal French +was compelled once more to retire, to the neighborhood of Compiegne. + +In an official report issued on Sunday, September 6, it is stated that, +"The 5th French army on August 29 advanced from the line of the Oise +River to meet and counter the German forward movement and a considerable +battle developed to the south of Guise. In this the 5th French army +gained a marked and solid success, driving back with heavy loss and in +disorder three German army corps, the 10th, the Guard, and a reserve +corps. In spite of this success, however, and all the benefits which +flowed from it, the general retirement to the south continued and the +German armies, seeking persistently after the British troops, remained +in practically continuous contact with the rearguards. + +"On August 30 and 31 the British covering and delaying troops were +frequently engaged, and on September 1 a very vigorous effort was made +by the Germans, which brought about a sharp action in the neighborhood +of Compiegne. This action was fought principally by the 1st British +Cavalry Brigade and the 4th Guards Brigade and was entirely satisfactory +to the British. The German attack, which was most strongly pressed, was +not brought to a standstill until much slaughter had been inflicted upon +them and until ten German guns had been captured. The brunt of this +affair fell upon the Guards Brigade, which lost in killed and wounded +about 300 men." + +This affair was typical of the numerous rearguard engagements fought by +both the British and the French forces during their retirement. + +MASTERLY TACTICS IN RETIRING + +Pressing hard upon the rear of the Allies for ten days was the greatest +military machine that has ever been assembled in one cohesive force. +Through Belgium had poured nearly 2,000,000 German troops, made up of +about 800,000 first-line soldiers and more than 1,000,000 reserves. The +twenty-six-hour march of part of the German army through Brussels was +stunning evidence of the might of the "war machine," and despite fierce +fighting all the way, the great army had never faltered in its 150-mile +advance in Belgium. + +But the numerical might of the German advance was matched by the +masterly tactics of the Allies in retiring. By these tactics, in which +General Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, co-operated with the +British field-marshal, Sir John French, the Allies prevented their lines +being overwhelmed by the superior numbers of their foe, but the German +right flank and center, strung out over a line more than 150 miles long, +northeast of Paris, kept smashing on. Losses were frightfully heavy, but +the Kaiser's order was "Take Paris!" + +It was believed certain that the German general staff had staked +everything on investing Paris immediately, by completely breaking down +the opposition massed between the German lines and the city. Paris +had therefore prepared for the siege, with her great circles of forts +strengthened and her food supply replenished. Many of the residents fled +the city in panic, fearing a repetition of the dread days of 1871, with +their privation and distress, but the spirit of the French people +generally remained unshaken and General Gallieni, military governor of +Paris, assumed complete control of the situation in the city. + +GOVERNMENT MOVED TO BORDEAUX + +On August 26 the French cabinet had resigned in a body and it was +reconstructed on broader lines under Premier Viviani to meet the demands +of the national emergency. + +German troops were reported within 40 miles of Paris on September 3, and +at 3 A. M. of that day a proclamation was issued by President Poincare, +announcing that the seat of government would be temporarily transferred +from Paris to Bordeaux. The minister of the interior stated that +this decision had been taken "solely upon the demand of the military +authorities because the fortified places of Paris, while not necessarily +likely to be attacked, would become the pivot of the field operations of +the two armies." + +The text of President Poincare's proclamation was as follows: + +"ENDURE AND FIGHT!" + +"FEENCHMEN: For several weeks our heroic troops have been engaged in the +fierce combat with the enemy. The courage of our soldiers has won for +them a number of marked advantages. But in the north the pressure of the +German forces has constrained us to retire. This situation imposes on +the president of the Republic and the government a painful decision. + +"To safeguard the national safety the public authorities are obliged to +leave for the moment the city of Paris. Under the command of its eminent +chief, the French army, full of courage and spirit, will defend the +capital and its patriotic population against the invader. But the war +must be pursued at the same time in the rest of the French territory. + +"The sacred struggle for the honor of the nation and the reparation of +violated rights will continue without peace or truce and without a stop +or a failure. None of our armies has been broken. + +"If some of them have suffered only too evident losses, the gaps in the +ranks have been filled up from the waiting reserve forces, while the +calling out of a new class of reserves brings us tomorrow new resources +in men and energy. + +"Endure and fight! Such should be the motto of the allied army, British, +Russians, Belgians and French. + +"Endure and fight! While on the sea our allies aid us to cut the enemy's +communications with the world. + +"Endure and fight! While the Russians continue to carry a decisive blow +to the heart of the German empire. + +"It is for the government of this republic to direct this resistance to +the very end and to give to this formidable struggle all its vigor and +efficiency. It is indispensable that the government retain the mastery +of its own actions. On the demand of the military authorities the +government therefore transfers its seat momentarily to a point of the +territory whence it may remain in constant relations with the rest of +the country. It invites the members of parliament not to remain distant +from the government, in order to form, in the face of the enemy, with +the government and their colleagues, a group of national unity. + +"The government does not leave Paris without having assured a defense of +the city and its entrenched camp by all means in its power. It knows it +has not the need to recommend to the admirable Parisian population a +calm resolution and sangfroid, for it shows every day it is equal to its +greatest duties. + +"Frenchmen, let us all be worthy of these tragic circumstances. We shall +gain a final victory and we shall gain it by untiring will, endurance +and tenacity. A nation that will not perish, and which, to live, +retreats before neither suffering nor sacrifice, is sure to vanquish." + +The removal of the French government departments to Bordeaux was +accomplished within twenty-four hours and the southern city became at +once a center of remarkable activity. Ambassador Herrick, representing +the United States, remained in Paris to render aid to his +fellow-countrymen who were seeking means of returning to America and +were more than ever anxious to get away when a state of siege became +imminent. A radical change in the French military operations was put in +effect after the Germans had swept in from Belgium, and had taken the +cities of Lille, Roubaix, and Longwy. The French army had attempted to +strike and shatter the Germans at their weakest point, and failed. + +Paris prepared for the worst when the Kaiser's conquering army reached +La Fere, about seventy miles away. From Amiens to La Fere the Germans +pressed their attack hardest. As the Allies were seen to be gradually +falling back, reserve troops were assembled in Paris and the forts put +in readiness for siege. + +THE FORTIFICATIONS OP PARIS + +Paris has one of the strongest fortification systems of any city in the +world. The siege of the giant city would be a much greater undertaking +than forty-four years ago, as the fortifications have been essentially +augmented and strengthened since the Franco-Prussian war. + +[Illustration: MAP OF FRENCH CAPITAL WITH STARS INDICATING POSITION +OF FORTIFICATIONS] + +The fortifications consist of the old city walls, the old belt of forts +and the new enceinture of the fortified camps, which have been advanced +far outside of the reach of the old forts. The main wall, ten meters +(33 feet) high, consists of ninety-four bastions and is surrounded by a +ditch fifteen meters wide. Behind the wall a ringroad and a belt line +run around the city. + +The belt of old forts surrounds this main fortification of the city at +a little distance and consists of not less than sixteen forts. Those +farthest advanced are hardly half a mile distant from the main wall. The +experiences of the last war, the immense progress of the artillery, and +especially the wider reach of the modern siege guns induced the French +army authorities to build a belt of still stronger forts, which +surrounds the old fortress of 1870 like a protective net. The forts, +redoubts and batteries belonging to this last belt of fortifications +are situated at least two miles from the city limits proper, and even +Versailles is taken into this belt of fortifications. + +The circumference of the circle formed by them is 124 kilometers +(nearly 77 miles) and the space included in it amounts to 1,200 square +kilometers. This new belt of fortifications consists of seven forts of +the first class, sixteen forts of the second class and fifty redoubts or +batteries, which are connected with each other by the "Great Belt Line," +of 113 kilometers (71 miles). + +FORM LARGE FORTIFIED CAMPS + +The strongest of these forts form fortified camps, large enough to +give protection to strong armies and also the possibility for a new +reconcentration. There are three of these camps. The northern camp +includes the fortifications from the Fort de Cormeilles on the left to +the Fort de Stains on the right wing, with the forts of the first class, +Cormeilles and Domont, and the forts of the second class, Montlignon, +Montmorency, Ecouen and Stains, and it is protected in the rear by the +strong forts in the vicinity of St. Denis. The eastern camp goes from +the Ourcq canal and the forest of Bondy to the Seine, and its main +strongholds are the forts of Vaujours and Villeneuve-St. Georges, with +the smaller forts of Chelles, Villiers, Champigny and Sully. + +On the left bank of the Seine the southwestern camp is situated, +including Versailles, whose main forts are those of St. Cyr, Haut-Bue, +Villeras and Palaiseau, to which the large redubt of Bois d'Arey and the +forts of Chatillon and Hautes-Bruyeres, situated a little to the rear, +belong likewise. + +To invest this strongest fortress of the world the line of the Germans +ought to have a length of 175 kilometers and to its continuous +occupation, even if the ring of the investing masses were not very deep, +a much greater number of troops would be necessary than were used in +1870 for the siege of Paris. + +GERMAN AMMUNITION CAPTURED + +A correspondent at Nanteuil, September 12, thus described the capture +of a German ammunition column while the Germans were feeling their way +toward Paris: + +"The seven-kilometer column was winding its way along Crepy-en-Valois +when General Pan sent cavalry and artillery to intercept it. The column +was too weakly guarded to cope with the attack, and so was captured +and destroyed. This capture had an important bearing on the subsequent +fighting. + +"A noticeable feature of the operations has been the splendid marching +qualities of the French troops. This was displayed especially when two +divisions, which were sent to intercept the expected attempt of the +Germans to invest Paris, covered eighty kilometers (491/2 miles) in two +stages." + +ALLIES PLAN TO PROTECT PARIS + +The plan of the Allies on September 1 was to make a determined stand +before Paris, in the effort to protect the city from the horrors of a +siege. With their left wing resting on the strongly fortified line of +the Paris forts and with their right wing strengthened by the defensive +line from Verdun to Belfort, they would occupy a position of enormous +military strength. If the Germans concentrated to move against their +front the French reserve armies could assemble west of the Seine, move +forward and attack the German invading columns in flank. If in their +effort to continue the great turning movement the Germans pushed forward +across the Seine and attempted by encircling Paris to gain the rear of +the allied armies, the French could mass their reserve corps behind +their center at Reims, push forward against the weakened German center +in an attack that if successful would cut off the German invading +columns and expose them to annihilation. + +Such were the conditions and the possibilities when the German advance +reached its climax on September 4. + +[Illustration: POSITION OF HOSTILE ARMIES, SEPTEMBER 4, 1914 Heavy +dotted line denotes battle front of the Allies; lighter line the +position of the German Troops.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BATTLE OF THE MARNE + + _German Plans Suddenly Changed--Direction of Advance + Swings to the Southeast When Close to the French + Capital--Successful Resistance by the Allies--The + Prolonged Encounter at the Marne--Germans Retreat + With Allies in Hot Pursuit for Many Miles_. + +Suddenly the German plans were changed. With Paris almost in sight, +almost within the range of their heavy artillery, the German forces on +the right of the line on September 4 changed the direction of their +advance to a southeasterly course, which would leave Paris to the west. +The people of the gay capital, who for several days had been preparing +themselves once more for the thunder of the Prussian guns, began to +breathe more freely, while all the world wondered at the sudden and +spectacular transformation in the conditions of the conflict. + +What had happened? Why was the advance thus checked and the march on +Paris abandoned? Was it a trick, designed to lead the Allies into a +trap? Or were the German troops too exhausted by forced marches and lack +of rest to face the determined resistance of the allied forces before +Paris? + +These were the questions on every tongue, on both sides of the Atlantic, +while the military experts sought strategic reasons for the change in +German plans. + +When the movement towards the east began the right of the German forces +moved through Beaumont and L'Isle towards Meaux, apparently with the +intention of avoiding Paris. Their front some twenty-four hours later +was found to be extending across the River Marne as far south as +Conlommiers and La Ferte-Gaucher, the two opposing lines at that time +stretching between Paris on the left flank and Verdun on the right. + +On Monday, September 7, there came news that the southward movement of +the German army had been arrested, and that it had been forced back +across the Marne to positions where the German right wing curved +back from La Ferte-sous-Jouarre along the bank of the River Ourcq, a +tributary of the Marne, to the northward of Chateau Thierry. All this +territory forms part of the district known as the "Bassin de Paris." + + +Then came a turn in the tide of war and the German plans were +temporarily lost sight of when the Allies assumed the offensive along +the Marne and the Ourcq and the Germans began to fall back. For four +days their retreat continued. Ten miles, thirty miles, forty-five miles, +back toward the northeast and east the invaders retired and Paris was +relieved. The tide of battle had thrown the Germans away from the French +capital and Frenchmen believed their retirement was permanent. + +BATTLE OF THE MARNE + +Important and interesting details of the battle of the Marne and the +movements that preceded it are given in an official report compiled from +information sent from the headquarters of Field Marshal Sir John French +(commander-in-chief of the British expeditionary forces), under date of +September 11. This account describes the movements both of the British +force and of the French armies in immediate touch with it. It carries +the operations from the 4th to the 10th of September, both days +inclusive, and says: + +"The general position of our troops Sunday, September 6, was south of +the River Marne, with the French forces in line on our right and left. +Practically there had been no change since Saturday, September 5, which +marked the end of our army's long retirement from the Belgian frontier +through Northern France. + +"On Friday, September 4, it became apparent that there was an alteration +in the advance of almost the whole of the first German army. That army +since the battle near Mons on the 23d of August had been playing its +part in a colossal strategic endeavor to create a Sedan for the Allies +by out-flanking and enveloping the left of their whole line so as to +encircle and drive both the British and French to the south. + +THE CHANGE IN GERMAN STRATEGY + +"There was now a change in its objective and it was observed that +the German forces opposite the British were beginning to move in a +southeasterly direction instead of continuing southwest on to the +capital, leaving a strong rear guard along the line of the River Ourcq +(which flows south of and joins the Marne at Lizy-sur-Ourcq) to keep +off the French Sixth Army, which by then had been formed and was to the +northwest of Paris. They were evidently executing what amounted to a +flank march diagonally across our front. + +"Prepared to ignore the British as being driven out of the fight, they +were initiating an effort to attack the left flank of the main French +army, which stretched in a long curved line from our right toward the +east, and so to carry out against it alone an envelopment which so far +had failed against the combined forces of the Allies. + +"On Saturday, the 5th, this movement on the part of the Germans was +continued and large advance parties crossed the Marne southward at +Trilport, Sammeron, La Ferte-sous-Jouarre and Chateau Thierry. There was +considerable fighting with the French Fifth Army on the French left, +which fell back from its position south of the Marne toward the Seine. + +"On Sunday large hostile forces crossed the Marne and pushed on through +Coulommiers and past the British right, farther to the east. They were +attacked at night by the French Fifth, which captured three villages at +the point of bayonets. + +ALLIES TAKE THE OFFENSIVE + +"On Monday, September 7, there was a general advance on the part of the +Allies. In this quarter of the field our forces, which had now been +reinforced, pushed on in a northeasterly direction in co-operation with +the advance of the French Fifth Army to the north and of the French +Sixth Army to the eastward against the German rearguard along the River +Ourcq. + +"Possibly weakened by the detachment of troops to the eastern theater +of operations and realizing that the action of the French Sixth Army +against the line of Ourcq and the advance of the British placed their +own flanking movement in considerable danger of being taken in the rear +and on its flank, the Germans on this day commenced to retire toward the +northeast. + +"This was the first time that these troops had turned back since their +attack at Mons a fortnight before and from reports received the order to +retreat when so close to Paris was a bitter disappointment. From letters +found on dead soldiers there is no doubt there was a general impression +among the enemy's troops that they were about to enter Paris. + +GERMAN RETREAT IS HASTENED + +"On Tuesday, September 8, the German movement north-eastward was +continued. Their rear guards on the south of the Marne were being +pressed back to that river by our troops and by the French on our right, +the latter capturing three villages after a hand-to-hand fight and the +infliction of severe loss on the enemy. + +"The fighting along the Ourcq continued on this day and was of the +most sanguinary character, for the Germans had massed a great force of +artillery along this line. Very few of their infantry were seen by the +French. The French Fifth Army also made a fierce attack on the Germans +in Montmirail, regaining that place. + +"On Wednesday, September 9, the battle between the French Sixth Army and +what was now the German flank guard along the Ourcq continued. + +"The British corps, overcoming some resistance on the River Petit Morin, +crossed the Marne in pursuit of the Germans, who now were hastily +retreating northwest. One of our corps was delayed by an obstinate +defense made by a strong rear guard with machine guns at La +Ferte-sous-Jouarre, where the bridge had been destroyed. + +"On Thursday, September 10, the French Sixth Army continued its pressure +on the west while the Fifth Army by forced marches reached the line of +Chateau Thierry and Dormans on the Marne. Our troops also continued the +pursuit on the north of the latter river and after a considerable amount +of fighting captured some 1,500 prisoners, four guns, six machine guns +and fifty transport wagons. + +"Many of the enemy were killed or wounded and the numerous thick +woods which dot the country north of the Marne are filled with German +stragglers. Most of them appear to have been without food for at least +two days. + +"Indeed, in this area of the operations, the Germans seem to be +demoralized and inclined to surrender in small parties. The general +situation appears to be most favorable to the Allies. + +"Much brutal and senseless damage has been done in the villages occupied +by the enemy. Property has been wantonly destroyed. Pictures in chateaus +have been ripped up and houses generally have been pillaged. + +"It is stated on unimpeachable authority also that the inhabitants have +been much ill-treated. + +TRAPPED IN A SUNKEN ROAD + +"Interesting incidents have occurred during the fighting. On the 10th of +September part of our Second Army Corps, advancing into the north, +found itself marching parallel with another infantry force some little +distance away. At first it was thought this was another British unit. +After some time, however, it was discovered that it was a body of +Germans retreating. + +"Measures promptly were taken to head off the enemy, who were surrounded +and trapped in a sunken road, where over 400 men surrendered. + +"On September 10 a small party under a noncommissioned officer was cut +off and surrounded. After a desperate resistance it was decided to go +on fighting to the end. Finally the noncommissioned officer and one man +only were left, both of them being wounded. + +"The Germans came up and shouted to them: 'Lay down your arms!' The +German commander, however, signed to them to keep their arms and then +asked to shake hands with the wounded noncommissioned officer, who was +carried off on his stretcher with his rifle by his side. + +"Arrival of reinforcements and the continued advance have delighted our +troops, who are full of zeal and anxious to press on. + +SUCCESS OF THE FLYING CORPS + +"One of the features of the campaign on our side has been the success +obtained by the Royal Flying Corps. In regard to the collection of +information it is impossible either to award too much praise to +our aviators for the way they have carried out their duties or to +overestimate the value of the intelligence collected, more especially +during the recent advance. + +"In due course certain examples of what has been effected may be +specified and the far-reaching nature of the results fully explained, +but that time has not arrived. + +"That the services of our Flying Corps, which, has really been on trial, +are fully appreciated by our allies is shown by the following message +from the commander-in-chief of the French armies, received September +by Field Marshal Lord Kitchener: + + "'Please express most particularly to Marshal French + my thanks for the services rendered on every day by the + English flying corps. The precision, exactitude and regularity + of the news brought in by its members are evidence of + their perfect organization and also of the perfect training + of the pilots and the observers.--JOSEPH JOFFRE, General,' + +"To give a rough idea of the amount of work carried out it is sufficient +to mention that during a period of twenty days up to the 10th of +September a daily average of more than nine reconnaissance flights of +over 100 miles each has been maintained. + +FIVE GERMAN PILOTS SHOT + +"The constant object of our aviators has been to effect an accurate +location of the enemy's forces and, incidentally, since the operations +cover so large an area, of our own units. Nevertheless, the tactics +adopted for dealing with hostile air craft are to attack them instantly +with one or more British machines. This has been so far successful that +in five cases German pilots or observers have been shot while in the air +and their machines brought to ground. + +"As a consequence the British Flying Corps has succeeded in establishing +an individual ascendancy which is as serviceable to us as it is +dangerous to the enemy. + +"How far it is due to this cause it is not possible at present to +ascertain definitely, but the fact remains that the enemy have recently +become much less enterprising in their flights. Something in the +direction of the mastery of the air already has been gained in pursuance +of the principle that the main object of military aviators is the +collection of information. + +"Bomb dropping has not been indulged in to any great extent. On one +occasion a petrol bomb was successfully exploded in a German bivouac at +night, while from a diary found on a dead German cavalry soldier it has +been discovered that a high explosive bomb, thrown at a cavalry column +from one of our aeroplanes, struck an ammunition wagon, resulting in an +explosion which killed fifteen of the enemy." + +LOSSES AT THE MARNE ENORMOUS + +Some idea of the terrific character of the fighting at the Marne and +of the great losses in the prolonged battle may be gained from the +following story, telegraphed on September 14 by a correspondent who +followed in the rear of the allied army: + +"General von Kluck's host in coming down over the Marne and the Grand +Morin rivers to Sezanne, twenty-five miles southwest of Epernay, met +little opposition, and I believe little opposition was intended. The +Allies, in fact, led their opponents straight into a trap. The English +cavalry led the tired Germans mile after mile, and the Germans believed +the Englishmen were running away. When the tremendous advance reached +Provins the Allies' plan was accomplished, and it got no farther. + +"Fighting Sunday, September 6, was of a terrible character, and began +at dawn in the region of La Ferte-Gaucher. The Allies' troops, who were +drawn up to receive the Germans, understood it would be their duty to +hold on their very best that the attacking force at Meaux might achieve +its task in security. The battle lasted all night and until late Monday. + +"The Germany artillery fire was very severe, but not accurate. The +French and English fought sternly on and slowly beat the enemy back. + +"Attempts of the Germans to cross the Marne at Meaux entailed terrible +losses. Sixteen attempts were foiled by the French artillery fire +directed on the river and in one trench 600 dead Germans were counted. + +COUNTRY STREWN WITH DEAD + +"The whole country was strewn with the dead and dying. When at last +the Germans retired they slackened their rifle fire and in once place +retired twelve miles without firing a single shot. One prisoner declared +that they were short of ammunition and had been told to spare it as much +as possible. + +"Monday saw a tremendous encounter on the Oureq. In one village, which +the Germans hurriedly vacated, the French in a large house found a +dinner table beautifully set, with candles still burning on the table, +where evidently the German staff had been dining. A woman occupant said +they fled precipitately. + +"There was a great deal of hand-to-hand fighting and bayonet work on +the Ourcq, which resulted in the terrible Magdeburg regiment beating a +retreat. + +"Monday night General von Kluck's army had been thrown back from the +Marne and from the Morin and to the region of Sezanne and his position +was serious. Immediate steps were necessary to save his line of +communications and retreat. To this end reinforcements were hurried +north to the Meaux district and the Ourcq and tremendous efforts were +made to break up the French resistance in this section. + +GERMAN GUNS ARE SILENCED + +"The second attempt on the Oureq shared the fate of the first. Though +all Monday night and well on into Tuesday the great German guns boomed +along this river, the resistance of the allies could not be broken. +'Hold on!' was the command and every man braced himself to obey. While +the Ourcq was being held the struggle of Sezanne was bearing fruit. + +"The German resistance on Thursday morning was broken. I heard the news +in two ways: from the silence of the German guns and from the wounded +who poured down to the bases. + +"The wounded men no longer were downhearted, but eager to rejoin the +fray. On every French lip was the exclamation that 'They are in full +retreat!' and 'They are rushing back home!' and in the same breath came +generous recognition of the great help given by the British army. + +"The number of wounded entailed colossal transportation work. I counted +fifteen trains in eight hours. A fine, grim set of men, terribly weary +but amiable, except for the officers. + +GERMANS LEAVE SPOILS BEHIND + +"The enemy crossed the Marne on the return journey north under great +difficulties and beneath a withering fire from the British troops, who +pursued them hotly. The German artillery operated from a height. There +was again much hand-to-hand fighting and the river was swollen with +dead. + +"Tuesday night the British were in possession of La Ferte-sous-Jouarre +and Chateau Thierry and the Germans had fallen back forty miles, leaving +a long train of spoils behind them. + +"On the same day, in the neighborhood of Vitry-le-Francois, the French +troops achieved a victory. Incidentally they drove back the famous +Imperial Guard of Germany from Sezanne, toward the swamps of Saint Cond, +where, a century ago, Napoleon achieved one of his last successes. The +main body of the guard passed to the north of the swamps, but I heard of +men and horses engulfed and destroyed. + +"'It is our revenge for 1814,' the French officers said. 'If only the +emperor were here to see.' + +BRITISH KEEP UP PURSUIT + +"Wednesday the English army continued the pursuit toward the north, +taking guns and prisoners. + +"On that day I found myself in a new France. The good news had spread. +Girls threw flowers at the passing soldiers and joy was manifested +everywhere. + +"The incidents of Wednesday will astound the world when made known in +full. I know that two German detachments of 1,000 men each, which were +surrounded and cornered but which refused to surrender, were wiped +out almost to the last man. The keynote of these operations was the +tremendous attack of the Allies along the Ourcq Tuesday, which showed +the German commander that his lines were threatened. Then came the +crowning stroke. + +"The army of the Ourcq and of Meaux and the army of Sezanne drew +together like the blades of a pair of shears, the pivot of which was in +the region of the Grand Morin. The German retreat was thus forced toward +the east and it speedily became a rout." + +RETREAT SEEN FROM THE SKY + +The best view of the retreating German armies was obtained, according to +a Paris report, by a French military airman, who, ascending from a point +near Vitry, flew northward across the Marne and then eastward by way of +Rheims down to the region of Verdun and back again in a zigzag course to +a spot near Soissons. + +He saw the German hosts not merely in retreat, but in flight, and in +some places in disorderly flight. + +"It was a wonderful sight," the airman said, "to look down upon these +hundreds and thousands of moving military columns, the long gray lines +of the Kaiser's picked troops, some marching in a northerly, others in a +northeasterly direction, and all moving with a tremendous rapidity. + +"The retreat was not confined to the highways, but many German soldiers +were running across fields, jumping over fences, crawling through +hedges, and making their way through woods without any semblance of +order or discipline. + +"These men doubtless belonged to regiments which were badly cut up in +the fierce fighting which preceded the general retreat. Deprived of the +majority of their officers, they made a mere rabble of fugitives, Many +were without rifles, having abandoned their weapons in their haste to +escape their French and British pursuers." + +GERMANS ABANDON GUNS + +The London Times correspondent describes the German retreat in a +hurricane, with rain descending in torrents, the wayside brooks swollen +to little torrents. + + "The gun wheels sank deep in the mud, and the soldiers, + unable to extricate them, abandoned the guns," he said. + + "A wounded soldier, returned from the front, told me + that the Germans fled as animals flee which are cornered and + know it. + + "Imagine the roadway littered with guns, knapsacks, cartridge + belts, Maxims and heavy cannon. There were miles of + roads like this. + + "And the dead! Those piles of horses and those stacks + of men I have seen again and again. I have seen men shot so + close to one another that they remained standing after death. + + "At night time the sight was horrible beyond description. + They cannot bury whole armies. + + "In the day time over the fields of dead carrion birds + gathered, led by the gray-throated crow of evil omen with a + host of lesser marauders at his back. Robbers, too, have + descended upon these fields. + + "Trainload after trainload of British and French troops + swept toward the weak points of the retreating host. + + "The Allies benefited by this advantage of the battle-ground; + there is a network of railways, like the network of a + spider's web." + +FIGHTING DESCRIBED BY U.S. OFFICERS + +Two military attaches of the United States embassy at Paris, Lieut.-Col. +H. T. Allen and Capt. Frank Parker, both of the Eleventh cavalry, +U.S.A., returned on September 15 from an automobile trip over the +battlefield where from September 8 until the night of September 11 the +French and Germans were fiercely engaged. This battle was the one which +assured the safety of Paris. + +On September 1 the German left and center were separated, but like a +letter "V" were approaching each other, with Paris as their objective. +Had the Allies attacked at that time they would have had to divide their +forces and, so weakened, give battle to two armies. By retreating they +drew after them the two converging lines of the V and when the Germans +were in wedge-shaped formation, attacked them on the flank and center at +Meaux and made a direct attack at Sezanne. + +The four days' battle at Meaux ended with the Germans crossing the river +Aisne and retreating to the hills north and west of Soissons. Col. Allen +and Capt. Parker saw the end of the battle north of Sezanne, which +resulted in the retreat of the Germans to Rheims. + +The battles, as Col. Allen and Capt. Parker describe them, were as +follows: + +On the 8th the Germans advanced from a line stretching from Epernay and +Chalons, a distance of twenty-five kilometers (sixteen miles). In this +front, counting from the German right, were the Tenth, the Guards, the +Ninth and Twelfth Army Corps. The presence of the Guards, the _corps +d'elite_ of the German army, suggested that this was intended to be a +main attack upon Paris and that the army at Meaux was to occupy the +center. The four combined corps numbered over 200,000. The French met +them, they assert, with 190,000. + +The Germans advanced until their left was at Vitry-le-Francois and their +right rested at Sezanne, making a column 15 miles long, headed west +toward Paris. The French butted the line six miles east of Sezanne, in +the forests of La Fere and Champenoise. It was here that the greater +part of the fight occurred. It was fighting at long distance with +artillery and from trench to trench with the bayonet. + +THIRTY THOUSAND MEN KILLED + +During the four days in which fortune rested first on one flag and then +on another 30,000 men of both armies are said to have been killed and a +considerable number of villages were wiped from the map by the artillery +of both armies. + +Two miles from Sezanne a French regiment was destroyed by an ambush. +The Germans had thrown up conspicuous trenches and with decoys sparsely +filled them. From the forest in the rear the mitrailleuse was trained on +the French. The French infantry charged this trench and the decoys fled, +making toward the flanks, and as the French poured over the trenches the +hidden guns swept them. + +In another trench the American attaches counted the bodies of more than +900 German guards, not one of whom had attempted to retreat. They had +stood fast with their shoulders against the parapet and taken the cold +steel. Everywhere the loss of life was appalling. In places the dead lay +across each other three and four deep. + +TURCOS FIERCEST FIGHTERS OF ALL + +"The fiercest fighting of all seems to have been done by the Turcos and +Senegalese. In trenches taken by them from the guards and the famous +Death's Head Hussars, the Germans showed no bullet wounds. In nearly +every attack the men from the desert had flung themselves upon the +enemy, using only the butt or the bayonet. Man for man no white man +drugged for years with meat and alcohol is a physical match for these +Turcos, who eat dates and drink water," said Richard Harding Davis, +who saw the end of the fighting at Meaux. "They are as lean as starved +wolves. They move like panthers. They are muscle and nerves and they +have the warrior's disregard of their own personal safety in battle, and +a perfect scorn of the foe. + +"As Kipling says, 'A man who has a sneaking desire to live has a poor +chance against one who is indifferent whether he kills you or you kill +him.'" + +NIGHT BATTLE DESCRIBED BY SOLDIER + +The following narrative of a night engagement during the prolonged +battle of the Marne is quoted from a French soldier's letter to a +compatriot in London: + +"Our strength was about 400 infantrymen. Toward midnight we broke up our +camp and marched off in great silence, of course not in closed files, +but in open order. We were not allowed to speak to each other or to make +any unnecessary noise, and as we walked through the forest the only +sound to be heard was that of our steps and the rustling of the leaves. +It was a perfectly lovely night; the sky was so clear, the atmosphere so +pure, the forest so romantic, everything seemed so charming and peaceful +that I could not imagine that we were on the warpath, and that perhaps +in a few hours this forest would be aflame, the soil drenched by human +blood, and the fragrant herbs covered with broken limbs. + +"Yet all those silent, armed men, marching in the same direction as I +did, were ever so many proofs that no peace meeting or any delightful +romantic adventure was near, and I wondered what thoughts were stirring +all those brains. Suddenly a whisper passed on from man to man. It was +the officer's command. A halt was made, and in the same whisper we +were told that part of us had to change our direction so that the two +directions would form a V. A third division proceeded slowly in the +original direction. + +COMMANDS ARE WHISPERED + +"I belonged to what may be called the left leg of the V. After what +seemed to be about half an hour, we reached the edge of the forest, and +from behind the trees we saw an almost flat country before us, with here +and there a tiny little hill, a mere hump four or five feet high. On the +extreme left-hand side the land seemed to be intersected by ditches and +trenches. + +"Another whispered command was passed from man to man, and we all had to +lie down on the soil. A moment afterward we were thus making our way to +the above-mentioned ditches and trenches. It is neither the easiest nor +the quickest way to move, but undoubtedly the safest, for an occasional +enemy somewhere on the hills at the farther end of the field would not +possibly be able to detect us. I don't know how long it took us to reach +the ditches, which were, for the greater part, dry; nor do I know how +long we remained there or what was happening. We were perfectly hidden +from view, lying flat down on our stomachs, but we were also unable to +see anything. Everybody's ears were attentive, every nerve was strained. +The sun was rising. It promised to be a hot day. + +FIRST SHOT IS HEARD + +"Suddenly we heard a shot, at a distance of what seemed to be a mile or +so, followed by several other shots. I ventured to lift my body up in +order to see what was happening. But the next moment my sergeant, who +was close by me, warned me with a knock on my shoulder not to move, and +the whispered order ran, 'Keep quiet! Hide yourself!' Still, the short +glance had been sufficient to see what was going on. Our troops, +probably those who had been left behind in the forest, were crossing the +plain and shooting at the Germans on the crest of the hill, who returned +the fire. + +"The silence was gone. We heard the rushing of feet at a short distance; +then, suddenly, it ceased when the attacking soldiers dropped to aim and +shoot. Some firing was heard, and then again a swift rush followed. This +seemed to last a long time, but it was broken by distant cries, coming +apparently from the enemy. I was wondering all the time why we kept +hidden and did not share in the assault. + +"The rifle fire was incessant. I saw nothing of the battle. Would, our +troops be able to repulse the Germans? How strong were the enemy! They +seemed to have no guns, but the number of our soldiers in that field was +not very large. + +ATTACKED WITH BAYONETS + +"A piercing yell rose from the enemy. Was it a cry of triumph? A short +command rang over the field in French, an order to retreat. A swift rush +followed; our troops were being pursued by the enemy. What on earth were +we waiting for in our ditches? A bugle signal, clear and bright. We +sprang to our feet, and 'At the bayonet!' the order came. We threw +ourselves on the enemy, who were at the same time attacked on the other +side by the division which formed the other 'leg' of the V, while the +'fleeing' French soldiers turned and made a savage attack. + +"It is impossible to say or to describe what one feels at such a moment. +I believe one is in a state of temporary madness, of perfect rage. It is +terrible, and if we could see ourselves in such a state I feel sure we +would shrink with horror. + +"In a few minutes the field was covered with dead and wounded men, +almost all of them Germans, and our hands and bayonets were dripping +with blood. I felt hot spurts of blood in my face, of other men's blood, +and as I paused to wipe them off, I saw a narrow stream of blood running +along the barrel of my rifle. + +"Such was the beginning of a summer day." + +SCENES ON THE BATTLEFIELD + +Writing from Sezanne a few days after the battle of the Marne a visitor +to the battlefield described the conditions at that time as follows: + +"The territory over which the battle of the Marne was fought is now +a picture of devastation, abomination and death almost too awful to +describe. + +"Many sons of the fatherland are sleeping their last sleep in the open +fields and in ditches where they fell or under hedges where they crawled +after being caught by a rifle bullet or piece of shell, or where they +sought shelter from the mad rush of the franc-tireurs, who have not +lost their natural dexterity with the knife and who at close quarters +frequently throw away their rifles and fight hand to hand. + +"The German prisoners are being used on the battlefield in searching +for and burying their dead comrades. Over the greater part of the huge +battlefield there have been buried at least those who died in open +trenches on the plateaus or on the high roads. The extensive forest +area, however, has hardly been searched for bodies, although hundreds +of both French and Germans must have sought refuge and died there. +The difficulty of finding bodies is considerable on account of the +undergrowth. + +"Long lines of newly broken brown earth mark the graves of the victims. +Some of these burial trenches are 150 yards long. The dead are placed +shoulder to shoulder and often in layers. This gives some idea of the +slaughter that took place in this battle. + +"The peasants, who are rapidly coming back to the scene, are marking the +grave trenches with crosses and planting flowers above or placing on +them simple bouquets of dahlias, sunflowers and roses. + +FOUGHT ON BEAUTIFUL CHATEAU LAWNS + +"Some of the hottest fighting of the prolonged battle took place around +the beautiful chateau of Mondement, on a hill six miles east of Sezanne. +This relic of the architectural art of Louis XIV occupied a position +which both sides regarded as strategically important. + +"To the east it looked down into a great declivity in the shape of +an immense Greek lamp, with the concealed marshes of St. Sond at +the bottom. Beyond are the downs and heaths of Epernay, Rheims and +Champagne, while the heights of Argonne stand out boldly in the +distance. To the west is a rich agricultural country. + +"The possession of the ridge of Mondement was vital to either the +attackers or the defenders. The conflict here was of furnace intensity +for four days. The Germans drove the French out in a terrific assault, +and then the French guns were brought to bear, followed by hand-to-hand +fighting on the gardens and lawns of the chateau and even through the +breached walls. + +"Frenchmen again held the building for a few hours, only to retire +before another determined German attack. On the fourth day they swept +the Germans out again with shell fire, under which the walls of the +chateau, although two or three feet thick, crumpled like paper." + +The same correspondent described evidences on the battlefields of how +abundantly the Germans were equipped with ammunition and other material. +He saw pyramid after pyramid of shrapnel shells abandoned in the rout, +also innumerable paniers for carrying such ammunition. These paniers are +carefully constructed of wicker and hold three shells in exactly fitting +tubes so that there can be no movement. + +The villages of Oyes, Villeneuve, Chatillon and Soizy-aux-Bois were all +bombarded and completely destroyed. Some fantastic capers were played by +the shells, such as blowing away half a house and leaving the other half +intact; going through a window and out by the back wall without damaging +the interior, or going a few inches into the wall and remaining fast +without exploding. + +Villeneuve, which was retaken three times, was, including its fine old +church, in absolute ruins. + +A SERIES OF BATTLES + +The battle line along the Marne was so extended that the four-days' +fighting from Sunday, September 6, to Thursday morning, September 10, +when the Germans were in full retreat, comprised a series of bloody +engagements, each worthy of being called a battle. There were hot +encounters south of the Marne at Crecy, Montmirail and other points. At +Chalons-sur-Marne the French fought for twenty-four hours and inflicted +heavy losses on the enemy. General Exelmans, one of France's most +brilliant cavalry leaders, was dangerously wounded in leading a charge. + +There was hard fighting on September 7 between Lagny and Meaux, on the +Trilport and Crecy-en-Brie line, the Germans under General von Kluck +being compelled to give way and retire on Meaux, at which point their +resistance was broken on the 9th. + +General French's army advanced to meet the German hosts with forced +marches from their temporary base to the southeast of Paris. + +The whole British army, except cavalry, passed through Lagny, and +the incoming troops were so wearied that many of them at the first +opportunity lay down in the dust and slept where they were. + +But a few hours' rest worked a great change, and a little later the +British troops were following the German retreat up the valley with +bulldog tenacity. + +The British artillery did notable work in those days, according to the +French military surgeons who were stationed at Lagny. At points near +there the bodies of slain Germans who fell before the British gunners +still littered the ground on September 10, and the grim crop was still +heavier on the soil farther up the valley, where the fighting was more +desperate. + +As far as possible the bodies were buried at night, each attending to +its own fallen. + +MANY SANGUINARY INCIDENTS + +Sanguinary incidents were plentiful in the week of fighting to the south +of the Marne. In an engagement not far from Lagny the British captured +thirty Germans who had given up their arms and were standing under guard +when, encouraged by a sudden forward effort of the German front, they +made a dash for their rifles. They were cut down by a volley from their +British guards before they could reach their weapons. + +"Among dramatic incidents in the fighting," according to an English +correspondent, "may be mentioned the grim work at the ancient fishponds +near Ermenonville. These ponds are shut in by high trees. Driving the +enemy through the woods, a Scotch regiment hustled its foes right into +the fishponds, the Scotchmen jumping in after the Germans up to the +middle to finish them in the water, which was packed with their bodies." +This scene is illustrated on another page. + +VAST GRAVEYARD AT MEAUX + +Some idea of how the Germans were harassed by artillery fire during +their retreat was obtained on a visit to the fields near Meaux, the +scene of severe fighting. The German infantry had taken a position in a +sunken road, on either side of which were stretched in extended lines +hummocks, some of them natural and some the work of spades in the hands +of German soldiers. + +The sunken road was littered with bodies. Sprawling in ghastly fashion, +the faces had almost the same greenish-gray hue as the uniforms worn. +The road is lined with poplars, the branches of which, severed by +fragments of shells, were strewn among the dead. In places whole tops of +trees had been torn away by the artillery fire. + +Beside many bodies were forty or fifty empty cartridge shells, while +fragments of clothing, caps and knapsacks were scattered about. This +destruction was wrought by batteries a little more than three miles +distant. Straggling clumps of wood intervened between the batteries +and their mark, but the range had been determined by an officer on an +elevation a mile from the gunners. He telephoned directions for the +firing and through glasses watched the bursting shells. + +THE BATTLE AT CRECY + +A graphic picture of the fight in Crecy wood was given by a +correspondent who said: The French and English in overwhelming numbers +had poured in from Lagny toward the River Marne to reinforce the +flanking skirmishers. One of the smaller woods southeast of Crecy +furnished cover for the enemy for a time, but led to their undoing. The +Allies' patrols discovered them in the night as the Germans were moving +about with lanterns. + +Suddenly the invaders found their twinkling glow-worms the mark for a +foe of whom they had been unaware. Without warning a midnight hail storm +from Maxims screamed through the trees. The next morning scores of +lanterns were picked up in the wood, with the glasses shattered. A +dashing cavalry charge by the British finally cleared the tragic wood of +the Germans. + +BRITISH BLOW UP A BRIDGE + +At Lagny one of the sights of the town was a shattered bridge, which was +blown up by General French as soon as he got his army across it. At that +time British infantry and artillery had poured through the town and over +the bridge for several days. General French's idea was to keep raiding +detachments of German cavalry from incursions into the beautiful villas +and gardens of the western suburbs. + +Fifteen minutes after the bridge had been reduced to a twisted mass +of steel and broken masonry a belated order came to save it, but the +British engineers who had received the order to destroy it had done +their work well. + +The inhabitants were cleared out of all the neighboring houses, which +were shaken by the terrific explosion when the charge was set off. Every +window in the nearby houses was shattered. + +The people of Lagny took the destruction of their beautiful bridge in +good part. They were too grateful for their deliverance from the Germans +to grumble about the wrecked bridge. + +GERMAN LOSSES AT THE MARNE + +There is no doubt that the German losses in the engagements at the Marne +far exceeded those of the Allies and were most severe, in both men and +material. The Germans made incredible efforts to cross the Marne. The +French having destroyed all the bridges, the Germans tried to construct +three bridges of boats. Sixteen times the bridges were on the point of +completion, but each time they were reduced to matchwood by the French +artillery. + +"There is not the slightest doubt," said a reliable correspondent, "that +but for the superb handling of the German right by General von Kluck, a +large part of Emperor William's forces would have been captured at the +Marne. The allied cavalry did wonders, and three or four additional +divisions of cavalry could have contributed towards a complete rout of +the Germans." + +The general direction of the German retirement was northeast, and it was +continued for seventy miles, to a line drawn between Soissons, Rheims +and Verdun. + +A week after the battle the field around Meaux had been cleared of dead +and wounded, and only little mounds with tiny crosses, flowers and +tricolored flags recalled the terrible struggle. + +The inhabitants of neighboring villages soon returned to their homes and +resumed their ordinary occupations. + +FALL OF MAUBEUGE + +While the fighting at the Marne was in progress, German troops achieved +some successes in other parts of the theater of war. Thus, the fortified +French town of Maubeuge, on the Sambre river midway between Namur in +Belgium and St. Quentin, France, fell to the Germans on September 7. The +investment began on August 25. More than a thousand shells fell in one +night near the railway station and the Rue de France was partially +destroyed. The loss of life, however, was comparatively slight. + +At 11:50 o'clock on the morning of September 7 a white flag was hoisted +on the church tower and trumpets sounded "cease firing," but the firing +only ceased at 3:08 o'clock that afternoon. In the meantime the greater +part of the garrison succeeded in evacuating the town. The German forces +marched in at 7:08 o'clock that evening. + +The retreat of the German forces from the Marne ended the second stage +of the great war. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN + + _Slow Mobilization of Troops--Invasion of German and Austrian + Territory--Cossacks Lead the Van--Early Successes + in East Prussia--"On to Berlin"--Heavy + Losses Inflicted on Austrians--German Troops Rushed + to the Defense of the Eastern Territory_. + +When at 7:30 o'clock on the evening of August 1, 1914, the German +Ambassador at St. Petersburg handed the declaration of war to the +Russian foreign minister, the immediate reason was that Russia had +refused to stop mobilizing her army, as requested by Germany on July 30. + +The general mobilization of the Russian army and fleet was proclaimed +on July 31 and martial law was proclaimed forthwith in Germany. The +government of the Kaiser had given Russia twenty-four hours in which +to reply to its ultimatum of the 30th. Russia paid no attention to the +ultimatum, but M. Goremykin, president of the Council of the Russian +Empire, issued a manifesto which read: + +"Russia is determined not to allow Servia to be crushed and will fulfill +its duty in regard to that small kingdom, which has already suffered so +much at Austria's hands." + +Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 6. From that +time on the Russian army had two main objectives--first, the Austrian +province of Galicia, and second the eastern frontier of Germany, across +which lay the territory known as East Prussia. And while the early days +of the great conflict saw a German host pouring into Belgium, animated +by the battle-cry, "On to Paris!" the gathering legions of the Czar +headed to the west and crossed the Prussian frontier with hoarse, +resounding shouts of "On to Berlin!" + +MOBILIZATION WAS SLOW + +The mobilization of the Russian army was slow compared with that +of Germany, France and Austria, and some weeks elapsed after the +declaration of war before Russia was prepared to attack Germany with +the full force of which it was capable. The immense distances to be +traversed by troops proceeding to the frontier and by the reserves to +their respective depots caused delays that were unavoidable but were +minimized by the eagerness of the Russian soldiery to get to the front. +In Russia, as in all the other great countries engaged in the conflict, +with the probable exception of Austria, the war was popular and a wave +of patriotic enthusiasm and martial ardor swept over the land, from the +Baltic to the Black Sea, from St. Petersburg to Siberia. + +In Russia military service is universal and begins at the age of 20, +continuing for twenty-three years. There are three divisions of the +Russian army--the European, Caucasian and Asiatic armies. Military +service of the Russian consists of three years in the first line, +fourteen years in the reserve (during which time he has to undergo two +periods of training of six weeks each) and five years in the territorial +reserve. The Cossacks, however, hold their land by military tenure and +are liable to serve at any time in the army. They provide their own +horses and accouterments. The total strength of the Russian army is +about 5,500,000 men; the field force of the European army consists of +1,000,000 soldiers with about the same number in the second line. There +were besides at the beginning of the war over 5,000,000 men unorganized +but available for duty. + +ARMY REORGANIZED RECENTLY + +Since the disastrous war with Japan the Russian army has been +reorganized and it has profited largely by the harsh experience of the +Manchurian campaign. + +The physique of the Russian infantryman is second to none in Europe. The +Russian "moujik" (peasant) is from childhood accustomed to cover long +distances on foot, so that marches of from 30 to 40 miles are covered +without fatigue by even the youngest recruits. They wear long boots, +which are made of excellent soft leather, so that sore feet were quite +the exception even in Manchuria, where very long marches were undergone +by many of the units. + +Each regiment of infantry contains four battalions commanded by a major +or lieutenant-colonel. The battalion consists of four companies of +men, commanded by a captain, so that each regiment on a war footing +numbers upwards of 2,000 men. + +The Russian cavalry is divided into two main categories. There are the +heavy regiments of the Guard, which consist mainly of Lancer regiments, +and there are also numberless Cossack or irregular cavalry regiments, +which are recruited chiefly from the districts of the River Don and the +highlands of the Caucasus. + +The horses of the Russian horse and field artillery are distinctly poor +and very inferior to those of the cavalry. The artillery is +therefore somewhat slow in coming into action. But the horses, while +weedy-looking, are very hardy and pull the guns up steep gradients. +The Russian gunners prefer to take up "indirect" rather than "direct" +positions. Batteries are also rather slow in changing positions and in +moving up in support of their infantry units. + +THE RUSSIAN COSSACKS + +What the Uhlans are to the German army, the Cossacks of the Don and the +Caucasus are to the Russians--scouts, advance guards and "covering" +cavalry. They are good all-round fighters, capable of long-continued +effort and tireless in the saddle; they are also trained to fight in +dismounted action. + +As a soldier the Cossack is altogether unique; his ways are his own and +his confidence in his officers and himself is perfect. His passionate +love of horses makes his work a pleasure. The Cossack seat on horseback +is on a high pad-saddle, with the knee almost vertical and the heel well +drawn back. Spurs are not worn, and another remarkable thing is that +he has absolutely no guard to his sword. The Russian soldier scorns +buttons; he says, "They are a nuisance; they have to be cleaned, they +wear away the cloth, they are heavy, and they attract the attention of +the enemy." + +The Cossack pony is a quaint little beast to look at, but the finest +animal living for his work, and very remarkable for his wonderful powers +of endurance. The Cossack and his mount have been likened to a clever +nurse and a spoilt child--each understands and loves the other, but +neither is completely under control. The Cossack does not want his horse +to be a slave, and recognizes perfectly that horses, like children, have +their whims and humors and must be coaxed and reasoned with, but rarely +punished. The famous knout (whip) is carried by the Cossacks at the end +of a strap across the left shoulder. Most of the men are bearded and in +full dress, with the high fur cap stuck jauntily on the head of square +cut hair, the Cossack presents a picturesque and martial figure. The +appearance of these men is quite different from that of the clean-shaven +regular infantryman of the Russian army. + +RUSSIAN PLAN OF CAMPAIGN + +"While the direct objective of the Russians was Berlin, there were +many reasons why a bee-line course could not be followed. Germany had +prepared an elaborate defense system to cover the direct approaches to +Berlin, and the fortresses of Danzig, Graudenz, Thorn, and Posen were +important points in this scheme. The nature of the country also adapts +itself to these defensive works and would make progress slow for an +attacker. + +Moreover, as Austria and her forces mobilized before Russia, a diversion +was created by the Austrian invasion of south Poland, in which the +Germans also took the offensive. Under these circumstances the Russian +plan of campaign resolved itself into three parts:-- + +(1) A northern movement from Kovno and Grodno on Insterburg and +Koenigsberg as a counter-attack. + +(2) A central movement from Warsaw towards Posen with supporting +movements north and south. + +(3) A southern movement on Lublin in Poland to repulse the invaders +combined with a movement from the east on Lemberg in order to turn the +Austrian flank. + +The first purpose of Russia was to clear Poland of enemies, as they +threatened the Russian left flank. At the same time Russia took the +offensive by an invasion of Prussia in the north. This latter movement +led to a victory at Gumbinnen and the investment of Koenigsberg. Later +came victory at Lublin, rolling back the Austrians, and the capture of +Lemberg, which signalized the Russian invasion of Austrian territory. +Thus Russia was for awhile clear of the enemy, while she established a +strong footing in both Prussia and Austria. + +[Illustration: THE RUSSIAN PLAN OF CAMPAIGN In the above view the German +lines of defense are shown black, the Austrian lines of defense are +indicated by crossed lines, and the Russian advances are shown by +arrows.] + +We can now understand the main Russian plan a little better. In the +north the army was to advance from Koenigsberg and endeavor to cut off +Danzig and break the line of defenses between that place and Thorn, thus +leaving this fortress in the rear. In the south the Austrians, already +heavily punished, would be driven back on the Carpathian passes to +the south, and westward also toward Cracow, which is the key to the +situation. If Cracow fell Russia would have a good route into Germany, +and the move would be supported by advances from Warsaw, thus +threatening Breslau from two sides. + +GERMAN TROOPS HURRIED EAST + +Early in September, however, the danger of the Russian advance into +Germany, which apparently had given the German general staff but little +concern at first, was fully realized and large bodies of German troops +were detached from the western theater of war and hurried to the eastern +frontier. Germany had evidently reckoned on Austria being able to hold +its ground better, and was badly prepared for a flanking move on Breslau +so early in the campaign. But the Servian and Russian defeats of Austria +left Germany to bear the full force of the terrific Russian onslaught, +and her forces proved equal to the occasion. Under General von +Hindenberg the German army of the east soon repelled the Russian +invaders and forced them to retire from East Prussia across their own +border, where they were followed by the Germans. A series of engagements +on Russian soil followed, in which the advantage lay as a rule with the +Germans. The losses on both sides were heavy, but the Germans captured +many thousands of Russian prisoners and considerable quantities of arms +and munitions of war. The immense resources of the Russian empire in men +and material made the problem of Russian invasion a very serious one for +Germany. This was fully realized by the Kaiser, who about October 1, +at the end of the second month of the war, proceeded in person to his +eastern frontier to direct the defensive operations against Russia. + +CZAR NICHOLAS AT THE FRONT + +About the same time the Czar, Nicholas II, also took the field in +person, arriving at the front on October 5, accompanied by General +Soukhomlinoff, the Russian minister of war. + +"I am resolved to go to Berlin itself, even if it causes me to lose my +last moujik (peasant)," the Czar is reported as saying in September. The +spirit and temper of the Russian government may be judged by the fact +that before the war was many days old the name of the Russian capital +was officially changed from "St. Petersburg," which was considered to +have a German flavor, to "Petrograd," a purely Russian or Slavic form of +nomenclature. + +RUSSIA PREPARES TO STRIKE AUSTRIA + +By the third week of August, according to an announcement from +Petrograd, Russian troops had checked an attempt by the Austrians to +enter Poland from the Galician frontier and were preparing to invade +Austria on a large scale. At that time Russia was said to have 2,000, +men under arms for the invasion of Germany and Austria, also 500,000 on +the Roumanian and Turkish borders, and 3,000,000 men in reserve. (The +latter were called out by imperial ukase before Czar Nicholas started +for the front.) The Poles had been promised self-government and had been +called on to support Russia. The Jews throughout the Russian empire were +also promised a greater measure of protection, freedom of action and +civil rights. These measures inaugurated an era of better feeling in +Russia and Poland and were strongly approved by the allies of Russia. + +Most of the Austrian reserves were mobilized by August 15 and Germany's +ally announced that she would soon have her total war strength of +2,000,000 men in the field. Austria sent some troops to join the German +forces in Belgium and an army of several hundred thousand men was +gathered along the Austro-Russian frontier under command of the Archduke +Frederick. General Rennenkampf was in command of the Russian forces for +the invasion of East Prussia, while General Russky led the Russian army +operating against Galicia. + +INVASION OF PRUSSIA + +Within a week the Russian movement in eastern Germany assumed menacing +proportions, the great army of invasion having moved rapidly, +considering the natural obstacles. More than 800,000 men were sent over +the border into Prussia. The Germans evacuated a number of towns, after +setting them afire, and a considerable part of the Kaiser's eastern +field forces was bottled up in military centers. Germany's active field +force was at this time inferior in numbers to the invading army. + +By the capture of Insterberg the Russians paralyzed one of the main +German strategic centers and gained control of an important railroad. +The German Twentieth Army Corps was reported to have been routed near +Lyck. At the start the Russian forces extended from Insterberg to +Goldapp, a distance of about thirty-two miles. Seventy-five +miles further on was the first of the two strong German lines of +fortifications. + +Early victories were claimed by the Russians in their advance into +Austria, which was made slowly. Austria then turned to fight the Russian +invasion. It was forced to gather all its forces for this principal +struggle and hence retired from offensive operations against the +Servians. Unless she could halt the Russians pouring in from the north, +a success against Servia could do her no good. + +By the first of September the Russian advance into East Prussia was +well under way and the strong fortress of Koenigsberg was in danger of a +siege, German troops were being rushed to its defense. In Galicia there +were fierce encounters between the Russian invaders and the Austrians. +Several victories were claimed by the Russians all along the line and +whole brigades of Austrian troops were reported destroyed, while the +Russian losses were also admittedly heavy. The fiercest fighting +occurred in the vicinity of Lemberg, the capital of Galicia, which was +soon to fall to General Russky. The Austrian attack on Russian Poland +failed and the Austrians were driven back across their own frontier. The +Russians were seeking to destroy the hope of the Kaiser for help from +Austria in Eastern Germany, where the Russian advance, ridiculed or +belittled by Germany before it began, became more menacing every day. +The German war plans had contemplated a quick, decisive blow in France +and then a rapid turn to the East to meet the Russians with a tremendous +force. But the belligerency of the Belgians and the cooperation of the +British balked these plans, while the Russians moved faster than was +expected by their foe. Austria had failed everywhere to stop the Czar's +forces, and then came a crushing blow to Austrian hopes in a ruinous +defeat near Lemberg and the loss of that fortress. + +THE FALL OF LEMBERG + +The capture of Lemberg from the Austrians early in September after a +four days' battle was one of the striking Russian successes of the war. +Details reached the outer world on September 10th from Petrograd (St. +Petersburg) as follows, the story being that of an eyewitness: + +"The commencement of the fighting which resulted in the capture of +Lemberg began August 29th, when the Russians drove the enemy from +Zisczow (forty-five miles east of Lemberg) and moved on to Golaya +Gorka--a name which means 'the naked hill.' + +"We spent the night on Naked Hill, and the actual storming of the town +was begun at 2:30 o'clock in the morning. Then followed a four days' +battle. A virtually continuous cannonade continued from dawn to darkness +without cessation. + +"Even in the darkness the weary fighters got little sleep. Whenever a +single shot was heard the men dashed for their places and the battle +boiled again with renewed fury. + +"The enemy's counter attacks were delivered with great energy and a +dense hail of lead and iron was poured over our ranks. The Russian +advance was greatly impeded by the hilly nature of the ground and +the great number of extinct craters, which formed splendid natural +fortifications for the enemy, which held them doggedly. Out of these, +however, the enemy was driven in succession. + +"We suffered much from thirst, for the stony, country was devoid of +springs. The days were oppressively hot and the nights bitterly cold. + +RUSSIAN ARTILLERY SUPERIOR + +"Both sides fought with great obstinacy, but the nearer we approached +Lemberg the harder the struggle became. However, it soon was evident +that we were superior in artillery. + +"At length the enemy was driven from all sides beneath the protection of +the Lemberg forts. Our troops were very weary, but in high spirits. + +"For two days the fight raged around the forts, but we were always +confident of the prowess of our artillery. The big guns of both sides +rained a terrific hail down on the armies, which suffered terrific +losses. + +"At last we noticed that the resistance of the forts was growing weaker. +A charge at double quick was ordered, and we carried the first line of +works. + +"It was evident from that point that many of the enemy's guns had been +destroyed. Not enough of them had been left to continue an effective +defense, but the enemy was undiscouraged and tried to make up with rifle +fire what it lacked in artillery. + +LOSSES BECOME HEAVIER + +"Between the first and second lines our losses were heavier than before, +but under bayonet charges the enemy broke and fled in panic. + +"Our troops entered the town at the enemy's heels. We ran into the town, +despite our fatigue, with thunderous cheering. + +"An episode which had much to do with ending the enemy's dogged +resistance occurred during the fighting between the first and second +lines. The Austrians in the hope of checking the Russian effort to +encircle the town had thrown out a heavy screen of Slav troops with a +backing of Magyars who had been ordered to shoot down the Slavs from +behind if they showed any hesitation. + +"This circumstance became known to the Russian commander, who ordered a +terrific artillery fire over the heads of the Slavs and into the ranks +of the Magyars. This well-directed fire set the whole line in panic." + +More than 35,000 Austrians and Russian wounded were abandoned on the +field of battle between Tarnow, Lemberg and Tarnopol owing to lack of +means of transportation, according to reliable reports. Both armies +declined to ask for an armistice for the burial of the dead and the +collection of the wounded, each fearing to give an advantage to the +other. + +THE BATTLE BEFORE LEMBERG + +The immense superiority of the Austrian forces east of Lemberg enabled +the Austrians at first to adopt the offensive. As soon, however, as +the Austrians realized the impossibility of an advance on Warsaw they +concentrated their large and overwhelming forces in an attempt to +outflank the right wing of the Russian army, which was drawing slowly +but surely towards Lemberg, On the other Russian flank the two +Russian army corps, after crossing the River Zlota Lipa without much +opposition, continued their advance to the River Knila Lipa, where they +found the bridges had all been destroyed by the Austrian advance guards. +Two bridges were constructed on the Rogarten-Halicz line, which enabled +a crossing to be effected in spite of heavy and incessant artillery fire +from the Austrian 24-centimeter guns. + +Once across the river, the two Russian corps crossed the upper reaches +of the River Boog and so approached the town of Lemberg from the east. +The main Austrian army, however, had by this time moved up to bar the +further advance of the Russian forces, and the whole of their armies on +the left bank of the River Vistula being in front of the three Russian +corps, the latter were compelled to adopt a defensive role for three or +four days, after which, having received large reinforcements, the +Russian force moved forward and drove the Austrian troops out of their +entrenchments outside Lemberg at the point of the bayonet. A desperate +attempt was made by means of a counter-attack to arrest the advance of +the Russian troops, but this only resulted in the capture of 6,000 +Austrian prisoners. + +[Illustration: WHERE RUSSIA FIGHTS. +Battle grounds of Eastern Prussia and of Galicia, where the Austrians +were repeatedly defeated with heavy losses.] + +Lemberg was not a fortress but was recently converted into a +semi-fortified place, as a series of lunettes, redoubts, etc., had been +hastily prepared. It was the headquarters of the 11th Austrian Corps, +which consisted of the famous 43rd Landwehr infantry division, and was +further divided into three Landwehr brigades. There was also a Landwehr +Uhlan regiment, together with a howitzer division of field artillery. +These batteries were armed with 10.5-centimeter guns, fitted with the +German or Krupp eccentric breech action. The forts outside the town were +said to be armed with the 15-centimeter siege gun made of steel, also +with a Krupp action. The ammunition for these guns is chiefly high +explosive shell and shrapnel; one of the forts is also said to have had +a battery of three 24-centimeter heavy siege guns of quite a modern +pattern. + +GERMANY RUSHES REINFORCEMENTS + +When Lemberg fell the Russian advance covered a line extending from far +up in Eastern Prussia, near Tilsit, across the frontier and on down +south into Austrian Galicia. Koenigsberg was hearing the sound of the +Russian guns and its besiegers seemed on the verge of victory. A central +column of mighty strength was pushing its way into Germany, despite a +stubborn resistance. Then the tide turned. German reinforcements were +brought up and under General von Hindenberg the Germans administered a +severe defeat to General Rennenkampf's army near Allenstein, in which +it was claimed that 60,000 prisoners were taken. Other reverses were +suffered by the Russians and soon after the middle of September they had +been forced to retire from German territory, the German troops following +them into Russia, where a series of minor engagements occurred near the +frontier. + +GENERAL RENNENKAMPF'S DEFEAT + +The operations leading to the defeat of General Rennenkampf's Russian +army by the Germans were as follows: + +From September 7 to 13 the Russians took a strong position on the line +from Angerburg to Gerdauen, Allenburg, and Kehlau, the left wing resting +on the Mazurian lakes and the right wing protected in the rear and flank +by the forest of Frisching, whose pathless woods and swamps furnished +an almost impregnable position. The Russians devoted great efforts to +intrenching their position and brought up besides their heavy artillery. +Russian cavalry scouted far to the west and south, but otherwise the +army-undertook no offensive operations in the days following a battle at +Tannenberg. + +The German forces, according to the German official account, were +composed of the Second, Third, Fourth and Twentieth corps, two reserve +divisions and five cavalry divisions. + +General von Hindenburg, the German commander, meanwhile was assembling +every available man, depriving the fortresses of their garrisons and +calling in all but a bare remnant of the force protecting the southern +frontier in the vicinity of Soldau, adding them to reinforcements +received from the west. + +General von Hindenburg again resorted to the customary German flanking +movement, and since the German right, protected by the forest and +marshes, seemed too strong, he adopted the daring strategy of sending +the flanking force to the lake region to the south, the same character +of movement by which the Russian Narew army had been defeated on August +28, in the vicinity of Ortelsburg, and which in case of failure might +have been equally as disastrous for the Germans. + +STRATEGY IS SUCCESSFUL + +The strategy, however, succeeded, although General Rennenkampf offered a +desperate resistance to the frontal attacks. After three days' fighting +the Russians were forced back slightly in the center. When the flank +movement of the Germans was discovered already threatening the flank, +a counter-movement was launched with a new army collected at Lyck, +including the Twenty-second corps and parts of the Third Siberian corps, +just arriving from Irkutsk, and the balance of the defeated army. The +counter-attacks failed and on September 10 the Russians began to fall +back on their main position, retreating in good order and well covered. + +The Russian artillery on the right wing appears to have made a good +retreat owing to a timely start, while the left wing was hard pressed by +the enveloping German infantry. From this wing the Russians retreated +across the border in two columns, while the main body went northward +and the others in an easterly direction, pursued by the Germans, who +advanced far from the border. + +The German government appointed Count von Merveldt as governor of the +Russian province of Suwalki and other points occupied by them. + +The University of Koenigsberg on September 18 conferred upon General von +Hindenburg honorary doctors' degrees from all four of the departments of +philosophy, theology, law and medicine, in recognition of his success +against the Russian invader. + +AUSTRIA STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE + +In Galicia, however, Russian successes continued. The important fortress +of Mikolajoff, 25 miles south of Lemberg, was captured and this cleared +away every Austrian stronghold east of Przemysl, which was then invested +by the Russians. + +Austria was now struggling for her very existence as a monarchy. +Following the crushing defeats administered to the Austrian troops and +with the Czar's forces sweeping Galicia, Vienna was hurriedly fortified. +All reports indicated that the large Austrian force, nearly 1,000, +men in all, opposing the main Russian invasion had proved ineffective. +Help from Germany did not arrive in time. Official dispatches reported +the main Austrian army retreating, pursued and harassed by the Russians. +The other important Austrian army was surrounded near Lublin. + +While the Muscovite host went smashing through Galicia, chasing the +Austrian army before it, the Russian staff belittled the retreat from +East Prussia, saying that the Russian army was merely falling back on +a new defensive position. The German artillery had been getting in its +deadly work and the pressure on Koenigsberg was soon to be relieved. + +There were many reports at this time of a popular demand in Austria that +an end be made to the struggle. Peace talk was a marked feature of the +sixth week of the war, but there were no definite results in any part of +the immense theater of war. + +The third week of September found the Germans, greatly reinforced, +making a strong resistance to Russian progress, with the aid of the +heavy German artillery. The shattered Austrian armies, under Generals +von Auffenberg and Dankl, were making desperate endeavors to concentrate +in the vicinity of Rawaruska, but were apparently surrounded by the +Russians, who continued to capture Austrian prisoners by the thousand. +Fears were entertained for Cracow, one of the strongest fortresses in +Austria, if not in Europe, which seemed likely soon to fall into the +hands of Russia. + +It was stated in Rome, and said to be admitted in Vienna, that the +Archduke Frederick, commanding the Austrian forces in Galicia, had +lost 120,000 men, or one-fourth of his entire army. German troops were +reported marching south toward Poland to assist the Austrians. + +The Russian successes in Galicia gave them command of the Galician +oil-fields, upon which Germany largely depended for her supply of +gasoline, which is a prime necessary in modern war. + +RUSSIANS AT PRZEMYSL + +On September 21 the Russians began the bombardment of Przemysl, having +previously occupied Grodek and Mosciska, west of Lemberg. The shattered +second Austrian army was evidently incapable of staying the Russian +advance, and took refuge in Przemysl. A part of this Galician stronghold +was soon captured by the Russians, forcing the Austrians to take refuge +in the eastern forts, where the entire garrison was concentrated at the +end of September, preparing to make a final resistance. The situation of +the garrison was critical, as it was entirely surrounded by the enemy. +On September 21 also the Russian troops took by storm the fortifications +of Jaroslav, on the river San, and captured many guns. + +The German offensive from East Prussia was apparently halted October +by the almost impassable condition of the Russian roads in the north. +Germany was said to have at this time thirty army corps of the line and +the first reserve prepared to operate against Russia and to resist the +Russian advance upon Cracow. + +The German main defenses against Russia extended in a general line from +Koenigsberg to Danzig, thence south along the Vistula to the great +fortress of Thorn. From there the fortified line swung to the southwest +to Posen, thence south to Breslau, the main fortress along the Oder, and +from there to Cracow. + +Early in October the Russian invasion of Hungary began. The Russian +armies continued to sweep through Galicia and that province was reported +clear of Austrian troops. The German successes claimed against the Czar +farther north included victories at Krasnik and Zamoso, in Russian +Poland; Insterburg and Tannenburg, in East Prussia. + +ESTIMATE OF AUSTRIAN LOSSES + +A Russian estimate places the Austrian losses in Galicia at 300, +in killed, wounded and prisoners, or nearly one-third of their total +forces. They also lost, it was claimed at Petrograd, 1,000 guns, more +than two-thirds of their available artillery. + +The Russian newspaper correspondents described horrible scenes on the +battlefields abandoned by the Austro-German forces in Galicia. + +"Streams," said one eyewitness, "were choked full with slain men, +trodden down in the headlong flight till the waters were dammed and +overflowing the banks. Piles of dead are awaiting burial or burning. +Hundreds of acres are sown with bodies and littered with weapons and +battle debris, while wounded and riderless horses are careering madly +over the abandoned country. The trophies captured comprise much German +equipment. An ammunition train captured at Janow (eleven miles northwest +of Lemberg) was German, while the guns taken included thirty-six of +heavy caliber bearing Emperor William's initials and belonging to the +German Sixth army corps. + +"The line of retreat of the Austro-German forces was blocked with debris +of every kind--valuable military supplies, telephone and telegraph +installations, light railway and other stores, bridging material--in +fact, everything needed by a modern army was flung away in flight. Over +1,000 wagons with commissariat supplies alone were captured." + +Forty-five thousand Austro-German prisoners were reported to have +arrived at Lublin. Russian correspondents with the armies in Galicia +asserted that German troops were interspersed with Austrian troops in +the intrenchments in order to raise the morale of the Austrians. One +correspondent declared that while the Austrians often took flight the +Germans were ready, to the last man, to perish. + +ON THE FIRING LINE IN RUSSIAN POLAND--VIVID DESCRIPTION BY AN AMERICAN +EYEWITNESS + +The first American permitted to witness actual battles near the eastern +frontier of Germany was Karl H. von Wiegand, who wrote as follows from +the firing line near East Wirballen, Russian Poland, October 9: + + +"The German artillery today beat back, in a bloody, ghastly smear of +men, the Russian advance. + +"Yesterday I saw an infantry engagement. Today it was mostly an +artillery encounter. The infantry attack is the more ghastly, but the +artillery the more awe-inspiring. This was the fifth day of constant +fighting and still the German trenches hold. + +"Today's battle opened at dawn. With two staff officers assigned as my +chaperons, I had been attached overnight to the field headquarters. I +slept well, exhausted by the excitement of my first sight of modern war, +but when dawn once again revealed the two long lines of the Russian and +German positions the Russian guns began to hurl their loads of shrapnel +at the German trenches. + +"We had breakfast calmly enough despite the din of guns. Then we went +to one of the German batteries on the left center. They were already +in action, though it was only 6 o'clock. The men got the range +from observers a little in advance, cunningly masked, and slowly, +methodically, and enthusiastically fed the guns with their loads of +death. + +"The Russians didn't have our range. All of their shells flew screaming +1,000 yards to our left. Through my glasses I watched them strike. +The effect on the hillock was exactly as though a geyser had suddenly +spurted up. A vast cloud of dirt and stones and grass spouted up, and +when the debris cleared away a great hole showed. + +RUSSIANS TRY NEW RANGE + +"While we watched the Russians seemed to tire of shooting holes in an +inoffensive hill. They began to try chance shots to the right and to the +left. It wasn't many minutes before I realized that, standing near a +battery, the execution of which must have been noted on the Russian +side, I had a fine chance of experiencing shrapnel bursting overhead. It +was a queer sensation to peer through field glasses and see the Russian +shells veer a few hundred feet to the right. I saw one strike a +windmill, shattering the long arms and crumpling it over in a slow +burning heap. Then we beat a retreat, further toward the center. + +"We had been standing behind a slight declivity. I hadn't caught a +glimpse of the enemy. Shells were the only things that apprised us +of the Russian nearness. But as we passed out on an open field, +considerably out of range of the field guns, I could see occasional +flashes that bespoke field pieces, a mile or so away. + +RUSSIAN INFANTRY CHARGES + +"Back behind us, on the extreme left, I was told the Russians were +attacking the German trenches by an infantry charge, the German field +telephone service having apprised the commanders along the front. With +glasses we could see a faint line of what must have been the Russian +infantry rushing across the open fields. + +"We passed on to the center, going slightly to the rear for horses. As +we arrived at the right wing we witnessed the last of a Russian infantry +advance at that end. The wave of Russians had swept nearly to the German +trenches, situated between two sections of field artillery, and there +had been repulsed. Russians were smeared across in front of these pits, +dead, dying, or wounded--cut down by the terrible spray of German +machine guns. + +"I got up to the trenches as the German fire slackened because of the +lack of targets. The Russians had gone back. Strewn in the trenches +were countless empty shells, the bullets of which had, as it looked to +inexpert eyes, slain thousands. As a matter of fact, there were hundreds +of dead in the field ahead. + +GUN BARRELS SIZZLING HOT + +"German infantrymen spat on their rapid firers as we reached the trench +and delightedly called our attention to the sizzle that told how hot the +barrels were from the firing. + +"The men stretched their cramped limbs, helped a few wounded to the +rear, and waited for breakfast. It was not long forthcoming. Small lines +of men struggling along tinder steaming buckets came hurrying up to the +accompaniment of cheers and shouts. They bore soup that the men in the +trenches gulped down ravenously. Meanwhile men with the white brassard +and the red Geneva cross were busy out in the open, lending succor to +the Russian wounded. The battle seemed to have come to a sudden halt. + +"But even as I was getting soup, the artillery fusillade broke forth +again. From 9 o'clock to noon the Russians hurled their heavy shells at +the German trenches and the German guns. The German batteries replied +slowly. + +"There was mighty little fuss and feathers about this business of +dealing death from guns. The crews at each piece laughed among +themselves, but there were none of the picturesque shouts of command, +the indiscriminate blowing of bugles, and the flashy waving of battle +flags that the word battle usually conjures up. It was merely a deadly +business of killing. + +"Over to the right, a scant 300 yards away, the Russians had apparently +succeeded in getting the range. As I watched through the glasses I saw +shrapnel burst over the battery there and watched a noncommissioned +soldier fall with three of his comrades. I was told that one had been +killed and three wounded. The Red Cross crew came up and bore away the +four--the dead and the live--and before they were gone the gun was +speaking away with four fresh men working it. + +"But the shrapnel kept bursting away over it and soon an orderly came +riding furiously back on his horse, saluted the officers with me, and +shouted as he hurried back to the artillery reserve: 'Six inch shells to +the front; more ammunition.' + +"I went back to see the wounded, but the surgeon wouldn't let me. I +expressed to him my wonder at the few wounded. I had seen only a few in +the trenches, and no German dead until I saw the artilleryman killed. +He explained that the losses on the German side were light because +the trenches were well constructed and because there had been no +hand-to-hand, bayonet to bayonet fighting. + +ATTACKS BY RUSSIAN INFANTRY + +"Yesterday, my first day at Wirballen, I saw the third attempt of the +Russians to carry the German center by storm. Twice on Wednesday their +infantry had advanced under cover of their artillery, only to be +repulsed. Their third effort proved no more successful. + +"The preliminaries were well under way, without my appreciating their +significance, until one of my officer escorts explained. + +"At a number of points along their line, observable to us, but screened +from the observation of the German trenches in the center, the Russian +infantry came tumbling out, and, rushing forward, took up advanced +positions, awaiting the formation of the new and irregular battle +line. Dozens of light rapid-firers were dragged along by hand. Other +troops--the reserves--took up semi-advanced positions. All the while the +Russian shrapnel was raining over the German trenches. + +"Finally came the Russian order to advance. At the word hundreds of +yards of the Russian fighting line leaped, forward, deployed in open +order, and came on. Some of them came into range of the German trench +fire almost at once. These lines began to wilt and thin out. + +MEN PAUSE ONLY TO FIRE + +"But on they came, all along the line, protected and unprotected alike, +rushing forward with a yell, pausing, firing, and advancing again. + +"From the outset of the advance the German artillery, ignoring for the +moment the Russian artillery action, began shelling the onrushing mass +with wonderfully timed shrapnel, which burst low over the advancing +lines and tore sickening gaps. + +"But the Russian line never stopped. For the third time in two days +they came tearing on, with no indication of having been affected by the +terrible consequences of the two previous charges. As a spectacle the +whole thing was maddening. + +"On came the Slav swarm, into the range of the German trenches, with +wild yells and never a waver. Russian battle flags--the first I had +seen--appeared in the front of the charging ranks. The advance line +thinned and the second line moved up. + +"Nearer and nearer they swept toward the German positions. And then came +a new sight. A few seconds later came a new sound. First I saw a sudden, +almost grotesque melting of the advancing line. It was different from +anything that had taken place before. The men literally went down like +dominoes in a row. Those who kept their feet were hurled back as though +by a terrible gust of wind. Almost in the second that I pondered, +puzzled, the staccato rattle of machine guns reached us. My ear answered +the query of my eye. + +MACHINE GUN FIRE TELLS + +"For the first time the advancing line hesitated, apparently bewildered. +Mounted officers dashed along the line, urging the men forward. Horses +fell with the men. I saw a dozen riderless horses dashing madly through +the lines, adding a new terror. Another horse was obviously running away +with his officer rider. The crucial period for the section of the charge +on which I had riveted my attention probably lasted less than a minute. +To my throbbing brain it seemed an hour. Then, with the withering fire +raking them even as they faltered, the lines broke. Panic ensued. It was +every man for himself. The entire Russian charge turned and went tearing +back to cover and the shelter of the Russian trenches. + +"I swept the entire line of the Russian advance with my glasses--as far +as it was visible from our position. The whole advance of the enemy was +in retreat, making for its intrenched position. + +DEAD MEN COVER ACRES + +"After the assault had failed and the battle had resumed its normal +trend I swept the field with my glasses. The dead were everywhere. They +were not piled up, but were strewn over acres. More horrible than the +sight of the dead, though, were the other pictures brought up by the +glasses. Squirming, tossing, writhing figures everywhere! The wounded! +All who could stumble or crawl were working their way back toward their +own lines or back to the friendly cover of hills or wooded spots. + +"After the charge we moved along back of the German lines at a safe +distance and found the hospital corps bringing back the German wounded. + +"The artillerymen had resumed their duel and as we came up in the lee of +the outbuildings of a deserted farmhouse a shell struck and fired the +farmhouse immediately in front of us. As we paused to see if the shot +was a chance one, or if the Russian gunners had actually gotten the +range, a regiment of fresh reserves, young men who had just come up from +the west, passed us on their way to get their baptism of fire. + +"Their demeanor was more suggestive of a group of college students going +to a football game than the serious business on which they were bent. +They were singing and laughing, and as they went by a noncommissioned +officer inquired rather ruefully whether there were any Russians left +for them. + +"Throughout the day we watched the fight waged from the opposing +trenches and by the artillery. + +"Suddenly at sundown the fighting ceased as if by mutual agreement. As I +write this I can see occasional flashes of light like the flare of giant +fireflies out over the scene of the Russian charge--the flashes of small +electrical lamps in the hands of the Russian hospital corps. + +"I'm glad I don't have to look at what the flashes reveal out there in +the night." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN + + _Declaration of War by Austria--Bombardment of Belgrade-- + Servian Capital Removed--Seasoned Soldiers of Servia + Give a Good Account of Themselves--Many Indecisive + Engagements--Servians in Austrian Territory_. + +Formal declaration of war against Servia was proclaimed by Austria on +Tuesday, July 28. The text of the official announcement was as follows: + +"The Royal Government of Servia not having given a satisfactory reply to +the note presented to it by the Austro-Hungarian Ministry in Belgrade +on July 23, 1914, the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary +finds it necessary itself to safeguard its rights and interests and to +have recourse for this purpose to the force of arms. Austria-Hungary, +therefore, considers itself from this moment in a state of war with +Servia." + +This declaration was signed by Count Berchtold, the Austrian minister +for foreign affairs. + +The events that immediately preceded the declaration of war, as +summarized in a previous chapter, were as follows: + +On June 28 a Slav student who thought he was a patriot killed the +Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, at Serajevo, +the capital of Bosnia, which had been lately made a province of Austria. +An inquiry was begun in which evidence was introduced to show that the +assassin's work was part of a plot for the revolt of the Southern Slav +provinces of Austria, and that it was instigated by Servians, if not by +the Servian Government. On July 23, however, before the investigation +was completed, Austria sent an ultimatum to Servia demanding that it use +every means in its power to punish the assassins and also to stop all +further anti-Austrian propaganda. Austria demanded that she be permitted +to have representatives in the work of investigation in Servia. + +The next day, July 24, Russia joined the little Slav country in asking +for a delay. Austria refused to grant this. + +On July 25, ten minutes before 6 p.m., the hour at which the ultimatum +expired, the Servian premier, M. Pashitch, gave his reply to the +Austrian ambassador at Belgrade. Servia agreed to all the conditions +and apologies demanded by Austria, except the requirement that Austrian +officials should be allowed to participate in the inquiry to be +conducted in Servia into the assassination of the Archduke. Even this +was not definitely refused. + +On July 27 the Austrian foreign office issued a statement in which +appeared these words: + +"The object of the Servian note is to create the false impression that +the Servian Government is prepared in great measure to comply with our +demands. + +"As a matter of fact, however, Servians note is filled with the spirit +of dishonesty, which clearly lets it be seen that the Servian Government +is not seriously determined to put an end to the culpable tolerance +it hitherto has extended to intrigues against the Austro-Hungarian +monarchy." + +Russia at once notified Austria that it could not permit Servian +territory to be invaded. It was then realized in Europe that the great +Slav nation would support its little brother. Germany let it be known +that no other country must interfere with the Austro-Servian embroglio, +which meant that Germany was prepared to back Austria. + +An eleventh-hour proposal by the British foreign secretary, Sir Edward +Grey, that mediation between Servia and Austria be undertaken by a +conference of the Ambassadors in London, was accepted by France and +Italy, but declined by Germany and Austria. Then next day, July 28, came +Austria's declaration of war, which soon made Europe the theater of the +bloodiest struggle of all the ages. + +SERVIA AND ITS ASPIRATIONS + +Servians reply to the declaration of war was to concentrate a strong +division of its forces in the Sanjak of Novi-Bazar, from which they +would be in a position to threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina, the two +Balkan provinces that Austria had lately annexed. It was also reported +that Servia intended to invade Bosnia with the object of enlisting +further support from the Bosnian Serbs, who were said to be on the point +of rising against Austria-Hungary. + +The country of the Servians being well suited for defense, they were +never completely overrun by the Turks, as other Balkan states were, +and as a consequence they still retain, like the Greeks, a native +aristocracy of culture. Physically, they are fairer than most of the +Balkan Slavs and more refined in appearance. By temperament they are +light-hearted, joyous, frivolous, and charming to deal with. + +In Servia itself, including territory acquired in recent wars, there +are about 4,500,000 Serbs. In Austria there are about 3,500,000 Serbs, +including Croats who belong to the Servian race. + +The Servians have long dreamed and talked and written of a greater +Servia, that should take in all the Servian race. They look back to the +time of King Stephen Dushan, in the fourteenth century, when Servia was +supreme in the Balkans and was nearly as advanced in civilization as the +most advanced nations of Europe. The re-establishment of this ancient +kingdom had become a passion with the Serbs--not only with those in +Servia, but with many in Hungary as well. Hence, their animus against +Austria and Austrian rule, while Austria's fight was, primarily, for +the preservation and solidification of her heterogeneous dominions; +secondarily, for revenge for the Archduke's death. Incidentally, it may +be mentioned that the Archduke Francis Ferdinand was a close personal +friend of the German Kaiser. + +THE SERVIAN ARMY + +The Servian forces under General Radumil Putnik, consist of ten +divisions, divided into four army corps, with a peace footing of 160, +and a war strength of over 380,000. Most of the men called to arms +against Austria were veterans of the two recent Balkan wars, and hence +probably the most seasoned troops in Europe. + +The rifle of the Servian army is the Mauser, model of 1899, with a +caliber of 7 millimeters, but it is doubtful if Servia possessed enough +of them to arm the reserves. The Servian field piece is a quick-firing +gun of the French Schneider-Canet system. The army has some 350 modern +guns. + +At the outbreak of the war Servia had ten of the most modern aircraft, +but she had not developed their efficiency to a degree at which they +would be of much material benefit to her in the struggle. + +The extremely mountainous nature of Servia and of the adjacent territory +of Bosnia make military movements somewhat slow and difficult, +especially for troops unaccustomed to mountain warfare. Compared with +this mountainous region, the district of Agram, where one Austrian army +corps had its headquarters, is easy country to operate in, while the +plain of Hungary on the opposite side of the Danube made the task of +concentrating troops an easy one for the Austrians. + +Another Austrian army corps had its base at Serajevo in Bosnia. A +railway to the northeast from this Bosnian capital touches the Servian +border at Mokragora. To the north of this point lies Kragujevac, the new +capital of Servia, to which King Peter, his court and the Government +repaired from Belgrade just before the declaration of war. Southeast of +the new capital is the important Servian city of Nish. + +The western frontier of Servia follows the windings of the Biver Drina, +a tributary of the Danube. The Danube itself forms part of the northern +boundary and the former capital. Belgrade, is picturesquely situated +on the south bank of the Danube at its junction with a tributary. Two +Austrian fortresses command the city from across the Danube. On the +plain of Hungary to the north is Temesvar, an important point at which +another Austrian army corps was located. + +CHANCES AGAINST SERVIA + +At the outset the chances of war were heavily against Servia. Such +artificial defenses as she possessed were on the Bulgarian frontier. +Many of her troops were engaged in endeavoring to establish Servian rule +among the neighboring peoples in her new Albanian possessions. Austria +was prepared to bring against her immediately the three army corps from +Temesvar, Serajevo and Agram, and four more corps, from Hermanstadt, +Budapest, Graz, and Kaschau, within a fortnight. Servians one hope +appeared to be the difficulty of the country, otherwise she could not +oppose for a moment the advance of 250,000 troops supported by +pieces of artillery. Then, too, Austria had warships on the Danube and +it was partly through this fact that it was decided by the Servian +Government to evacuate Belgrade and to retire to Kragujevac, sixty miles +southeast. + +In spite, however, of the seeming futility of opposition, Servia, +encouraged by Russian support, prepared for a strenuous campaign against +the Austrian forces, and the first two months of the war ended without +any decisive advantage to Austria. The Servians, on the other hand, +claimed numerous successes. Their task was lightened by the Russian +invasion of Austrian territory and the determined advance of the Czar's +host, which demanded the fullest strength of the Austrian forces to +resist. As the Russians hammered their enemy in Galicia the spirits of +the Servians rose and their seasoned soldiers gave a good account of +themselves in every encounter with Austrian troops. They crossed the +Drina and carried the war into Bosnia, putting up a stiff fight wherever +they encountered the enemy, and while they sustained severe losses +in killed and wounded during August and September, the losses they +inflicted upon the Austrians were still heavier. + +AUSTRIANS BOMBARD BELGRADE + +The Austrian troops on the banks of the Danube became active soon after +war was declared. In the first few days they seized two Servian steamers +and a number of river boats. Belgrade was bombarded from across the +river and many of its public buildings, churches and private residences +suffered damage. + +The hostile armies came into contact for the first time on the River +Drina, between Bosnia and Servia, and Vienna was compelled to admit +defeat in this preliminary engagement of the war. The Servians forced a +passage through the Austrian ranks, but only at the cost of many killed +and wounded. + +When Crown Prince Alexander of Servia began the invasion of Bosnia +in earnest, in the middle of August, Austria found herself at a +disadvantage because of the necessity of massing most of her forces +against the Russians. Roumania and Montenegro were then preparing to +join the Servians in the field against Austria. + +Later in August the Servians captured several of the enemy's strongholds +in Bosnia. After a four-day battle on the banks of the Drina the +Austrians were defeated with heavy loss, a large number of guns and +prisoners being captured by the Servians. The Montenegrin troops +repulsed an Austrian invading force and took several hundred prisoners +in an all-day battle on the frontier. + +Early in September a heavy engagement was fought by the Servian and +Austrian armies near Jadar, resulting in Servian victory. It was claimed +that the Austrians left 10,000 dead on the field of battle. The Servians +also successfully defended Belgrade, which had been bombarded on several +occasions. Fifteen or twenty miles west of Belgrade on the Save River, +an Austrian force was decisively defeated by the Servians, who then +seemed to be duplicating the successes of the Russian army against +Austria. + +The attitude of Turkey was being closely watched at this time, Greece +and Bulgaria being prepared to enter the war against the Ottoman Empire +if the latter decided on belligerency, but on September 5 Turkey again +declared her intention to remain neutral. + +SERVIANS CAPTURE SEMLIN + +Crossing the Save River into Hungary, the Servians scored a brilliant +stroke in the capture of Semlin, an important Austrian city. They also +reported continued successes in Bosnia. Reports of wholesale desertions +of Slavs from the Austrian army were received daily and probably had +considerable foundation in fact. It was said that the Servians were +being received enthusiastically by the people of Hungary. + +These Servian triumphs led to the reorganization of the Balkan League, +including Servia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece. + +On September 20 the Servian Government announced that an Austrian +attacking army which attempted to cross the frontier near the Sabatz +Mountains had been routed with a loss of 15,000 killed and wounded. The +Servian losses in this and other engagements were claimed to have been +small in comparison with those of the enemy. + +Continuing their forward movement into Hungary, the Servians inflicted +further losses on the Austrians near Noviapazow, while the Montenegrins +reported a victory in the mountain slopes over their border. + +On October 1 it was reported that the Servians had again repulsed an +Austrian attempt at invasion and had driven the Austrians back across +the Drina with loss. They had also checked another Austrian attempt +to take Belgrade. The Servian war office claimed that the combined +Servian-Montenegrin armies had made material progress in their invasion +of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and that they were within striking distance of +Serajevo, which they expected to capture. This, however, was denied by +the Vienna ministry of war, which claimed that the Servian situation was +entirely satisfactory to Austria. + +On October 5 Servian troops were reported to have begun a northeast +advance from Semlin, to effect a junction with two Russian columns +advancing southward in Hungary. One of these columns was then assaulting +a fortress in Northwest Hungary, sixty-six miles southeast of Olmutz, +while the other was descending the valley of the Nagyan against Huszt +in the province of Marmaros. This latter province or county, which the +Russians invaded through the Carpathian passes, lies in the northeast of +Hungary, bordering on Galicia, Bukowina and Transylvania. There was a +legend that the eastern Carpathians are impregnable, but this legend was +destroyed by the Russian invasion. + +Before attaining Uzsok pass, in the Carpathians, the Russians +successively captured by a wide flanking movement three well-masked +positions which were strongly defended by guns. Each time the Russians +charged the enemy fled and the Russians followed up the Austrian retreat +with shrapnel and quick fire, inflicting heavy losses. + +German troops joined the Austrian forces in Hungary and at some points +succeeded in repulsing the invaders, though their general advance was +not decisively checked and they continued the endeavor to effect a +junction with the Servians to the south. Advices from Budapest, October +6, declared that the Russians had captured Marmaros-Sziget, capital of +the county of Marmaros, necessitating the removal of the government of +that department to Huszt, twenty-eight miles west-northwest of Sziget. +A second Russian column was reported to be threatening Huszt and +Austro-German reinforcements were being hurried up to check the Russian +advance. + +[Illustration: "BY ALLAH, I MAY HAVE TO INTERFERE IN THE NAME OF +HUMANITY" +--Kessler in the New York _Evening Sun_.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD + + _Thrilling Incidents of the Great War Told by Actual Combatants + --Personal Experiences from the Lips of Survivors + of the World's Bloodiest Battles--Tales of + Prisoners of War, Wounded Soldiers and Refugees + Rendered Homeless in Blighted Arena of Conflict_. + +HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING + +Cavalry fighting on the banks of the River Marne in the year 1914 was +almost identical with the charge in the days when Hannibal's Numidian +horse charged at Romans at Lake Trasimene, or when Charles Martel and +the chivalry of France worsted the Moors and saved Europe on the plains +of Tours. + +A good description of a cavalry charge was given by Private Capel of the +Third British Hussars, a veteran of the Boer war, who took part in the +fighting beginning at Mons and was separated from his regiment in a +charge at Coulommiers, in the battle of the Marne, when his horse fell. + +"You hear," said he, "the enemy's bugles sounding the charge. Half a +mile away you see the Germans coming and it seems that in an instant +they will be on you. You watch fascinated and cold with a terror that +makes you unable to lift an arm or do anything but wait and tremble. + +"They come closer and still you are horrorstruck. Then you feel your +horse fretting and suddenly you start from your daze, and fear changes +suddenly to hate. Your hand goes to the saber hilt, your teeth clinch +and you realize that you must strike hard before the enemy, who is now +very close, can strike. Every muscle tightens with the waiting. + +"Before your own bugles have sounded two notes of the charge you find +yourself leaning forward over the neck of your galloping horse. All the +rest is a mad gallop, yells of the enemy and your own answer, a terrible +shock in which you are almost dismounted, and then you find yourself +face to face with a single opponent who, standing up in the stirrups, is +about to split your head. You notice that you are striking like a fiend +with the saber. + +"After that madness passes it seems almost like a complex maneuver and +soon you find yourself riding for dear life--perhaps to escape, perhaps +after the Germans. You then realize that you have been whipped and that +the charge has failed, or you see the backs of the fleeing enemy, +feel your horse straining in pursuit and know that you have gained a +victory." + +FRIGHTFUL MORTALITY AMONG OFFICERS + +The official reports of the loss of life in the battles in France tell +of the large number of officers killed. Sharp-shooters on both sides +have had instructions to aim at officers. These sharpshooters are often +concealed far in advance of their troops. Their small number and their +smokeless powder make their discovery most difficult. This lesson was +learned at great cost to the British during the Boer war. + +Dispatches from Bordeaux stated that letters found on dead and captured +German officers prove the truth of reports regarding the terrible +mortality in the German ranks, especially among officers. In the Tenth +and Imperial Guard Corps of the German army it is said that only a few +high ranking officers escaped being shot, and many have been killed. +The German officers have distinguished themselves by their courage, +according to the stories of both British and French who fought them. + +An officer of an Imperial Guard regiment, who was taken prisoner after +being wounded, said: + +"My regiment left for the front with sixty officers; it counts today +only five. "We underwent terrible trials." + +A German artillery officer wrote: + +"Modern war is the greatest of follies. Companies of 250 men in the +Tenth Army Corps have been reduced to seventy men, and there are +companies of the guard commanded by volunteers of a year, all the +officers having disappeared." + +SAYS GEBMANS FOUGHT EVERY DAY + +The following is from a letter, written during the prolonged battle of +the Aisne by a lieutenant of the Twenty-sixth German Artillery: + +"The Tenth Corps has been constantly in action since the opening of the +campaign. Nearly all our horses have fallen. We fight every day from +5 in the morning till 8 at night, without eating or drinking. The +artillery fire of the French is frightful. We get so tired that we +cannot ride a horse, even at a walk. Toward noon our battery was +literally under a rain of shrapnel shells and that lasted for three +days. We hope for a decisive battle to end the situation, for our troops +cannot rest. A French aviator last night threw four bombs, killing four +men and wounding eight, and killing twenty horses and wounding ten more. +We do not receive any more mail, for the postal automobiles of the Tenth +Corps have been destroyed." + +HOW IT FEELS TO BE WOUNDED + +Many men in the trenches have proved themselves heroes in the war. A +wounded British private told this story: + +"We lay in the trench, my friend and I, and when the order to fire came +we shot, and shot till our rifles burned up. Still the Germans swarmed +on toward us, and then my friend received a bad wound. I turned to my +work again, continuing to shoot slowly. Then I rose a little too high on +my shoulder. + +"Do you know what it is like to be wounded? A little sting pierced my +arm like a hot wire; too sharp almost to be sore, and my rifle fell from +me. I looked at my friend then and he was dead." + +In one casualty list made public by the British war office in September, +sixteen officers were reported killed, thirty-eight wounded and ten +missing. The famous Coldstream Guards and the Black Watch regiments were +among the sufferers. + +HOW GENEBAL FINDLEY DIED + +A correspondent in France described the death of General Neil Douglas +Findley of the British Royal Artillery as follows: + +"When at dawn the British advance continued toward Soissons the enemy +was fighting an exceptionally fierce rearguard action. A terrible +shell fire was directed against our artillery under General Findley, +temporarily situated in a valley by the village of Prise. It seemed a +matter of moments when we should have to spike our guns and General +Findley saw the urgency for action. + +"'Boys,' his voice echoed down the line, 'we are going to get every gun +into position,' Then deliberately the general approached a regimental +chaplain kneeling beside a gunner. 'Here are some of my personal +belongings, chaplain. See that they don't go astray,' + +"One by one our guns began to blaze away and the general had a word +of encouragement and advice for every man. In vain his staff tried to +persuade him to leave the danger zone. + +"Our range was perfect, the German fire slackened and died away and with +a yell our men prepared to advance. The outburst came too soon, one +parting shell exploding in a contact with Findley's horse, shattering +man and beast." + +KILLED FOE IN REVOLVER DUEL + +While their men battled on a road near Antwerp, it is said that a +Belgian cavalry sergeant and an officer of German Uhlans fought a +revolver duel which ended when the Belgian killed his foe, sending a +bullet into his neck at close range. + +The daring Uhlans had approached close to the Antwerp fortifications on +a reconnoitering expedition. They were seen by a small Belgian force, +which immediately went out on the road to give battle. As they neared +each other, the German commander shouted a jibe at the Belgian sergeant. +There was no answer, but the sergeant rode at a gallop straight for +the Uhlan. Miraculously escaping the shots aimed at him, he drew up +alongside the officer and informed him that his life was to be forfeited +for the insulting words he had uttered. Both began firing with their +revolvers, while at the same time their men clashed. + +Only a few of the soldiers witnessed the thrilling duel, for they +themselves were fighting desperately. After their officer's death the +Uhlans withdrew, leaving a number of dead. Someone carried word of the +duel to King Albert, who had just arrived in Antwerp, and he called +before him and personally congratulated the sergeant, Henri Pyppes. The +latter was wounded in the arm by one of the Uhlan's bullets, but he +refused to be taken to the hospital and remained on duty in the field. + +LITTLE STORIES FROM FRANCE + +Count Guerry de Beauregard, a French veteran of the war of 1870, thus +announced the death of a son at the front: "One son already has met the +death of the brave beyond the frontier at the head of a squadron of +the Seventh Hussars. Others will avenge him. Another of my sons, an +artilleryman, is with the general staff. My eldest son is with the +Twenty-first Chasseurs. Long live France!" + +A wounded French soldier who was taken to Marseilles verified a +remarkable story of his escape from death while fighting in German +Lorraine. The soldier owes his life to a small bust of Emperor William, +which he picked up in a village school and placed in his haversack. A +German bullet struck the bust and, thus deflected, inflicted only a +slight wound on the soldier. + +Twenty German prisoners taken during the melee near Crecy, were herded +together in a clearing, their rifles being stacked nearby. In a rash +moment they thought that they were loosely guarded and made a combined +rush for the rifles. "They will never make another," was the laconic +report of the guard. + +SAYS DEAD FILLED THE MEUSE + +Edouard Helsey of the Paris newspaper, Le Journal, reported to be +serving with the colors, wrote under date of August 29: + +"It would be difficult to estimate the number of Germans killed last +week. Whole regiments were annihilated at some points. They came out of +the woods section by section. One section, one shell--and everything was +wiped out. + +"At two or three places which I am forbidden to name corpses filled the +Meuse until the river overflowed. This is no figure of speech. The river +bed literally was choked by the mass of dead Germans. The effect of our +artillery surpasses even our dreams." + +DETROIT ARTIST'S NARROW ESCAPE + +Lawrence Stern Stevens, an artist of Detroit, narrowly escaped death +near Aix-la-Chapelle at the hands of a crazed German lieutenant, by whom +he was suspected of being a spy. + +Stevens left Brussels on Aug. 24 in an automobile. He was accompanied by +a photographer and a Belgian newspaper correspondent, and his intention +had been to make sketches on the battlefield. His arrest at Laneffe +thwarted this plan. He underwent a terrifying ordeal at the hands of his +demented captor, although he was not actually injured. + +On the evening of Aug. 24 he was court-martialed and sentenced to death +and held in close confinement over night. Early on the morning of Aug. +25 he was led out, as he supposed, to be shot, but the plans had been +changed and instead he was taken before Gen. von Arnim. After being +forced to march with German troops for two days, Stevens fell in with +a party of American correspondents at Beaumont, from which point he +traveled to Aix-la-Chapelle on a prison train, and eventually reached +Rotterdam and safety. + +SAD PLIGHT OF FRENCH FUGITIVES + +M. Brieux, the noted French dramatist, who witnessed the arrival at +Chartres of a train full of fugitives who had fled from their homes +before the German advance, described his experience for the Figaro. The +fleeing people gathered round him and told him stories and he wrote his +impressions as follows: + +"Children weep or gaze wide-eyed, wondering what is the matter. Old +folks sit in gloomy silence. Women with haggard cheeks and disheveled +hair seem to belong to another age. + +"They tell of invaders who scattered powder around or threw petroleum +into their houses and then set them afire. + +"And when did this happen? Yesterday! It is not a matter of centuries +ago in distant climes, but yesterday, and quite near to us. Yet one +cannot believe it was really yesterday that these things were done." + +One of the fugitives explained to M. Brieux why after the first hour of +their flight she had to carry her elder child as well as her baby. She +showed him a pair of boots. + +"I felt the inside with my fingers," says Brieux. "Nails had come +through the soles. I looked at the child's feet. They were dirty with +red brown clots. It was blood." + +CHAUNCEY DEPEW ON A RUNNING-BOARD + +Chauncey M. Depew, former United States Senator for New York, was in +Geneva when the trouble began. He said on his return: "After crossing +the border into France we picked up men joining the colors on the way to +Paris, until our train could hold no more. + +"Whenever I stuck my head into a corridor the soldiers would set up a +cheer on seeing my side whiskers. They mistook me for an Englishman and +cried: 'Long live the _entente cordiale!_'" + +IN THE "VALLEY OF DEATH" + +The fiercest fighting of all that preceded the Russian victory at Lublin +was in a gorge near the village of Mikolaiff, which the Russian soldiers +reverently named the "Valley of Death." + +The gorge was full of dead men, lying in heaps, according to an officer +who participated in the battle. "When we attacked at 3 o'clock in the +morning," he said, "the gorge contained 15,000 Austrians, a large +proportion of whom were mowed down by the artillery fire which plowed +through the valley in the darkness. The Austrians surrendered and we +entered the gorge to receive their arms, while their general stood +quietly on a hill watching the scene. Eight of his standards being +turned over to the Russians was more than he could bear, for he drew a +pistol and shot himself." + +GENERAL USE OF KHAKI UNIFORMS + +The war put everybody into khaki, with a few exceptions. On the battle +line or in the field the English soldier and the English officer get +out of their richly colored and historic uniforms and into khaki, of a +neutral hue. The Germans are in gray. The Austrians have most of their +soldiers in khaki, and the Russians all wear khaki-colored cloth. The +French still cling to their blue coats and brilliant red trousers, +although steps are being taken to reclothe the army in more modern +fashion, and the Belgians have a uniform that is very similar to the +French. + +The French and Belgian officers are dangerously ornamented with gilt +trimmings during warfare and present such brilliant targets that some of +the Belgian regiments during hard fighting with the Germans have lost +nearly all of their leaders. + +The new twentieth century mode of warfare puts the ban on anything that +glitters, even the rifle barrels, bayonets and sabers. + +A BELGIAN BOY HERO + +On a cot in the Red Cross hospital at Ostend, September 12, lay one of +the heroes of the war. He is Sergeant van der Bern of the Belgian army, +and only 17 years old. He was only a corporal when he started out with +twenty-nine men on a reconnoitering expedition during which he was +wounded, but displayed such valor that his bravery was publicly related +to all the soldiers, and Van der Bern was promoted. + +Van der Bern and his little command came suddenly upon a band of fifty +Uhlans while on their expedition. Outnumbered, his men turned and fled. +The corporal shouted to them and dashed alone toward the Germans. The +other Belgians rallied and threw themselves upon the Uhlans. Within a +few minutes only Van der Bern and two others of his command remained. +Twenty-seven Belgians were dead or wounded. Within a few minutes more of +the corporal's companions fell, mortally wounded. Then the boy picked +them up and displaying almost superhuman strength carried them to +safety. As he was making his retreat, burdened by the two wounded men, +Van der Bern was hit twice by German bullets. He staggered on, placed +his men in charge of the Red Cross and without a word walked to +headquarters and reported the engagement. Then he fell in a faint. WHEN +THE GERMANS RETREATED + +A vivid description of the rout and retreat of the Germans during +hurricane and rain on September 10, which turned the roads into river +ways so that the wheels of the artillery sank deep in the mire, was +given by a correspondent writing from a point near Melun. He described +how the horses strained and struggled, often in vain, to drag the guns +away, and continued: + +"I have just spoken with a soldier who has returned wounded from the +pursuit that will go down with the terrible retreat from Moscow as one +of the crowning catastrophes of the world. They fled, he declares, as +animals flee who are cornered, and know it. + +"Imagine a roadway littered with guns, knapsacks, cartridge belts, +Maxims and heavy cannons even. There were miles and miles of it. And +the dead--those piles of horses and those stacks of men! I have seen it +again and again, men shot so close to one another that they remained +standing after death. The sight was terrible and horrible beyond words. + +"The retreat rolls back and trainload after trainload of British and +French are swept toward the weak points of the retreating host. This +is the advantage of the battleground which the Allies have chosen. The +network of railways is like a spider's web. As all railways center upon +Paris, it is possible to thrust troops upon the foe at any point with +almost incredible speed, and food and munitions are within arm's reach." + +PRINCE JOACHIM WOUNDED + +Prince Joachim, youngest son of Emperor William, was wounded during a +battle with the Russians and taken to Berlin. On September 15 it was +reported from Berlin that the wound was healing rapidly, despite the +tearing effect of a shrapnel ball through the thigh. The empress and the +surgeons were having considerable trouble in keeping the patient quiet +in bed. He wanted to get on his feet again and insisted that he ought to +be able to rejoin his command at the front in about a fortnight. + +"The prince treats the wound as a trifle," said the Berlin dispatch. +"He smilingly greeted an old palace servant whom he had known since +childhood with the remark: 'Am I not a lucky dog?'" + +From an officer who was with Prince Joachim when he was wounded the +following description of the incident was obtained: + +"It was during the hottest part of the battle, shortly before the +Russian resistance was broken, that the prince, who was with the staff +as information officer, was dispatched to the firing line to learn how +the situation stood. He rode off with Adjutant Captain von Tahlzahn and +had to traverse the distance, almost a mile, under a heavy hail of shell +and occasional volleys. + +"As the Russian artillery was well served and knew all the ranges from +previous measurements, the ride was not a particularly pleasant one, +but he came through safely and stood talking with the officers when a +shrapnel burst in their vicinity. The prince and the adjutant were +both hit, the latter receiving contusions on the leg, but the shot not +penetrating. + +"To stop and whip out an emergency bandage which the prince, like every +officer and private, carries sewed inside the blouse, and bind it around +the thigh to check the bleeding was the work of but a moment. It was a +long and dangerous task, however, to get him back to the first bandaging +station, about a mile to the rear, under fire and from there he was +transported to the advanced hospital at Allenstein, where he remained +until he was able to travel. + +"Prince Joachim, who was already recommended for the Iron Cross for +bravery before Namur, received the decoration shortly before he was +wounded. The prince, who has many friends in America, conveyed through +his adjutant his thanks for assurances of American sympathy and +interest." + +EX-EMPRESS DEVOTED TO FRANCE + +The aged ex-Empress Eugenie of France, widow of Napoleon III, has been +living for many years in retirement in the county of Hampshire, England. +She was recently visited by Lord Portsmouth, an old friend, who found +the illustrious lady full of courage and devotion to the French cause +in the present war. In explaining her failure to treat her guest as she +would have desired, the empress said: + +"I cannot give you dinner because most of the men of my kitchen have +gone to war." + +A "BATTLESHIP ON WHEELS" + +Just before the war France added to its equipment the most modern of +fighting devices. It is a train of armored cars with rapid-fire guns, +conning towers and fighting tops. As a death-dealing war apparatus it +is the most unique of anything used by any of the nations. This +"battleship" on wheels consists of an armored locomotive, two rapid-fire +gun carriages and two armored cars for transporting troops. The +rapid-fire guns are mounted in such manner that they can be swung and +directed to any point of the compass. Rising from the car behind the +locomotive, is a conning tower from which an officer takes observations +and directs the fire of the rapid-fire guns. Rails running on top of +the cars permit troops to fire from the roof of the cars. For opening +railway communications this "battleship on wheels" is unexcelled. + +GAVE HIM A FORK TO MATCH + +The scene is a village on the outskirts of Muelhausen, in Alsace. A +lieutenant of German scouts dashes up to the door of the only inn in +the village, posts men at the doorway and entering, seats himself at a +table. + +He draws his saber and places it on the table at his side and orders +food in menacing tones. + +The village waiter is equal to the occasion. He goes to the stables and +fetches a pitchfork and places it at the other side of the visitor. + +"Stop! What does this mean?" roared the lieutenant, furiously. + +"Why," said the waiter, innocently, pointing to the saber, "I thought +that was your knife, so I brought you a fork to match." + +DECORATED ON THE BATTLEFIELD + +On a train loaded with wounded which passed through Limoges, September +11, was a young French officer, Albert Palaphy, whose unusual bravery on +the field of battle won for him the Legion of Honor. + +As a corporal of the Tenth Dragoons at the beginning of the war, Palaphy +took part in the violent combat with the Germans west of Paris, In the +thick of the battle the cavalryman, finding his colonel wounded and +helpless, rushed to his aid. + +Palaphy hoisted the injured man upon his shoulders, and under a rain of +machine gun bullets carried him safely to the French lines. That same +day Palaphy was promoted to be a sergeant. + +Shortly afterward, although wounded, he distinguished himself in another +affair, leading a charge of his squad against the Baden guard, whose +standard he himself captured. + +Wounded by a ball which had plowed through the lower part of his stomach +and covered with lance thrusts, he was removed from the battlefield +during the night, and learned he had been promoted to be a sublieutenant +and nominated chevalier in the Legion of Honor. + +This incident of decorating a soldier on the battlefield recalls +Napoleonic times. + +"AFTER YOU," SAID THE FRENCHMAN + +Lieutenant de Lupel of the French army is said to have endeared himself +to his command by a most unusual exhibition of what they are pleased to +term "old-fashioned French gallantry." + +Accompanied by a few men, Lieutenant de Lupel succeeded in surrounding a +German detachment occupying the station at Mezieres. The lieutenant, on +searching the premises, came upon the German officer hiding behind a +stack of coal. Both men leveled their guns, and for a moment faced each +other. + +"After you," finally said the Frenchman courteously. + +The German fired and missed and Lieutenant de Lupel killed his man. + +The French soldiers cheered their leader, and he has been praised +everywhere for his action. + +A "WALKING WOOD" AT CRECY + +A correspondent describes a "walking wood" at Crecy. The French and +British cut down trees and armed themselves with the branches. Line +after line of infantry, each man bearing a branch, then moved forward +unobserved toward the enemy. + +Behind them, amid the lopped tree trunks, the artillerymen fixed +themselves and placed thirteen-pounders to cover the moving wood. + +The attack, which followed, won success. It almost went wrong, however, +for the French cavalry, which was following, made a detour to pass the +wood and dashed into view near the ammunition reserves of the Allies. + +German shells began falling thereabouts, but British soldiers went up +the hills and pulled the boxes of ammunition out of the way of the +German shells. Ammunition and men came through unscathed. By evening the +Germans had been cleared from the Marne district. + +CHAPLAIN CAPTURES AUSTRIAN TROOPERS + +The Bourse Gazette relates the story of a Russian regimental chaplain +who, single-handed, captured twenty-six Austrian troopers. He was +strolling on the steppes outside of Lemberg, when suddenly he was +confronted by a patrol of twenty-six men, who tried to force him to tell +the details of the position of the Russian troops. + +While talking to the men, the priest found that they were all Slavs, +whereupon he delivered an impassioned address, dwelling on the sin of +shedding the blood of their Slav brethren. + +At the end of the address, the story concludes, the troopers with bent +heads followed the priest into the Russian camp. + +A BRITISH CAVALRY CHARGE + +Here is a picturesque story of a British cavalry charge at Thuin, a town +in Belgium near Charleroi, and the subsequent retreat to Compiegne: + +"On Monday morning, August 24, after chafing at the long delay, the 2nd +British Cavalry Brigade let loose at the enemy's guns. The 9th Lancers +went into action singing and shouting like schoolboys. + +"For a time all seemed well; few saddles were emptied, and the leaders +had charged almost within reach of the enemy's guns when suddenly the +Germans opened a murderous fire from at least twenty concealed +machine guns at a range of 150 yards. + +"The result was shattering, and the Lancers caught the full force of the +storm, Vicomte Vauvineux, a French cavalry officer who rode with the +brigade as interpreter, was killed instantly. Captain Letourey, who +was the French master of a school in Devon, was riding by the side of +Vauvineux, and had a narrow escape, as his horse was shot from under +him. Other officers also fell. + +"While the bulk of the brigade swerved to the right the others held on +and rode full tilt into wire entanglements buried in the grass thirty +yards in front of the machine guns, and were made prisoners. Three +regiments of the best cavalry in the British went into the charge, and +suffered severely. The 18th Hussars and the 4th Dragoons also suffered, +but not to the same extent as the others. + +"A happy feature of the charge was the gallant conduct of Captain +Grenfell, who, though twice wounded, called for volunteers and saved the +guns. It is said that he has been recommended for the Victoria Cross. + +"After this terrible ordeal the British brigade was harassed for +fourteen days of retreat, the enemy giving them rest neither day nor +night. At 2 o'clock each morning they were roused by artillery fire, and +every day they fought a retiring action, pursued relentlessly by the +guns. + +"It was a wonderful retreat. Daily the cavalry begged to be allowed to +go for the enemy in force to recover lost ground, but only once were +they permitted to taste that joy, at the village of Lassigny, which they +passed and repassed three times. + +"The Germans made repeated efforts, which were always foiled, to capture +the retreating transport. It had, however, many narrow escapes. At one +point it escaped by a furious gallop which enabled the wagons to cross a +bridge less than an hour ahead of the enemy. The engineers had mined the +bridge and were waiting to blow it up. They sent a hurry-up call to the +transport, and the latter responded with alacrity. The bridge was blown +up just in time to separate the two forces. "At Compiegne the brigade +for the first time saw and welcomed their French brothers-in-arms." + +BOY SCOUT HERO OF THE WAR + +One of the popular heroes of Belgium is Boy Scout Leysen, who has been +decorated by King Albert for his valor and devotion to his country. + +This young man, who was born at Liege, is described as of almost uncanny +sharpness, with senses and perceptions as keen as an Indian. He was able +to find his way through the woods and pass the German sentinels with +unerring accuracy. + +Leysen made his way through the German lines from Antwerp for the +tenth time on Sunday, September 6, carrying dispatches to secret +representatives of the Belgian government in Brussels. He discovered and +denounced eleven German spies in Belgium, and performed a variety of +other services, and all without impairing his boyish simplicity. + +KAISER ASKS FOR PRAYERS + +After the first three weeks of war, Emperor William requested the +supreme council of the Evangelical Church throughout the German empire +to include the following prayer in the liturgy at all public services +during the war: + +"Almighty and most merciful God, God of the armies, we beseech Thee in +humility for Thy almighty aid for German Fatherland. Bless our forces of +war; lead us to victory and give us grace that we may show ourselves to +be Christians toward our enemies as well. Let us soon arrive at a peace +which will everlastingly safeguard our free and independent Germany." + +SPIRIT OF FRENCH WOMEN + +When sympathy was expressed in Paris for a poor woman, mother of +nine sons, eight of whom were at the front, she replied: "I need no +consolation. I have never forgotten that I was flogged by Prussians in +1870. I have urged my sons to avenge me and they will." + +As one train of soldiers for the front moved out of a Paris railway +station two girls who had bravely kissed farewell to a departing man +turned away, and one began to cry, but the other said: "Keep up a little +longer, he can still see us." Another carried a baby, and as her husband +leaned out of the window and the train started she threw it into his +arms, crying: "Leave it with, the station master at the next station, +and I will fetch it; you must have it for another few minutes." + +A Paris painter, called for military duty, was obliged to leave his wife +and four children almost destitute. When he communicated with his wife +on the subject she replied: "Do your duty without worrying about us. The +city, state and our associations will look after us women and children." +In her letter, the wife enclosed a money order for $1 out of $1.20, the +total amount of money which she possessed. + +KILLS MANY WITH ARMORED CAR + +Lieutenant Henkart, attached to the general staff of the Belgian Army, +perfected a monitor armored motor car which was successfully used by the +Belgians. + +During the war the officer engaged in reconnoitering in one of his +armored cars. He had several encounters with Uhlans, of whom he killed a +considerable number, virtually single-handed. His only assistants in his +scouting trips were a chauffeur, an engineer and a sharpshooter. + +On one occasion the party killed five Uhlans. Two days later it killed +seven and on another occasion near Waterloo, the auto ran into a force +of 500 Germans and escaped after killing twenty-five with a rapid-fire +gun, which was mounted on the motor car. + +A GERMAN RUSE THAT FAILED + +A Belgian diplomat in Paris related an incident he observed at +Charleroi. He said: + +"Twenty Death's Head Hussars entered the town at 7 o'clock in the +morning and rode quickly down the street, saluting and calling out +'Good-day' to those they met, saying, 'We are friends of the people.' + +"Mistaking them for English cavalrymen, the people cried 'Long live +England!' The Belgian soldiers themselves were deceived until an officer +at a window, realizing their mistake, ran to the street and gave the +alarm. The Belgian soldiers rushed quickly to arms and opened fire on +the fleeing Germans, of whom several were killed." DIED WRITING TO HIS +WIFE + +Here is a story of a heroic death on the battlefield, told simply in a +letter found in the cold hands of a French soldier who had just finished +writing it when the end came. "I am awaiting help which does not come," +the letter ran. "I pray God to take me, for I suffer atrociously. Adieu, +my wife and dear children. Adieu, all my family, whom I so loved. I +request that whoever finds me will send this letter to Paris to my +wife, with the pocketbook which is in my coat pocket. Gathering my last +strength I write this, lying prostrate under the shell fire. Both my +legs are broken. My last thoughts are for my children and for thee, +my cherished wife and companion of my life, my beloved wife. Vive la +France!" + +IN THE PARIS MILITARY HOSPITAL + +A visitor to the military hospital within the intrenched camp of Paris, +just outside the city walls, said on September 18: + +"Men of all ranks are there, from the simple private to a general of +division. There is no sign of discouragement or sadness on the pale +faces, which light up with the thought of returning to battle. + +"I saw hundreds of men lying on the beds in the wards with varieties of +wounds, no two being identical. This Turco--or African soldier--suffered +from a torn tongue, cut by a bullet, which traversed his cheek. Another +had lost three fingers of his left hand. A bullet entered the temple of +this infantryman and fell into his mouth, where by some curious reaction +he swallowed it. + +"Many of the patients are suffering from mere flesh wounds. One poor +fellow whose eye was put out by a bullet said: "That's nothing. It is +only my left eye and I aim with my right. I need the lives of just three +Germans to pay for it." + +SMOKE AS WOUNDS ARE TREATED + +"The Turcos, though terrible hand-to-hand fighters, are hard to care +for. They have great fear of pain and it is difficult to bandage their +wounds. The doctors give them cigarettes, which they smoke with dignity +as if performing a ritual. + +"All the African soldiers were wrathful at a German officer lying in a +neighboring room. They muttered in a sinister fashion, 'To-morrow!' and +put two hands to the neck. I understood this to mean that they would +strangle him to-morrow. Much vigilance is required to keep the officer +out of their reach. + +"One Turco killed two Prussians with his bayonet and two with the stock +of the gun in a single fight. His body is covered with the scars of +years of fighting in the service of France. When asked if he liked +France he replied: 'France good country, good leaders, good doctors.' He +seemed to mind his wound less than the lack of cigarettes." + +SPIRIT OF BELGIAN SOLDIERS + +Writing from Antwerp on September 1, William G. Shepherd, United Press +staff correspondent, illustrated the spirit of the soldiery of Belgium +by the following story: + +"The little Belgian soldier who climbed into the compartment with me was +dead tired; he trailed his rifle behind him, threw himself into the seat +and fell sound asleep. He was ready to talk when he awoke an hour later. + +"'Yes, I was up all night with German prisoners,' he said. 'It was a bad +job, there were only sixteen of us to handle 200 Germans. We had four +box cars and we put twenty-five prisoners in one end of the car and +twenty-five in the other, and the four of us with rifles sat guard by +the car door. + +"'We rode five hours that way and I expected every minute that the whole +fifty Germans in the car would jump on us four and kill us. Four to +fifty; that's heavy odds. But we had to do it. You see there aren't +enough soldiers in Belgium to do all the work, so we have to make out +the best we can.' + +"That's the plucky little Belgian soldier, all over. + +"In the first place, he's different from most soldiers, because he is +willing to fight when he knows he's going to lose. + +"'We have to make out the best we can,' is his motto. + +"In the second place, he's a common-sense little fellow. Even while he's +fighting, he's doing it coolly, and there is no blind hatred in his +heart that causes him to waste any effort. He gets down to the why and +wherefore of things. + +"'I really felt sorry for those German prisoners,' said a comrade of +the first soldier. 'They were all decent fellows. They told me their +officers had fooled them. They said the officers gave them French money +on the German frontier and then yelled to them, "On into France!" They +went on three days and got to Liege before they knew they were in +Belgium instead of France. + +"'We didn't want to hurt Belgium,' they told us, because we're from +Alsace-Lorraine ourselves.' + +"'You see,' continued the logical little Belgian, 'it wasn't their +fault, so we couldn't be mad at them.' + +"That is the Belgian idea--cool logic. + +"'Why did you fight the Germans?' I asked a high government official. + +"'Because civilization can't exist without treaties, and it is the duty +that a nation owes to civilization to fight to the death when written +treaties are broken,' was the reply. + +"'It must be a rule among nations that to break a treaty means to fight. +The Germans broke the neutrality treaty with Belgium and we had to +fight.' + +"'But did you expect to whip the Germans?' + +"'How could we? We knew that hordes of Germans would follow the first +comers, but we had no right to worry about who would be whipped; all we +had to do was to fight, and we've done it the best we could.' + +"It has been a cool-headed logical matter with the Belgians from the +start. Treaties are made with ink; they're broken with blood, and just +as naturally and coolly as the Belgian diplomats used ink in signing the +treaties with Germany so the Belgian soldiers have used their blood in +trying to maintain the agreements." + +RIFLES USED BY NATIONS OF WAR + +In the present war Germany uses a Mauser rifle, with a bullet of +millimeters caliber, steel and copper coated. Great Britain's missile is +the Lee-Enfield, caliber 7.7 mm., the coating being cupro-nickel. + +The French weapon is the Lebel rifle, of 8 mm. caliber, with bullets +coated with nickel. Russia uses Mossin-Nagant rifles, 7.62 mm., +with bullets cupro-nickel coated. Austria's chief small arm is the +Mannlicher, caliber 8 mm., with a steel sheet over the tip. + +Hitting a man beyond 350 yards, the wounds inflicted by all these +bullets are clean cut. They frequently pass through bone tissue without +splintering. + +When meeting an artery the bullet seems to push it to one side and goes +around without cutting the blood channel. + +Amputations are very rare compared with wars of more than fifty years +ago. A bullet wound through a joint, such as the knee or the elbow, then +necessitated the amputation of the limb. Now such a wound is easily +opened and dressed. + +Even Russia, which made a sad sanitary showing in the war with Japan, +now has learned her lesson and has efficient surgical arrangements. + +All the nations use vaccine to combat typhoid, the scourge which once +decimated camps, and killed 1,600 in the Spanish-American war. + +GERMAN UHLANS AS SCOUTS + +Concerning the German Uhlans, of whom so much has been heard in the +European war, Luigi Barzini, a widely known Italian war correspondent, +said: + +"The swarms of cavalry which the Germans send out ahead of their advance +are to be found everywhere--on any highway, on any path. It is their +business to see as much as possible. They show themselves everywhere and +they ride until they are fired upon, keeping this up until they have +located the enemy. + +"Theirs is the task of riding into death. The entire front of the enemy +is established by them, and many of them are killed--that is a certainty +they face. Now and then, however, one of them manages to escape to bring +the information himself, which otherwise is obtained by officers in +their rear making observation. + +"At every bush, every heap of earth, the Uhlan must say to himself: +'Here I will meet an enemy in hiding.' He knows that he cannot defend +himself against a fire that may open on him from all sides. Everywhere +there is danger for the Uhlan--hidden danger. "Nevertheless he keeps on +riding, calmly and undisturbed, in keeping with German discipline." + +FOUGHT WITHOUT SHOES + +The Paris Matin relates that on the arrival of a train bringing wounded +Senegalese riflemen nearly all were found smoking furiously from long +porcelain pipes taken from the enemy and seemingly indifferent to +their wounds. One gayly told of the daring capture of a machine gun +by eighteen of his comrades. The gun, he said, was brought up by a +detachment of German dragoons and the Senegalese bravely charged and +captured everything. + +Though their arms and bodies were hacked by sabers, the Senegalese +complained of nothing but the obligation to fight with shoes on. Before +going into battle at Charleroi they slyly rid themselves of these +impediments and came back shod in German footwear to avoid punishment +for losing equipment. + +KILLED A GENERAL + +The shot which resulted in the death of Prince von Buelow, one of the +German generals, was fired by a Belgian private named Rosseau, who was +decorated by King Albert for his conduct in the battle of Haelen. + +Rosseau was lying badly wounded among his dead comrades when he saw a +German officer standing beside his horse and studying a map. Picking up +a rifle beside a dead German, Rosseau fired at this officer and wounded +him. The officer proved to be Prince von Buelow. Exchanging his hat for +the German general's helmet and taking the general's horse, Rosseau made +his way to the Belgian lines and was placed in a hospital at Ghent. + +HOW A GERMAN PRINCE DIED + +The Hanover Courier gave the following account by an eyewitness of the +death of Prince Frederick William of Lippe at Liege: + +"On all sides our detachment was surrounded by Belgian troops, who were +gradually closing in for purposes of exterminating us. At the prince's +command we formed a circle eight deep, maintaining a stubborn defense. +At length a strong division arrived to support us. The prince raised +himself from a kneeling position and turned to the standard bearer, who +lay prone beside him, covering the standard with his body. + +"'Raise the standard,' commanded the prince, 'so that we may be +recognized by our friends.' + +"The standard bearer raised the flag, waving it to and fro. This action +immediately brought upon the standard bearer and the prince a violent +fusillade. The standard was shot away and at the same moment the prince +was struck in the chest and expired instantly." + +RAILWAY STATION A SHAMBLES + +Mrs. Herman H. Harjes, wife of the Paris banker, who, with other +American women, was deeply interested in relief work, visited the North +railroad station at Paris on September 1 and was shocked by the sights +she saw among the Belgian refugees. + +"The station," said Mrs. Harjes, "presented the aspect of a shambles. +It was the saddest sight I ever saw. It is impossible to believe the +tortures and cruelties the poor unfortunates had undergone. + +"I saw many boys with both their hands cut off so that it was impossible +for them to carry guns. Everywhere was filth and utter desolation. The +helpless little babies, lying on the cold, wet cement floor and crying +for proper nourishment, were enough to bring hot tears to any mother's +eyes. + +"Mothers were vainly besieging the authorities, begging for milk or +soup. A mother with twelve children said: + +"What is to become of us? It seems impossible to suffer more. I saw +my husband bound to a lamppost. He was gagged and being tortured by +bayonets. When I tried to intercede in his behalf, I was knocked +senseless with a rifle. I never saw him again.'" + +BURIED ON THE FIELD + +The bodies of the dead in this war were not, with occasional exceptions, +returned to their relatives, but were buried on the field and where +numbers required it, in common graves. Valuables, papers and mementoes +were taken from the bodies and made up in little packets to be sent to +the relatives, and the dead soldiers, each wrapped in his canvas shelter +tent, as shroud, were laid, friend and foe, side by side in long +trenches in the ground for which they had contested. + +GERMAN LISTS OF THE DEAD + +In the German official Gazette daily lists of the dead, wounded and +missing were published. The names marched by in long columns of the +Gazette, arrayed with military precision by regiments and companies, +batteries or squadrons--first the infantry and then cavalry, artillery +and train. + +The company lists were headed usually by the names of the officers, +killed or wounded; then came the casualties from the enlisted +strength--first the dead, then the wounded and the missing. A feature +of the early lists was the large proportion of this last class, reports +from some units running monotonously, name after name, "missing" or +"wounded and missing"--in mute testimony of scouting patrols which did +not return, or of regiments compelled to retire and leave behind them +dead, wounded and prisoners, or sometimes of men wandering so far from +their comrades in the confusion of battle that they could not find and +rejoin their companies for days. + +THE LANCE AS A WEAPON + +An attempt was made in lists of the German wounded to give the nature +and location of the wound. These were principally from rifle or +shrapnel fire. A scanty few in the cavalry were labeled "lance thrust," +indicating that the favorite weapon of the European cavalry has not done +the damage expected of it, although the lance came more into play in the +later engagements between the Russian and German cavalry divisions. + +"FATHERLAND OR DEATH!" + +Writing from Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, on August 29th, Karl H. von +Wiegand, who is considered by the Allies a German mouthpiece, said: + +"America has not the faintest realization of the terrible carnage going +on in Europe. She cannot realize the determination of Germany, all +Germany--men, women and children--in this war. The German Empire is +like one man. And that man's motto is 'Vaterland oder Tod!' (Fatherland +or Death!) + +"English news sources are reported here as telling of the masterly +retreat of the allies. Here in the German field headquarters, where +every move on the great chess-board of Belgium and France is analyzed, +the war to date is referred to as the greatest offensive movement in the +history of modern warfare." + +GERMAN PLANS WELL LAID + +The German offensive plans were well laid. No army that ever took the +field was ever so mobile. Thousands of army autos have been in use. Each +regiment had its supply. The highways were mapped in advance. There was +not a crossroad that was not known. Even the trifling brooks had been +located. Nothing had been left to chance and the advance guard was +accompanied by enormous automobiles filled with corps of sappers who +carried bridge and road building materials. + +THE TERRIBLE KRUPP GUNS + +How well the German plans worked was shown when Namur, which, it was +boasted, would resist for months, fell in two days. The terrible work of +the great Krupp weapons, whose existence had been kept secret, is hard +to realize. One shot from one of these guns went through what was +considered an impregnable wall of concrete and armored steel at Namur, +exploded and killed 150 men. + +And aside from the effectiveness of these terrible weapons, Belgian +prisoners who were in the Namur forts declare their fire absolutely +shattered the nerves of the defenders, whose guns had not sufficient +range to reach them. + +GERMANS DEFY DEATH + +"It makes you sick to see the way that the Germans literally walk into +the very mouth of the machine guns and cannon spouting short-fused +shrapnel that mow down their lines and tear great gaps in them," said a +Belgian major who was badly wounded. "Nothing seems to stop them. It is +like an inhuman machine and it takes the very nerve out of you to watch +it." + +SPIRIT OF GERMAN WOMEN + +"The women of Germany are facing the situation with heroic calmness," +said Eleanor Painter, an American opera singer on landing in New York +September 7th, direct from Berlin, where she had spent the last four +years. "It is all for the Fatherland. The spirit of the people is +wonderful. If the men are swept away in the maelstrom of war, the women +will continue to fight. They are prepared now to do so. + +"There are few tears in Berlin. Of course there is sorrow, deep sorrow. +But the German women and the few men still left in the capital realize +that the national life itself is at stake and accept the inevitable +losses of a successful military occupation. There is a grim dignity +everywhere. There are no false ideas as to the enormity of the struggle +for existence. A great many Germans, in fact, realizing that it is +nearly the whole world against Germany, do not believe that the +Fatherland can survive. But they are determined that while there is a +living German so long will Germany fight. + +FATHER AND TEN SONS ENLIST + +"A German father with his ten sons enlisted. General von Haessler, +more than the allotted three-score years and ten, veteran of two wars, +offered his sword. Boys who volunteered and who were not needed at the +time wept when the recruiting officers sent them back home, telling them +their time would come. + +"The German women fight their own battles in keeping back tears and +praying for the success of the German arms. Hundreds of titled women are +at the front with the Red Cross, sacrificing everything to aid their +country. Baroness von Ziegler and her daughter wrote from Wiesbaden that +they were en route to the front and were ready to fight if need be. + +"Even the stupendous losses which the army is incurring cannot dim the +love of the Fatherland nor the desire of the Germans, as a whole nation, +to fight on. I speak of vast losses. An officer with whom I talked while +en route from Berlin to Rotterdam, told me of his own experience. He +was one of 2,000 men on the eastern frontier. They saw a detachment +of Russians ahead. The German forces went into battle singing and +confident, although the Russian columns numbered 12,000. Of that German +force of 2,000 just fifty survived. None surrendered." + +FEARFUL STATE OF BATTLEFIELDS + +Dead men and horses, heaped up by thousands, lay putrefying on the +battlefields of the Aisne, Colonel Webb C. Hayes, U.S.A., son of former +President Hayes, declared in Washington on Oct. 7, on his return from +observing the war and its battlefields. He was the bearer of a personal +message to President Wilson from the acting burgomaster of Louvain. + +"When I left Havre on Sept. 27," he said, "the Allies were fearful that +they would not be able to penetrate to the German line through the mass +of putrefying men and horses on the battlefields, which unfortunately +the combatants seem not to heed about burying. I don't see how they +could pass through these fields. The stench was horrible, and the idea +of climbing over the bodies must be revolting even to brave soldiers." + +Col. Hayes had been on the firing line; he had visited the sacked city +of Louvain as the guest of Germans in an armored car; he had been in +Aix-la-Chapelle, at the German base, and had seen some of the fighting +in the historic Aisne struggle. + +"It is a sausage grinder," he declared. + +"On one side are the Allies, apparently willing to sacrifice their +last man in defense of France; on the other are the Germans, seemingly +prodigal of their millions of men and money and throwing man after man +into the war." + +"What about the alleged atrocities in Belgium?" he was asked. + +"Well, war is hell; that's about the only answer I can give you. +The real tragic feature of the whole war is Belgium. Its people are +wonderful folk--clean, decent, respectable. What this nation should do +is to concentrate its efforts to aid the women and children of Belgium. +Help for hospitals is not so much needed, but the fate of these people +is really pathetic." Asked for a brief description of what he saw along +the battle line, Col. Hayes declared: + +"The battle front these days is far different from what it used to +be. There are few men to be seen, and practically no guns. All are +concealed. Shrapnel flies through the air and bursts. That is the scene +most of the time. In the hand-to-hand fighting bayonets are used much by +the French, while the Turcos use knives." + +"Shall you go back?" Col. Hayes was asked. + +"Does anyone wish to visit a slaughterhouse a second time?" he replied. + +PRINCES WOUNDED BY THE FOE + +Prince August William, the fourth son of Emperor William, was shot in +the left arm during the battle of the Marne and Emperor William bestowed +the Iron Cross of the first class on him. + +Prince Eitel, the Kaiser's second son, was wounded during the battle +of the Aisne. Up to October 7 four of Emperor William's sons had been +placed temporarily _hors de combat_. + +Prince George of Servia, while leading his battalion against the +Austrians September 18, was hit by a ball which entered near the spinal +column and came out at the right shoulder. The wound was said not to be +dangerous. + +HOW THE SCOTSMEN FOUGHT + +At St. Quentin, France, the Highland infantrymen burst into the thick +of the Germans, holding on to the stirrups of the Scots Greys as the +horsemen galloped, and attacked hand to hand. The Germans were taken +aback at the sudden and totally unexpected double irruption, and broke +up before the Scottish onslaught, suffering severe losses alike from the +swords of the cavalry and from the Highlanders' bayonets. The scene of +this charge is depicted in one of our illustrations. + +TWO TRAGIC INCIDENTS + +During the Russian retreat through the Mazur lake district, in East +Prussia, a Russian battery was surrounded on three sides by the enemy's +quick firers. The infantry was on the other side of the lake, and +the Russian ammunition was exhausted. In order to avoid capture, the +commander ordered the battery to gallop over the declivity into the +lake. His order was obeyed and he himself was among the drowned. + +During an assault on the fortress of Ossowetz, a German column got into +a bog. The Russians shelled the bog and the single road crossing it. The +Germans, in trying to extricate themselves, sank deeper into the mire, +and hundreds were killed or wounded. Of the whole column, about forty +survived. + +IN THE BRUSSELS HOSPITALS + +A peculiar incident of the war is noted by a doctor writing in the New +York American, who went through several of the great Brussels hospitals +and noted the condition of the wounded Belgian soldiers. These soldiers +carried on the defense of their country with a valor which the fighting +men of any nation might admire and envy. The writer remarks: + +"Two facts struck me very forcibly. The first was the very large number +of Belgian soldiers wounded only in the legs, and, secondly, many of the +soldiers seem to have collapsed through sheer exhaustion. + +"In peace times one sees and hears little or nothing of extreme +exhaustion, because in times of peace the almost superphysical is not +demanded. War brings new conditions. + +"These Belgian soldiers were at work and on the march during stupendous +days, practically without a moment's respite. They went, literally, +until they dropped. As a medical man, their condition interested me +enormously. + +"What force of will to fight and struggle until the last gasp! The +exhaustion one sees often in heat strokes and in hot climates is +commonplace, but this type of exhaustion is, by itself, the final +triumph of brave spirits. + +"The victims presented a very alarming appearance when first I met them. +They seemed almost dead; limp, pale, and cold. Recovery usually is not +protracted; in every case the men knocked out in this manner expressed a +fervent desire to return at once to the ranks. + +GERMAN WARNING TO FRENCH TOWNS + +Following is the text of a proclamation published in French and posted +in all towns occupied by the Germans: + +"All the authorities and the municipality are informed that every +peaceful inhabitant can follow his regular occupation in full security. +Private property will be absolutely respected and provisions paid for. + +"If the population dare under any form whatever to take part in +hostilities the severest punishment will be inflicted on the refractory. + +"The people must give up their arms. Every armed individual will be put +to death. Whoever cuts telegraph wires, destroys railway bridges or +roads or commits any act in detriment to the Germans will be shot. + +"Towns and villages whose inhabitants take part in the combat or who +fire upon us from ambush will be burned down and the guilty shot at +once. The civil authorities will be held responsible. (Signed) VON +MOLTKE." + +MOTORS IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY + +The Russian army has always placed much dependence on its horses, having +a vast number, but it has realized the importance of the motor vehicle +in warfare and already it is much better equipped than other nations +suppose. An illustration of the fact is the following, related by a Bed +Cross man who accompanied the Russian forces into eastern Germany: + +"I was walking beside one of our carts. We could hear heavy artillery +fire as we went, when shouts from our people behind warned us to get +off the road. We pulled onto the grass as there came thundering past, +bumping from one rough place to another on the poor road and going at a +sickening pace, a string of huge motor cars crowded with infantrymen. +They looked like vehicles of the army establishment, all apparently +alike in size and pattern and each carrying about thirty men. + +"They were traveling like no motor wagon that I ever saw--certainly at +not less than forty miles an hour. The procession seemed endless. I +didn't count them, but there were not less than a hundred, and perhaps a +good many more. That was General Rennenkampf reinforcing his threatened +flank." + +JENNIE DUFAU'S NARROW ESCAPE + +Jennie Dufau, the American opera singer, had one of the most thrilling +experiences told by a refugee from the war zone. + +Miss Dufau was visiting in Saulxures, Province of Alsace, when the war +started, and was in the hitherto peaceful valley of that region until +August 24. She was with her sister, Elizabeth, and her two brothers, +Paul and Daniel. + +On August 6 the German artillery occupied the heights on one side of the +valley, overlooking the town. On the 12th the Germans occupied the town +itself. At that time there were but two French regiments near Saulxures. + +The French, however, opened fire on the Germans, and Miss Dufau with her +father and sister at once retreated to the cellar in an effort to escape +the flying shells. + +"Then began a tremendous artillery duel that lasted for days," she said. +"All this time we were living in the cellar, where we were caring for +ten wounded French officers. I often went out over the battlefield when +the fire slackened and did what I could for the wounded and dying. + +"My brothers Paul and Daniel were drafted into the German army. They had +sworn an oath not to fire a shot at a Frenchman, and their greatest +hope was that they would be captured and permitted to put on the French +uniform. + +"Between August 12 and 24 the artillery duel raged, and finally the +opposing armies came to a hand-to-hand fight with the bayonet. First +it was the Germans who occupied the town, then the French. The Germans +finally came to our house and accused my sister, my father, and myself +of being spies because they found a telephone there. The soldiers lined +us up against the wall to shoot us, but we fell on our knees and begged +them to spare the life of our father. They gave no heed till a German +colonel came along and, after questioning us, ordered that we be set +free." + +VALLEY OF DEATH ON THE AISNE + +A non-combatant who succeeded in getting close to the firing lines on +the Aisne when the great battle had raged continuously for five weeks, +wrote as follows on October 21st of the horrors he had witnessed: + +"Between the lines of battle there is a narrow strip, varying from +seventy yards to a quarter of a mile, which is a neutral valley of +death. Neither side is able to cross that strip without being crumpled +by fire against which no body of men can stand. The Germans have +attempted to break through the British and French forces hundreds of +times but have been compelled to withdraw, and always with severe +losses. + +"A number of small towns are distributed in this narrow strip, the most +important being Craonne. The Germans and French have reoccupied it six +times and each in turn has been driven out. The streets of Craonne are +littered with the dead of both armies. The houses, nearly all of which +have been demolished by exploding shells, are also full of bodies of men +who crawled into them to get out of the withering fire and have there +died. Many of these men died of sheer exhaustion and starvation while +the battle raged day after day. + +"Both armies have apparently abandoned the struggle to hold Craonne +permanently, and it is now literally a city of the dead. + +"It is a typical French village of ancient stone structures; the tiny +houses all have, or had, gables and tiled roofs. These have mostly +been broken by shell fire. Under the shelter of its buildings both the +Germans and French have been able at times to rescue their wounded. + +"This is more than can be said of the strip of death between the battle +lines. There the wounded lie and the dead go unburied, while the +opposing forces direct their merciless fire a few feet above the field +of suffering and carnage. I did not know until I looked upon the horrors +of Craonne that such conditions could exist in modern warfare. + +"I thought that frequent truces would be negotiated to give the opposing +armies an opportunity to collect their wounded and bury their dead. I +had an idea that the Red Cross had made war less terrible. The world +thinks so yet, perhaps, but the conditions along the Aisne do not +justify that belief. If a man is wounded in that strip between the lines +he never gets back alive unless he is within a short distance of his own +lines or is protected from the enemy's fire by the lay of the land. + +"This protracted and momentous battle, which raged day and night for +so many weeks, became a continuous nightmare to the men engaged in it, +every one of whom knew that upon its issue rested one of the great +deciding factors of the war." + +BRITISH AID FOR FRENCH WOUNDED + +The following paragraphs from a letter received October 15th by the +author from an English lady interested in the suffrage movement, +give some idea of the spirit in which the people of England met the +emergency; and also indicate the frightful conditions attending the care +of the wounded in France: + +"London, October 7, 1914.--The world is a quite different place from +what it was in July--dear, peaceful July! It seems years ago that we +lived in a time of peace. It all still seems a nightmare over England +and one feels that the morning must come when one will wake up and find +it has all been a hideous dream, and that peace is the reality. But the +facts grow sadder every day, as one realizes the frightful slaughter and +waste of young lives. * * * + +"But now that we are in the midst of this horrible time, we can only +stop all criticism of our Government, set our teeth, and try to help +in every possible way. All suffrage work has stopped and all the +hundred-and-one interests in societies of every kind are in abeyance as +well. The offices of every kind of society are being used for refugees, +Bed Cross work, unemployment work, and to meet other needs of the +moment. + +"Every day of our time is taken up with helping to equip 'hospital +units,' private bodies of doctors and nurses with equipment, to go to +France and help the French Red Cross work among the French wounded. The +situation in France at present is more horrible than one can imagine. +Our English soldiers have medical and surgical help enough with them +for first aid. Then they are sent back to England, and here all our +hospitals are ready and private houses everywhere have been given to the +War Office for the wounded. But the battlefield is in France; many of +the French doctors have been shot; the battle-line is 200 miles long, +and the carnage is frightful. + +"Last week we sent off one hospital unit, and a messenger came back from +it yesterday to tell us awful facts--16,000 wounded in Limoges for +one place, and equal numbers in several other little places south of +Paris--just trains full of them--with so little ready for them in the +way of doctors or nurses. One hears of doctors performing operations +without chloroform, and the suffering of the poor fellows is awful." + +COMPARATIVE WEALTH OF NATIONS AT WAR + +The wealth of the principal belligerent nations, in terms of property, +goods and appraisable resources of all kinds, is estimated as follows: + + National National Percent + Wealth Debt + + United States.............$260,000,000,000 $18,000,000,000 6. + + Great Britain.............. 90,000,000,000 36,675,000,000 40. + + France..................... 65,000,000,000 23,000,000,000 35. + + Russia..................... 40,000,000,000 25,400,000,000 63. + + Italy...................... 25,000,000,000 7,000,000,000 28. + + Japan...................... 28,000,000,000 1,300,000,000 4. + + Germany.................... 80,000,000,000 33,000,000,000 38. + + Austria-Hungary............ 25,000,000,000 20,000,000,000 80. + +It is worth noting in this connection that the fourth liberty bond issue +of six billions was oversubscribed to extent $866,416,300--almost an +extra billion. There were over 21,000,000 individual subscribers. + +The war bills of the United States between April 6, 1917, and October +31st, 1918, as officially reported at Washington November 2, 1918, +amounted to twenty billions, five hundred and sixty-one million dollars +($20,561,000,000). Of this sum, seven billions and seventeen millions +($7,017,000,000) have been loaned to the allies and will be repaid. + +Only a little more than one-fourth of the expense had up to the date +of the report been raised by taxation. Most of the remainder had been +raised by bond issues practically all of which were subscribed by our +own people, so that the debt is owing not to foreign creditors, but to +ourselves. + +The same report shows that on November 1st, 1918, the treasury's working +balance stood at one billion, eight hundred and forty-five millions, +seven hundred and thirty-nine thousand dollars ($1,845,739,000) the +largest sum ever available at any one time in the history of the +nation--with continuing receipts of instalment payments on the fourth +liberty loan coming in at the rate of two billions per month, and +preparations for the fifth loan well under way. + +FIGURES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND. + +The direct cost of the war for all belligerent nations to May 1, 1918, +was reported at about $175,000,000,000 by the Federal Reserve board +bulletin, issued November 18. It was estimated that the cost would +amount to nearly $200,000,000,000 before the end of the year. + +For purely military and naval purposes, it appears that all belligerents +had spent about $132,000,000,000 to May 1. The remainder represented +interest on debt, and other indirect war expenses. + +The mobilization and the first five months of the war in 1914 cost all +belligerents about $10,000,000,000. In 1915 the expenses jumped to +$26,000,000,000, in 1916 they increased to $38,000,000,000; and in +they were estimated at $60,000,000,000. In 1918 expenses ran only a +little above the rate of 1917. + +The public debt of the principal entente allies is calculated at +approximately $105,000,000,000, not counting the debt incurred since May +1918. The annual burden to all belligerents to pay interest and sinking +fund allowances will be not less than $10,000,000,000, and probably much +more. + +Unofficial reports indicate that Germany's national debt, represented +mainly by war bonds held within the empire, is now nearly +$35,000,000,000 (almost two-fifths of the estimate national wealth of +$80,000,000,000). Besides this, France claims a return of the +indemnity, $20,000,000,000; $28,000,000,000 for pensions; and reparation +of damages, $20,000,000,000; being $68,000,000,000 in all. + +Whatever may be the weight of the final burden of reparation and +restitution to be placed on Germany, the size of the task ahead of her +may be illustrated by comparison of her national debt with that of the +United States, Germany has 66,000,000 population and $80,000,000,000 of +estimated wealth, to pay $35,000,000,000 of war debt already created. + +The United States has 110,000,000 population and an estimated national +wealth of $250,000,000,000, to pay nearly $18,000,000,000 war debt +already created, or approximately $23,000,000,000 up to the end of May, +1919. This means that the per capita burden will be at least three times +greater in Germany than in the United States. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE MYSTERY OF THE FLEETS + + _Movements of British Battleships Veiled in Secrecy--German + Dreadnoughts in North Sea and Baltic Ports--Activity + of Smaller Craft--English Keep Trade Routes Open-- + Several Minor Battles at Sea_. + +Shortly before war was declared a great review of the British navy was +held at Spithead, on the English Channel, when several hundred vessels +were gathered in mighty array for inspection by King George and the +lords of the Admiralty. The salutes they fired had hardly ceased to +reverberate along the shores of the Channel when the momentous struggle +was on. It found the British fleet fully mobilized and ready for action. +The ships had their magazines filled, their bunkers and oil tanks +charged, their victualing completed, and last, but not least, their full +crews aboard. + +Then, without a moment's delay, they disappeared, under orders to +proceed to stations in the North Sea, to cruise in the Channel, the +Atlantic or the Mediterranean; to keep trade routes open for British and +neutral ships and capture or destroy the ships of the enemy. Silently +and swiftly they sailed, and for weeks the world knew little or nothing +of their movements or whereabouts. + +Mystery equally deep shrouded the German fleet. In all probability it +lay under the guns of the coast cities and forts of Germany, but nothing +definite was permitted to leak out. The test of the two great navies, +the supreme test of dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts, failed to +materialize, and for weeks the people of Great Britain and Germany could +only wonder what had become of their naval forces and why they did not +come into contact with each other. A few minor engagements in the North +Sea, in which light cruisers and torpedo-boat destroyers were concerned, +served only to deepen the mystery. + +Only naval men and well-informed civilians realized that Germany was +biding her time, waiting to choose her own hour for action, realizing +the strength of the opposing force and determined not to risk her own +ships until the opportune moment should arrive which would offer the +best possible chances for success. And meanwhile the main British fleet +lay in the North Sea, waiting for the enemy to appear. + +After a while letters began to come from the North Sea, telling of +the life aboard the vessels lying in wait, scouting or patrolling +the coasts. The ships were all stripped for action; all inflammable +ornaments and fittings had been left behind or cast overboard; stripped +and naked the fighting machines went to their task. All day long the +men were ready at their guns, and during the night each gun crew slept +around the weapon that it was their duty to serve, ready to repel any +destroyers or submarines coming out of the surrounding darkness to +attack them. + +Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe had assumed supreme command of the +British home fleet on August 4, with the rank of admiral. His chief +of staff was Rear Admiral Charles E. Madden. Rear Admiral Sir George +Callaghan was in command of the North Sea fleet. + +AN ADMIRALTY ANNOUNCEMENT + +On Thursday, September 10, the secretary of the British Admiralty made +the following announcement: "Yesterday and today strong and numerous +squadrons and flotillas have made a complete sweep of the North Sea up +to and into the Heligoland Bight. The German fleet made no attempt to +interfere with our movements and no German ship of any kind was seen at +sea." + +That much patience had to be exercised by the seamen of the North Sea +fleet is evidenced by a letter in which the writer said to his family, +"If you want to get away from the excitement of war, you should be here +with me." This situation, of course, might be changed at a moment's +notice. The London Times said in September: "It is not to be wondered at +if our seamen today envy a little the old-time sailors who did not have +to compete with such things as mines, destroyers and submarines. In the +accounts of the old blockades we read how by means of music and dancing, +and even theatrical entertainments, the monotonous nature of the work +was counteracted, and the officers of the ships, including Nelson and +other great commanders, welcomed these diversions for the prevention of +the evils which might be bred by enforced idleness. It is a true saying +that everything that stagnates corrupts. There is no possible chance of +the crews of our modern vessels stagnating under the new conditions of +war. Whether engaged in blockading in the big ships, scouting in the +cruisers, or patrolling the coasts in the destroyers, the life is +described as tremendously interesting and exciting. There has been no +sense of monotony whatever. Indeed, the conditions are such that, were +it not obligatory for portions of every crew to take rest, all of them +would be continually on the alert. We may be certain that arrangements +have been made for ensuring that the crews obtain periods of relaxation +from the constant strain; but the only real change comes in the big +ships when they have of necessity to refill their bunkers." + +LOSS OF THE CRUISER AMPHION + +The cruiser Amphion was the first British war vessel lost in the war. +The survivors on landing at the North Sea port of Harwich, England, +on August 10, stated that hardly had they left Harwich than they +were ordered to clear the decks for action. They sighted the German +mine-laying vessel Koenigin Luise, and, as it refused to stop even when +a shot was fired across its bows, they gave chase. + +The German ship fired and then the destroyers, accompanying the Amphion, +surrounded and sank it after a brief combined bombardment. + +The captain, it is said, was beside himself with fury. He had a revolver +in his hand and threatened his men as they prepared to surrender to the +rescuing ships. He flatly refused to give himself up and was taken by +force. + +When the smoke of a big ship was seen on the horizon the Amphion gave +chase, firing a warning shot as it drew near the vessel, which at once +made known its identity as the Harwich boat St. Petersburg, carrying +Prince Lichnowsky, the German ambassador, to the Hook of Holland. While +returning to port came the tragedy of the Amphion. As it struck a sunken +mine it gave two plunging jerks. Then came an explosion which ripped up +its forepart, shot up its funnels like arrows from a bow, and lifted +its heavy guns into the air. The falling material struck several of the +boats of the flotilla and injured some of the men on board them. + +The Amphion's men were dreadfully burned and scalded and had marks on +their faces and bodies which resembled splashes of acid. + +The scene at Harwich was like that which follows a colliery explosion. +Of the British seamen in the hospital thirteen were suffering from +severe burns, five from less serious burns, two from the effects of +lyddite fumes, and one each from concussion, severe injury, slight +wounds, shock, and slight burns. A few wounded German sailors also lay +in the hospital. + +SINKING A GERMAN SUBMARINE + +On August 12 there came from Edinburgh the story of an eyewitness of a +naval battle in the North Sea on the previous Sunday between British +cruisers and German submarines, in which the German submarine U-15 was +sunk. + +"The cruiser squadron on Sunday," the story ran, "suddenly became aware +of the approach of the submarine flotilla. The enemy was submerged, only +the periscopes showing above the surface of the water. + +"The attitude of the British in the face of this attack was cool and the +enemy was utterly misled when suddenly the cruiser Birmingham, steaming +at full speed, fired the first shot. This shot was carefully aimed, +not at the submerged body of a submarine, but at the thin line of the +periscope. + +"The gunnery was superbly accurate and shattered the periscope. +Thereupon the submarine, now a blinded thing, rushed along under water +in imminent danger of self-destruction from collision with the cruisers +above. + +"The sightless submarine was then forced to come to the surface, +whereupon the Birmingham's gunner fired the second shot of the fight. +This shot struck at the base of the conning tower, ripping the whole of +the upper structure clean and the U-15 sank like a stone. + +"The remainder of the submarine flotilla fled." NAVAL BATTLE OFF +HELIGOLAND + +In the last week of August a naval engagement occurred off the island +of Heligoland, in the North Sea. British war vessels sank five German +ships, killing 900 men. A graphic description of the engagement was +given by a young lieutenant who was on one of the British torpedo boat +destroyers: + +"I think the home papers are magnifying what really was but an affair of +outposts. We destroyers went in and lured the enemy out and had lots of +excitement. The big fellows then came up and afforded some excellent +target practice, and we were very glad to see them come; but it was a +massacre, not a fight. + +"There was superb generalship and overwhelming forces on the spot, but +there was really nothing for them to do except to shoot the enemy, even +as father shoots pheasants. + +"Have you ever noticed a dog rush in on a flock of sheep and scatter +them? He goes for the nearest and barks and goes so much faster than +the flock that it bunches up with its companions. The dog then barks at +another and the sheep spread out fanwise, so in front of the dog there +is a semicircle of sheep and behind him none. + +"That was much what we did at 7 a. m. on August 28. The sheep were the +German torpedo craft, which fell back on the limits of our range and +tried to lure us within the fire of the Heligoland forts. But a +cruiser then came out and engaged our Arethusa and they had a real +heart-to-heart talk, while we looked on, and a few of us tried to shoot +at the enemy, too, though it was beyond our distance. + +"We were getting nearer Heligoland all the time. There was a thick mist +and I expected every minute to find the forts on the island bombarding +us, so the Arethusa presently drew off after landing at least one good +shell on the enemy. The enemy gave every hit as good as he got there. + +"We then reformed, but a strong destroyer belonging to the submarines +got chased, and the Arethusa and Fearless went back to look after it. We +presently heard a hot action astern, so the captain in command of the +flotilla turned us around and we went back to help. But they had driven +the enemy off and on our arrival told us to 'form up' on the Arethusa. + +CRUISER FIRES ON SHIPS + +"When we had partly formed and were very much bunched together, making a +fine target, suddenly out of the mist arrived five or six shells from a +point not 150 yards away. We gazed at whence they came and again five +or six stabs of fire pierced the fog, and we made out a four-funneled +German cruiser of the Breslau class. + +"Those stabs were its guns going off. We waited fifteen seconds and the +shots and noise of its guns arrived pretty well from fifty yards away. +Its next salvo of shots went above us, and I ducked as they whirred +overhead like a covey of fast partridges. + +"You would suppose our captain had done this sort of thing all his life. +He went full speed ahead at once, upon the first salvo, to string the +bunch out and thus offer less target. The commodore from the Arethusa +made a signal to us to attack with torpedoes. So we swung round at right +angles and charged full speed at the enemy like a hussar attack. + +"Our boat got away at the start magnificently and led the field, so all +the enemy's firing was aimed at us for the next ten minutes, when we got +so close that debris from their shells fell on board. Then we altered +our course and so threw them out in their reckoning of our speed, and +they had all their work to do over again. + +"Humanly speaking, our captain by twisting and turning at psychological +moments saved us. Actually, I feel that we were in God's keeping that +day. After ten minutes we got near enough to fire our torpedo. Then we +turned back to the Arethusa. Next our follower arrived just where we had +been and fired its torpedo, and of course the enemy fired at it instead +of at us. What a blessed relief! + +"After the destroyers came the Fearless, and it stayed on the scene. +Soon we found it was engaging a three-funneler, the Mainz, so off we +started again, now for the Mainz, the situation being that the crippled +Arethusa was too tubby to do anything but be defended by us, its +children. + +"Scarcely, however, had we started when, from out of the mist and across +our front, in furious pursuit came the first cruiser squadron of the +town class, the Birmingham, and each unit a match for three like the +Mainz, which was soon sunk. As we looked and reduced speed they opened +fire, and the clear bang-bang of their guns was just like a cooling +drink. + +"To see a real big four-funneler spouting flame, which flame denoted +shells starting, and those shells not at us but for us, was the most +cheerful thing possible. Once we were in safety, I hated it. We had just +been having our own imaginations stimulated on the subject of shells +striking. + +"Now, a few minutes later, to see another ship not three miles away, +reduced to a piteous mass of unrecognizability, wreathed in black fumes +from which flared out angry gusts of fire like Vesuvius in eruption, +as an unending stream of hundred-pound shells burst on board it, just +pointed the moral and showed us what might have been. + +"The Mainz was immensely gallant. The last I saw of it it was absolutely +wrecked. It was a fuming inferno. But it had one gun forward and one aft +still spitting forth fury and defiance like a wild cat. + +"Then we went west, while they went east. Just a bit later we heard the +thunder of the enemy's guns for a space. Then fell silence, and we knew +that was all. + +A MARVELOUS RESCUE + +"The most romantic, dramatic, and piquant episode that modern war can +ever show came next. The Defender, having sunk an enemy, lowered a +whaler to pick up its swimming survivors. Before the whaler got back, +an enemy's cruiser came up and chased the Defender, which thus had to +abandon its small boat. + +"Imagine their feelings, alone in an open boat without food, twenty-five +miles from the nearest land, and that land an enemy's fortress, with +nothing but fog and foes around them, and then suddenly a swirl +alongside, and up, if you please, hops His Britannic Majesty's submarine +E-4, opens its conning tower, takes them all on board, shuts up again, +dives and brings them home, 250 miles." + +THREE BRITISH CRUISERS SUNK + +On Tuesday morning, September 22, the British cruisers Aboukir, Cressy +and Hogue were torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the North +Sea. Each of the vessels carried a crew of about 650 men, and the total +of the death roll was about 1,400. + +The three cruisers had for some time been patrolling the North Sea. Soon +after 6 o'clock in the morning the Aboukir suddenly felt a shock on the +port side. A dull explosion was heard and a column of water was thrown +up mast high. The explosion wrecked the stokehold just forward of +amidships: and tore the bottom open. + +Almost immediately the doomed cruiser began to settle. Except for the +watch on deck, most of the crew were asleep, wearied by the constant +vigil in bad weather, but in perfect order the officers and men rushed +to quarters. The quick-firers were manned in the hope of a dying shot at +the submarine, but there was not a glimpse of one. + +Meanwhile the Aboukir's sister cruisers, more than a mile away, saw and +heard the explosion and thought the Aboukir had struck a mine. They +closed in and lowered boats. This sealed their own fate, for, while +they were standing by to rescue survivors, first the Hogue and then the +Cressy was torpedoed. + +Only the Cressy appears to have seen the submarine in time to attempt to +retaliate, and she fired a few shots before she keeled over, broken in +two, and sank. + +British naval officers by this time were beginning to wonder how long +the German high seas fleet intended to remain under cover in the Kiel +canal. + +"Our only grievance," one said, "is that we have not had a shot at the +Germans. Our only share of the war has been a few uncomfortable weeks of +bad weather, mines and submarines." + +A number of the survivors were taken to the Dutch port of Ymuiden, where +they were interned as technical prisoners of war. + +THE GERMAN COMMANDER'S STORY + +The German submarine which accomplished the hitherto unparalleled feat +was the U-9, in command of Capt.-Lieut. Otto Weddigen, whose interesting +story was given to the public through the German Admiralty on October 6, +as follows: + +"I set out from a North Sea port on one of the arms of the Kiel canal +and set my course in a southwesterly direction. The name of the port I +cannot state officially, but it was not many days before the morning of +September 22 when I fell in with my quarry. + +"British torpedo-boats came within my reach, but I felt there was bigger +game further on, so on I went. It was ten minutes after six in the +morning of the 22nd when I caught sight of one of the big cruisers of +the enemy. + +"I was then eighteen sea miles northwesterly of the Hook of Holland. I +had traveled considerably more than 200 miles from my base. I had been +going ahead partially submerged, with about five feet of my periscope +showing. + +"Almost immediately I caught sight of the first cruiser and two others. +I submerged completely and laid my course in order to bring up in center +of the trio, which held a sort of triangular formation. I could see +their gray-black sides riding high over the water. + +"When I first sighted them they were near enough for torpedo work, but I +wanted to make my aim sure, so I went down and in on them. I had taken +the position of the three ships before submerging, and I succeeded in +getting another flash through my periscope before I began action. I soon +reached what I regarded as a good shooting point. + +"Then I loosed one of my torpedoes at the middle ship. I was then about +twelve feet under water and got the shot off in good shape, my men +handling the boat as if it had been a skiff. I climbed to the surface to +get a sight through my tube of the effect and discovered that the shot +had gone straight and true, striking the ship, which I later learned was +the Aboukir, under one of its magazines, which in exploding helped the +torpedo's work of destruction. + +"There was a fountain of water, a burst of smoke, a flash of fire, and +part of the cruiser rose in the air. + +STRIKES THE SECOND CRUISER + +"Its crew were brave and, even with death staring them in the face, kept +to their posts. I submerged at once. But I had stayed on top long enough +to see the other cruisers, which I learned were the Cressy and the +Hogue, turn and steam full speed to their dying sister. + +"As I reached my torpedo depth I sent a second charge at the nearest of +the oncoming vessels, which was the Hogue. The English were playing my +game, for I had scarcely to move out of my position, which was a great +aid, since it helped to keep me from detection. + +"The attack on the Hogue went true. But this time I did not have the +advantageous aid of having the torpedo detonate under the magazine, so +for twenty minutes the Hogue lay wounded and helpless on the surface +before it heaved, half turned over, and sank. + +"By this time the third cruiser knew, of course, that the enemy was +upon it, and it sought as best it could to defend itself. It loosed its +torpedo defense batteries on bows, star-board, and port, and stood its +ground as if more anxious to help the many sailors in the water than to +save itself. + +"In the common method of defending itself against a submarine attack, it +steamed in a zigzag course, and this made it necessary for me to hold my +torpedoes until I could lay a true course for them, which also made it +necessary for me to get nearer to the Cressy. + +"I had to come to the surface for a view, and saw how wildly the fire +was being sent from the ship. Small wonder that was when they did not +know where to shoot, although one shot went unpleasantly near us. + +"When I got within suitable range I sent away my third attack. This +time I sent a second torpedo after the first to make the strike doubly +certain. My crew were aiming like sharpshooters and both torpedoes went +to their bull's-eye. My luck was with me again, for the enemy was made +useless and at once began sinking by the head. Then it careened far +over, but all the while its men stayed at the guns looking for their +invisible foe. + +"They were brave and true to their country's sea traditions. Then it +eventually suffered a boiler explosion and completely turned turtle. +With its keel uppermost it floated until the air got out from under it +and then it sank with a loud sound, as if from a creature in pain. + +"The whole affair had taken less than one hour from the time of shooting +off the first torpedo until the Cressy went to the bottom. + +"I set my course for home. Before I got far some British cruisers and +destroyers were on the spot and the destroyers took up the chase. + +"I kept under water most of the way, but managed to get off a wireless +to the German fleet that I was heading homeward and being pursued. But +although British destroyers saw me plainly at dusk on the 22d and made +a final effort to stop me, they abandoned the attempt, as it was taking +them too far from safety and needlessly exposing them to attack from our +fleet and submarines." + +MERCHANTMEN CAPTURED AND SUNK + +During the first months of the war a large number of merchant vessels, +principally German and British, were captured or sunk. According to a +British Admiralty return, issued September 28, twelve British ships with +an aggregate tonnage of 59,331 tons had been sunk on the high seas by +German cruisers up to September 23. Eight other British ships, whose +tonnage aggregated 2,970, had been sunk by German mines in the North +Sea, and 24 fishing craft, with a tonnage of 4,334, had been captured or +sunk by the Germans in the same waters. British ships detained at German +ports numbered 74, with a total tonnage of 170,000. + +On the other side the Admiralty reported 102 German ships, with a total +tonnage of 200,000, detained in British ports since the outbreak of the +war; while 88 German ships, of an aggregate tonnage of 338,000, had been +captured since hostilities began. + +The return also showed that 168 German ships, with an aggregate tonnage +of 283,000, had been detained or captured by the Allies. Fifteen ships, +with a tonnage of 247,000, were detained in American ports, while +fourteen others, with a tonnage of 72,000, remained in the Suez Canal. + +The German mines in the North Sea had also destroyed seven Scandinavian +ships, with a tonnage of 11,098. + +GERMAN CRUISERS ACTIVE + +Several German cruisers were amazingly active in distant waters early +in the war. Among these were the Goeben, Breslau, Emden, Karlsruhe, and +Leipzig, which captured or sank a number of vessels of the enemy. The +German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau also operated in the Pacific, +bombarding the French colony of Papeete, on the island of Tahiti, and +inflicting much damage, including the sinking of two vessels. + +On August 26 the big converted German liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, +while cruising on the northwest coast of Africa, was sunk by the British +cruiser Highflyer. + +The German cruiser Dresden was reported sunk by British cruisers in +South American waters in the second week of September. The Emden, +operating under the German flag in the Indian Ocean, sank several +British steamers. Several Austrian vessels succumbed to mines off the +coast of Dalmatia and in the Baltic there were a number of casualties +in which both Russian and German cruisers suffered. The Russian armored +cruiser Bayan was sunk in a fight near the entrance to the Gulf of +Finland. + +On September 20 the German protected cruiser Koenigsberg attacked the +British light cruiser Pegasus in the harbor of Zanzibar and disabled +her. Off the east coast of South America the British auxiliary cruiser +Carmania, a former Cunard liner, destroyed a German merchant cruiser +mounting eight four-inch guns. About the same time the German cruiser +Hela was sunk in the North Sea by the British submarine E-9. The +Kronprinz Wilhelm, a former German liner, which had been supplying coal +to German cruisers in the Atlantic, was also sunk by the British. + +GERMAN COLONY OCCUPIED + +The British Admiralty announced on September 12 that the Australian +fleet had occupied Herbertshoehe, on Blanche Bay, the seat of government +of the German Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. + +The Bismarck Archipelago, with an area of 18,000 square miles and a +population of 200,000, is off the north coast of Australia and southwest +of the Philippine Islands. The group was assigned to the German sphere +of influence by an agreement with Great Britain in 1885. German New +Guinea was included in the jurisdiction. + +GERMANS SINK RUSS CRUISER + +On October 11 German submarines in the Baltic torpedoed and sank the +Russian armored cruiser Pallada with all its crew, numbering 568 men. +The Pallada had a displacement of 7,775 tons and was a sister ship of +the Admiral Makarov and Bayan. She was launched in November, 1906, and +had a water-line length of 443 feet; beam, 57 feet; draft of 21-1/ +feet, and a speed of 21 knots. She carried two 8-inch, eight 6-inch, +twenty-two 12-pounders, four 3-pounders, and two torpedo tubes. Seven +inches of Krupp armor protected the vessel amidships and four inches +forward. + +The Pallada was engaged in patrolling the Baltic with the Admiral +Makarov when attacked by the submarines. She opened a strong fire on +them, but was blown up by a torpedo launched by one of the submerged +craft, while the Makarov escaped. + +BRITISH CRUISER HAWKE SUNK + +On October 15th, while the British cruisers Hawke and Theseus were +patrolling the northern waters of the North Sea, they were attacked by a +German submarine. The Hawke, a cruiser of 7,750 tons, commanded by +Capt. H.P.E.T. Williams, was torpedoed and sank in eight minutes. Only +seventy-three of her crew of 400 officers and men were saved. + +BRITISH AVENGE AMPHION'S LOSS + +Capt. Cecil H. Fox, who was in command of the British cruiser Amphion +when she was destroyed by a German mine early in the war, had his +revenge on October 17, when, in command of the cruiser Undaunted, he +sank four German torpedo boat destroyers off the coast of Holland. Only +31 of the combined crews of 400 men were saved and these were taken as +prisoners of war. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +SUBMARINES AND MINES + +_Battleships in Constant Danger from Submerged Craft--Opinions of +Admiral Sir Percy Scott--Construction of Modern Torpedoes--How Mines Are +Laid and Exploded on Contact_. + +Sir Percy Scott, admiral in the British navy, who through his inventions +made possible the advance in marksmanship with heavy guns and increased +the possibilities of hitting at long range and of broadside firing, said +recently that everything he has done to enhance the value of the gun is +rendered useless by the advent of the latest type of submarine, a +vessel which has for its principal weapon the torpedo. Dreadnoughts and +super-dreadnoughts are doomed, because they no longer can be safe at sea +from the submarine nor find safety in harbors. + +"The introduction of vessels that swim under water," he said, "has in my +opinion entirely done away with the utility of the ships that swim on +top of the water. The functions of a war vessel were these: Defensively, +[1] to attack ships that come to bombard our forts, [2] to attack ships +that come to blockade us, [3] to attack ships convoying a landing party, +[4] to attack the enemy's fleet, [5] to attack ships interfering with +our commerce; offensively, [1] to bombard an enemy's ports, [2] to +blockade an enemy, [3] to convoy a landing party, [4] to attack the +enemy's fleet, [5] to attack the enemy's commerce. + +"The submarine renders 1, 2 and 3 impossible, as no man of war will dare +to come even within sight of a coast that is adequately protected by +submarines. The fourth function of a battleship is to attack an enemy's +fleet, but there will be no fleet to attack, as it will not be safe +for a fleet to put to sea. Submarines and aeroplanes have entirely +revolutionized naval warfare; no fleet can hide itself from the +aeroplane's eye, and the submarine can deliver a deadly attack in broad +daylight. + +"In time of war the scouting aeroplanes will always be high above on +the lookout, and the submarines in constant readiness. If an enemy is +sighted the gong sounds and the leash of a flotilla of submarines will +be slipped. Whether it be night or day, fine or rough, they must go out +in search of their quarry; if they find her she is doomed and they give +no quarter; they cannot board her and take her as prize as in the olden +days; they only wait till she sinks, then return home without even +knowing the number of human beings they have sent to the bottom of the +ocean. + +"Not only is the open sea unsafe; a battleship is not immune from attack +even in a closed harbor, for the so-called protecting boom at the +entrance can easily be blown up. With a flotilla of submarines commanded +by dashing young officers, of whom we have plenty, I would undertake to +get through any boom into any harbor and sink or materially damage all +the ships in that harbor." + +A PRACTICAL MAN'S VIEWS + +This is not a mere theorist or dreamer talking, says Burton Roscoe in +commenting on Admiral Scott's statements; it is the one man in England +most supremely versed in naval tactics, the man to whom all nations owe +the present effectiveness of the broadside of eight, twelve and fourteen +inch guns and the perfection in sighting long range guns. + +The newest type of submarine torpedo is 100 per cent efficient. The +torpedo net of steel that used to be the ship's defense against +torpedoes is now useless. The modern torpedoes need only to come in +contact with a surface like the torpedo net or the armor plate of a +battleship to discharge a shell which will burst through a two-inch +armor caisson, rupture the hull of a battleship, and sink it in a few +minutes. + +The torpedo submarines of the modern type have a submerged speed of from +eight to ten knots an hour. Only a small surface, including the bridge +or conning tower, is exposed, thus making it almost impossible to +hit them with the clumsy guns aboard ship. The highest type of submarine +has a submerged tonnage of 812 tons and its length is 176 feet. + +Each submarine carries from one to six torpedoes, each of which is +capable of sinking the most heavily armored vessel afloat. The sighter +in the conning tower moves swiftly, up within range of the vessel he is +attacking and gives the signal for the discharge of the torpedo. The men +aboard the attacked ship have no warning of their impending death except +a thin sheaf of water that follows on the surface in the wake of the +submerged torpedo and which lasts only an instant. + +RUN BY COMPRESSED AIR + +By a compressed air arrangement motive power is furnished the torpedo in +transit for its propellers. A gyroscope keeps it on a plane and upright. +A striker on the nose of the torpedo is released by a fan which revolves +in the water. The nose of the torpedo strikes the side of the battleship +and the compact jars the primer of fulminate of mercury. The high +explosive of gunpowder forces out a shell and exploded with it after the +shell has penetrated the armor. Then the work is done. + +It is generally believed the principal harbors and fortifications in +England are heavily supplied with torpedoes of the new type. It is also +believed that the fortifications about the River Elbe are thus equipped. +If this is a fact the defending nation will be able not only to repulse +any fleet attempting an invasion but also to destroy it. By throwing +across the Straits of Dover, or across the lower end of the North Sea, +a flotilla of its powerful submarines England can prevent any naval +invasion of France or England or Belgium by Germany should the attacking +fleet take this route. + +In the latest type of submarine the United States is deficient. There +are only twenty-nine submarines in the United States naval service at +the present time and only eighteen under construction. + +The old type of torpedo did not have penetrative power [Illustration: +Cross section of Belgian Type of Fortress. The forts at Liege were of +this type and long withstood the battering of the German guns. + +This kind of modern fort was designed by the famous Belgian military +engineer, General Brailmont. The strength of every such work must depend +on the spirit of its garrison, and at Liege and Namur, the Belgian +defenders gave a good account of themselves. These forts are provided +with an elaborate system for repelling attempts to carry the works by +assault and for making a counter-attack. There are land-mines, fired +electrically from the forts, wire entanglements, disappearing guns, and +search-lights to locate and blind an attacking enemy.] + +[Illustration: Construction of Modern Torpedo, Showing All Important +Parts, Including Engine, Propellers, Steering Gear, etc.] sufficient +to sink the modern armor-clad battleship unless it struck under +exceptionally favorable circumstances. A large percentage of the +destructive power was expended on the outside of the hull. Commander +Davis of the United States navy invented the torpedo that carries its +power undiminished into the interior of the vessel. + +CAN CUT TORPEDO NETS + +The new torpedoes are provided with special steel cutters by which they +cut through the strongest steel torpedo net. The torpedo has within it +an eight-inch gun, capable of exploding a shell with a muzzle velocity +of about 1,000 feet a second. The projectile carries a bursting charge +of a high explosive, and this charge is detonated by a delayed-action +fuse. When the torpedo strikes its target, the gun is fired and the +shell strikes the outside plating of the ship. Then the fuse in the +shell's base explodes the charge in the shell, immediately after the +impact. + +With a small fleet of these under-water fighting vessels--say of two +or three--an invading or blockading fleet of not more than twenty +men-of-war can be destroyed within an hour by an otherwise unprotected +harbor or port. + +Germany has a few of these latest style submarines, and if it can rush +the construction of the thirty-one now being built, it will have a +flotilla that will protect its harbor towns against invasion. + +France, also with its fifty submarines and thirty-one under +construction, and its great corps of scouting aeroplanes, will prove a +formidable agent in crippling the activities of Germany's big fleet of +dreadnoughts, armored cruisers and battleships. Russia will need its +twenty-five submarines for coast defense and probably will not send them +out of the Baltic [or out of the Black Sea in the event that Italy is +drawn into the conflict.] + +Undoubtedly, then, the great battles in the present war, on the water +at least, may be decided by these silently moving, dinky sized, almost +imperceptible submarines which carry the ever-destroying torpedoes. And +the loss of lives will be more prodigious than ever. + +SUBMARINE STRENGTH OF THE POWERS + + Built Building. + Great Britain....................... 69 + France.............................. 50 + Russia.............................. 25 + Germany............................. 24 + Italy............................... 18 + Austria............................. 6 + +SUBMERGED MINES--HOW THEY ARE LAID AND THEIR WORKING + +The sinking of the light cruiser Pathfinder of the British navy by a +German mine in the North Sea early in the war called special attention +to the deadly character of the mines of the present day. + +A modern mine-laying ship puts to sea with a row of contact mines on +rails along her side, ready for dropping into the sea. The rails project +over the stern. The essential parts of a special type of mine of recent +design consist of (1) the mine proper, comprising the explosive charge +and detonating apparatus in a spherical case; (2) a square-shaped +anchor chamber, connected with the mine by a length of cable; (3) a +plummet-weight used in placing the mine in position, connected with +the anchor chamber by a rope. Thus the mine appears on the deck of the +mine-laying ship before being lowered over the stern. + +Before the mine goes over, a windlass inside the plummet-sinker is +revolved by hand until the length of cable between the plummet and the +anchor-chamber has been reeled off equivalent to the depth below the +surface at which the explosive mine is to float. + +Then the entire apparatus is hove overboard. The plummet and +anchor-chamber sink, while the spherical mine proper is kept on the +surface for the moment by means of a buoyant air-chamber within. A +windlass in the anchor-chamber now pays out the cable between it and the +mine as the anchor-chamber sinks. On the plummet touching bottom, the +tension in the cable between it and the anchor-chamber is lessened, and +the windlass mentioned stops. The anchor-chamber thereupon sinks to the +bottom, dragging down the spherical mine until that is at the selected +depth ready for its deadly work. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AERO-MILITARY OPERATIONS + +_Aerial Attacks on Cities--Some of the Achievements of the Airmen in +the Great War--Deeds of Heroism and Daring--Zeppelins in Action--Their +Construction and Operation._ + +During the first ten weeks of the war German airmen flew over Paris +several times and dropped bombs that did some damage. Aeroplanes, not +Zeppelins, were used in these attempts to terrorize the capital and +other cities of France. + +The early visits of Zeppelin airships to Antwerp have been described in +a previous chapter. These were continued up to the time of the fall of +Antwerp. While comparatively few lives were lost through the explosion +of the bombs dropped, the recurring attacks served to keep the +inhabitants, if not the Belgian troops, in a state of constant +excitement and fear. When the city fell into German hands, a similar +condition arose in England, where it was feared that Antwerp might be +made the base for German airship attacks on London and other cities of +Great Britain; and all possible precautions were taken against such +attacks. The members of the Royal Flying Corps were kept constantly +on the alert; powerful searchlights swept the sky over London and the +English coast every night and artillery was kept in readiness to repel +an aerial invasion. Such was the condition in the third week of October. + +BRITISH ATTACK ON DUSSELDORF + +A new type of British aeroplane was developed during the war, capable of +rising from the ground at a very sharp angle and of developing a speed +of 150 miles an hour. And in their operations in France and Belgium the +British army aviators proved themselves highly efficient and earned +unstinted praise from Field Marshal Sir John French, in command of the +British forces on the continent. One of their notable exploits was an +attack, October 8, on the Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf and Cologne, in +German territory. The attack was made by Lieut R.S.G. Marix, of the +Naval Flying Corps, in a monoplane, and Squadron Commander Spencer Grey, +with Lieut S.V. Lippe, in a biplane. Flying from Antwerp at a height of +5,000 feet, to escape the almost continuous German fire, Lieut. +Marix succeeded in locating the Zeppelin hangars at Dusseldorf. Then +descending to a height of only 1,000 feet he released two bombs when +directly over them, damaging both hangars and aircraft. A German bullet +passed through Lieut. Marix's cap and the wings of his aeroplane were +pierced in a dozen places, but he succeeded in returning to the burning +city of Antwerp, which he was ordered to leave the same evening. + +During the same raid Commander Spencer Grey flew to Cologne. He was +unable to locate the Zeppelin hangars but dropped two bombs into the +railway station, which was badly damaged. + +A night or two later a German Zeppelin flew over Ghent and dropped a +bomb near the South station. On October 11 two German aviators dropped a +score of bombs on different quarters of Paris, killing three civilians +and injuring fourteen others. The property damage, however, was slight +and the effectiveness of bomb-dropping as a means of destroying a city +or fortifications remained to be proved to the military mind. It was +noted that a large proportion of the bombs dropped by German aviators +failed to explode. + +HEROIC ACTS BY AIRMEN + +Stories of heroism displayed by aviators on both sides of the great +conflict have abounded. One story of the devotion of German airmen, +told to a correspondent by several German officers, he succeeded in +verifying, but was unable to learn the name of the particular hero of +the occurrence. This story was as follows: + +"In one of the battles around Rheims it became necessary to blow up a +bridge which was about to be crossed by advancing French troops coming +to relieve a beleaguered fort. The only way to destroy the bridge was +for an airman to swoop down and drop an exceptionally powerful bomb upon +it. + +"There were twenty-four flyers with that division of the German army. A +volunteer was asked for, it being first announced that the required task +meant sure death to the man undertaking it. + +"Every one of the twenty-four stepped forward without hesitation. Lots +were quickly drawn. The chosen man departed without saying farewell to +any one. Within five minutes the bridge was in ruins and the aeroplane +and its heroic pilot had been blown to pieces. This incident was not +published in the press of Germany, because of the fear that it would +cause terrible anxiety to the wives of all married German flyers." + +A DUEL HIGH IN THE AIR + +An aerial victory for a French aviator, fought thousands of feet in the +air in the presence of troops of both armies, was reported by Lieutenant +de Laine of the French aerial corps on October 10. The air duel was one +of the most thrilling since the war began. Lieutenant de Laine's account +of the combat was as follows: + +"I had been ordered to fly over the German lines with an observer +who was to drop pamphlets. These pamphlets contained the following +inscription: + +"'German soldiers, attention! German officers say that the French +maltreat prisoners. This is a lie. German prisoners are as well treated +as unfortunate adversaries should be.' + +"We had no sooner taken wing than the aeroplane was sighted by German +observers in captive balloons anchored about six miles distant. +Immediately two Albatross machines rose from the German camp and came +forward. + +"We continued to advance, meanwhile sending the aeroplane higher and +higher until the barograph showed we were 6,000 feet above the +ground. Our machine was speedier than the German Aeroplane, which was +constructed of steel and was so heavy it could not work up the speed of +the French army monoplane. + +"We were able to get over the German lines and my companion began +hurling thousands of the pamphlets in every direction. It was like a +snowstorm. + +"In the meantime, the German artillery got their long range air guns in +action and were hurling volley after volley against us. The shells were +of special type, designed to create violent air waves when they burst. +We were too high to be reached, but we had to turn our attention to the +two aeroplanes which were rushing toward us. + +"As they approached the German artillery fire stopped. We were too high +to distinguish what was going on beneath us, but I could imagine the +thousands of soldiers staring skyward in wonder at the strange spectacle +above them. + +"We kept swinging in wide circles over the German lines and I kept +getting higher and higher in order to outmaneuver the German plane and +to prevent it from getting above us so that bombs could be thrown at us. + +"The machines were all equipped with rapid-fire guns, and when we got +within 100 yards of each other, both sides opened fire. The bullets went +wide. Finally we began to swing backward, getting lower and lower. One +of the German machines was thus lured over the French lines and our +land artillery opened against it. One of its wings was shattered and it +dropped, but the other aeroplane escaped." + +HOW A GERMAN AVIATOR ESCAPED + +How a German aviator in Belgium secured control of a falling aeroplane +after his companion had been killed is described in a thrilling letter +received by his father in Berlin September 30. It reads: + +"Dear Father: I am lying here in a beautiful Belgian castle slowly +recovering from wounds I thought would kill me. On August 22 I made a +flight with Lieutenant J., a splendid aviator; established the fact that +the enemy was advancing toward us. In the region of Bertrix we came into +heavy rainclouds and had to descend to 3,000 feet. As we came through +the clouds we were seen and an entire French division began shooting at +us. + +"Lieutenant J. was hit in the abdomen. Our motor was put out of +commission. We were trying to volplane across a forest in the distance +when suddenly I felt the machine give a jump. I turned around--as I was +sitting in front--and found that a second bullet had hit Lieutenant J. +in the head and killed him. + +"I leaned over the back of the seat and managed to reach the steering +apparatus and headed down. A hail of shots whistled about me. I felt +something hit me in the forehead. Blood ran into my eyes. I was faint. +But will prevailed and I retained consciousness. Just as we were near +the ground a gust of wind hit the plane and turned my machine over. +I fell in the midst of the enemy with my dead companion. The 'red +trousers' were coming from all directions and I drew my pistol and shot +three of them. I felt a bayonet at my breast and gave myself up for dead +when an officer shouted: "'Let him live! He is a brave soldier.' + +"I was taken to the commanding general of the Seventeenth French army +corps, who questioned me, but, of course, got no information. He said I +would later be sent to Paris, but as I was weak from loss of blood and +seriously wounded I was taken into their field hospital and cared for. +The officers were very nice to me and when the French fell back I took +advantage of the confusion to crawl under a bush, where I remained until +our troops came." + +Many occurrences of a similarly thrilling character have been related +in the camps of the contending armies. The above suffice to show the +patriotic devotion and heroism of the military forces of the air, which +for the first time in history have been a prominent feature of warfare +in 1914. + +ZEPPELINS IN ACTION + +The real story of the performances of air-craft in the has not been +told, but there has been enough to give the world a terrifying glimpse +of these modern weapons. + +The three attacks on Antwerp by a Zeppelin airship brought into action +the long predicted onslaught by forces of the air against the ground. +After one of the great German dirigibles had been brought down by +gunfire because it was accidentally guided too near the earth, another +returned over the city, and the havoc wrought by this single craft +realizes the horrors that would follow any concerted attack by a fleet +of the aerial destroyers if they were launched against a city. + +The Zeppelin is an impressive thing because of its size, cigar-shaped +and ranging from 300 to over 500 feet in length, driven at a rate of +miles an hour by four propellers and carrying a huge car. It is most +valuable for use at night, of course, but has proved it is capable of +doing its deadly work out of range of ordinary gunfire at day. Artillery +has been invented which can reach airships flying at 5,000 feet, but +there is not much of it. The half dozen German Zeppelins which have been +destroyed by French and Russian fire met their fate chiefly because they +got too near the ground. + +Refugees from Belgium describe the method used by Zeppelins in dropping +bombs. The dirigible is kept as much as possible out of range of the +enemy's guns while it lowers a steel cage, attached to a steel rope, +200 or 300 feet long. The cage carries a man who throws down the bombs. +Because of the small size of the cage and the fact that it is kept +constantly in motion it is difficult for heavy guns to hit it. The great +airship remains perfectly stable while the missiles, of which there are +a variety for different missions, are being hurled. All the military +Zeppelins of Germany are armed and there are a large number of unarmed +dirigibles in reserve. + +It is estimated that there are 100 aeroplanes with the British forces +on the continent. The French army has hundreds of aeroplanes of +various kinds. Germany's fleet of flying machines has been in action +continuously and the aviators have proved a big aid in scouting as well +as in dropping bombs and grenades on the enemy. + +The newest French aeroplanes are said to be equipped with boxes filled +with thousands of "steel arrows." + +These "arrows" are really steel bolts four inches long. When the aviator +sails over the enemy he opens trapdoors of the "arrow" boxes with a +simple device and lets showers of bolts fall on the men below. One of +the "arrows" dropped 2,000 feet will go through a German helmet and a +soldier's head. A shower of them would prove effective against a massed +enemy. + +On August 10 the correspondent of the London Times in Brussels, +describing the fighting at Liege, said aerial fleets were used by both +Belgians and Germans. The fighting in midair was desultory but deadly. A +huge Zeppelin sailed over Liege during the early fighting. The fighting +in midair was desultory but deadly. A huge Zeppelin sailed over Liege +during the early fighting, but was pursued by a Belgian aeroplanist, who +risked and lost his life in destroying it. + +[Illustration: THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF SOME OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONS IN +AEROPLANES AND DIRIGIBLES. +--Aero and Hydro, Chicago] + +After the destruction of this Zeppelin the Germans confined their aerial +activity to the use of scouting aeroplanes, several of which were +destroyed by shots from the forts. Attempts to reach the aeroplanes with +shells were often unsuccessful, however, owing to the inability to shoot +high enough. + +AVIATION CAMPS IN EUROPE + +In the early days of the great war only an occasional flash of news was +received about the French and Russian aero-military operations or those +of the German corps along the Russian and French frontiers. It was +difficult to imagine that they were idle, for the German-Russian and +the French-German frontiers had been the locations of many military +aeronautical camps or fortresses. These were described at the outbreak +of hostilities as follows: + +"Along the German frontier facing Russia are the important aero centers +of Thorn and Graudenz, while the nearest aero base in Russia is at Riga, +farther north. + +"Against German invasion there are French centers at Verdun, Nancy, +Luneville and Belfort. The most important is at Belfort. Sixty miles +from the Belgian frontier and 170 miles from Liege is the great center +at Rheims, with the even more important base at Chalons-sur-Marne only +twenty-five miles distant. + +"Seventy-five to 100 miles is the scouting range of the military +aeroplanes, while the dirigibles will scout 500 to 1,000 miles from the +base, according to the duration efficiency. The Zeppelins might, taking +some risk, travel even farther. With this taken into consideration, +the fact that there are only two German aero centers on the French +frontier--Aix-la-Chapelle and Metz--is not very significant. The range +of the Vosges occupies the territory where there is no aero center. + +"Back of the mountains, along the Rhone from Dusseldorf to Strasbourg, +there are a dozen aero stations, some of them devoted to aeroplanes and +dirigibles, others to dirigibles alone. + +"The latest data show that Germany has sixty stations, including private +dirigible hangars, while France has thirty, in most cases of greater +extent than those in Germany, Russia, eight months ago, had ten, but it +is believed that this number has been increased twofold since that time. + +[Illustration: HOW GERMAN EMPIRE IS FORTIFIED AGAINST AERIAL ATTACKS. +CENTERS FROM WHICH KAISER WILLIAM'S DIRIGIBLE AND AEROPLANE FLEETS +OPERATE. ONLY THOSE CITIES THAT HAVE AERODROMES ARE SHOWN ON THIS MAP. +SEVERAL BELGIAN AND FRENCH AERODROMES ALSO ARE SHOWN.] + +"The two principal Belgian centers are at Brasschaet, near Antwerp, +and Etterbeck, near Brussels. The aviators operating in the early +engagements have undoubtedly flown down from Brussels and are in +temporary camp at Liege. There are probably not more than four Belgian +escadrilles, or little fleets of four machines each, on the scene, while +Germany's force is supposedly greater." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BATTLE OF THE AISNE + +_Most Prolonged Encounter in History Between Gigantic Forces--A +Far-Flung Battle Line--Germans Face French and British in the Aisne +Valley and Fight for Weeks--Mighty Armies Deadlocked After a Desperate +and Bloody Struggle_. + +For a few days after the tide of battle in France turned in favor of +the Allies (September 9), the German forces continued to retreat to the +north, closely followed by the French and British armies that had fought +and won the battle of the Marne, as described in a previous chapter. +This northward movement was marked by heavy German losses in men and +munitions of war, and lasted until Saturday, September 12, when the +Germans were found to be occupying a position of great defensive +strength on the River Aisne, north of Soissons. At that time they held +both sides of the river and had a formidable line of intrenchments on +the hills to the north of eight road bridges and two railway bridges +crossing the Aisne. Seven of the road bridges and both the railway +bridges had been destroyed. + +The Allies gained some high ground south of the Aisne, overlooking the +Aisne valley, east of Soissons. Then began (on Saturday, September 12) +an action along the Aisne which was destined to go down in history as +the greatest and most prolonged battle of all time. Two days, three +days, a week, two weeks, three, four, five weeks it lasted, with varying +fortune to the contending armies, but no decisive result. Germans, +French and British, literally by the thousand, fell under the continuous +hail of shrapnel, the hurricane of machine-gun and rifle fire, or in +the desperate bayonet charges of daily occurrence, but still the battle +raged. Minor positions were gained and lost, towns and villages along +the far-flung battle line were occupied and evacuated, countless deeds +of heroism were wrought, to be sung and celebrated by posterity in a +dozen different lands--but the lines on both sides held and victory +refused to perch on any banner. + +Modern scientific strategy exhausted its utmost efforts; flanking and +turning movements were planned, attempted and failed; huge masses of +men were hurled against each other in every formation known to military +skill; myriads of lives and millions of money were sacrificed in +historic endeavors to breach the enemy's front--but ever the foeman held +his ground and neither side could claim decided advantage. Intrenchments +such as the world has never seen before covered the countryside for +fifty miles. Teuton, Gaul and Anglo-Saxon, Turco and Hindu, literally +"dug themselves in," and refused to budge an inch, though hell itself, +in all its horror and its fury, was loosed against them. + +And thus the battle of the Aisne--also aptly called, from its extent and +ramifications, the battle of the Rivers--continued through many weeks +while all the world wondered and stood aghast at the slaughter, and the +single gleam of brightness that came out of that maelstrom of death and +misery was the growing respect of Frenchman, German and Briton for the +individual and collective courage of each other and the death-defying +devotion that was daily displayed by all. + +FIGHTING CONTINUOUS DAY AND NIGHT + +Beginning as an artillery duel in which the field-guns of the French and +Germans were matched against each other from opposite heights as never +before, the battle of the Aisne soon resolved itself into a series of +daily actions in which every arm of the opposing hosts engaged. There +was little rest for the troops day or night. Artillery fire beginning at +daybreak and continuing till dusk might break out again at any hour +of the night, the range of the enemy's intrenchments being known. +Frequently the artillery seemed to open fire in the still watches of the +night for no other reason than to prevent the enemy in his trenches from +getting any sleep at all, and many a man was borne to the rear on both +sides suffering from no wound, but from utter exhaustion--a state of +collapse which is often as deadly as shrapnel to the soldier in the +field. + +For weeks at a time the only real rest for many of the troops engaged +along the line of battle came in snatches of a few hours when they were +temporarily relieved by fresh troops brought up from the rear, and +these in their turn might be soon exhausted by the continuous strain of +keeping on the alert to repel attacks--or, as frequently happened, their +ranks might be decimated, or worse, when they were ordered to a charge. +Officers and men suffered alike from the strenuous nature of the demands +made upon them--and so far as actual casualties are concerned the battle +was one in which officers of all ranks, in all the armies, suffered +perhaps more severely, in proportion to the number engaged, than in any +previous battle. Hundreds of British officers, for example, were among +the victims whose bones lie rotting in the valley of the Aisne, as whole +pages of their portraits in the London journals, bearing many of the +best known names in the British Empire, testified in mute protest +against the horrors of war. And both Germany and France have a similar +"roll of honor." + +REPORTS OF THE BATTLE + +While the great battle of the Rivers was in progress the most connected +stories of its daily developments came through the British official news +bureau, and these are reproduced in part in the pages that follow. The +author of these reports is believed to be Colonel Swinton, of Field +Marshal French's staff, who is generally credited with having +contributed to the literature of the war some of the most interesting +and enlightening accounts of the operations of the British and French +armies in the field. And these reports are given here, because of their +general character of apparent truth and fairness, and in the absence of +any similar reports from the other side. + +OPENING OF THE GREAT BATTLE + +The following report from the British headquarters covers the period +when the Allies' forward movement was halted along the Aisne and also +describes the terrain, or country, in which the subsequent fighting +occurred: + +"From Thursday, September 10, the British army made [Illustration: In +the above view the Rivers Marne, Ourcq, Aisne, Oise, and Meuse are +clearly shown, exaggerated in size for convenience of reference. The +position of the Allies September 20, 1914, is shown by a black dotted +line running from between Amiens and Peronne to Verdun and Nancy. The +German front is indicated by the shaded sections, which also show the +German lines of communication or retreat, numbered from 1 to 7. At this +time the Allies were pushing north to Arras, endeavoring to turn the +German right flank in common of General von Kluck.] steady progress in +its endeavor to drive back the enemy in co-operation with the French. +The country across which it had to force its way, and will have to +continue to do so, is undulating and covered with patches of thick wood. + +"Within the area which faced the British before the advance commenced, +right up to Laon, the chief feature of tactical importance is the fact +that there are six rivers running across the direction of the advance, +at all of which it was possible that the Germans might make resistance. +These rivers are, in order from the south, the Marne, Ourcq, Vesle, +Aisne, Ailette and Oise. + +"The Germans held the line of the Marne, which was crossed by our forces +on September 9, as a purely rearguard operation. Our passage of the +Ourcq was not contested. The Vesle was only lightly held, while +resistance along the Aisne, both against the French and the British, has +been and still is of a determined character. + +"On Friday, September 11, but little opposition was met with along any +part of our front, and the direction of the advance was, for the purpose +of co-operating with our allies, turned slightly to the northeast. +The day was spent in rushing forward and gathering in various hostile +detachments. By nightfall our forces had reached a line north of the +Ourcq, extending from Oulchy-le-Chateau to Longpont. + +"On this day there was also a general advance of the French along their +whole line, which ended in a substantial success, in one portion of the +field Duke Albrecht of Wuerttemburg's army being driven back across the +Saulx, and elsewhere the whole of the artillery of a German corps being +captured. Several German colors also were taken. + +"It was only on this day that the full extent of the victory gained by +the Allies on September 8 [at the Marne] was appreciated by them, and +the moral effect of this success has been enormous. An order dated +September 6 and 7, issued by the commander of the German Seventh Corps, +was picked up. It stated that the great object of the war was about to +be attained, since the French were going to accept battle, and that upon +the result of this battle would depend the issue of the war and the +honor of the German armies. + +"On Saturday, the 12th, the enemy were found to be occupying a very +formidable position opposite us on the north of the line at Soissons. +Working from the west to the east, our Third Army Corps gained some high +ground south of the Aisne overlooking the Aisne valley, to the east of +Soissons. Here a long-range artillery duel between our guns and those of +the French on our left and the enemy's artillery on the hills continued +during the greater part of the day, and did not cease until nearly +midnight. The enemy had a very large number of heavy howitzers in +well-concealed positions. + +"At Braisne the First cavalry division met with considerable opposition +from infantry and machine-guns holding the town and guarding the bridge. +With the aid of some of our infantry it gained possession of the town +about midday, driving the enemy to the north. Some hundred prisoners +were captured around Braisne, where the Germans had thrown a large +amount of field-gun ammunition into the river, where it was visible +under two feet of water. + +FATEFUL ENCOUNTER BEGINS + +"On our right the French reached the line of the River Vesle. On this +day began an action along the Aisne which is not yet finished, and which +may be merely of a rearguard nature on a large scale, or may be the +commencement of a battle of a more serious nature. + +"It rained heavily on Saturday afternoon and all through the night, +which severely handicapped transport. + +"On Sunday, the 13th, extremely strong resistance was encountered by the +whole of our front, which was some fifteen miles in length. The action +still consisted for the most part of a long-range gunfire, that of the +Germans being to a great extent from their heavy howitzers, which were +firing from cleverly concealed positions. Some of the actual crossings +of the Aisne were guarded by strong detachments of infantry with +machine-guns. + +"By nightfall portions of all our three army corps were across the +river, the cavalry returning to the south side. By early next morning, +three pontoon bridges had been built, and our troops also managed to +get across the river by means of the bridge carrying the canal over the +river. + +"On our left the French pressed on, but were prevented by artillery fire +from building a pontoon bridge at Soissons. A large number of infantry, +however, crossed in single file the top girder of the railway bridge +left standing. + +"During the last three or four days many isolated parties of Germans +have been discovered hiding in the numerous woods a long way behind our +line. As a rule they seemed glad to surrender, and the condition of some +of them may be gathered from the following incident: + +"An officer proceeding along the road in charge of a number of led +horses received information that there were some of the enemy in the +neighborhood. He gave the order to charge, whereupon three German +officers and 106 men surrendered. + +RHEIMS OCCUPIED BY GERMANS + +"Rheims was occupied by the enemy on September 3. It was reoccupied by +the French after considerable fighting on September 13. + +"On the 12th, a proclamation, a copy of which is in the possession of +the British army, was posted all over the town. A literal translation of +this poster follows: + +"'PROCLAMATION--In the event of an action being fought early today or in +the immediate future in the neighborhood of Rheims, the inhabitants are +warned that they must remain absolutely calm and must in no way try +to take part in the fighting. They must not attempt to attack either +isolated soldiers or detachments of the German army. The erection of +barricades, the taking up of paving stones in the streets in a way +to hinder the movement of troops, or, in a word, any action that may +embarrass the German army, is formally forbidden. + +"'With an idea to securing adequately the safety of the troops and to +instill calm into the population of Rheims, the persons named below have +been seized as hostages by the commander-in-chief of the German army. +These hostages will be hanged at the slightest attempt at disorder. +Also, the town will be totally or partially burned and the inhabitants +will be hanged for any infraction of the above. + +"'By order of the German authorities. (Signed) "'THE MAYOR.' + +"Here followed the names of eighty-one of the principal inhabitants of +Rheims, with their addresses, including four priests, and ending with +the words, 'And some others.'" + +HOW THE BATTLE DEVELOPED + +The following descriptive report from Field Marshal Sir John French's +headquarters was issued September 22: + +"At the date of the last narrative, September 14, the Germans were +making a determined resistance along the River Aisne. The opposition has +proved to be more serious than was anticipated. + +"The action now being fought by the Germans along their line is +naturally on a scale which, as to extent of ground covered and duration +of resistance, makes it undistinguishable in its progress from what is +known as a 'pitched battle.' + +"So far as we are concerned, the action still being contested is the +battle of the Aisne. The foe we are fighting is just across that river, +along the whole of our front to the east and west. The struggle is not +confined to the valley of that river, though it will probably bear its +name. + +"On Monday, the 14th, those of our troops which had on the previous +day crossed the Aisne, after driving in the German rearguards on that +evening, found portions of the enemy's forces in prepared defensive +positions on the right bank and could do little more than secure a +footing north of the river. This, however, they maintained in spite of +two counter-attacks delivered at dusk and 10 p.m., in which the fighting +was severe. + +"During the 14th strong reinforcements of our troops were passed to the +north bank, the troops crossing by ferry, by pontoon bridges, and by the +remains of permanent bridges. Close co-operation with the French forces +was maintained and the general progress made was good, although the +opposition was vigorous and the state of the roads, after the heavy +rain, made movements slow. + +FIRST CORPS MAKES CAPTURE + +"One division alone failed to secure the ground it expected to. The +First Army Corps, after repulsing repeated attacks, captured +prisoners and twelve guns. The cavalry also took a number of prisoners. + +"There was a heavy rain throughout the night of September 14th, +and during the 15th the situation of the British forces underwent no +essential change. But it became more and more evident that the defensive +preparations made by the enemy were more extensive than was at first +apparent. The Germans bombarded our lines nearly all day, using heavy +guns brought, no doubt, from before Maubeuge as well as those with the +corps. + +"All the German counter-attacks, however, failed, although in some +places they were repeated six times. One made on the Fourth Guards +Brigade was repulsed with heavy slaughter. + +"Further counter-attacks made during the night were beaten off. Rain +came on towards evening and continued intermittently until 9 _a.m_., on +the 16th. Besides adding to the discomfort of the soldiers holding +the line, the wet weather to some extent hampered the motor transport +service, which was also hindered by broken bridges. + +"On Wednesday, the 16th, there was little change in the situation +opposite the British; the efforts made by the enemy were less active +than on the previous day, though their bombardment continued throughout +the morning and evening. + +"On Thursday, the 17th, the situation still remained unchanged in its +essentials. The German heavy artillery fire was more active than on the +previous day. The only infantry attacks made by the enemy were on the +extreme right of our position, and, as had happened before, they +were repulsed with heavy loss, chiefly on this occasion by our field +artillery. + +NATURE OF THE FIGHTING + +"In order to convey some idea of the nature of the fighting it may be +said that along the greater part of our front the Germans have been +driven back from the forward slopes on the north of the river. Their +infantry are holding strong lines of trenches amongst and along the +edges of the numerous woods which crown the slopes. These trenches are +elaborately constructed and cleverly concealed. In many places there are +wire entanglements and lengths of rabbit fencing. + +"Both woods and open are carefully aligned, so that they can be swept by +rifle fire and machine-guns, which are invisible from our side of the +valley. The ground in front of the infantry is also, as a rule, under +cross fire from the field artillery placed on neighboring heights, and +under high angle fire from pieces placed well back behind the woods on +top of the plateau. + +"A feature of this action, as of the previous fighting, is the use by +the enemy of numerous heavy howitzers, with which they are able to +direct long range fire all over the valley and right across it. Upon +these they evidently place great reliance. + +"Where our men are holding the forward edges of the high ground on the +north side they are now strongly intrenched. They are well fed, and in +spite of the wet weather of the last week are cheerful and confident. + +HEAVY BOMBARDMENT BY BOTH SIDES + +"The bombardment by both sides has been heavy, and on Sunday, Monday, +and Tuesday was practically continuous. Nevertheless, in spite of the +general din caused by the reports of the immense number of heavy guns +in action along our front on Wednesday, the arrival of the French force +acting against the German right flank was at once announced on the +east of our front some miles away by the continuous roar of their +quick-firing artillery, with which the attack was opened. + +"So far as the British are concerned, the greater part of this week has +been passed in bombardment, in gaining ground by degrees, and in beating +back severe counter-attacks with heavy slaughter. Our casualties have +been severe, but it is probable that those of the enemy are heavier. + +"The rain has caused a great drop in the temperature and there is more +than a distant feeling of autumn in the air. + +"On our right and left the French have been fighting fiercely and have +been gradually gaining ground. One village already has been captured and +recaptured twice by each side and at the time of writing remains in the +hands of the Germans. + +"The fighting has been at close quarters and of the most desperate +nature, and the streets of the village are filled with dead of both +sides. + +CHEERING MESSAGE TO THE FRENCH + +"As an example of the spirit which is inspiring our allies the following +translation of an _Ordre du Jour_ (order of the day), published on +September 9, after the battle of Montmirail, by the commander of the +French Fifth Army, is given: + +"'Soldiers: Upon the memorable fields of Montmirail, of Vauchamps, +of Champaubert, which a century ago witnessed the victories of our +ancestors over Bluecher's Prussians, your vigorous offensive has +triumphed over the resistance of the Germans. Held on his flanks, his +center broken, the enemy now is retreating towards the east and north +by forced marches. The most renowned army corps of old Prussia, the +contingents of Westphalia, of Hanover, of Brandenburg, have retired in +haste before you. + +"'This first success is no more than the prelude. The enemy is shaken +but not yet decisively beaten. You have still to undergo severe +hardships, to make long marches, to fight hard battles. May the image of +our country, soiled by barbarians, always remain before your eyes! Never +was it more necessary to sacrifice all for her. + +"'Saluting the heroes who have fallen in the fighting of the last few +days, my thoughts turn toward you, the victors in the last battle. +Forward, soldiers, for France!' + +LETTER FROM A GERMAN SOLDIER + +"So many letters and statements of our wounded soldiers have been +published in our newspapers that the following epistle from a German +soldier of the Seventy-fourth Infantry regiment, Tenth Corps, to his +wife also may be of interest: + +"'My Dear Wife: I have just been living through days that defy +imagination. I should never have thought that men could stand it. Not a +second has passed but my life has been in danger, and yet not a hair of +my head has been hurt. + +"'It was horrible; it was ghastly, but I have been saved for you and +for our happiness, and I take heart again, although I am still terribly +unnerved. God grant that I may see you again soon and that this horror +may soon be over. + +"'None of us can do any more; human strength is at an end. I will try to +tell you about it. On September 5 the enemy were reported to be taking +up a position near St. Prix, southeast of Paris. The Tenth Corps, which +had made an astonishingly rapid advance of course, was attacked on +Sunday. + +"'Steep slopes led up to the heights, which were held in considerable +force. With our weak detachments of the Seventy-fourth and Ninety-first +regiments we reached the crest and came under a terrible artillery fire +that mowed us down. However, we entered St. Prix. Hardly had we done +so than we were met with shell fire and a violent fusillade from the +enemy's infantry. Our colonel was badly wounded--he is the third we have +had. Fourteen men were killed around me. We got away in a lull without +my being hit. + +"'The 7th, 8th, and 9th of September we were constantly under shell and +shrapnel fire and suffered terrible losses. I was in a house which was +hit several times. The fear of death, of agony, which is in every man's +heart, and naturally so, is a terrible feeling. How often I have thought +of you, my darling, and what I suffered in that terrifying battle +which extended along a front of many miles near Montmirail, you cannot +possibly imagine. + +"'Our heavy artillery was being used for the siege of Maubeuge. We +wanted it badly, as the enemy had theirs in force and kept up a furious +bombardment. For four days I was under artillery fire. It was like hell, +but a thousand times worse. + +"'On the night of the 9th the order was given to retreat, as it would +have been madness to attempt to hold our position with our few men, and +we should have risked a terrible defeat the next day. The first and +third armies had not been able to attack with us, as we had advanced +too rapidly. Our morale was absolutely broken; in spite of unheard-of +sacrifices we had achieved nothing. + +"'I cannot understand how our army, after fighting three great battles +and being terribly weakened, was sent against a position which the enemy +had prepared for three weeks, but, naturally, I know nothing of the +intentions of our chiefs; they say nothing has been lost. + +"'In a word, we retired towards Cormontreuil and Rheims by forced +marches by day and night. We hear that three armies are going to get +into line, intrench and rest, and then start afresh our victorious +march on Paris. It was not a defeat, only a strategic retreat. I have +confidence in our chiefs that everything will be successful. + +"'Our first battalion, which has fought with unparalleled bravery, is +reduced from 1,200 to 194 men. These numbers speak for themselves.'" + +EVENTS FROM SEPTEMBER 21 TO + +The next report from the official chronicler at the front, dated +September 24, was in part as follows: + +"The enemy is still maintaining himself along the whole front, and in +order to do so is throwing into the fight detachments composed of units +from the different formations, the active army, reserve, and landwehr, +as is shown by the uniforms of prisoners recently captured. + +"Our progress, although slow on account of the strength of the defensive +positions against which we are pressing, has in certain directions been +continuous, but the present battle may well last for some days more +before a decision is reached, since it now approximates nearly to siege +warfare. + +"The nature of the general situation after the operations of the 18th, +19th, and 20th, cannot better be summarized than as expressed recently +by a neighboring French commander to his corps: 'Having repulsed +repeated and violent counterattacks made by the enemy, we have a feeling +that we have been victorious.' + +"So far as the British are concerned, the course of events during these +three days can be described in a few words. During Friday, the 18th, +artillery fire was kept up intermittently by both sides during daylight. +At night the Germans counter-attacked certain portions of our line, +supporting the advance of their infantry as always by a heavy +bombardment. But the strokes were not delivered with great vigor and +ceased about 2 _a.m_. During the day's fighting an aircraft gun of the +Third Army Corps succeeded in bringing down a German aeroplane. + +ARTILLERY FIRE BECOMES MONOTONOUS + +"On Saturday, the 19th, the bombardment was resumed by the Germans at an +early hour and continued intermittently under reply from our guns, which +is a matter of normal routine rather than an event. + +"Another hostile aeroplane was brought down by us, and one of our +aviators succeeded in dropping several bombs over the German line, one +incendiary bomb falling with considerable effect on a transport park +near LaFere. + +"A buried store of the enemy's munitions of war also was found not far +from the Aisne, ten wagonloads of live shells and two wagons of cable +being dug up. Traces were discovered of large quantities of stores +having been burned--all tending to show that as far back as the Aisne +the German retirement was hurried. + +"On Sunday, the 20th, nothing of importance occurred until the +afternoon, when there was an interval of feeble sunshine, which was +hardly powerful enough to warm the soaking troops. The Germans took +advantage of this brief spell of fine weather to make several attacks +against different points. These were all repulsed with loss to the +enemy, but the casualties incurred by us were by no means light. + +"The offensive against one or two points was renewed at dusk, with no +greater success. The brunt of the resistance naturally has fallen on the +infantry. In spite of the fact that they have been drenched to the skin +for some days and their trenches have been deep in mud and water, and +in spite of the incessant night alarms and the almost continuous +bombardment to which they have been subjected, they have on every +occasion been ready for the enemy's infantry when the latter attempted +to assault. Indeed, the sight of the troops coming up has been a +positive relief after long, trying hours of inaction under shell fire. + +OBJECT OF GERMAN ATTACKS + +"The object of the great proportion of artillery the Germans employ is +to beat down the resistance of their enemy by concentrated and prolonged +fire--to shatter their nerve with high explosives before the infantry +attack is launched. They seem to have relied on doing this with us, +but they have not done so, though it has taken them several costly +experiments to discover this fact. + +"From statements of prisoners, it appears that they have been greatly +disappointed by the moral effect produced by their heavy guns, which, +despite the actual losses inflicted, has not been at all commensurate +with the colossal expenditure of ammunition which has really been +wasted. + +"By this it is not implied that their artillery fire is not good. It is +more than good--it is excellent. But the British soldier is a difficult +person to impress or depress, even by immense shells filled with a high +explosive, which detonate with terrific violence and form craters large +enough to act as graves for five horses. + +"The German howitzer shells are from eight to nine inches in calibre, +and on impact they send up columns of greasy black smoke. On account of +this they are irreverently dubbed 'coal boxes,' 'Black Marias,' or 'Jack +Johnsons' by the soldiers. + +"Men who take things in this spirit are, it seems, likely to throw out +the calculations based on loss of morale so carefully framed by the +German military philosophers. + +"The German losses in officers are stated by our prisoners to have been +especially severe. A brigade is stated to be commanded by a major; some +companies of foot guards by one-year volunteers; while after the battle +of Montmirail one regiment lost fifty-five out of sixty officers. + +LETTER FOUND ON GERMAN OFFICER + +"The following letter, which refers to the fighting on the Aisne and was +found on a German officer of the Seventh Reserve Corps, has been printed +and circulated to the troops: + +"'Cerny, South of Paris, Sept 17.--My Dear Parents:--Our corps has the +task of holding the heights south of Cerny in all circumstances till the +Fourteenth Corps on our left flank can grip the enemy's flank. On +our right are other corps. We are fighting with the English guards, +Highlanders and Zouaves. The losses on both sides have been enormous. +For the most part this is due to the too-brilliant French artillery. + +"'The English are marvelously trained in making use of ground. One never +sees them and one is constantly under fire. The French airmen perform +wonderful feats. We cannot get rid of them. As soon as an airman has +flown over us, ten minutes later we get shrapnel fire in our position. +We have little artillery in our corps; without it we cannot get forward. + +"'Three days ago our division took possession of these heights and dug +itself in. Two days ago, early in the morning, we were attacked by +immensely superior English forces--one brigade and two battalions--and +were turned out of our positions. The fellows took five guns from us. It +was a tremendous hand-to-hand fight. + +"'How I escaped myself I am not clear. I then had to bring up support on +foot. My horse was wounded and the others were too far in the rear. Then +came up the Guard Jager Battalion, Fourth Jager, Sixth Regiment, Reserve +Regiment Thirteen, and Landwehr Regiments Thirteen and Sixteen, and, +with the help of the artillery, we drove the fellows out of the position +again. Our machine-guns did excellent work; the English fell in heaps. + +"'In our battalion three iron crosses have been given. Let us hope that +we shall be the lucky ones the next time. + +"'During the first two days of the battle I had only one piece of bread +and no water. I spent the night in the rain without my greatcoat. The +rest of my kit was on the horses, which have been left miles behind with +the baggage and which cannot come up into the battle because as soon as +you put your nose up from behind cover the bullets whistle. + +"'War is terrible! We are all hoping that a decisive battle will end the +war. Our troops already have got round Paris. If we beat the English the +French resistance will soon be broken. Russia will be very quickly dealt +with; of this there is no doubt. + +"'We have received splendid help from the Austrian heavy artillery at +Maubeuge. They bombarded Fort Cerfontaine in such a way that there was +not ten meters of parapet which did not show enormous craters made by +the shells. The armored turrets were found upside down. + +"'Yesterday evening about 6, in the valley in which our reserves stood, +there was such a terrible cannonade that we saw nothing of the sky but a +cloud of smoke. We had few casualties.' + +TELEPHONE AN AID TO SPIES + +"Espionage is carried on by the enemy to a considerable extent. Recently +the suspicions of some of the French troops were aroused by coming +across a farm from which the horses had been removed. After some search +they discovered a telephone which was connected by an underground cable +with the German lines, and the owner of the farm paid the penalty in +the usual way in war for his treachery. "After some cases of village +fighting, which occurred earlier in the war, it was reported by some +of our officers that the Germans had attempted to approach to close +quarters by forcing prisoners to march in front of them. The Germans +have recently repeated the same trick on a larger scale against the +French, as is shown by the copy of an order issued by the French +officials. It is therein referred to as a ruse, but if that term can be +accepted, it is a distinctly illegal ruse. + +REFERS TO RHEIMS CATHEDRAL + +"Full details of the actual damage done to the cathedral at Rheims will +doubtless have been cabled, so that no description of it is necessary. +The Germans bombarded the cathedral twice with their heavy artillery. + +"One reason it caught fire so quickly was that on one side of it was +some scaffolding which had been erected for restoration work. Straw had +also been laid on the floor for the reception of German wounded. It is +to the credit of the French that practically all the German wounded were +successfully extricated from the burning building. + +"There was no justification on military grounds for this act of +vandalism, which seems to have been caused by exasperation born of +failure--a sign of impotence rather than of strength." + +FIVE MORE DAYS OF BATTLE + +On September 29 Field Marshal French's headquarters reported as follows: + +"The general situation as viewed on the map remains practically the same +as that described in the last letter, and the task of the army has not +changed. It is to maintain itself until there is a general resumption of +the offensive. + +"No ground has been lost. Some has been gained, and every counter-attack +has been repulsed--in certain instances with very severe losses to the +enemy. + +"Of recent events an actual narrative will be carried on from the 25th +to 29th, inclusive. During the whole of this period the weather has +remained fine. + +"On Friday, the 25th, comparative quiet reigned in our sphere of action. +The only incident worthy of special mention was the passage of a German +aeroplane over the interior of our lines. It was flying high, but drew a +general fusillade from below, with the result that the pilot was killed +outright and the observer was wounded. The latter was captured by the +French. + +"That night a general attack was made against the greater part of the +Allies' position, and it was renewed in the early morning of Saturday, +the 26th. The Germans were everywhere repulsed with loss. Indeed, +opposite one portion of our lines, where they were caught in mass by our +machine-guns and howitzers firing at different ranges, it is estimated +that they left 1,000 killed or wounded. + +"The mental attitude of our troops may be gauged from the fact that the +official report next morning from one corps, of which one division had +borne the brunt of the fighting, ran thus laconically: 'The night was +quiet except for a certain amount of shelling both from the enemy and +ourselves.' + +AN ALL-DAY ATTACK + +"At 3:40 a.m. an attack was made on our right. At 5 a.m. there was a +general attack on the right of the----th division, but no really heavy +firing. Further ineffectual efforts to drive us back were made at 8 a.m. +and in the afternoon, and the artillery fire continued all day. + +"The Germans came on in 'T' formation, several lines shoulder to +shoulder, followed almost immediately by a column in support. After a +very few minutes the men had closed up into a mob, which afforded an +excellent target for our fire. + +"On Sunday, the 27th, while the German heavy guns were in action, their +brass bands could be heard playing hymn tunes, presumably at divine +service. + +"The enemy made an important advance on part of our line at 6 p.m., and +renewed it in strength at one point, with, however, no better success +than on the previous night. Sniping continued all day along the whole +front. + +"On Monday, the 28th, there was nothing more severe than a bombardment +and intermittent sniping, and this inactivity continued during Tuesday, +the 29th, except for a night attack against our extreme right. + +A TYPICAL BATTLE INCIDENT + +"An incident that occurred Sunday, the 27th, serves to illustrate +the type of fighting that has for the last two weeks been going on +intermittently on various parts of our lines. It also brings out the +extreme difficulty of ascertaining what is actually happening during an +action apart from what seems to be happening, and points to the value of +good intrenchments. + +"At a certain point in our front our advance trenches were on the north +of the Aisne, not far from a village on a hillside and also within a +short distance of German works, being on a slope of a spur formed by a +subsidiary valley running north and a main valley of the river. It was a +calm, sunny afternoon, but hazy, and from our point of vantage south +of the river it was difficult exactly to locate on the far bank the +well-concealed trenches. + +"From far and near the sullen boom of guns echoed along the valley, +and at intervals in a different direction the sky was flecked with the +almost motionless smoke of anti-aircraft shrapnel. + +"Suddenly and without any warning, for the reports of the distant +howitzers from which they were fired could not be distinguished from +other distant reports, three or four heavy shells fell into the +village, sending up huge clouds of dust and smoke, which ascended in a +brownish-gray column. To this no reply was made by our side. + +"Shortly afterwards there was a quick succession of reports from a point +some distance up the subsidiary valley on the side opposite our trenches +and therefore rather on their flank. It was not possible either by ear +or by eye to locate the guns from which the sounds proceeded. Almost +simultaneously, as it seemed, there was a corresponding succession of +flashes and sharp detonations in the line along the hillside along what +appeared to be our trenches. + +"There was then a pause and several clouds of smoke rose slowly and +remained stationary, spaced as regularly as poplars. + +"Again there was a succession of reports from German quick-firers on +the far side of the misty valley and like echoes of detonations of high +explosives; then the row of expanding smoke clouds was prolonged by +several new ones. Another pause and silence, except for the noise in the +distance. + +"After a few minutes there was a roar from our side of the main valley +as our field guns opened one after another in a more deliberate fire +upon the positions of the German guns. After six reports there was again +silence save for the whirr of shells as they sang up the small valley. +Then followed flashes and balls of smoke--one, two, three, four, five, +six--as the shrapnel burst nicely over what in the haze looked like some +ruined buildings at the edge of the wood. + +TRYING TO ENFILADE THE TRENCHES + +"Again, after a short interval, the enemy's gunners reopened with a +burst, still further prolonging the smoke, which was by now merged into +one solid screen above a considerable length of the trenches and again +did our guns reply. And so the duel went on for some time. + +"Ignoring our guns, the German artillerymen, probably relying on +concealment for immunity, were concentrating all their efforts in a +particularly forceful effort to enfilade our trenches. For them it must +have appeared to be the chance of a lifetime, and with their customary +prodigality of ammunition they continued to pour bouquet after bouquet +of high explosives or combined shrapnel and common shells into our +works. + +"Occasionally, with a roar, a high angle projectile would sail over the +hill and blast a gap in the village. One could only pray that our men +holding the trenches had dug themselves in deep and well, and that those +in the village were in cellars. + +"In the hazy valleys, bathed in sunlight, not a man, not a horse, not +a gun, nor even a trench was to be seen. There were only flashes, and +smoke, and noise. Above, against the blue sky, several round, white +clouds were hanging. The only two visible human souls were represented +by a glistening speck in the air. On high also were to be heard more or +less gentle reports of the anti-aircraft projectiles. + +"But the deepest impression created was one of sympathy for the men +subjected to the bursts along that trench. Upon inquiry as to the losses +sustained, however, it was found that our men had been able to take care +of themselves and had dug themselves well in. In that collection of +trenches on that Sunday afternoon were portions of four battalions of +British soldiers--the Dorsets, the West Kents, the King's Own Yorkshire +light infantry, and the King's Own Scottish Borderers." + +ARMIES IN A DEADLOCK + +Later reports from the Aisne valley, up to October 17, when the big +battle had been five weeks in progress, indicated little change in the +general situation. Bombardments and artillery duels, varied by general +attacks, occurred daily all along the line. The main positions of both +armies were firmly held, though the French had gained some ground north +of Rheims and continually threatened the German center. The left of the +Allies' line had crept north to and beyond Arras, where there was severe +fighting for several days; and at the end of the thirty-fifth day of this +battle of the Rivers the lines of the opposing armies extended almost +continuously from beyond Arras on the northwest, south in a great curve +to the Aisne valley, thence east to Verdun, where the Crown Prince's +army kept hammering away at that fortress without success, and thence +southwest to Nancy and the Alsatian border. + +By this time the armies of the center were in a species of deadlock. The +strain on both sides had long promised to get beyond human endurance and +the antagonists of the Aisne were likened by a French officer to two +exhausted pugilists, who would soon be unable to inflict further +punishment upon each other. But there was no sign of "throwing up the +sponge" on either side, though beyond the actual sphere of conflict it +was felt that "something must give way soon." + +A BLAZING VALE OF DEATH + +Writing on September 16, the fourth day of the battle, a special +correspondent behind the British lines by Senlis and Chantilly, said: + +"I have passed through a smiling land to a land wearing the mask of +death; through harvest fields rich with great stacks snugly builded +against the winter to the fields of a braver harvest; by jocund villages +where there is no break in the ebb and flow of everyday life to villages +and towns that despoiling hands have shattered in ruins. + +"And I have passed up this Via Dolorosa toward the very harvesting +itself--toward those great plains stretching away on the banks of the +River Aisne, where the second act of this drama of battles is at this +moment being played. + +"Details of this fight, which, as I write, reaches its fourth day of +duration, are very scanty, but partly from personal observation and +partly from information which has reached me I know that the struggle so +far has been a terrible one, equal to, if not greater than, the struggle +on the banks of the Marne. + +"The events of Monday (September 14) revealed a foe battling desperately +for his life; and this defense of General von Kluck's army demanded of +the Allies their utmost strength and determination. + +"Picture this battlefield, which will assuredly take its place with that +of the Marne as one of the greatest combats of the greatest war. Through +the middle of it flows the great river, passing from the east to the +west. The banks of the river here are very steep. Above the plain, which +sweeps away from the northern bank, rises the "massif" of Laon. It is an +ideal area for great movements and for artillery work directed upon the +valley of the river. Passing eastward a little, there are the heights +behind the city of Rheims and above the Vesle, a tributary of the Aisne. +Here again nature has builded a stronghold easy to defend, difficult +exceedingly to attack. + +"I know of heroic work against these great lines, work that will live +with the most momentous of this struggle. I know of smashing attacks the +thought of which takes one's breath away. I have heard narratives of the +trenches and of the bridges--these engineers, French and English, have +indeed 'played the game'--which no man can hear unmoved; how the columns +went down again and again to the blazing death of the valley, and how +men worked, building and girding in a very inferno--worked with the +furious speed of those whose time of work is short. + +HEROISM IN THE TRENCHES + +"And in the trenches, too, the tale of heroism unfolds itself hour by +hour. Here is an example, one among ten thousand, the story of a wounded +private: 'We lay together, my friend and I...The order to fire came. We +shot and shot till our rifles burned us. Still they swarmed on towards +us. We took careful aim all the while. "Ah, good, did you see that?" I +turned to my friend and as I did so heard a terrible dull sound like a +spade striking upon newly turned earth. His head was fallen forward. I +spoke, I called him by name. He was moaning a little. Then I turned to +my work again. They are advancing quickly now. Ah! how cool I was. I +shot so slowly,...so very slowly. + +"'And then--do you know what it feels like to be wounded? I rose just +a little too high on my elbow. A sting that pierces my arm like a hot +wire--too sharp almost to be sore. I felt my arm go away from me--it +seemed like that--and then my rifle fell. I believe I was a little +dazed. I looked at my friend presently. He was dead.' + +THE GRIM STORY OF SENLIS + +"So, on these green river banks and across these fair wooded plains the +Germans make their great stand--the stand that if they are defeated will +be their last in France. And meanwhile behind them lie the wasted fields +and the broken villages. It is impossible adequately to describe the +scenes which I have witnessed on the line of the great retreat, but here +and there events have had place, which, in truth, cry to high heaven for +report. Of such is the grim story of Senlis. + +"I spent many hours in Senlis and I will recount that story as I saw it +and as I heard it from those who lived through the dreadful procession +of days. On Saturday, September 5, the Germans reached this beautiful +old cathedral town and entered into occupation. They issued a +proclamation to the inhabitants calling upon them to submit and to offer +no sort of resistance on pain of severe reprisals. + +"But the inhabitants of Senlis had already tasted the bitter draft of +war making. The people had become bitter to the point of losing care of +their own safety. They were reckless, driven to distraction. + +"Bitter was the price exacted for the recklessness! The trouble began +when, exasperated beyond measure by their insolence, a brave tobacconist +declared to a couple of the Prussians: 'I serve men, not bullies.' He +followed his words with a blow delivered fiercely from the shoulder. + +"The infuriated soldiers dragged him from his shop and hurled him on his +knees in front of the door. His wife rushed out shrieking for mercy. +Mercy! As well ask it of a stone! A shot rang out...Another...Man and +wife lay dead. + +"Immediately the news of this murderous act flew through the town. +Outraged and furious, the conquerors marched instantly to the house of +the mayor--their hostage--and arrested him. They conveyed him without a +moment's delay to the military headquarters, where he was imprisoned for +the night. On Wednesday morning a court-martial sat to decide his fate. +A few minutes later this brave man paid for the indiscretion of his +people with his life, dying splendidly. + +"And then guns were turned on this town of living men and women and +children. Shells crashed into the houses, into the shops, into the +station. At Chantilly, seven kilometers away, the amazed inhabitants saw +a great column of black smoke curl up into the air; they guessed the +horrible truth. Senlis was burning. + +"The work, however, was interrupted. At midday the glad tidings were +heard, 'The Turcos are here.' Within the hour broken and blazing Senlis +was re-relieved and rescued. The Turcos pursued and severely punished +the enemy. + +"Today these streets are terrible to look upon. House after house has +been shattered to pieces--broken to a pile of stones. One of the small +turrets of the cathedral has been demolished, and a rent has been torn +in the stone work of the tower. The station is like a wilderness." + +RHEIMS CATHEDRAL DAMAGED + +A correspondent gives a vivid account of the German bombardment of +Rheims, during the battle on the Aisne, as viewed by him from the belfry +of the famous cathedral. + +"What a spectacle it was!" he said. "Under the cold, drifting gray +rainclouds the whole semicircle of the horizon was edged by heights on +which the German batteries were mounted, three miles away. + +"There was nothing but the inferno of bursting shells, those of the +Germans landing anywhere within the space of a square mile. Sometimes +it was just outside the town that they fell, trying to find the French +troops lying there in their trenches, waiting to go forward to the +attack of the hills, when their artillery should have prepared the way. + +"The cathedral tower made a wonderful grand stand from which to watch +this appalling game of destruction. It was under the protection of the +Red Cross flag, for directly the shells began to hit the cathedral in +the morning some German wounded were brought in from a hospital nearby +and laid on straw in the nave, while Abbe Andreaux and a Red Cross +soldier pluckily climbed to the top of the tower and hung out two Geneva +flags. + +"The crescendo scream the shells make has something fiendish in it that +would be thrilling apart from the danger of which it is the sign. You +hear it a full second before the shell strikes, and in that time you can +tell instinctively the direction of its flight. + +"Then comes the crash of the explosion, which is like all the breakages +you ever heard gathered into one simultaneous smash." + +SAVING THE GERMAN WOUNDED + +A few of the German shells struck the cathedral and set it on fire. The +scene was thus described by Abbe Camu, a priest of Rheims: + +"It was all over in an hour. There were two separate fires. We put the +first out with four buckets of water, all we had in the place, but soon +another shell struck the roof and the wind drove the flames along the +rafters inside of the nave. We rushed up, but it was flaming all along +and as we could do nothing, we hurried down. + +"There were holes in the ceiling of the nave and sparks began to fall +through them into a great heap of straw, ten feet high and twenty yards +long, which the Germans had piled along the north aisle. We tried to +catch the sparks in our hands as they fell, and such of the German +wounded as were able to walk helped us. But the first spark that fell on +the pile set it blazing. There was time to think of nothing but getting +out the wounded. + +"They screamed horribly. We carried many of those that could not walk, +while others dragged themselves painfully along to the side door in +the north aisle. Those who had only hand and arm wounds helped their +comrades. We got out all except thirteen, whose bodies were left behind. + +"When at last I came out of the flaming building I found the whole body +of wounded huddled together around the doors. Opposite to them was +a furiously hostile crowd of civilians of the town and a number of +soldiers with their rifles already leveled. + +"I sprang forward. 'What are you doing?' I cried. + +"'They shall all burn,' shouted the soldiers in answer. 'They shall go +back and burn with the cathedral or we will shoot them here.' + +"'You are mad!' I exclaimed in reply. 'Think of what this means. All the +world will hear of the crime the Germans have committed here, and if you +shoot these men the world will know that France has been as criminal in +her turn. Anyhow,' I said, 'you shall shoot me first, for I will not +move.' + +"Unwillingly the soldiers lowered their rifles and I turned to six +German, officers who were among the wounded and asked if they would do +what I told them to. They said they would and I asked them to tell their +men to do the same. Then I formed them up in a solid body, those who +could walk unaided carrying or helping those who could not. I put myself +at the head and we set off to the Hotel de Ville, which is only a few +hundred yards away. + +"Well, then the crowd, mad with grief and rage, set on us. I can't +describe it. You have never seen anything so dreadful as that scene. +They beat some of the Germans and some of them they got down. + +"'Can't you help me!' I called to a French officer I caught sight of. + +"'You will never get to the Hotel de Ville like this,' he replied, so I +forced my wounded through the gateway of a private house and we managed +to close the gates after us. + +"They had been roughly handled, some of them, and they stayed there a +day and a night before we could move them again." + +[The damage done to the cathedral at Rheims, by the way, though by no +means slight, inexpressibly sad and truly regrettable, was not nearly +so great as was indicated by many early reports. The friends of +architectural art and beauty hope to see the cathedral fully restored at +no distant date.] + +"SLAUGHTER" AT SOISSONS + +Much of the fighting during the battle of the Aisne centered around +Soissons. On September 16 a correspondent described the fighting there +as follows: "For the last three hours I have been watching from the +hills to the south of the town that part of the terrific struggle that +may be known in history as the battle of Soissons. + +"It has lasted for four days, and only now can it be said that victory +is turning to the side of the Allies. + +"The town itself cannot be entered for it still is being raked both by +artillery and rifle fire, and great columns of smoke mark several points +at which houses are burning. + +"The center of the fighting lies where the British and French pontoon +corps are trying to keep the bridges they have succeeded in throwing +across the river. + +"Men who have come from the front line tell me that the combat there has +been a positive slaughter. They say that the unremitting and desperate +firing of these four days and nights puts anything else in modern +warfare into the shade, that river crossings are as great an objective +on one side to take and keep as on the other to destroy." + +SEVEN DAYS OF HELL + +A wounded soldier, on being brought back to the hospital at Paris, after +only one week in the valley of the Aisne, said in a dazed sort of way: + +"Each day was like the others. It began at 6 o'clock in the, morning +with heavy shellfire. There was a short interval at which it stopped, +about 5:30 every day. Then in the night came the charges, and one night +I couldn't count them. It was awful--kill, kill, kill, and still they +came on, shoving one another over on to us. Seven days and nights of it +and some nights only an hour's sleep; it was just absolute hell!" + +None of the wounded found another word to describe the battle and the +sight of the men bore it out. Muddied to the eyes, wet, often with blood +caked on them, many were suffering from the curious aphasia produced by +continued trouble and the concussion of shells bursting. Some were +dazed and speechless, some deafened, and yet, strange to say, said a +correspondent, no face wore the terrible animal war look. They seemed to +have been softened, instead of hardened, by their awful experience. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FALL OF ANTWERP + +_Great Seaport of Belgium Besieged by a Large German Force_--_Forts +Battered by Heavy Siege Guns_--_Final Surrender of the City_--_Belgian +and British Defenders Escape_--_Exodus of Inhabitants_--_Germans Reach +the Sea._ + +When the battle of the Marne ended in favor of the Allies and the +Germans retired to take up a defensive position along the Aisne, the +Belgian army renewed its activities against the invader. With the +fortified city of Antwerp as their base, the Belgians began (on +September 10) an active campaign, having for its object the reoccupation +of their cities and towns which had been taken and garrisoned by German +troops. In some cases they were successful in regaining possession of +points which they had been forced to abandon during the German advance +in August, and there were many hot encounters with the Germans who were +left to hold open the German lines of communication through Belgium, But +the forces of the Kaiser were too numerous and too mobile for successful +opposition, and soon the Belgian army, despite the most gallant efforts, +was compelled once more to retire behind the outer forts of Antwerp and +there await the coming of an enemy who was approaching in force. + +Great credit must be given to the Belgian army for the patriotic +manner in which it met the sudden invasion by the Germans, and for its +continued resistance against tremendous odds. Inspired by the example of +King Albert and his devoted Queen, who spent most of their time with the +Belgian forces in the field, and shared with them the vicissitudes of +war, the defenders of Belgium fought with the utmost pertinacity. The +resistance of the Belgians when invaded, and the success of the Allies +in halting the advance upon Paris and turning it into a retreat at the +Marne, appear to have inflamed the German generals with a desire to +crush Belgium completely under an iron heel. An object lesson of the +power and possibilities of the great fighting machine must be given +somewhere. Halted in France by the Franco-British armies and meeting +with varying fortunes against the Russian hosts in the eastern campaign, +Germany chose to make Belgium once more the international cockpit and +hurled an army against Antwerp. This move, if successful (as it proved +to be) would serve two purposes--first, the further punishment of +Belgium for her unexpected resistance, and second, the striking of +a direct blow at Great Britain, the possession of Antwerp being +strategically regarded as "a pistol leveled at the head of London." + +THE SIEGE OF ANTWERP + +In the third week of September the Germans, having massed a force +believed to be sufficient for the capture of Antwerp, brought up their +heavy Krupp siege guns which had been used successfully at Liege and +Namur, and planted them within their seven-mile range, so as to command +the outer belt of forts east and south of the city. [See map of the +fortifications of Antwerp on page 102.] These huge howitzers were +reinforced by heavy siege guns furnished by Austria. The fortification +system of Antwerp was believed by its builders to be practically +impregnable, but they had not reckoned with the tremendous shattering +power and great range of the latest Krupp siege guns. For Antwerp was +destined to fall, her outer and inner defenses broken down, within ten +days from the time the siege began in earnest. + +BRITISH MARINES AID DEFENDERS + +The number of German troops engaged before Antwerp was variously +estimated at from 80,000 to 200,000. The siege proper began on Tuesday, +September 29. For more than a week previously there had been daily +engagements in the suburbs of the city and on several occasions the +Belgians made a sortie in force, only to encounter overwhelming numbers +of the German enemy, before whom they were compelled to retire behind +the shelter of the forts. In all these engagements the Belgians gave a +good account of themselves and inflicted severe losses on the enemy. But +the odds against them were too great and then when the great siege guns +began to thunder, it was soon realized that the city was in imminent +danger. + +King Albert did all in his power to encourage the defense and by his +presence among his troops on the firing lines around the city added +greatly to his reputation as a patriotic soldier. A force of several +thousand British marines, coming from Ostend, aided the Belgian defense +in the last days of the siege, but all efforts were unavailing. One by +one the forts succumbed to the German fire with which the Belgian guns +could not cope, and German troops penetrated nearer and nearer to the +doomed city. + +Finally, on October 9, when the inhabitants were in a state of terror +as a result of the long-continued bombardment of the forts, and the +shelling of the city, further resistance was seen to be useless, the +defending forces, Belgian and British, made their escape to Ostend or +into the neutral territory of Holland, the city formally capitulated +through the Burgomaster, and occupation by the Germans followed +immediately. The bulk of the British marines made their way back to +Ostend, but a rearguard, consisting of 2,000 British, together with some +Belgians, was cut off by the advance of the Germans across the Scheldt, +and rather than surrender to them marched across the border into Holland +and surrendered arms to the Dutch authorities. The men were interned and +will be held in Holland till the end of the war. It is probable that +this rearguard was deliberately sacrificed to enable the Anglo-Belgian +army to make good its retreat. + +The fate of Antwerp shows what might have happened to Paris had the +Germans been able to bring up their great siege guns to the outer +fortifications of the French capital and protect them while they +performed their tremendous task of battering the defenses to pieces. +The wrecking of Antwerp's outer and inner forts in ten days proves that +solid, massive concrete, chilled steel and well-planned earthworks +afford little or no security against the monstrous cannon of the +Kaiser's armies. There appeared to be but one way of withstanding them. + +As seems to have been demonstrated in the valley of the Aisne, they +are apparently ineffective against field forces deeply intrenched in a +far-flung line. + +THE FIGHTING OUTSIDE ANTWERP + +Early on Tuesday morning, October 6, one of the fiercest of the +engagements outside Antwerp ended with the crossing of the River Nethe +by the Germans and their approach to the inner forts. Monday had been +the sixth day of the siege and the Belgian army was fighting with +reckless courage to save Antwerp. As a precaution, the boilers of all +the German ships lying in the harbor were exploded on Sunday, in order +to prevent, if possible, use of these ships as transports for German +troops across the North Sea or elsewhere. The detonation of the bursting +boilers, resounding through the city, set the excited Sunday crowd very +near to a panic. This was accelerated by the constant fear of airship +attacks, and most of the population that was not already in active +flight from the city sought safety in cellars. + +The entire war has presented no greater picture of desolation than that +of the hosts fleeing from the last Belgian stronghold. For forty-eight +hours before the city fell great crowds of the citizens, dumb with +terror as the huge German shells hurtled over their heads, were fleeing +toward England and Holland in such numbers that the hospitality of those +countries was likely to be taxed to the utmost. + +The suburban town of Lierre was bombarded early in the week, the church +was destroyed, and a number of citizens killed and wounded. The next +day; the village of Duffel was bombarded and the population fled into +Antwerp. Many still had confidence in the ability of the Antwerp forts +to withstand the German attack. + +Although the Germans succeeded in crossing the Nethe, their repeated +attempts to effect a passage over the Scheldt were repulsed and they +then concentrated their attention on an approach to Antwerp from the +southeast. In their trenches the Belgians resisted gallantly to the +last. "Most wonderful," said an American observer on October 7, "is the +patient, unfaltering courage of the average Belgian soldier, who has +been fighting for nine weeks. Tired, with hollow eyes, unkempt, unwashed +and provided with hasty, though ample, meals, he is spending most of the +time in the trenches. + +"King Albert, the equal of any soldier in his devotion to duty, daily +exposes himself to personal danger, while the Queen is devoting her time +to the hospitals." + +The effect of the German siege artillery was especially destructive near +Vosburg. Several villages suffered heavily and the barracks at Contich +were wrecked. The forts at Waelhem and Wavre-St. Catherines were totally +destroyed by the terrific shell fire. + +Most of the fighting around Antwerp was a battle of Krupps against men. +Every day and night the fighting continued with deadly effect against +the forts, while the shrapnel and shell made many of the trenches +untenable. + +As fast as the Belgians were compelled to withdraw from a position the +Germans moved up and occupied it. The Belgians fought stubbornly with +infantry and frequently they repulsed the Germans, but these repulses +always meant a renewal of the artillery attacks by the Germans, with +the eventual retirement of the Belgians until the end of endurance was +reached and the city defenses were evacuated by their brave garrison. + +An instance of the tenacity with which the infantry stuck to their +positions was reported from the Berlaere, where the commanding officer +and his aid-de-camp were in one of the most exposed positions. Sandbags +protected them for some time, but at last the aid-de-camp was struck +by shrapnel and had his face virtually blown away. Unperturbed by this +terrible proof of the danger of his position, the commanding officer +stuck to his post, and for further shelter placed the body of his junior +over his body. In this position he lay firing, whenever possible, from +o'clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. + +FIERCE FIGHT TO CROSS NETHE + +The crossing of the River Nethe was attended by great loss to the +Germans. They hurled their infantry recklessly against the Belgian +trenches, and while they lost enormous numbers, eventually succeeded in +crossing the river. One of the unsuccessful attempts was described by an +independent observer as follows: + +"The Germans succeeded in getting a pontoon completed and they came +down to the river bank in solid masses to cross it. As they came every +Belgian gun that could be turned on the spot was concentrated on them +and they were blown away, blocks of them at a time, and still the masses +came on. + +"The Belgian officers spoke with enthusiasm of the steadiness and +gallantry with which, as each German company was swept away, another +pushed into its place. But it was a dreadful sight, nevertheless. + +"At last the bridge went, shattered and blown to bits. The Belgian guns +continued for a while to search the opposite river bank, but the Germans +fell back and no more masses of men came down to where the pontoon had +been. Allowing for all exaggerations, there can be no doubt that the +German loss must have been extremely heavy." + +Near Termonde, on Wednesday, the 7th, the fighting was just as fierce. +The Belgians had four batteries of field guns there which succeeded in +destroying the locks of the river (the Scheldt), thus flooding a part +of the river and blocking the Germans. Later they engaged in a hot duel +with the German artillery. Two of the Belgian batteries were completely +destroyed early in the action and all of the men serving them were +killed. Not until the last of the remaining guns were put out of action +did the Belgians withdraw. + +Of the casualties in and around Antwerp during the siege it is possible +only to make an estimate. It was said after the Germans entered the city +that their total loss in killed, wounded and missing was near forty-five +thousand men. German officers were credited before the attack with +saying that they would sacrifice 100,000 men, if necessary, to take +Antwerp. It is probable that the German casualties numbered at least +twenty-five thousand, while the Belgian losses in actual killed and +wounded were probably five thousand The latter fought from entrenched +positions, while the heavy German losses were sustained in the open and +at the river crossings. The casualties among the British marines, +who arrived only a day or two before the city capitulated, were +comparatively insignificant. STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS--HARROWING SCENES +ATTENDING THE FALL OF ANTWERP AND THE EXODUS OF ITS PEOPLE + +A vivid picture of the pathetic scenes attending the fall of Antwerp was +given by Lucien A. Jones, correspondent of the London Daily Chronicle, +who wrote on October 11th as follows: + +"Antwerp has been surrendered at last. The bitterest blow which has +fallen upon Belgium is full of permanent tragedy, but the tragedy is +lightened by the gallantry with which the city was defended. Only at +last to save the historic buildings and precious possessions of the +ancient port was its further defense abandoned. Already much of it had +been shattered by the long-range German guns, and prolonged resistance +against these tremendous engines of war was impossible. Owing to this +the siege was perhaps the shortest in the annals of war that a fortified +city has ever sustained. Heroic efforts were made by the Belgians to +stem the tide of the enemy's advance, but the end could not long be +delayed when the siege guns began the bombardment. + +"It was at three minutes past noon on Friday, October 9th, that the +Germans entered the city, which was formally surrendered by Burgomaster +J. De Vos. Antwerp had then been under a devastating and continuous +shell fire for over forty hours. + +"It was difficult to ascertain precisely how the German attack was +planned, but the final assault consisted of a continuous bombardment +of two hours' duration, from half past 7 o'clock in the morning to +half-past 9. During that time there was a continuous rain of shells, and +it was extraordinary to notice the precision with which they dropped +where they would do the most damage. The Germans used captive balloons, +whose officers signaled the points in the Belgian defense at which they +should aim. + +GERMAN GUNS CONCEALED + +"The German guns, too, were concealed with such cleverness that their +position could not be detected by the Belgians. Against such methods +and against the terrible power of the German guns the Belgian artillery +seemed quite ineffective. Firing came to an end at 9.30 on Friday, and +the garrison escaped, leaving only ruins behind them. In order to gain +time for an orderly retreat a heavy fire was maintained against the +Germans up to the last minute and the forts were then blown up by the +defenders as the Germans came in at the gate of Malines. + +"I was lucky enough to escape by the river to the north in a motorboat. +The bombardment had then ceased, though many buildings were still +blazing, and while the little boat sped down the Scheldt one could +imagine the procession of the Kaiser's troops already goose-stepping +their way through the well-nigh deserted streets. + +MANY HARROWING SCENES + +"Those forty hours of shattering noise almost without lull seem to me +now a fantastic nightmare, but the sorrowful sights I witnessed in many +parts of the city cannot be forgotten. + +"It was Wednesday night that the shells began to fall into the city. +From then onward they must have averaged about ten a minute, and most +of them came from the largest guns which the Germans possess, 'Black +Marias,' as Tommy Atkins has christened them. Before the bombardment had +been long in operation the civil population, or a large proportion of +it, fell into a panic. + +"It is impossible to blame these peaceful, quiet-living burghers of +Antwerp for the fears that possessed them when a merciless rain of +German shells began to fall into the streets and on the roofs of their +houses and public buildings. The Burgomaster had in his proclamation +given them excellent advice, to remain calm for instance, and he +certainly set them an admirable example, but it was impossible to +counsel perfection to the Belgians, who knew what had happened to their +fellow-citizens in other towns which the Germans had passed through. + +FOUGHT TO GET ON THE BOATS + +"Immense crowds of them--men, women and children--gathered along the +quayside and at the railway stations in an effort to make a hasty exit +from the city. Their condition was pitiable in the extreme. Family +parties made up the biggest proportion of this vast crowd of broken men +and women. There were husbands and wives with their groups of scared +children, unable to understand what was happening, yet dimly conscious +in their childish way that something unusual and terrible and perilous +had come into their lives. "There were fully 40,000 of them assembled +on the long quay, and all of them were inspired by the sure and certain +hope that they would be among the lucky ones who would get on board one +of the few steamers and the fifteen or twenty tugboats available. As +there was no one to arrange their systematic embarkation a wild struggle +followed amongst the frantic people, to secure a place. Men, women and +children fought desperately with each other to get on board, and in that +moment of supreme anguish human nature was seen in one of its worst +moods; but who can blame these stricken people? + +APPALLED BY THE HORROR OF WAR + +"They were fleeing from _les barbares_,' and shells that were destroying +their homes and giving their beloved town to the flames were screaming +over their heads. Their trade was not war. They were merchants, +shopkeepers, comfortable citizens of middle age or more; there were many +women and children among them, and this horror had come upon them in a +more appalling shape than any in which horror had visited a civilized +community in modern times. + +"There was a scarcity of gangways to the boats, and the only means of +boarding them was by narrow planks sloping at dangerous angles. Up these +the fugitives struggled, and the strong elbowed the weak out of their +way in a mad haste to escape. + +"By 2 o'clock Thursday most of the tugboats had got away, but there were +still some 15,000 people who had not been able to escape and had to +await whatever fate was in store for them. + +A GREAT EXODUS OF INHABITANTS + +"At the central railway station incidents of a similar kind were +happening. There, as down by the river, immense throngs of people had +assembled, and they were filled with dismay at the announcement that no +trains were running. In their despair they prepared to leave the city +on foot by crossing the pontoon bridge and marching towards the Dutch +frontier. I should say the exodus of refugees from the city must have +totaled 200,000 men, women and children of all ages, or very nearly that +vast number, out of a population which in normal times is 321,800. "I +now return to the events of Thursday, October 8th. At 12.30 in the +afternoon, when the bombardment had already lasted over twelve hours, +through the courtesy of a Belgian officer I was able to ascend to the +roof of the cathedral, and from that point of vantage I looked down upon +the scene in the city. + +"All the southern portion of Antwerp appeared to be desolate ruin. Whole +streets were ablaze, and the flames were rising to a height of twenty +and thirty feet. + +"From my elevated position I had an excellent view also of the great oil +tanks on the opposite side of the Scheldt. They had been set on fire by +four bombs from a German Taube aeroplane, and a huge thick volume of +black smoke was ascending two hundred feet into the air. It was like a +bit of Gustave Dore's idea of the infernal regions. + +CITY ALMOST DESERTED + +"The city by this time was almost deserted, and no attempt was made to +extinguish the fires that had broken out all over the southern district. +Indeed there were no means of dealing with them. For ten days the water +supply from the reservoir ten miles outside the city had been cut off, +and this was the city's main source of supply. The reservoir was just +behind Fort Waelthen, and a German shell had struck it, doing great +mischief. It left Antwerp without any regular inflow of water and the +inhabitants had to do their best with the artesian wells. Great efforts +were made by the Belgians from time to time to repair the reservoir, but +it was always thwarted by the German shell fire. + +KILLED BEFORE HIS WIFE'S EYES + +"After leaving the cathedral, I made my way to the southern section of +the city, where shells were bursting at the rate of five a minute. With +great difficulty, and not without risk, I got as far as Rue Lamoiere. +There I met a terror-stricken Belgian woman, the only other person in +the streets besides myself. In hysterical gasps she told me that the +Bank Nationale and Palais de Justice had been struck and were in flames, +and that her husband had been killed just five minutes before I came +upon the scene. His mangled remains were lying not one hundred yards +away from where we were standing. + +"Except for the lurid glare of burning buildings, which lit up the +streets, the city was in absolute darkness, and near the quay I lost my +way trying to get to the Hotel Wagner. For the second time that day I +narrowly escaped death by shell. One burst with terrific force about +twenty-five yards from me. I heard its warning whirr and rushed into a +neighboring porch. Whether it was from the concussion of the shell or in +my anxiety to escape I caromed against the door and tumbled down, and +as I lay on the ground a house on the opposite side crashed in ruins. I +remained still for several minutes, feeling quite sick and unable to get +up. Then I pulled myself together and ran at full speed until I came to +a street which I recognized. + +TAKE REFUGE IN CELLARS + +"How many of the inhabitants of Antwerp remained in the city that night +it is impossible to say, but they were all in the cellars of their +houses or shops. The Burgomaster, M. De Vos, had in one of his several +proclamations made many suggestions for safety during the bombardment, +for the benefit of those who took refuge in cellars. Among the most +useful of them, perhaps, was that which recommended means of escape to +an adjoining cellar. The power of modern artillery is so tremendous that +a cellar might very well become a tomb if a shell fell on the building +overhead. + +"Sleep was impossible that night, in the noise caused by the explosion +of shells in twenty different quarters of the town. About 6 o'clock I +was told that it was time we got out, as the Germans were entering +the city. We hurried from the hotel and found the streets completely +deserted. I walked down to the quay-side, and there I came across many +wounded soldiers, who had been unable to get away in the hospital boat. + +"On the quay piles of equipment had been abandoned. A broken-down +motor-car, kit-bags, helmets, rifles and knapsacks were littered in +heaps. Ammunition had been dumped there and rendered useless. The +Belgians had evidently attempted to set fire to the whole lot. The pile +of stuff was still smoldering. I waited there for half an hour, and +during that time hundreds of Belgian soldiers passed in the retreat. +Just about this time a pontoon bridge which had been the means of the +Belgian retreat was blown up to prevent pursuit by the Germans. + +"At 8 o'clock a shell struck the Town Hall, and about 8:15 another shell +shattered the upper story and broke every window in the place. + +BURGOMASTER PARLEYS WITH GERMANS + +"That was the German way of telling the Burgomaster to hurry up. A +quarter of an hour later M. De Vos went out in his motor-car toward +the German line to discuss the conditions on which the city should be +surrendered. + +"At 9:30 o'clock the bombardment of the city suddenly ceased, and we +understood that the Burgomaster had by this time reached the German +headquarters. Still we waited, painfully anxious to learn what would be +the ultimate fate of Antwerp. Belgian soldiers hurried by and at 10: +proclamations were posted on the walls of the Town Hall urging all in +the city to surrender any arms in their possession and begging all to +remain calm in the event of the Germans' occupation. A list was also +posted of several prominent citizens who were appointed to look after +the interests of those Belgians who remained. + +"The 'impregnable' city of Antwerp had fallen, but without dishonor to +its gallant defenders." + +GERMAN MILITARY GOVERNOR OF ANTWERP APPOINTED--GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORTS + +On October 10 Baron von der Schutz was appointed military governor +of Antwerp. It was expected that the city would become the base for +Zeppelin attacks upon England and also for a German naval campaign +in which mines and submarines would play an important part. This was +intimated in dispatches from Berlin following the German occupation of +the city. + +The German General Staff, in announcing the capture, added that they +could not estimate the number of prisoners taken. "We took enormous +quantities of supplies of all kinds," said the official statement. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE WOUNDED AND PRISONERS + +_Typical Precautions Used by the German Army_--_The Soldiers' First-Aid +Outfit_--_System in Hospital Arrangements_--_How Prisoners of War Are +Treated_--_Are Humane and Fair to All Concerned_. + +Modern armies take the best possible care of their wounded and none +has brought this department of warfare to greater perfection than the +Germany army. One detail of this work shows the German army at its best. + +Every soldier has sewn under a corner of his coat a strip of rubber +cloth. Under this strip is a piece of antiseptic gauze, a strip of +bandage and plaster and cloth for the outer bandage. This cloth bears in +simple pictures directions for dressing every sort of wound. + +When a soldier is wounded either he or some comrade rips open this +package and applies at once the life saving dressing, which will last +at any rate until the soldier is brought to a station, where the first +scientific attention is given. + +Through this simple and inexpensive device thousands upon thousands of +German soldiers, who have been slightly wounded in battle, have returned +to their comrades within a few days completely well and have taken their +places in the ranks once more. Without this care a large percentage of +the wounds would become inflamed, as has been the case with hundreds of +wounded French prisoners captured by the Germans. + +The ordinary procedure of caring for the wounded in the German army +is for the sanitary corps, which is well provided with stretchers and +bandages, to gather up the wounded on or near the firing lines and bring +them to a gathering point a little way behind the lines. + +Here the army surgeons are ready to begin work at once upon the most +urgent cases. They are assisted by members of the corps, who remove +the temporary bandages, and put on dressings which will last until the +soldier reaches a hospital. Then from this first gathering point the +wounded soldiers are put on stretchers in Red Cross wagons and carried +to the field hospitals a few miles farther back, where doctors and +nurses are at work. + +HOSPITALS IN VILLAGE CHURCHES + +These hospitals are usually established in village churches or town +halls. One room is cleared and arranged for an operating room, where +bullets and pieces of shell are removed and amputations are made if +necessary. + +"I have just visited such a field hospital," said a correspondent with +the right wing of the German army in France, writing on September 28. +"It was in a little whitewashed village church heated by a stove. +Everywhere were white beds made of straw and covered with sheets. +Perhaps twenty wounded were here, including two captured Irishmen. They +lay quite still when the army doctor ushered us in, for they were too +seriously wounded to pay much attention to anything. + +"Near this hospital was another in a town hall. While we were there a +consulting surgeon arrived to investigate the condition of a seriously +wounded lieutenant, whose leg might need amputation. Two orderlies put +the patient on a stretcher, and he was taken into the next room for +examination. Later in the day the amputation was performed. + +MOVED TO HOSPITALS IN CITIES + +"From these little field hospitals, as soon as the men can be moved, +they are taken to some general hospital in the nearest large city, where +several thousands can be cared for. Such a hospital exists in this +neighborhood in the building of a normal college, where every corner is +used in housing wounded men. + +"I made a quick trip through this building and the memory of it is one +of the most heartrending pictures I have of the war. Room after room +was filled with the victims of the conflict. Every man was seriously +wounded. Some had suffered amputations and the heads of others were +so bandaged that no feature could be seen, only a tube to the nose +permitting breathing. + +HORROR IN HOSPITAL SIGHTS + +"In one room a surgeon had a soldier on the operating table and was +pulling pieces of shell from a huge hole in the inner side of one of his +legs. On a stretcher on the floor, waiting for his turn to come under +the surgeon's care, was an officer. His face was covered with blood, +he was waving his arms wildly and gasping for air. This scene left an +impression of the utmost horror upon me. + +"Slightly wounded soldiers, whom it is not necessary to leave for +a while in the field hospitals, are sent directly to these larger +hospitals and thence, after a short convalescence, are loaded into Red +Cross trains and sent home for recovery. Later they return to take their +places in the regiments. Such trains can be seen daily along any main +line of railroad. In some cases freight cars with straw bedding are +used. + +"One of the finest examples of charity given during the war is a +splendid Red Cross train entirely equipped as a modern hospital, even +having a first class operating room. This was given to the German army +by the citizens of Wilmersdorff, who also employed an excellent surgeon. +Scores of lives will be saved through a small outlay of money. + +GRAVEYARDS ON BATTLEFIELDS + +"Near the large hospital I visited was a graveyard where there were +scores of neatly marked fresh graves, each bearing a cross or tablet +with the name of the soldier and his regiment, division and corps marked +on it. In some cases comrades had added a word or two of scripture. The +deaths are too numerous for an imposing ceremony at each burial, but for +every one an army chaplain reads scripture and offers a short prayer, +while a few comrades stand by with bared heads. + +"The identity of each soldier is easily determined from the name plate +which he wears in a little leather purse suspended from around the neck. +After a battle these plates are gathered from the dead and from these +the death lists are made out. [It was said that after the battle of +the Marne no fewer than 68,000 of these name plates or tags were found +collected in one place.--Ed.] + +"After a battle where the deaths mount into the thousands some field +will be shut off for a cemetery and there the bodies are buried, each +grave receiving some kind of a cross wherever it is possible, but here +no names can be attached. There will be many homes in which there will +be vacant places and where it will not even be known where the absent +ones are buried. + +KAISER INSISTS ON ENTERING + +"While here I heard a touching story about a lieutenant who was dying in +the hospital, while the Kaiser was inspecting it. The Kaiser came to the +room where the officer lay and the attendants asked him not to enter, as +a man was dying. The Kaiser immediately pushed his way in, went up to +the lieutenant, put his hand on the officer's shoulder, and said in +German: 'Hello, here I am!' + +"The lieutenant began murmuring with his eyes closed. + +"'I have been dreaming and I dreamed that my Kaiser came to me, put his +hand on my shoulder and spoke to me.' + +"'Open your eyes,' said the Kaiser. + +"The lieutenant obeyed, smiled a smile of recognition, and then closed +his eyes in the final sleep. + +SURGEONS WIN IRON CROSSES + +"So far, according to official announcement, there have been between +50,000 and 60,000 wounded and immediately after a great battle the +sanitary corps has been unable to cope quickly enough with the work, +but under ordinary circumstances the provision made has been ample. The +number of the sanitary corps was determined upon the experience in the +Russo-Japanese war, in which the losses were by no means so heavy as +they have been in this war, but where in a few cases numbers have been +lacking the surgeons and their assistants have put forth herculean +efforts. Many surgeons are now wearing the iron cross for bravery, +winning the insignia by dragging out wounded from the rain of bullets. +TREATMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR + +The prisoner of war has been a conspicuous figure in the news that has +come from the seething caldron of Europe. Many thousands of prisoners +have been taken from the contending armies by their adversaries. For +them the average American reader, perusing "war news" in the comfort of +his security from the great conflict, has felt perhaps a grain of sorrow +and wondered vaguely what horrors befell them after capture. + +Early in September the German war department sent broadcast a statement +that 30,000 Russians had been taken prisoners by the German soldiers +after heavy battles in East Prussia, particularly around Ortelsburg, +Hohenstein and Tannenburg. The statement mentioned the fact that among +the prisoners were many Russian officers of high rank. + +What is done with these prisoners, how they are handled and treated and +whether high officials are punished more severely than mere privates, +are questions frequently asked and seldom answered, for the procedure +followed in such matters is but little known. + +REGULATIONS ARE HUMANE TO ALL + +The international laws of warfare, embodied in The Hague conventions, +the Geneva convention and the declaration of London, contain provisions +that provide expressly what manner of treatment shall be accorded +prisoners of hostile nations who are taken in battle. If these +provisions of international law are lived up to, the lot of the prisoner +of war is not so hard as many people have been led to believe. + +After the first year of the war, however, stories of ill-treatment of +prisoners in German prison camps began to be told, and before long there +were many well-authenticated cases of the kind. Inhuman treatment was +reported by English and Canadian prisoners, and protests were duly made +by the British government through neutral channels. The growing shortage +of food in Germany was alleged as the cause of some of the complaints, +but cases of actual brutality, involving cowardly physical abuse and +even killing were also reported. The nation which captures its enemy's +soldiers and makes prisoners of them is held entirely responsible +for whatever happens and shoulders at once a responsibility that is +commensurate with the number of prisoners who are taken and detained. + +The law of warfare says that a prisoner must be as fair with his +captors as they are with him. He must be "humanely treated," so it is +prescribed, and when he is questioned by his captors he must give his +true name and the rank he holds in the army which has been defeated +and of which he was once a part. Contrary to general belief, he is not +stripped of "everything" and thrown into a dungeon and fed on a crust of +bread and a mug of stale water. His captors do not deprive him of his +personal possessions, except weapons, horses and military papers. + +Furthermore, they must give him complete religious liberty, and it is +specifically decreed that he must be given opportunity to attend a +church of the denomination to which he belongs. And there he may pray as +much for the success of his own nation or the much-desired relief from +detention as the state of his mind dictates. + +PRISONERS MAY BE CONFINED + +The prisoner of war may be interned in a town or a fort, or even a camp, +according to the convenience of his captors, but the enemy may not +confine him, except, the law says, as "an indispensable measure of +safety," and then only as long as the circumstances make it necessary. +Of course the law gives the commanding officer considerable leeway in +such matters, for he is left to determine when the "indispensable" +occasion arises. + +At other times when the prisoner is at liberty, he is subject to all the +rules and regulations of the army of the government that captured him, +and if he refuses to obey the rules or acts in an insubordinate manner +toward the officers in command, he may be punished and disciplined +according to his offense. And here it is again left to the discretion +of his captors as to what measure of punishment shall be inflicted upon +him. + +ATTEMPTS AT ESCAPE + +If a prisoner of war attempts to escape and his captors are vigilant to +the extent of retaking him before he leaves the territory they occupy, +or before he has a chance to rejoin his own army, he may be severely +punished. On the other hand, if he eludes his captors and makes a clean +getaway and his army is again unfortunate, and he is captured the +second time, the perfectly good escape from previous captivity must go +unpunished and he must be treated as a prisoner of war, just as though +he had not made the successful dash for liberty and further glory. + +The government that holds prisoners of war is chargeable with their +maintenance and must provide them with food, clothing and shelter as +good as that provided for its own troops. The officers of the captors +are required to keep records of all the prisoners under their charge, +and if relief societies, which have been extensively formed by the women +of Europe and many American women as well, wish to minister to their +needs and comforts, the officers in command must afford them every +possible facility. And if the friends of prisoners or the welfare +societies see fit to send them presents and clothing, medicine and other +necessities, such goods must be admitted to them free of any war duty +that might be imposed by the nation holding them, and the railroads +owned by the government are bound to carry such supplies free of +transportation charges. + +CAPTIVES MUST BE PAID FOR WORK + +Prisoners of war may be put to work by the government that captures them +and the duties must be assigned with a view to their aptitude, fitness +and rank. The tasks must not be unduly severe, so as to border on +cruelty, and they must have no bearing whatever on the operations of the +war. The prisoners must be paid for the work they do, moreover, at a +rate equal to that being paid to the soldiers of the national army, and +prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, for private +persons or on their own account. + +The wages of these prisoners, the law says, must go toward improving +their condition, and the balance must be paid them after their release, +with the proper deduction for their board and keep. When officers of +hostile armies who are captured are put to work they must get the same +wage rate as is paid to the corresponding officers of the government +whose captives they are. All these moneys must be ultimately refunded by +their own governments to their captors after the war is over, peace is +declared and the intricate problems of indemnities come up for solution. + +A prisoner of war may even be paroled by his captors, and this is done +sometimes when he is disabled or there are circumstances that prompt his +enemies to let him go to those who are near and dear to him. When parole +is granted to a prisoner he makes a solemn pledge and promise that he +will live up to the terms under which he is released, and even his own +nation may not ask him to perform a service that is inconsistent with +that pledge. + +BREAKER OF A PAROLE + +It goes hard with the prisoner on parole who is caught fighting against +the nation that released him, for he is not entitled to be treated as a +prisoner of war, and the judgment meted out to him is as terrible as +it is sure. Certain codes of honor are supposed to be observed even in +international warfare, and a soldier who breaks his word of honor is +considered the most despicable of men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HORRORS OF THE WAR + +_American Relief for War-Stricken Peoples of Europe_--_Millions +of Dollars Contributed in Cash and Gifts_--Canada Aids the +Belgians_--Devastation of Poland Even Greater and More Terrible them +that of Belgium_. + +Soon after the world became aware of the fact that the German army's +progress through Belgium on its dash to Paris in August of 1914 had +resulted in the absolute devastation of the little buffer state, an +enterprising and sympathetic American citizen, Mr. James Keeley, editor +of the Chicago Herald, penned a remarkable open letter "to the Children +of America," in which he suggested the sending of a "Christmas ship" to +Europe, filled with gifts of a useful character for the little ones of +all the belligerent nations. The response was immediate and most truly +generous. Newspapers and civic organizations all over the United States +joined in gathering from young and old the contributions that freighted +a United States warship with a cargo of gifts worth over two million +dollars, and at Yuletide these gifts were systematically distributed +among the innocent victims of the war in all the countries concerned. + +The idea of the Christmas ship was nobly conceived and splendidly +executed. Rulers of the belligerent nations recognized the beauty of the +idea and paused awhile in their martial activities to welcome and thank +the American commissioner who enacted the role of an international Santa +Claus. But the slaughter on the fighting lines of eastern and western +Europe went on unabated and the peaceful symbolism of the Christmas ship +was soon forgotten in the daily recurrence of battle and bloodshed. +AWFUL CONDITIONS IN POLAND + +While the frightful state of Belgium commanded the sympathy of the +civilized world in the winter of 1914-15, the conditions in Poland +were even worse. At the end of March the great Polish pianist, Ignace +Paderewski, paid a visit to London on behalf of the suffering Poles +and his efforts resulted in the formation of an influential relief +committee. Among the members were such men as Premier Asquith, +ex-Premier Balfour, Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd-George, Cardinal +Bourne, archbishop of Westminster; Admiral Lord Charles Beresford and +the Russian and French ambassadors. An American woman, Lady Randolph +Churchill, also took an active part in the work of the committee, which +soon succeeded in raising a large sum for the relief of the most urgent +distress in Poland. While in London on his mission of mercy, Mr. +Paderewski said: + +"Is it the death agony or only the birth pangs? That is the question +which every Pole throughout the world is asking himself as tragedy +follows tragedy in the long martyrdom of our beloved nation. You have +only heard the details of Belgium, but I tell you they are as nothing +with what has happened in Poland. + +"The scene of operations in Poland is seven times larger than that of +Belgium, and she has had to endure seven times the torture. Remember, +the battle of Europe is being fought in the east, not in the west, and +while the tide of battle has reached a sort of ebb along the trenches +about the frontiers of Alsace and Flanders, the great waves roll +backward and forward from Germany to Russia and break always on Poland. + +"Our country, in fact, is just as Belgium was called--the cockpit of +Europe, and it may now be called the battlefield of the world, if not of +civilization. + +"It is only perhaps we Poles who have known to its utmost depths what +this war has really meant. It is not only that there are 10,000, +human beings on the verge of starvation, nay, actually perishing; there +is worse than that. + +"Remember that both Belgium and Poland are still under the yoke. The +Russians, it is true, occupy some fifteen thousand miles of our country, +but this is really nothing, for the Germans occupy five-sixths of it, +and the desolation passes all comprehension. + +CALLS IT COMPULSORY SUICIDE + +"As to actual battles, I can hardly speak of them. It is torture even to +think of them. Only consider! Our one nation is divided as it were into +three sections, which were thrust each against the others to work out +their destruction. It is parricide! It is fratricide, nay suicide! +Compulsory suicide! That is what it is! + +"Listen to what it means to us all. I was told by a man from Austria +that an army doctor, a Pole by birth, who was deputed to go over the +Austrian battlefields and verify identification marks on the bodies, +found among the 14,000 dead hardly any but Polish names. He looked in +vain for any others, and in the end went mad with horror at the thought +of it. Another story that came to me the other day told of another case +of the tragedy of Poland which is almost too terrible for the human mind +to contain. The incident took place during a charge. Both armies had +been ordered to attack, and the Poles, as usual, were in the front +lines. As they met in the shock they recognized each other. + +"One poor fellow, as he was struck through by a bayonet, cried out in +his death agony, 'Jesu Maria! I have five children! Jesu Maria!' The +words went as straight to the brain of his conqueror as a dagger to the +heart, and killed his reason. Somewhere among the madhouses of Europe +there is a lunatic. He is not violent, but he never laughs. He only +wanders about with the words of his dying victim, 'Ah, Jesu Maria! I +have five children. Jesu Maria!' + +"The promise of Grand Duke Nicholas that Poland shall be a nation once +again went straight to the very heart of every one of our 25,000, +fellow countrymen. That one promise has been sufficient to change the +whole mentality of the nation and fill their souls with new hope. It has +cleared up any doubt that might have existed in the minds of the Poles +in Austria and Prussia as to what it is that the allies are fighting +for--namely: the principles of nationality for which we have suffered, +ah! how many centuries!" + +MILLIONS OF POLES DESTITUTE + +The ruin wrought by war in Belgium affected 7,000,000 people. In Poland +more than twice that number have been rendered destitute. Not less than +15,000 villages have been laid waste, burned, or damaged in Russian +Poland alone. The loss in property has been estimated at $500,000,000, +but may reach double that sum. + +In Galicia the conditions are reported to be equally appalling, though +the smashup has not been as complete, because the Russians have been +able to maintain their positions more permanently than they have in the +district west and northeast of the Polish capital. + +The greater part of Poland lying in a broad sweep of country west, +southwest and northeast of Warsaw has been swept over and battered to +pieces by shot and shell like the strip of Flanders on both sides of the +Yser river. + +Without any direct interest in the present great conflict, the unhappy +Poles found themselves impressed into the armies of these three great +powers and fighting against their own racial brethren. That meant that +brother was to fight against brother, and as the stress of the war +increased and the age limit was raised to 38 years and even higher, +nearly every able-bodied Pole was impressed into service. + +Almost the first move of the Russians at the outbreak of hostilities was +to invade Galicia. This brought with it instantly all the most frightful +horrors of war. Embracing as it does a large part of the grain-growing +district of the Polish peoples, the devastation of Galicia meant +suffering for not only that province, but for Russian Poland as well. +The crops had only been partially harvested by August, when the war +began. + +The panic of war stopped the work in the fields, even where the peasants +were not compelled to flee before the invader. The men were called to +the colors and the crops were allowed to rot in the fields. Numerous +towns were sacked. + +The advance to Lemberg by the Russians was swift. In the panic that +followed this great city of 200,000 had scarcely 70,000 left when the +invaders took possession. Families were broken up; none of the refugees +had time to take supplies or clothes. + +Germany's first move against Russia came from the great fortresses +along the Oder and Vistula. All of western Poland was overrun. When the +Russian advance from Warsaw drove back the invaders, the scars of the +conflict left this section of Poland badly battered. Then came Von +Hindenburg's victorious armies, and again this section was torn by shot +and shell and wasted. While some of the larger places, such as Lodz, +Plock, Lowicz, Tchenstochow and Petrokov, were spared, the smaller +towns, villages, and hamlets in the direct line of battle suffered +equally from the defenders and invaders. + +All the section to the northeast of Warsaw between the East Prussian +frontier and the Bug, Narew, and Niemen rivers has suffered even a worse +fate, as the bitterness engendered by the devastation worked by the +Russians in East Prussia led to reprisals that not even the strict +discipline of the German army could curb. Not only were the peasants' +homes pounded to bits by the opposing artillery fire, but the armies as +they fought back and forth took all the cattle, horses, and stock that +came to their hands. Disease added to the suffering of the stricken +people. + +THOUSANDS OF VILLAGES DESTROYED + +Henry Sienkiewicz, the great Polish writer and author of "Quo Vadis," a +refugee in Switzerland, said, on March 15, 1915: + +"In the kingdom of Poland alone there are 15,000 villages burned or +damaged; a thousand churches and chapels destroyed. The homeless +villagers have sought shelter in the forests, where it is no +exaggeration to say that women and children are dying from cold and +hunger by thousands daily. + +"Poland comprises 127,500 square kilometers. One hundred thousand of +these have been devastated by the battling armies. More than a million +horses and two million head of horned cattle have been seized by the +invaders, and in the whole of the 100,000 square kilometers in the +possession of the soldiers not a grain of corn, not a scrap of meat, nor +a drop of milk remain for the civil population. "The material losses up +to the present are estimated at 1,000,000,000 rubles ($500,000,000). No +fewer than 400,000 workmen have lost their means of livelihood. + +"The state of things in Galicia is just as dreadful for the civil +population--innocent victims of the war. Of 75,000 square kilometers all +except 5,000 square kilometers around Cracow are in possession of the +Russians. They commandeered 900,000 horses and about 200,000 head of +horned cattle and seized all the grain, part of the salt fields, and the +oil wells. + +"The once rich province is a desert. Over a million inhabitants +have sought refuge in other parts of Austria, and they are in sheer +destitution." + +Truly, "War is hell!" + +RELIEF FOR BELGIAN SUFFERERS + +Following the invasion and over-running of Belgium by the Germans, the +problem of feeding the Belgian population became an urgent one. The +invaders left the problem largely to the charitable sympathies of the +civilized world, and from almost every quarter of the globe aid was sent +in money or provisions for the stricken people. In spite of the enormous +war drains upon the resources of the British Empire, every one of the +Overseas Dominions did its full share in Belgian relief, while the +United States, through the Rockefeller Foundation and other agencies, as +well as the South American countries, also contributed to alleviate the +suffering in the little kingdom. The contributions continued during more +than two years and the relief was administered most efficiently by means +of commissions. + +RELIEF ASKED FOR SERBIA + +On April 3, 1915, the leading United States newspapers printed an +appeal received from Nish, the war capital of Serbia, which set forth a +terrible situation in terms that confirmed a report already made public +by Sir Thomas Lipton, who dedicated his famous steam yacht, the Erin, +as a hospital ship for use in the Mediterranean, and visited Serbia +in February and March. The appeal was dated February 23 and said in +substance as follows: + +"Typhus is raging in Serbia, and unless immediate aid be sent the +mortality will be appalling. "Typhus is a filth disease and is spread +by lice, which flourish only in dirt. There are not enough buildings to +house the sick and they lie huddled together on dirty straw. + +"They have not changed their clothes for six months, and consequently +personal cleanliness, which is absolutely essential in checking the +disease, is impossible. They cannot get proper nourishment, as there is +not enough available, nor is there money to buy it if it were. + +"The doctors can usually only work for two weeks before contracting +the disease, as they have no means of protecting themselves. Yet they +volunteer for typhus hospitals, knowing that they are probably going to +their death, for the mortality is over 50 per cent. + +"The following four things are most urgently needed: + +"1. Tents and portable chicken runs, as these make excellent houses. +There is no lumber in Serbia, so nothing can be built here. + +"2. Beds and bed linen. It is impossible to keep straw free from lice. + +"3. Underclothing. Dirty clothes make an ideal breeding place for lice. + +"4. Disinfectants and whitewash. + +"Speedy help is essential, as every day's delay costs hundreds of +lives." + +The response to this touching appeal was immediate and generous, Germans +and Austrians in America contributing freely. A large amount of cash and +supplies for the Austrian prisoners was sent to the American consul at +Nish, who was also acting consul for Germany and Austria in Serbia. + +GERMAN REPORT OF VILLAGES RAZED + +A dispatch from Berlin by wireless March 23 stated that according to a +report received there from Cracow, the damages due to the war in +Poland and Galicia at that time amounted to 5,000,000,000 marks +($1,250,000,000). + +In Galicia 100 cities and market places and 6,000 villages had been more +or less damaged, while 250 villages had been destroyed. Horses to the +number of 800,000 and 500,000 head of cattle, with all grain and other +provisions in Galicia had been taken away by the Russians. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +LATER EVENTS OF THE WAR + +_Results of the Battle of the Aisne_--_Fierce Fighting in Northern +France_--_Developments on the Eastern Battle Front_--_The Campaign in +the Pacific_--_Naval Activities of the Powers_. + +With a battle front reaching from the Belgian coast on the North Sea +to the frontier of Switzerland, or a total distance of 362 miles, the +operations in the western theater of war toward the end of October were +being conducted on a more gigantic scale than was ever witnessed before. +On both sides reinforcements were being rushed to the front. German +efforts to break through the Allies' lines were concentrated on the main +center at Verdun and on the right flank of the Allies' left wing, above +its elbow, between Noyon and Arras, while powerful coincidal movements +were in progress on the extreme western end of the line in Belgium and +on the southeastern wing in Alsace. At Verdun continuous fighting of the +fiercest character had been going on for over sixty days, surpassing +in time and severity any individual battle in history. The army of +the Crown Prince had been unable to force the French positions in the +vicinity of Verdun and the check sustained by the Germans at this point +early in the campaign constituted a principal cause of General von +Kluck's failure in his dash toward Paris. + +All along the tremendous battle front the allies' lines as a rule held +firm in the thirteenth week of the war, when the great conflict had +entered upon what may well be called its fourth stage. The third stage +may be said to have ended with the fall of Antwerp and the subjugation +of all Belgium but a small portion of its southwestern territory. On +the main front the Allies were maintaining the offensive at some vital +points, while repulsing the German assaults at others. One or two of +the French forts commanding Verdun had fallen but the main positions +remained in the hands of the French, and all along the line it was a +case of daily give-and-take. + +FIERCE FIGHTING IN FLANDERS + +After capturing Antwerp the Germans pushed on to Ostend, an "open" +or unfortified town, and occupied it with slight resistance from the +Belgian army, which was reforming its broken ranks to the south, between +Ostend and the French frontier, and preparing to contest the passage of +the Kaiser's forces across the River Yser. Moving northward from Lille, +the Allies encountered the Germans at Armentieres, which was occupied +by a Franco-British force and there was also fierce fighting at Ypres, +where there is a canal to the sea. For more than a week the Belgians +gallantly held the banks of the Yser in spite of the utmost endeavors of +the Germans to cross, and it was not until October 24 that the latter +finally succeeded in getting south of the river, with the French seaport +of Dunkirk as their next objective point. Bloody engagements were fought +at Nieuport, Dixmude, Deynze and La Bassee. + +At this time the battle line formed almost a perpendicular from Noyon in +France north to the Belgian coast, south of Ostend. A battle raged for +several days in West Flanders and Northern France and both sides claimed +successes. The losses of the Allies and the Germans were estimated +in the thousands and the wounded were sent back to the rear by the +trainful. In the Flemish territory the flat nature of the terrain, with +its numerous canals and almost total absence of natural cover, made +the losses especially severe. The passage of the Yser cost the Germans +dearly and Dixmude was strewn with their dead. And their advance could +get no farther. + +The necessity of holding the French ports, Dunkirk and Calais, was +fully realized by the Allies, who threw large reinforcements into their +northern line. The Germans also drew heavily on their center and left +wing to reinforce the right, and for a while the forces opposing one +another at the extreme western end of the battle front were greater than +at any other point. The Germans were firmly held on a line running from +south of Ostend to Thourout, Roulers and Menin, the last mentioned place +being on the border north of Lille. Flanking attacks being no longer +possible, as the western flanks of both armies rested on the North Sea, +the Germans were compelled to make a frontal assault along the line +formed by the Belgian frontier. As the Belgian troops, assisted by +a British naval brigade, were pushed back from the Yser, they were +gradually merged into the army of the allies, by whom they were received +with the honors due the men who had made, for twelve long weeks, such +a gallant and determined defense of their country against invasion and +despoilment. + +BRITISH WARSHIPS AID BELGIANS + +Soon after the German occupation of Ostend, several British warships +shelled the German positions in and around the city and aided in +hampering the German advance along the coast. The principal vessels +engaged in this work were three monitors which were being completed in +England for the Brazilian government when the war started and which were +bought by the admiralty. + +These monitors, which had been renamed Mersey, Humber and Severn, drew +less than nine feet of water and could take up positions not far from +shore, from which their 6-inch guns and 4.7-inch howitzers, of which +each vessel carried two, were able to throw shells nearly four miles +across country, the range being given them by airmen. + +French warships of light draft later joined the British monitors and +destroyers and assisted in patrolling the coast, shelling German +positions wherever the latter could be discovered by the aeroplane +scouts. One reported feat of the naval fire was the destruction of the +headquarters of a German general, Von Trip, in which the general and his +staff lost their lives. + +From time to time German aerial attacks were made in the vicinity of +Dover, across the Straits, but these without exception proved to be +without military importance in their results. Steps were taken to +organize anti-aircraft artillery forces on the eastern coast of England +and the continued failure of Zeppelin attacks, annoying as they were, +soon restored the equanimity of the British public in this respect. + +INDIAN TROOPS IN ACTION + +The first word of the employment of British Indian troops at the front +came on October 27, when it was reported that in the fighting near Lille +a reserve force of Sikhs and Ghurkas, the former with bayonets and the +latter with the kukri (a short, curved sword) played havoc with an +attacking force of Germans. "Never has there been such slaughter," said +the dispatches. "Twenty thousand German dead and wounded, nearly half +the attacking force, lay upon the field, while the British losses did +not exceed 2,000." + +THE FRENCH CAMPAIGN IN ALSACE + +At the end of October the French right wing in Alsace-Lorraine was +reported to be making distinct progress. It was said to be advancing +through the passes of the Vosges in the midst of heavy snowstorms. Paris +reported that the Germans, who were attempting a movement against the +great French frontier fortress of Belfort, had been driven back with +heavy losses, while from other sources the Germans were reported to be +bringing up heavy mortars for the bombardment of Belfort. There +were persistent reports of German defeats in Alsace, but these were +repeatedly denied in Berlin. The situation in the territory coveted by +the French appeared to resemble that farther west--neither side was +making much headway. + +THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN + +In the eastern theater of war the conflict during October was waged with +fortunes that favored, first one side and then the other. Contradictory +claims were put forth from time to time by Petrograd, Vienna and Berlin, +but the net result of the operations at the end of the thirteenth week +of the war appeared to be that while the intended Russian march on +Berlin had been completely checked, the Germans had been repulsed with +heavy losses in all their attempts to cross the Vistula and occupy +Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland, which was at one time seriously +threatened. + +The fighting along the Vistula was fierce and prolonged for several days +at a time. The Germans made numerous attempts to cross the river at +different points by means of pontoon bridges, but these were destroyed +by the Russian artillery as fast as completed. The slaughter on both +sides was considerable. On October 28 the Russian battle front reached +from Suwalki on the north to Sambor and Stryj on the south, a distance +of about 267 miles. The German operations on the Vistula were still +in progress and Poland furnished the main arena of battle. East Prussia +was practically free from Russian troops, save at a few points near the +boundary, but they strongly maintained their positions in Galicia. + +THE AUSTRO-SERVIAN CAMPAIGN + +After eleven weeks' bombardment by the Austrians, the Servian defenders +of Belgrade were still bravely resisting, although half the city had +been destroyed. The situation was such as to cause at once astonishment, +pity and admiration. + +In the open field the Servians continued to hold their own against the +Austrian forces opposed to them. Their Montenegrin allies, under General +Bukovitch, were reported to have defeated 16,000 Austrians, supported by +six batteries of artillery, at a point northeast of Serajevo. The battle +terminated in a hand-to-hand bayonet conflict which lasted four hours. +The Austrians are said to have lost 2,500 men, killed and wounded, while +the Montenegrins claimed that their losses amounted to only 300 men. + +THE CAMPAIGN IN THE PACIFIC + +Beginning with the loss of its colonies in the China sea, Germany was +compelled to witness during the first two years of the war the passing +into enemy hands of practically all its colonial possessions, which more +than balanced its temporary possession of enemy soil in Europe. One +by one its colonies in Asia and Africa were captured, and in these +operations not only the Japanese but the Belgians assisted, the latter +in Africa. + +Late in October, 1914, the Japanese received the surrender of Tsing +Tau, the important German city in Kiauchau, China. The place had been +battered for weeks by land and sea by the Japanese forces, and the +surrender was ordered, it was said, to save the German forces and +civilians from certain annihilation if a defense by the garrison to the +end were to be carried on. German warships were powerless to assist the +beleaguered city, as Japanese and English war vessels had driven them +far from the coast of China. + +The Japanese cruiser Takachiho was sunk by a mine in Kiauchau Bay on the +night of October 17. One officer and nine members of the crew are known +to have been saved. The cruiser carried a crew of 284 men. Her main +battery consisted of eight 6-inch guns. + +MAIN FLEETS STILL INACTIVE + +Up to the last week in October the main fleets of the warring powers +were still inactive, but rumors of intended German naval activity were +frequent. The cat-and-mouse attitude of the British and German fleets +in the North Sea was continued, the Germans lying snug in their ports, +protected by their mines and submarines, while the British battleships +lay in wait at all points of possible egress. The situation tried the +patience of the people of both countries and there were frequent demands +for action by the great and costly naval armaments. But the Germans +apparently were not ready to risk a general engagement, and the British +could not force them to come out and fight. The British admirals, +therefore had, perforce, to pursue a policy of "watchful waiting," +irksome as it was to all concerned, and "the tireless vigil in the North +Sea," as it was termed by Mr. Asquith, was maintained day and night. +No sea captain becalmed in the doldrums ever whistled for a wind more +earnestly than the British Jack tars prayed for a chance at the enemy +during those three months of playing the cat to Germany's mouse; and on +the other hand, the German sailors were, no doubt, equally desirious +of a chance to demonstrate the fighting abilities of their brand-new +battleships. All were equally on the _qui vive_, for any hour might +bring to the Germans the order to put to sea, and to the British the +welcome cry of "Enemy in sight!" + +CARING FOR BELGIAN REFUGEES + +The plight of the Belgian people, including the refugees in Holland, +England and France, was pitiable in the extreme and by the end of +October had roused the sympathy of the entire world. A conservative +estimate placed the number of Belgians expatriated at 1,500,000 out of a +population of 7,000,000. On October 26 Mr. Brand Whitlock, United States +minister to Belgium, reported that the entire country was on the verge +of starvation, while Holland and England had their hands full caring for +the Belgians who had sought refuge in those countries. In eight cities +of Holland there were said to be 500,000 Belgian refugees. Over 70, +arrived in London in one week and a central committee in London had +twenty-seven subcommittees at work in different cities in England, +Scotland and Wales, placing the refugees in homes as rapidly as +possible. The humanitarian problem of taking care of the Belgians was +one of tremendous responsibility, but the people of the three countries +in which most of them sought refuge rose nobly to the occasion and +spared no effort to lessen their sufferings. + +MORE CANADIANS FOR THE FRONT + +It was announced in Ottawa, Canada, on October 19 that the Dominion +Government had decided to put 30,000 more men in training in Canada, to +be despatched to England when ready. As soon as the first unit of 15, +was embarked, probably in December, another 15,000 men would be enlisted +to replace them, the plan being to keep 30,000 men continuously in +training, to be drawn upon in units of 10,000 or 15,000 as soon as +equipped, during the continuance of hostilities in Europe. Thus with the +32,000 Canadian volunteers already landed in England, and 8,000 under +arms guarding strategic points in the Dominion, Canada would soon raise +100,000 men as part of her contribution to Imperial defense. + +But this was only a beginning. Later in the war Canada stood ready to +furnish half a million men to the cause of the Empire, if required. +Nearly 360,000 of that number had been enlisted when the war was two +years old. The greatest problems were encountered in the first year, or +rather in the first six months of the war, after which time efforts were +systematized, the military machine worked smoothly, and the Dominion's +splendid response to the call to arms was maintained throughout. General +prosperity in the face of adverse conditions happily attended this +record of patriotic achievement, and the predominant spirit in Canada +was one of buoyant optimism as to the inevitable outcome of the great +conflict. + +THE "EMDEN" DRIVEN ASHORE A WRECK + +During the first three months of the war the German cruiser Emden, +operating principally in the Indian ocean, played havoc with British +merchantmen, sinking over twenty vessels engaged in far Eastern +commerce, besides a Russian cruiser and a French torpedo-boat. But she +met her match in the second week of November, when she was engaged off +the Cocos or Keeling group of islands, southwest of Java, by the fast +Australian cruiser Sydney and driven ashore a burning wreck after an +hour's fight, with a loss of 280 men. + +NAVAL BATTLE OFF CHILEAN COAST + +Early in November a fleet of five German cruisers, under Admiral von +Spee, encountered a British squadron composed of the cruisers Good +Hope, Monmouth and Glasgow, in command of Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher +Cradock, off the coast of Chile, in the Southern Pacific. Despite a +raging gale, a long-range battle ensued, resulting in the defeat of the +British and the loss of the flagship Good Hope, with the admiral and all +her crew, and of the cruiser Monmouth. The Glasgow escaped in a damaged +condition. The loss of life was about 1,000, officers and men. + +Up to November 15, the struggle in the coast region of Belgium continued +with terrific intensity and appalling loss of life on both sides. The +Germans occupied Dixmude November 11, only to lose it on November 13, +after a fierce attack by reinforced British troops. + +DAILY COST OF WAR + +The daily cost of the present war to the nations engaged in the struggle +is estimated at not less than $54,000,000 a day--a sum which fairly +staggers the imagination. This enormous cost of the armies in the field +gives a decided advantage to the nation best supplied with the "sinews +of war" and may contribute to a shortening of hostilities. War is indeed +a terrible drain upon the resources of a nation and only a few there +are that can stand many months of war expenditures like those of +August-October, 1914, amounting in the grand aggregate to nearly five +billions of dollars ($5,000,000,000). + +TURKEY ENTERS THE WAR + +On October 29 an act which was regarded in Russia as equivalent to a +declaration of war by Turkey was committed at Theodosia, the Crimean +port, when that town was bombarded without notice by the cruiser +Breslau, flying the Turkish flag, but commanded by a German officer and +manned by a German crew. The Breslau was a former German ship, and was +said to have been purchased by the Turkish government, with the German +battleship Goeben, when they sought refuge in the Dardanelles at +the beginning of the war, from the French and British fleets in the +Mediterranean. + +FOURTH MONTH OF THE WAR + +The month of November, the fourth month of the war, was marked by the +heaviest losses to all the nations concerned, but made little change in +the general situation. + +Along the Aisne the battle begun early in September continued +intermittently. Both sides literally dug themselves in and along the +battle line in many places, the hostile trenches were separated by only +a few yards. At the end of the month the burrowing had been succeeded by +tunneling, and both sides prepared for a winter of spasmodic action. It +was a military deadlock, but a deadlock full of danger for the side that +first developed a weak point in its far-flung front. + +With the utmost fairness and impartiality it can be said that at the +beginning of December both the allied armies and the German forces +facing them from the Belgian coast east and south to the borders of +Alsace-Lorraine were exhausted by the strenuous efforts of the campaign. +By December 5, the 130th day of the war, after a seven-weeks' struggle +by the Germans for the possession of the French and Belgian coast, there +was a general cessation of offensive operations by both sides and the +indications were that this condition was due to pure physical weariness +of leaders and men. The world had never before witnessed such strenuous +military operations as those of the preceding three months and the +temporary exhaustion of the armies therefore was not surprising. + +In the last days of November, the city of Belgrade fell into the +hands of the Austrians after a siege that had lasted, with continual +bombardments, since the war began. The city was finally taken by storm +at the point of the bayonet in a furious charge which fairly overwhelmed +the gallant defense of the Servians. + +In this month it began to be generally realized that the war was likely +to be of prolonged duration. Strenuous preparations for the winter +campaign were made on both sides and the recruiting for the new British +army surpassed all previous records, the serious menace of the war being +at last recognized. + +The month of November was also marked by enormous contributions of cash +and food stuffs by the people of the United States for the relief of +the impoverished and suffering Belgians. The people of Chicago alone +contributed over $500,000 and this was but a sample of the manner in +which Americans rose to the opportunity to alleviate the distress in +Belgium. "The United States has saved us from starvation," said a +Belgian official on December 1. + +The casualties of all the armies in the field during the month of +November exceeded those of any previous period of the war. Basing an +estimate of the total casualties upon the same percentage as that +employed in the table given on another page, it is therefore safe to +say that up to December 5 the total losses of the combatant nations in +killed, wounded and missing aggregated not less than 3,500,000 men. + +DECEMBER IN THE TRENCHES + +The month of December, 1914, the fifth month of the war, registered but +little change in the relative positions of the combatant nations. In the +west the lines held firm from the North Sea to Switzerland. Daily duels +of artillery and daily assaults here and there along the battle fronts +proved unavailing, so far as any change in general conditions was +concerned. Frequently the assaults were of a desperate character, +especially in Flanders, where in the middle of the month the Allies +assumed the offensive all along the line and sturdily strove to push +back the German front in Belgium. But the utmost valor and persistence +in attack were invariably met by resolute resistance. Both sides were +strongly entrenched and the gain of a few yards today was usually +followed by the loss of a few yards tomorrow. + +Never before in the history of warfare had the science of entrenchment +been developed to such an extent. The German, French, British and. +Belgian armies literally burrowed in the earth along a battle front of +150 miles. In many places the hostile trenches were separated by only a +few yards, and mining was frequently resorted to. Tunneling toward each +other, both the contending forces occasionally succeeded in blowing up +the enemy's trench, and whole companies of unsuspecting troops were +sometimes annihilated in this way. In the trenches themselves scenes +unparalleled in warfare were witnessed. With the arrival of winter the +troops on either side proceeded to secure what comfort they could by all +manner of clever and unique devices. Winter clothing was provided as far +as possible, but on both sides there was inevitable suffering for lack +of suitable supplies for the winter campaign, and individual initiative +had frequently to supply the deficiencies of official forethought. + +Many unique features of trench life were developed during the first +month of winter warfare. Two-story trenches became common on both +sides of the firing line. Bombproof underground quarters for staff and +commanding officers were constructed, and these were fitted up so as to +provide all the comforts of the winter cantonments of old-time warfare. +The ever-necessary telephone was installed at frequent points in +trenches that stretched for scores of miles in practically unbroken +lines. Board roofs were built and provision made for heating the dugouts +in which thousands of men passed many days and nights before their +reliefs arrived. On the German side miles of trenches were provided with +stockade walls, leaving ample room inside for the rapid movement of +troops. The British built trenches with lateral individual dugouts +at right angles to the main trench, protecting the men against flank +fire--and these aroused the admiration even of their enemies. In the +French trenches the ingenuity of a French engineer provided a system +of hot shower baths on the firing line, and from all points along the +deadlocked battle front came stories of the remarkable manner in which +the troops of all the armies speedily accommodated themselves to +unprecedented conditions and maintained a spirit of cheerfulness truly +marvelous under the circumstances, especially as there was no cessation +of the constant endeavor to gain ground from the enemy and no end to the +daily slaughter. + +IN THE GERMAN TRENCHES + +A correspondent with the German army who visited the firing line in the +Argonne forest late in November, by special permission of the German +crown prince, described the conditions in the trenches as follows: "Here +in the now famous Argonne forest--the scene of some of the war's most +desperate fighting--the Germans are trenching and mining their way +forward, literally yard by yard. This afternoon I reached the foremost +trench, south of Grandpre. About 160 feet ahead of me is the French +trench. Picture to yourself a canebrake-like woods of fishpoles ranging +in size from half an inch to saplings of two and three inches thick and +so dense that you can hardly see forty yards even now when the leaves +have fallen. Among these is a scattering of big trees, the trunks of +which are veritable mines of bullets. + +"Irregular lines of deep yellow clay trenches zigzag for miles. +Other trenches run back from these to what looks like a huge Kansas +'prairie-dog town'--human burrows, where thousands of soldiers are +literally living underground. From the lines of trenches running +parallel to one another comes a constant, spitting, sputtering, popping +of rifles, making the woods resound like a Chinese New Year in San +Francisco or an old-time Fourth of July. Field guns and hand grenades +furnish the 'cannon-cracker' effect. Through the woods the high-noted +'zing zing' of bullets sounds like a swarm of angry bees, while high +overhead shrapnel and shell go shrieking on their way. Here and there +you may see spades full of earth being thrown up as if by invisible +hands, marking the onward work of the German gopher-like pioneers in +their subterranean warfare. That is the Argonne forest. + +"As the trench I am in was still in the hands of the French three days +ago and as the crown prince is advancing steadily, the trenches are +temporary and contain little in the way of comforts. In deep niches cut +in the side the soldiers rest, play cards or even sleep on damp ledges +between fights. + +"The trenches also serve as a cemetery. When the enemy's fire is so hot +that it is impossible to stick your head out or to take the dead out to +bury them, the grave is made in a niche or a ledge cut into the side of +the trench." + +GERMAN ADVANCE HALTED + +The western operations in December made it clear that the German advance +to the Channel ports of France had been definitely halted. In the +terrible battle of Ypres in Flanders, following the prolonged +engagements along the Yser river, the Allies succeeded in repulsing the +desperate German onslaught, and the German offensive was brought to +a full stop. Towns and villages in Flanders, in Artois and in Champagne, +that had been captured in the early German rush, were retaken one by +one by the Belgians, French and British, slowly but surely, until +the Germans were forced to act upon the defensive along a line of +entrenchments prepared to enable them to keep open their communications +through Belgium with their great base at Aix-la-Chapelle. + +An incident of the desperate fighting at Ypres, in which British and +French troops practically annihilated six German regiments, including +the crack Second regiment of Prussian Guards, has been graphically +described by an eye-witness as follows: + +"A long valley stretches out before us and the little rise on which we +stand--about fifty feet above the plain--commands it. The British guns +are shooting almost horizontally at the German infantry trudging through +the mud 2,000 yards away. + +"I count easily five regiments together, but further to the right a +sixth one evidently wards off a flank attack on the part of the French +colonial troops. The lone regiment is the Second Prussian regiment of +the guard, the emperor's own, the elite of the Kaiser's army, 2,500 of +the brawniest, most disciplined men in the world. It is now 1 o'clock. +In one hour only 300 of these men will leave the field. + +"A gust of wind brings to our ears the sound of music. The guards' band +is encouraging the men. At the foot of the small hill on which we stand +are twenty lines of trenches filled with Scotch and English infantry. +The men are silently awaiting the attack. Not a rifle is being fired. +The trenches are the Germans' goal; these and the British batteries once +taken, the road into Ypres is clear. + +"In the valley the Germans halt. The range is only 1,500 yards now and +every British shot is telling. The effects are appalling. The gray +masses move onward once more, seem to hesitate, but sharp bugle blasts +launch them forward again and on the run they come for the trenches. + +"At 1,000 yards our batteries again stop them. Whole rows are +mowed down, vast spaces appearing between the ranks. The companies +intermingle, then the regiments themselves seem to amalgamate and +melt into one another. Officers are seen galloping along the sides, +evidently trying to bring order out of chaos. + +"The artillerymen work silently, the perspiration streaming down their +cheeks, and continue sending on their messengers of death. + +"The Second regiment of the Guard alone, off to the right, seems +untouched, and on it comes. Suddenly the sound of a bagpipe is heard. +The Scots are awake. From the trenches an avalanche rushes forward +toward the disordered Germans. + +"At the double-quick Scots and English, a few feet apart, yelling like +demons, pounce on the attackers. Rifles are silent. It is cold steel +alone. Our battery captains cry 'Stop firing.' There is a risk of +shelling our own men now. We become spectators. + +"On the right the Guard has suddenly turned toward the hill. A bugle +blast and the mass of men half turns and seems to be thrown on the back +of the British, outflanked. The situation is desperate. Our artillery is +useless. + +"Listen! Over the valley, rising louder and still louder, comes a song +which the Germans have heard before. A crash of brass, a hoarse roar +fills the air, echoing across the valley, drowning the shouts and curses +of the human wave fighting below. + +"The 'Marseillaise'--the English and Scots have heard it. 'Hold tight, +the French are coming,' we scream. They cannot hear us, but we must +shout--the strain is too intense. + +"Past our batteries a company of Spahis rushes like a cyclone. Two more +follow, then the Zouaves. Rifles close to their hips, bayonets low, +throwing out over the valley its glorious anthem, the human flood +crashes against the Guard. + +"The lines waver in an indescribable jumble of gray, yellow, blue, and +red uniforms, then seem to bounce back from the very force of the shock. +Men appear, raised from their feet, and raised high in the air. + +"Caught in a vise between the British and the French, the Guard alone +remains. Ten times the shattered remnants of the Kaiser's proud regiment +charged, and ten times was thrown back, first against the French, then +against the British. Crying, 'Comrades, comrades!' hundreds began +throwing their guns aside. + +"At 2 o'clock it was over. The Allies had lost 1,200 men. Only +prisoners remained of the Second Prussian regiment of the Guard. + +PROGRESS OF THE EASTERN CAMPAIGN + +The campaign in the eastern theater of war attracted the attention +of the whole world in December, when the German operations begun in +November under Field Marshal Von Hindenburg, the victor of Tannenberg +earlier in the war, were continued with varying successes. Early in the +month the Germans captured Lodz, the second city and chief manufacturing +center of Russian Poland, with a population of about 500,000, after a +bombardment of a week's duration, the city being set on fire in many +places. The Russians made a desperate resistance, and the fighting +around Lodz constituted the most bitter struggle of the entire war on +this front. A general Russian retirement in the direction of Warsaw +followed, but the Germans failed in their subsequent efforts to +envelop the flanks of the Russian army to the north and south. Russian +reinforcements from Warsaw coming up promptly, the Germans were in their +turn compelled to retire. Two German army corps were then practically +cut off by the Russians, but made a successful retreat, fighting their +way back to safety with the bayonet in one of the most brilliant +exploits of the war. Thus the net result of the German campaign in +Poland in December left the general situation there practically +unchanged and the Russian front unbroken, while in East Prussia, too, +the Russian invasion continued despite German efforts to roll it back +across the frontier. + +The losses on both sides in the eastern campaign in December were +appalling, the fighting being of the fiercest possible nature. A typical +struggle occurred a few miles west of Lodz in the little churchyard of +Beschici, where the Russians, in one of the final phases of the +struggle for the Polish city, showed that in spite of their defeats and +discouragements they knew how to fight and die. This churchyard lies +on a small eminence which formed a salient into the German lines. The +Germans were able to make an attack from three sides with infantry and +artillery. All the Russian trenches were enfiladed by shrapnel from +one direction or another, but the Russians clung to their positions +obstinately. When the Germans finally captured the trenches 878 Russian +corpses were found in a space about eighty yards square. + +It was resistance of this nature which the Germans had to overcome in +order to capture Lodz. Later in December it became clear that Russia +was getting her millions into the field and that the strategy of the +commander-in-chief, the Grand Duke Nicholas, would soon be aided by the +weight of overwhelming numbers. + +BELGIUM THANKS AMERICA + +During November and December Madame Vandervelde, wife of a member of +the Belgian cabinet, toured the United States soliciting aid for her +suffering fellow-countrymen. The response everywhere was extremely +generous and in appreciation of the aid given the war victims of her +country Madame Vandervelde penned the following poem, entitled "Belgium +Thanks America:" + + But still we tell the story which once we loved to tell. + "Good will! Good will!" we read it, and "Peace!"--we hear the name, + And crouch among the ruins, and watch the cruel flame, + And hear the children crying, and turn our eyes away-- + For them there's neither bread nor home this happy Christmas day. + + But look! there comes a message from far across the deep, + From hearts that still can pity and eyes that still can weep-- + O little lips a-hunger! O faces pale and wan! + There's somewhere--somewhere--peace on earth, somewhere good will to man, + Across the waste of waters, a thousand leagues away, + There's some one still remembers that here it's Christmas day. + + 0 God of Peace, remember, and in thy mercy keep + The hearts that still can pity, the eyes that still can weep, + Amid the shame and torment, the ruins and the graves, + To theirs, the land of freedom, from ours, the land of slaves, + What answer can we send them? We can but kneel and pray: + God grant--God grant to them, at least, a happy Christmas day. +GRIM REALITIES OF THE WAR + +A vivid picture of the horrible realities of the war, as seen in a +field hospital near the firing line, was given in "The New Republic" of +November 28 by Mr. Henry W. Nevinson, who described his experiences at +Dixmude in Belgium as follows: + +"When I entered Dixmude one night in the middle of October the first +bombardment was over, but from both sides the heavy shells flew across +the town. From the end of the main street came an incessant noise of +rifles and machine guns. Unaimed bullets wailed through the air, and +pattered as they struck the walls. Flaming houses shed a light upon the +ruined streets, but only one house looked inhabited, and all the others +which were not burning stood silent and empty, expecting destruction. + +"That one house was used as an outlying hospital or dressing-place +nearest the firing line, and the wounded had to be led or carried only +two or three hundred yards to reach it. They sat on the dining-room +chairs or lay helpless on the floor. A few surgeons were at work upon +them, cutting off loose fingers and throwing them into basins, plugging +black holes that welled up instantly through the plug, straining +bandages, which in a minute ceased to be white, round legs and heads. +The smell of fresh, warm blood was thick on the air. One man lay deep in +his blood. You could not have supposed that anyone had so much in him. +Another's head had lost on one side all human semblance, and was a +hideous pulp of eye and ear and jaw. Another, with chest torn open, +lay gasping for the few minutes left of life. And as I waited for the +ambulance more were brought in, and always more. + +"In a complacent and comfortable account of hospital work I lately read +that 'deaths from wounds are happily rare; one surgeon put the number as +low as 2 per cent.' Happy hospital, far away in Paris or some Isle of +the Blest! The further from the front the fewer the deaths, because so +many have died already. + +"In the nearest hospitals to the front, half the wounded, and on some +days more than half, die where they are put. Often they die in the +ambulance, and one's care in drawing them out is wasted, for they will +never feel again. I found one always took the same care, though the +greenish-yellow of the exposed hands or feet showed the truth. Laid on +the floor of the main hospital itself, some screamed or moaned, some +whimpered like sick children, especially in their sleep, some lay quiet, +with glazed eyes out of which sight was passing. Mere fragments of +mankind were there extended, limbs pounded into mash, heads split open, +intestines hanging out from gashes. Did those bones--did that exquisite +network of living tissue and contrivances for life--cost no more in +the breeding than to be hewed and smashed and pulped like this? +Shrapnel--shrapnel--it was nearly always the same. For this is, above +all, an artillery war, and both sides are justly proud of their +efficiency in guns." + +GOVERNMENT RETURNS TO PARIS + +Confidence of safety having been restored in the French capital, the +Paris bourse reopened on December 7, after having been closed since +September 3. President Poincare transferred his official residence back +to Paris from Bordeaux on December 9 and a meeting of the French cabinet +was held in Paris on December 11, for the first time since the capital +was threatened by the German advance at the end of August. + +BRITISH NAVAL VICTORY + +In the second week of December the British navy avenged the defeat of +Rear Admiral Cradock's squadron off the Chilean coast in November, when +a powerful special fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Sturdee, +encountered the German cruiser fleet, under Admiral von Spee, off the +Falkland Islands and practically destroyed it. Only one of the five +German cruisers escaped. The flagship Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau, the +Leipzig and the Nurnberg were sunk in the action, which lasted for five +hours, and the German admiral with three of his sons and most of the +officers and men of the German crews perished. The British losses were +inconsiderable. + +This sea fight in the South Atlantic was the most important engagement +in which British men-of-war had participated since the era of Napoleon. +The sailing of the British fleet in quest of Admiral von Spee's +squadron had been kept secret and the news of the victory was therefore +especially welcome to the people of England, who had been considerably +worried by a succession of minor naval losses inflicted by German +cruisers, submarines and mines. The action was gallantly fought on both +sides. The advantage in weight of metal and range of guns lay on the +side of the British, and the battle was decided at long range. Admiral +von Spee, refusing to surrender, in spite of the odds against him, +went down with his ship. The flagship of the victorious admiral, Sir +Frederick Sturdee, was the modern battle cruiser Invincible. A number of +the German sailors were rescued by the British after the engagement and +sent as prisoners of war to England. The total German loss was over +2,000 officers and men. + +Fine strategy was shown by the British admiralty in sending Admiral +Sturdee to South American waters. He was ordered to sea from his desk as +chief of the British naval board, after Von Spee's Chilean victory in +November, and was placed in command of some of the fastest and most +powerful cruisers of the British fleet. The entire affair, from the time +the admiral left London until he succeeded in finding and sinking the +German squadron in the South Atlantic, took about a month--a truly +remarkable exploit. + +RULERS AT THE FRONT + +During December all the armies in the field were visited by the rulers +of their respective countries. The Czar spent some time with his troops +near the firing lines in Poland; King George of England visited the +British forces in Belgium and Northern France and conferred the Victoria +Cross ("For Valor") on a number of officers and men; and President +Poincare made several trips to the front, conferring decorations upon +General Joffre, commander-in-chief, and other French officers, for +distinguished service. The gallant and devoted soldier-king, Albert of +Belgium, remained steadfastly at the front with his troops, sharing all +their privations and dangers during the fierce fighting in Flanders. +Kaiser Wilhelm was also at the front, both east and west, but was forced +to return to Berlin early in the month by an attack of illness. On his +recovery after two weeks he again visited the western field headquarters +in Belgium, but in the first week of January, 1915, he was again +compelled by his ailment to make a hurried return to Berlin for medical +treatment and rest. British and German naval losses in the world war to +January 1, 1915, are shown in the following, compiled from admiralty +reports, and, where these are missing, from other authoritative sources. +The figures are approximately correct. + + BRITISH LOSSES + + Date Name and Type How Sunk Tonnage Lives Lost + Aug. 7--Amphion, protected cruiser Mined 3,440 136 + Sept. 4--Speedy, torpedo gunboat Mined 810 ... + Sept. 5--Pathfinder, protected cruiser Mined 2,940 250 + Sept. 7--Warrior, protected cruiser Stranded 13,500 ... + Sept. 9--Oceanic, auxiliary cruiser Wrecked 17,000 ... + Sept. 18--Fishguard II, training ship Foundered ...... 21 + Sept. 19--AE-1, submarine Lost 800 25 + Sept. 20--Pegasus, protected cruiser Shelled 2,200 25 + Sept. 22--Aboukir, protected cruiser Torpedoed 12,000 510 + Sept. 22--Cressy, protected cruiser Torpedoed 12,000 561 + Sept. 22--Hogue, protected cruiser Torpedoed 12,000 362 + Oct. 16--Hawke, protected cruiser Torpedoed 7,350 350 + Oct. 18--E-3, submarine Shelled 800 25 + Oct. 27--Audacious, dreadnought Torpedoed 25,000 2 + Oct. 31--Hermes, protected cruiser Torpedoed 5,600 ... + Nov. 1--Monmouth, armored cruiser Shelled 3,800 540 + Nov. 1--Good Hope, armored cruiser Shelled 14,100 875 + Nov. 5--D-5, submarine Mined 550 21 + Nov. 11--Niger, torpedo gunboat Torpedoed 819 ... + Nov. 20--Bulwark, battleship Explosion 15,000 800 + Jan. 1--Formidable, battleship Torpedoed 17,000 579 + Number of vessels lost, 21. -------------- + Totals 172,700 5,082 + + GERMAN LOSSES + + Date Name and Type How Sunk Tonnage Lives Lost + Aug. 5--Panther, gunboat Shelled 900 75 + Aug. 6--Koenigin Luise, mine layer Torpedoed 1,800 70 + Aug. 7--Augsburg, protected cruiser Shelled 4,280 158 + Aug. 9--U-15, submarine Shelled 400 12 + Aug. 27--Kaiser Wm. + der Grosse, aux. cruiser Shelled 14,849 30 + Aug. 27--Magdeburg, protected cruiser Shelled 4,478 200 + Aug. 28--Ariadne, protected cruiser Shelled 2,620 200 + Aug. 28--V-186, V-187, destroyers Shelled 1,290 100 + Sept. 14--Cap Trafalgar,auxiliary cruiser Shelled 26,000 14 + Sept. 15--Hela, small cruiser Torpedoed 2,000 10 + Oct. 17--S-115, 117, 118, 119, 4 destroyers 1,660 193 + Oct. 20--S-30, destroyer Ran Ashore 400 ... + Oct. 25--Submarine Shelled 400 12 + Oct. 30--Submarine Shelled 400 12 + Nov. 4--Yorck, armored cruiser Mined 9,350 226 + Nov. 7--Jaguar, gunboat Shelled 330 50 + Nov. 7--Luchs, gunboat Shelled 880 50 + Nov. 7--Iltis, gunboat Shelled 880 50 + Nov. 7--Cormoran, gunboat Shelled 1,600 100 + Nov. 7--Tiger, gunboat Shelled 880 50 + Nov 7--Taku, destroyer Shelled 280 26 + Nov. 7--Ruchin, mine layer Shelled ... ... + Nov. 9--Emden, protected cruiser Shelled 3,540 200 + Nov. . .--Wilhelm der Grosse, battleship Mined 10,790 400 + Nov. . .--Hertha, cruiser Mined 5,569 200 + Dec. 8--Scharnhorst, armored cruiser Shelled 11,420 764 + Dec. 8--Gneisenau, armored cruiser Shelled 11,420 700 + Dec. 8--Leipzig, cruiser Shelled 3,200 280 + Dec 8--Nurnberg, cruiser Shelled 3,200 256 + Dec. 10--Three submarines Shelled 1,200 36 + Number of vessels lost, 38. ---------------- + Totals 134,026 5,005 + +CANADIANS AT THE FRONT + +Late in December the first of the Canadian troops to leave their English +training camp on Salisbury Plain were sent to the front in Northern +France. The Princess Patricia regiment had the military honor of leading +the Canadians to the firing line. It was made up largely of men who had +seen previous service and promptly proceeded to give a good account of +itself. A British guardsman returning wounded from the front on December +28 paid a characteristic tribute to the efficiency and daring of the +Canadian troops, when he said: "They are all old soldiers. They knew as +much about the game as we did and a blooming sight more than the enemy's +infantry." + +The Canadians first went into action at one of those ticklish spots +where yards count. The trench of the British ended at a village which +was vigorously shelled by the Germans, and was practically in ruins. +Another trench on the right of a little town held by unmounted French +cavalry made it impossible for the Germans to reach the village, but +their "snipers" had ensconced themselves in some farm buildings to the +northeast, making it extremely hazardous for supplies to reach the +advanced British posts. + +"About twenty of the Canadians," said the wounded guardsman, "managed to +gain the ruins at the extreme end of the village during Christmas night +and when daylight came they accounted for practically all the German +'snipers' and dashed back into safety before the German artillery fire +was directed to the stronghold." + +SERVIANS REOCCUPY BELGRADE + +Just when it appeared likely that Servia might share the fate of +Belgium, a turn in the fortunes of war changed the entire situation of +affairs in the little Slav kingdom. Aided by a fresh advance of Russian +troops across the Carpathians, which caused the hurried withdrawal +of three Austrian army corps from Servian territory to defend the +threatened cities of Hungary, the Serbs again took the offensive and, +inspired by the presence in the field of old King Peter, a gallant +soldier of France in 1870, they reoccupied Belgrade and drove the +Austrians before them in a disorderly rout, so that by December +Servia was free of the Austrian enemy. Budapest, capital of Hungary, +became panic-stricken at the Russian advance and the Servian victory, +and the year 1914 closed with every evidence that the people of Austria, +at any rate, were tired of the war, discontented at the prospect, and +desirous of peace. + +GERMAN ATTACK ON BRITISH COAST + +For the first time in history since the days of the American commander, +Paul Jones, British coast towns were bombarded on December 16, when a +squadron of German cruisers, slipping across the North Sea in a fog, +from their Heligoland base, appeared off Scarborough, Hartlepool and +Whitby, on the eastern coast of England, and shelled each of them in +turn. The loss of life in the three towns was about 100 men, women and +children, and a considerable number of buildings were partially wrecked +by the German shells. Comparatively speaking, of course the damage +inflicted was trifling and from a military point of view the incident +was unimportant, the German ships disappearing in the fog after a +half-hour's bombardment But the moral effect upon the British public was +tremendous. The event came as a distinct shock to their over-confidence +and as a reminder that the German navy was still to be reckoned with. +The warships of the Kaiser brought home to the people of the United +Kingdom the meaning of the war, as no previous incident had done, and +fear of further attacks took possession of them. This fear, however, +soon turned to rage, and then to a fierce determination to prosecute +the war to a bitter end. The attack stimulated recruiting for Lord +Kitchener's new army, and this was its chief result, though Germany +had proved that her ships could reach British shores and bombard their +defenseless towns, in spite of all the vigilance of the British fleet. + +BRITISH RAID GERMAN PORT + +By way of answer to the German attack on Scarborough and Hartlepool, a +daring raid was made Christmas Day by the British navy on the German +naval base at Cuxhaven, at the mouth of the Elbe. The chief participants +were seven British naval airmen. They were assisted in the attack by +several light cruisers, destroyers and submarines. The airmen +piloted seaplanes and succeeded in dropping a number of bombs in the +vicinity of Cuxhaven, in an attempt to bring out into the open a portion +of the German fleet lying there. The affair resulted in a contest +between the most modern of war machines. No surface warships were sent +out by the Germans, but the attack was repelled by means of Zeppelins, +sea-planes and submarines. No great damage was done on either side and +the British airmen all escaped without injury, though four of them lost +their machines. One, Flight Commander Hewlett, fell with his plane into +the North Sea at a considerable distance from Cuxhaven and was picked up +by a Dutch trawler, which landed him in Holland several days afterward. +The British vessels remained off Cuxhaven for three hours, engaged in +the most novel combat in naval history. + +A short time previous to the attack on Cuxhaven, the British submarine +B-11 accomplished one of the most remarkable exploits of the war when +it penetrated into the Dardanelles and torpedoed the Turkish battleship +Messudieh. In doing so the submarine successfully passed and repassed +five lines of submerged mines and returned to its base in safety after +being under water for many hours at a stretch. + +U.S. PROTEST ON MARINE CONDITIONS + +On December 31, by mutual agreement between the State Department at +Washington and the British Foreign Office, the text of a note sent by +the United States to England, requesting an early improvement in the +treatment of American shipping by the British fleet, was made public. +The note of protest had been presented on December 29. It dealt with the +manner in which American ships suspected of carrying contraband of +war had been held up on the high seas and sent into British ports for +examination. Sir Edward Grey, the British foreign secretary, and Walter +Hines Page, United States ambassador, conferred on the subject in +London, and it was announced on January 1, 1915, that an answer to the +American note would be drawn up as soon as possible and that it would be +in the same friendly spirit in which the American note was written. + +ON THE WESTERN BATTLE FRONT + +The battle lines in the western theater of war held firm and fast during +the first two months of 1915. Along the entire front, from Flanders to +the Swiss frontier, there were few changes in the relative positions of +the German forces and the Allies up to March 1, at which time both +sides were occupied with preparations for the spring campaign. British +reinforcements, forming part of Lord Kitchener's new army, were being +transported to the front, while the far-flung lines of trenches were +filled with battle-weary veterans of the winter campaign. In many places +the entrenchments of the opposing forces were only a few yards apart and +trenches were frequently destroyed by mines, resulting in losses to +both sides, but without materially changing the general aspect of the +conflict. + +NAVAL BATTLE IN THE NORTH SEA + +One of the most important naval battles of the war took place on January +24 in the North Sea between a British battle cruiser squadron under +Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, comprising the battle cruisers Tiger, +Lion, Princess Royal, New Zealand and Indomitable, assisted by a few +light cruisers and destroyers, on the one hand, and on the other a +German squadron, consisting of the battle cruisers Derflinger, Seydlitz +and Moltke, the armored cruiser Bluecher, one of the finest in the +Kaiser's navy, and several light cruisers. + +It was a running fight, covering over one hundred miles and lasting four +hours. At the end of this time the German armored cruiser Bluecher was +at the bottom of the sea and two of the German battle cruisers had been +damaged. Two of Vice-Admiral Beatty's ships were seriously damaged, +namely, the giant battle cruiser Lion, which was Sir David's flagship, +and the torpedo boat destroyer Meteor, one of the largest and fastest of +this class afloat. However, both of these vessels were safely towed +into port. The loss in men on the British side was fourteen killed and +twenty-nine wounded, while on the side of the Germans only 125 of the +crew of 850 men on the Bluecher were saved; the other 725 went down with +the ship. The loss of the Bluecher was the hardest blow the German navy +had sustained up to this time, as she was one of the newest and best +vessels of her class. She was built at a cost of $6,750,000. Her speed +was slower than that of the other vessels in the German squadron, which +doubtless accounted for her loss. The battle began about 150 miles from +Heligoland and ended within about fifty miles of this German naval base. + +Early in the month of February, England threatened to put all foodstuffs +destined for German ports on the contraband list. In retaliation, +Germany, on February 4, through Admiral von Pohl, chief of the admiralty +staff, issued a proclamation designating the waters around Great Britain +and Ireland as a war area, to become effective February 18 and to be +enforced by a formidable fleet of submarines, the object being to +conduct war operations in this area for the purpose of destroying +commercial ships of the enemy. + +Just at this time the great passenger steamship Lusitania, in her +passage from New York to Liverpool, hoisted the American flag while +sailing through the Irish Sea, and Germany charged that the British +Admiralty had issued confidential orders to captains of all British +ships to sail under the stars and stripes or other neutral flags when +necessary to use this means of protection against destruction by the +warships of the enemy. This situation seriously menaced the commerce of +the United States as well as that of all other neutral nations, and the +American Government, therefore, promptly issued a note of warning +to both belligerents and demanded in strong terms the protection of +American neutral rights on the high seas. Germany responded promptly +and promised to use every precaution to protect neutral shipping, but +pointed out that the use of the American flag by British ships would +make it difficult to distinguish neutral vessels from those of the +enemy; hence neutral shipping was urged to avoid the indicated war area. +Great Britain, on the other hand, claimed the right to use neutral flags +when necessary to protect human life and ships, when endangered by the +war vessels of the enemy; and under the laws of warfare and customs of +the nations this contention was correct. + +It can readily be seen that this situation placed the sea commerce of +the United States, as well as that of all other neutral countries, in +a most dangerous position. Up to March 1, 1915, about twenty merchant +vessels of various nationalities were destroyed or damaged in the +war zone established by Germany, including Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, +American and British ships. + +GREAT GERMAN VICTORY IN EAST PRUSSIA + +After a difficult campaign against the Russian invaders in East +Prussia, the German army, by the masterly strategy of Field Marshal von +Hindenburg, practically annihilated the Russian Tenth Army of 150, +men, completing the task February 20. It was the most spectacular +campaign in the history of modern warfare. + +The object of the German commander was not only to free East Prussia +from the Russian invasion, but to completely capture the Russian Tenth +Army. He sent one column in from the south to drive back the Russians +who occupied the Mazurian lake gateway to East Prussia, and another +column from the north was swung around in wide circles to the east +and south, aiming to join hands with the southern German column, thus +cutting off the Russian retreat. This movement would have succeeded +absolutely except for delay in passing through the swamps, caused by +mild weather which broke up the ice. A commander of one of the German +corps said: "Nature has always helped Russia. Two days of hard frost and +we should have had every man." + +In the south also nature aided the Russians. There the German hosts +attacked the enemy in the face of a driving snowstorm from the north, +which hindered their operations but did not prevent them from gaining a +victory which resulted in freeing Prussian territory from the invader. + +ALLIES FORCE THE DARDANELLES + +On March 1 a great allied fleet of forty British and French warships, +having reduced the forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles, was on its +way through the straits and the Sea of Marmora to Constantinople, with +the object of capturing the city. Panic prevailed in the Turkish capital +at the approach of the fleet, while for the first time in history +hostile flags flew over the forts at the mouth of the Dardanelles. +The naval operations of the Allies in the Dardanelles, which began on +February 17, proceeded without any serious check for a month. Mine +sweepers were in daily use, to clear the channel of submerged and +floating mines, and the forts at the Narrows, several miles inside the +entrance of the straits, were subject to bombardment every fine day. +High winds and fog hampered the operations to a considerable extent, +but the purpose of the Allies under Vice-Admiral Carden was adamant and +would not be denied. They were determined to hammer their way through to +the Turkish capital. The greatest battle of all history between warships +and shore forts was the result. Soon after the bombardment began it +became known that the allied fleets were led by the great new British +superdreadnaught Queen Elizabeth, launched after the war began and +armed with 15-inch guns of immense range which proved most effective in +reducing the forts at the mouth of the straits. + +[Illustration: FROM THE DARDANELLES TO THE BLACK SEA + +This Map Shows the Route of the Allied Fleets on the Way to +Constantinople, The Principal Fortified Places Are Clearly Indicated.] +THREE WARSHIPS SUNK + +On March 18 three of the allied warships were sunk inside the +Dardanelles and two crippled by the Turks during a bombardment in which +ten vessels of the combined fleet participated. The official report of +the battle was as follows: + +"Mine-sweeping having been in progress during the last ten days inside +the straits, a general attack was delivered by the British and French +fleets on Thursday morning upon the fortresses at the Narrows. At +10:45 A.M. the Queen Elizabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, and Lord Nelson +bombarded forts J, L, T, U and V, while the Triumph and Prince George +fired at batteries F, E and H. A heavy fire was opened on the ships from +howitzers and field guns. + +"At 12:22 o'clock the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, +Gaulois, Charlemagne and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles and engaged +the forts at closer range. Forts I, U, F and E replied strongly. Their +fire was silenced by the ten battleships inside the straits, all the +ships being hit several times during this part of the action. + +"By 1:25 P.M. all the forts had ceased firing. The Vengeance, +Irresistible, Albion, Ocean, Swiftsure and Majestic then advanced to +relieve the six old battleships inside the straits. 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. She sank in +fathoms north of Arenkeuf village in less than three minutes. + +"At 2:23 P.M. the relief battleships renewed the attack on the forts, +which again opened fire. The attack on the forts was maintained while +the operations of the mine-sweepers continued. + +"At 4:09 P.M. the Irresistible quitted the line, listing heavily, and +at 5:50 o'clock sank, having probably struck a drifting mine. At 6: +o'clock the Ocean, also having struck a mine, sank. Both vessels sank +in deep water, practically the whole of their crews having been removed +safely under a hot fire. The loss of the ships was caused by mines +drifting with the current, which were encountered in areas hitherto +swept clear. + +"The British casualties in personnel were not heavy considering the +scale of the operations, but practically the whole of the crew of the +Bouvet were lost with the ship, an internal explosion having apparently +supervened on the explosion of the mine." [About 500 lives were lost on +the Bouvet.] + +On March 16 Vice-Admiral Carden, who had been incapacitated by illness, +was succeeded in the chief command by Rear-Admiral John Michael De +Robeck, with the acting rank of vice-admiral. + +ADMIRAL DE ROBECK'S TRIBUTE TO THE FRENCH + +After the engagement of March 18 Admiral De Robeck telegraphed to the +British Admiralty the following tribute to the gallantry of the French +in action: + +"I desire to bring to the notice of your Lordships the splendid behavior +of the French squadron. Their heavy loss leaves them quite undaunted. +They were led into close action by Rear-Admiral Guepratte with the +greatest gallantry." + +About this time it was noted by the press and generally commented upon, +in both England and America, that the Admiralty had not made public a +single word of commendation for the work of the British navy since +the war began. This unusual fact was interpreted as evidence of the +inflexible purpose of the British to ignore minor losses and even +defeats until the main battleship fleets of the belligerents should come +to grips in the open sea. English newspapers began to taunt the Germans +with permitting their navy to "rust in the Kiel Canal." + +The sinking of the battle cruisers Irresistible, Ocean and Bouvet was +the heaviest loss sustained by the Allies since the war began. The +British crews were rescued, almost to a man, and the loss of the French +crew was due mainly to the internal explosion following that of the +mine. All the ships sunk were of the earlier pre-dreadnought type. On +the same day, March 18, the British battle cruiser Inflexible and the +French battleship Gaulois were put out of commission temporarily by the +fire of the Turkish forts. + +The Irresistible, the Ocean and the Bouvet were all sunk in portions +of the straits which had been swept clear of anchored mines, and the +drifting mines which proved so deadly were undoubtedly set afloat by the +Turks, probably under the direction of German officers, on the swift +current of the Dardanelles at points near the allied ships after the +action began. On March 24 the allied fleets renewed with vigor their +attack upon the forts at the Narrows of the Dardanelles. A large body of +troops was also landed upon the peninsula of Gallipoli, commanding the +approach to Constantinople, and the Russian Black Sea fleet co-operated +by a bombardment of the Turkish naval base, which left the Turkish fleet +without supplies and practically paralyzed its movements. + +BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE + +The presence of part of Earl Kitchener's new British volunteer army at +the western front in Belgium and France was signalized between March +and March 16, when the British gained a series of successes that drew +marked attention to their operations. To the south of Ypres in Flanders +the British army, which a German attack had compelled to fall back +beyond St. Eloi, recaptured that village and almost all of the +neighboring German trenches, in spite of several counterattacks. + +On March 11 Field Marshal Sir John French described the fighting which +led to the capture of Neuve Chapelle in Northern France as follows: + +"Since my last communique the situation on our front, between +Armentieres and La Bassee, has been materially altered by a successful +initiative on the part of the troops engaged. Shortly after 8 A.M. on +March 10 these troops assaulted and carried German trenches in the +neighborhood of Neuve Chapelle. + +"Before noon we captured the whole village of Neuve Chapelle. Our +infantry at once proceeded to confirm and extend the local advantage +gained. By dusk the whole labyrinth of trenches on a front about 4, +yards was in our hands. We had established ourselves about 1,200 yards +beyond the enemy's advanced trenches. + +"During the 11th the enemy made repeated efforts to recover the ground +lost. All his counter-attacks were repulsed with heavy loss. + +"We continue to make steady progress and hard fighting continues. The +local initiative displayed by our troops daily is admirable. It says +much for the spirit which animates the army. The success achieved on the +10th and 11th is a striking example." "THE END OF THE WORLD" + +An officer who was wounded in the fighting thus vividly describes the +battle of Neuve Chapelle: + +"Modern warfare is such an infernal business that any man who is not +killed ought to be cheerful. It all seems like a wild dream to me. +I never heard such a row in all my life. And the bullets and the +shells--it was like passing through the most awful hail storm. + +"We were in our trenches at dawn when suddenly a most infernal din +commenced. You never saw such a sight; you never heard such a noise. I +heard one of my men say, 'This is the end of the world,' and I did not +blame him for thinking so. We could see in the distance great masses of +flame, earth and brick in great clouds of smoke, all ascending together +as enormous shells screamed over our heads and burst among the German +entrenchments and the houses of the village. At the end of a half-hour's +bombardment the fire ceased as suddenly as it had begun. + +"All this time we were awaiting the order to advance towards Aubers. At +length we jumped out into the open. The air seemed alive with bullets +and shells. There was a buzzing noise, such as you hear in a tropical +forest on a hot summer day. On we moved, until we came to an open +stretch, which was being swept by an infernal shell fire. We crossed +this in rushes to gain the shelter of a few houses, losing some 40 or +men. There we remained for some little time, reforming the battalion and +awaiting further orders. When these came we moved forward over rough, +open ground, coming upon lots of our poor fellows lying dead. They were +from the only battalion which had preceded us. + +"Then we entered the German trenches which had been captured. Again we +halted. All this time our shells, German shells and rifle and machine +gun bullets were shrieking overhead. + +"Thank goodness, in an action like this you seem to lose your senses! +A kind of elevation above all ordinary feelings comes over you and +you feel as though you were rushing through air. There is so much to +frighten you that you cease to be afraid. Then your senses gradually +come back. That is why all infantry attacks should be carried through +with one overwhelming rush." + +GERMAN ADVANCE IN POLAND + +On March 12 two German armies were on the move in Poland, seeking to +pierce the Russian lines. One of these armies was advancing along the +road to Przasnysz with the bank of the River Narew as its objective. +This was the main German attack and inaugurated one of the biggest +battles of the war. + +Farther south, on the Pilica, a German feint was in progress with +the object of weakening the Russian defense in the north. But while +Petrograd seemed to be resigning itself to the idea of a second +withdrawal from before Przasnysz, there was little doubt of the ultimate +outcome of this German attempt to gain a firm footing on Russian soil. +The German troops were moved forward in close order and only in the +daytime, and were entirely dependent on what natural cover they could +find between the rushes, as the ground was frozen too hard to permit the +use of intrenching tools. + +These tactics naturally involved very heavy losses. The German +casualties are also understood to have been extremely severe around +Simno, especially on their extreme left, where they lost the greater +part of their transport. It appeared certain that the Russians had +fallen back before an onrush of forces of overwhelming numerical +superiority, but it was equally certain that with every yard of the +German advance from their railways the shock of their impact weakened +while the Russian powers of resistance were enhanced. + +BRITISH RELIEVE THE PRESSURE + +Just as the French attacked the Germans in the western campaign when +Field Marshal von Hindenburg made his rush from East Prussia in +February, so the British army operating in Flanders undertook the task +of relieving the pressure on its Russian ally when the Russians again +were attacked in north Poland. This was part of the general plan of the +allied generals. When one was attacked the other attacked, so as to +compel the Germans and Austrians to keep strong forces at every point, +and endeavor to prevent them from sending new troops where they could do +the most good. + +In March the Germans were occupied in an attempt to crush the Russians. +For this purpose they had an army estimated at nearly half a million men +marching along the roads toward Przasnysz. To prevent this army from +being further strengthened the British began to thrust at the German +line north of La Bassee, and besides reporting the capture of the +village of Neuve Chapelle, they advanced beyond that town. + +BRITISH AUXILIARY CRUISER LOST + +On March 12 the Admiralty issued a report of the loss of the large +British auxiliary cruiser Bayano while on naval patrol duty in the +Irish Sea. Evidence pointed to her having been torpedoed by a German +submarine. Only 27 of the Bayano's crew of 250 were saved. Fourteen +officers, including the commander, went down with the ship. The Bayano +was a new twin screw steel steamer of 5,948 tons. The survivors were +afloat on a raft when rescued. The loss of the Bayano was the most +serious of the submarine blockade of the British coasts up to that time. + +GERMAN CRUISER DRESDEN SUNK + +For several months British warships in the South Atlantic and South +Pacific oceans sought in vain for the German cruiser Dresden, one of the +German squadron defeated off the Falkland Islands by Admiral Sturdee in +December, when she was the only German vessel to escape. On February +she sank the British ship Conway Castle off Corral in the South Pacific, +and on March 14 she was caught near Juan Fernandez Island by the British +cruisers Glasgow and Kent and the auxiliary cruiser Orama. An action +ensued and after five minutes' fighting the Dresden hauled down her +flag. She was much damaged and set on fire, and after she had been +burning for some time her magazine exploded and she sank. The crew were +saved. Fifteen badly wounded Germans were landed at Valparaiso, and the +remainder of the crew were taken on board the auxiliary cruiser Orama as +prisoners of war. + +The Dresden was a sister ship of the famous Emden, and was commissioned +in October, 1907. In the spring of 1914 the Dresden was on the Caribbean +station, and was lying off Tampico when the American forces captured +Vera Cruz. Later on in the summer the Dresden was the vessel on which +Victoriano Huerta, upon abandoning Mexico, traveled from Puerta to +Jamaica. Upon the outbreak of the war the Dresden was still stationed in +Central American waters, and for a time was hunted by the British and +French cruisers in the North Atlantic. She steamed south, however, and +after sinking the British steamer Hyades and the Holmwood off the coast +of Brazil, respectively, on August 16 and 26, went through the Strait +of Magellan and joined Admiral Count Von Spee's fleet in the southern +Pacific. + +The sinking of the Dresden left at large on the high seas, so far as was +known, only the German cruiser Karlsruhe, last reported as operating in +the West Indies, and the auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm, which was +still raiding commerce in the South Atlantic. + +THE FALL OF PKZEMYSL + +On March 22 the long siege of Przemysl, the formidable Galician fortress +that had been called the "key to the Austrian empire," ended with the +surrender of the city to the Russians. The siege stands as the fifth +longest in 136 years, having lasted 185 days, surpassed in duration only +by the sieges of Gibraltar, Sebastopol, Vicksburg, Richmond and Port +Arthur. The news of the Austrians' surrender was the most important that +had come from the eastern front in weeks. For six months the stronghold +had withstood assault, remaining a constant menace in the rear of the +Russian advance in Galicia. From 120,000 to 150,000 Russians had been +held in the neighborhood by the necessity of masking the fortress. +Numerous efforts had been made to reach the beleaguered city by +relieving armies, but each in turn proved unavailing, though for a time +in December it appeared likely that a combined German and Austrian army +would succeed in raising the siege. + +The fall of Przemysl was preceded by a sortie of the garrison in a last +desperate attempt to hack its way through the enemy's lines. After a +seven hours' battle they were compelled to retreat with a loss of nearly +4,000 prisoners. Only three days' rations were left. In the surrender of +the city the Russians announced the taking of nearly 120,000 prisoners, +including nine generals, 93 officers of the general staff, 2, +officers and officials, and 117,000 soldiers. + +Twenty-four thousand soldiers of the Przemysl garrison were killed +during the long siege, according to dispatches from Petrograd. Twenty +thousand more were wounded making the total casualties of the Austrian +defenders 44,000 men. Depleted by disease, subsisting on horseflesh, and +surrounded by a superior force of Russians, the garrison of Przemysl was +forced to surrender, but fell with honor, the gallant character of the +defense under General von Kusmanek being conceded on all sides. The +Russian commander who received the surrender was General Seliwanoff. In +the early days of the siege a Bulgarian, General Radko Dimitrieff, was +in command of the investing forces. General Seliwanoff commanded the +Russian forces at Vladivostok during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. + +The duration of the siege compared with the length of time it took the +Germans to capture such strongholds as Liege, Namur and Antwerp was due +to two causes, one being the desire of the Russians to keep the loss of +life among the besieging army at a minimum, the other to the lack of +great guns which the Germans had in Belgium. + +The investment was not a close one, the garrison having had a radius +of about twelve miles in which to move about. An aeroplane post was +maintained almost up to the last, and it is said that even some scanty +food supplies were carried in by aeroplane. + +Although the victory was a big one, it cost the Russians dearly. It +is estimated that 150,000 Russians were killed and wounded during the +months that the siege went on. Not only were many Russians killed by the +efficient fire of the Austrian gunners, but the fierce sorties +where attackers and defenders fought hand-to-hand resulted in heavy +casualties. + +Przemysl was the greatest fortress in the Austrian empire. Hill, rock, +marsh and river combined to give it strength and the work of nature had +been supplemented by the labors of the finest military engineers in +central Europe. The gallant defense which the garrison put up for +days is recorded as Austria's most noteworthy contribution to the war. +For a long time the fortress had faced famine. + +With the fall of Przemysl the only important fortified town in Austrian +Galicia which was not in the hands of the Russians was Cracow, close to +the German border. A large Russian army with artillery was released for +action. The Russian left wing stretched from the province of Bukowina on +the southeast to Tarnow and the Vistula River near Cracow on the west. +ON THE EASTERN FRONT + +On the eastern front of the stupendous battle line in March the most +sanguinary fighting of the war occurred. Losses on both sides were +appalling, while the gains in territorial acquisition amounted to little +or nothing. + +Describing the enormous losses on both sides in Poland, a neutral +observer, Mr. Stanley Washburn, said in the American Review of Reviews: + +"The German program contemplated taking both Warsaw and Ivangorod and +the holding for the winter of the line between the two formed by the +Vistula. The Russians took the offensive from Ivangorod, crossed the +river, and after hideous fighting fairly drove Austrians and Germans +from positions of great strength around the quaint little Polish town of +Kozienice. From this town for perhaps ten miles west, and I know not how +far north and south there is a belt of forest of fir and spruce. Near +Kozienice the Russian infantry, attacking in flank and front, fairly +wrested the enemy's position and drove him back into this jungle. The +Russians simply sent their troops in after them. + +"The fight was now over a front of perhaps twenty kilometers; there +was no strategy. It was all very simple. In this belt were Germans and +Austrians. They were to be driven out if it took a month. Then began the +carnage. Day after day the Russians fed troops in on their side of +the wood. Companies, battalions, regiments, and even brigades, were +absolutely cut off from all communication. None knew what was going on +anywhere but a few feet in front. All knew that the only thing required +of them was to keep advancing. + +"Yard by yard the ranks and lines of the Austrians were driven back, but +the nearer their retreat brought them to the open country west of the +wood the hotter was the contest waged. The last two kilometers of the +woody belt are something incredible to behold; there seems hardly an +acre that is not sown like the scene of a paperchase--only here with +bloody bandages and bits of uniform. Men fighting hand to hand with +clubbed muskets and bayonets contested each tree and ditch. The end was, +of course, inevitable. The troops of the dual alliance could not fill +their losses, and the Russians could. "At last came the day when the +dirty, grimy, bloody soldiers of the Czar pushed their antagonists out +of the far side of the woodland--and what a scene occurred in that +open bit of country with the quaint little village of Augustowo at the +crossroads! Once out in the open the hungry guns of the Russians, so +long yapping ineffectively without knowing what their shells were doing, +had their chance. Down every road through the forest came the six-horse +teams with the guns jumping and jingling behind, with their accompanying +caissons heavy with death-charged shrapnel, and the moment the enemy +were in the clear these batteries, eight guns to a unit, were unlimbered +on the fringe of the wood and pouring out their death and destruction on +the wretched enemy now retreating hastily across the open. And the place +where the Russians first turned loose on the retreat is a place to +remember. + +"Dead horses, bits of men, blue uniforms, shattered transport, +overturned gun-carriages, bones, broken skulls, and grisly bits of +humanity strew every acre of the ground. + +ENORMOUS LOSSES ON BOTH SIDES + +"A Russian officer who seemed to be in authority on this gruesome spot +volunteered the information that already they had buried at Kozienice, +in the wood and on this open spot, 16,000 dead. Those that had fallen in +the open and along the road had been decently interred, as the forests +of crosses for ten miles along that bloody way clearly indicated, but +back in the woods themselves were hundreds and hundreds of bodies that +lay as they had fallen. Sixteen thousand dead means at least 70, +casualties all told, or 35,000 on a side if losses were equally +distributed. And this, figured on the basis of the 16,000 dead already +buried, without allowing for the numbers of the fallen that still lie +about in the woods. And yet here is a battle the name of which is hardly +more than known in America, yet the losses on both sides amount to more +than the entire army that General Meade commanded at the Battle of +Gettysburg. + +"He who has the heart to walk about in this ghastly place can read the +last sad moments of almost every corpse. Here one sees a blue-coated +Austrian with leg shattered by a jagged bit of a shell. The trouser +perhaps has been ripped open and clumsy attempts been made to dress the +wound, while a great splotch of red shows where the fading strength was +exhausted before the flow of life's stream could be checked. Here again +is a body with a ghastly rip in the chest, made perhaps by bayonet or +shell fragment. Frantic hands now stiffened in death are seen trying to +hold together great wounds from which life must have flowed in a few +great spurts of blood. And here it is no fiction about the ground being +soaked with gore. One can see it,--coagulated like bits of raw liver, +while great chunks of sand and earth are in lumps, held together by this +human glue. Other bodies lie in absolute peace and serenity. Struck dead +with a rifle ball through the heart or some other instantly vital spot. +These lie like men asleep, and on their faces is the peace of absolute +rest and relaxation, but of these alas! there are few compared to the +ones upon whose pallid, blood-stained faces one reads the last frantic +agony of death. + +"The soldiers themselves go on from battlefield to battlefield, from +one scene of carnage to another. They see their regiments dwindle to +nothing, their officers decimated, three-fourths of their comrades +dead or wounded, and yet each night they gather about their bivouacs +apparently undisturbed by it all. One sees them on the road the day +after one of these desperate fights marching cheerfully along, singing +songs and laughing and joking with one another. This is _morale_ and it +is of the stuff that victories are made. And of such is the fiber of the +Russian soldier, scattered over these hundreds of miles of front to-day. +He exists in millions and has abiding faith in his companions, in his +officers, and in his cause." + +TERRIFIC FIGHTING IN MIDWINTER + +Writing of the desperate fighting in Poland in midwinter when the +Germans made a tremendous effort to pierce the Russian lines on the +Bzura and Rawka front, with Warsaw as their objective point, an American +correspondent, Mr. John F. Bass, said: "The fighting was terrific. +The detonations of the cannon came in such rapid succession that they +sounded like giant machine guns and the windows of the dressing stations +for the wounded shook as if from an earthquake. It was not possible to +distinguish individual gun explosions from the Battle of the infantry +fire. All were mingled in one inarticulate battle shriek. At +night, as in a furious thunderstorm, the darkness was pierced with the +unintermittent flashes of the guns, while sickly green rockets shed a +ghastly light over the fighting lines. The wounded brought in filled the +hospitals to overflowing. + +"It was estimated by the Russians that the Germans lost 60,000 men. I +was told by an officer that the bodies of German soldiers were piled up +before the Russian trenches in many of the assaults so high that German +shells bursting among them threw mangled pieces of human beings into the +trenches among the Russians. + +"At night, under the glare of search-lights, the undulating mass of +wounded made efforts to extricate themselves. Then, toward 2 o'clock in +the morning, they moved no more." The winter cold had done its deadly +work. + +FRENCH MAKE GAINS IN MARCH + +In the Champagne country of northern France the month of March was +marked by almost continuous fighting of the fiercest character. French +advices from Chalons-sur-Marne on March 29 were to the effect that +11,000 German dead had been taken from the trenches won by the French in +the previous twenty days and that the total German losses during that +time in the Champagne district exceeded 50,000 in killed, wounded and +prisoners. + +STIRRING EVENTS OF THE SPRING + +All through the month of April the days were crowded with important +occurrences east and west along the battle lines. The Russian movement +across the Carpathians was pressed with vigor and some of the fiercest +fighting of the war resulted, as the combined German and Austrian troops +resisted the Russian advance into Hungary. + +Early in the spring the British forces gained a notable victory at +Neuve Chapelle in the western theater of war. Then the German forces +in Flanders were heavily reinforced until it was estimated that they +numbered not less than half a million men, gathered for the purpose of +smashing the line of the Allies at the strategic point where the British +and the Belgian troops were in touch with one another. Here, for three +days, the Germans succeeded in pushing forward, driving a wedge for +several miles into the line of the allied armies of England, France +and Belgium. And here, too, the Canadian division of the British army +covered itself with glory and once more demonstrated the value to the +British empire of the "lion's whelps." On one notable occasion, destined +to be recorded in history as a red-letter day for Canadian arms, the +gallant fellows from the great Dominion "saved the situation," to quote +from the report of Field Marshal French, by a splendid charge, during +which they recaptured from the Germans four of their field guns that had +been lost the day before. + +HOW CANADIAN COMMANDER DIED LEADING YPRES CHARGE + +_From Sir Max Aitken's official account of the battle of Ypres._ + +"It did not seem that any human being could live in the shower of shot +and shell which began to play on the advancing troops. They suffered +terrible casualties. For a short time every other man seemed to fall, +but the attack was pressed even closer and closer. The 4th Canadian +battalion at one moment came under a particularly withering fire. For a +moment it wavered. + +"Its most gallant commanding officer, Lieut.-Col. Birchall, 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 cry of anger they sprang forward 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 first line +of German trenches. After a hand-to-hand struggle the last German who +resisted was bayoneted and the trench was won. + +"It was clear that several German divisions were attempting to crush or +drive back the Third Brigade and to sweep around and overwhelm our left +wing. The last attempt partially succeeded. German troops swung past the +unsupported left of the brigade and, slipping in between the wood and +St. Julien, added to our torturing anxieties by apparently isolating us +from the brigade base. + +"In the exertions made by the Third Brigade during this supreme crisis, +Major Norsworthy, already almost disabled by a bullet wound, was +bayoneted and killed. Captain McQuaig of the same battalion was +seriously wounded. + +"General Curry flung his left flank around and in the crisis of this +immense struggle held his trenches from Thursday afternoon until Sunday +afternoon. He did not abandon them then. There were none left. They had +been obliterated by artillery. + +"He withdrew his undefeated troops from the fragments of his field +fortifications and the hearts of his men were as completely unbroken as +the parapets of his trenches were completely broken. + +"The Ninetieth Winnipeg Rifles, which held the extreme left of the +brigade position at the most critical moment, was expelled from the +trenches early Friday morning by an emission of poisonous gas, but +recovering in three-quarters of an hour it counter-attacked, retook the +trenches it had abandoned and bayoneted the enemy. + +"General Alderson, commanding the reinforcements, directed an advance by +a British brigade which had been brought up in support. + +"As the troops making it swept through the Canadian left and center, +many of them going to certain death, they paused for an instant with +deep-throated cheers for Canada, indicating the warm admiration which +the Canadians' exertions had excited in the British army. + +"On Monday morning General Curry was again called upon to lead his +shrunken Second Brigade, reduced to a quarter of its original strength, +into action at the apex of the line, which position the brigade held all +that day. On Wednesday it was relieved and retired to the rear. 'Not a +Canadian gun was lost in the long battle of retreat.'" + +Concluding his account, Sir Max wrote: "The empire is engaged in a +struggle without quarter and without compromise against an enemy still +superbly organized, still immensely powerful, still confident that its +strength is the mate of its necessity. To arms then, and still to arms! +The graveyard of Canada in Flanders is very large." + +GERMAN DRIVE TO THE COAST + +Before the beginning of the spring campaign, it was realized by the +Allies that the German general staff was preparing for a determined +drive to the coast through the British and Belgian lines that protected +the approach to Calais. It was for this reason that the British took the +offensive at Neuve Chapelle and at the important strategic point known +as Hill 60. The purpose of Field Marshal French was to strike the first +blow, and the attacks were seemingly successful; but later news from the +front showed that "something went wrong" at Neuve Chapelle, which in a +large measure upset the British plans. + +At Hill No. 60, though the British captured that important position, +they were held back from further advance. Then came the long-expected +German attack in the direction of Ypres, which was considered as one of +the keys to the French seaport of Calais. By this attack the Allies +were forced back from the Ypres canal, and the positions gained by the +Germans brought them within twenty-five miles of the coast at Dunkirk. + +The fighting at Neuve Chapelle, Hill 60 and Ypres was probably the most +sanguinary of the entire war up to that time. The losses on both sides +were enormous. Germans, British, Belgians and French were killed +literally by the thousand, the British losses at Neuve Chapelle alone +being estimated at 20,000, while the German casualties in forcing the +passage of the Ypres canal a few days later exceeded 9,000 men. + +PRAISE FOR THE CANADIANS + +It was in the most furious conflict of the western campaign--a battle +between Langemarcke and Steenstrate, in Flanders--that the Canadian +troops saved the British army from what seemed almost inevitable defeat. +The Canadian division was in the front line of the British forces on +April 23, when the Germans made their sudden assaults and broke +through the line for a distance of five miles. Only the brilliant +counter-charges of the Canadians saved the situation. They had many +casualties, but their gallantry and determination brought success and, +in the language of the official report of the prolonged battle, "their +conduct was magnificent throughout." + +The correspondent, describing the harrowing scene of the battle on April +23, said: "Long ago Kitchener's army was given its baptism of fire, but +yesterday it got its initiation into hell." + +In their great effort to smash the Allies on the Yser the Germans also +sustained terrible losses. By April 27 it was asserted that the German +force that managed to pass the Yser and took possession of the town of +Lizerne had been practically annihilated. The fighting was said to have +been far more terrible than that of the autumn of 1914, when the Yser +canal ran red with blood. + +It was charged by the Allies that in the fighting in Flanders late in +April the Germans used asphyxiating gases, which placed thousands of the +allied troops _hors de combat_, including many of the Canadian division. +Strong protests against the German use of such methods were voiced +by the allied generals, and a formal denunciation was made by Lord +Kitchener in the British parliament. + +ALLIED TROOPS AT THE DARDANELLES + +On April 25-27, a strong force of British and French troops under +General Sir Dan Hamilton effected a landing on both sides of the +Dardanelles, to co-operate with the allied fleets seeking to force a +passage through the straits to the Bosporus. The landing was resisted by +Turkish troops, but the Allies succeeded in establishing themselves +on the Gallipoli peninsula by May 1, and made several thousand +Turks prisoners of war. The bombardment of the Turkish forts in the +Dardanelles by the allied warships was continued. + +The French cruiser Leon Gambetta, with a displacement of 12,351 tons +and crew of 714 men, commanded by Rear Admiral Fenet, cruising at the +entrance of the Otranto canal in the Ionian sea, was torpedoed the night +of April 26th by the Austrian submarine U-5, and went to the bottom in +ten minutes; 578 lives were lost; all officers on board, including Rear +Admiral Fenet, perished. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA + +_Destruction of the Great Cunard Liner by a German Submarine Caused a +Serious Crisis in German-American Relations--Over a Hundred Americans +and Many Canadians Drowned, Including Citizens of Prominence and +Wealth--Prompt Diplomatic Action by President Wilson--The German +Campaign of Frightfulness and Its Results._ + +Steaming majestically over a smiling sea, with the green hills of Erin +in sight over the port bow and all well aboard, the greatest, fastest +and most beautiful transatlantic liner in commission was nearing the end +of her voyage from New York to Liverpool. It was the hour after luncheon +on the great ship, the hour of the siesta or the promenade, the most +peaceful hour of the day. Little children by the score played merrily +about the great decks; families and friends foregathered in the lounges +or beside the rail to watch the Irish coast slip by; all the internal +economy of the giant ship moved smoothly, as if by clockwork. + +It was more than a floating hotel, replete with comfort and luxury. +It was a floating town, with a whole townful of people. Over fourteen +hundred men, women and children were on the passenger list and six +hundred men in the Cunard uniform constituted the crew. Among the +passengers were many citizens of the United States and Canada, and there +was an unusually large proportion of women and children on board, the +families of men who had been drawn into the maelstrom of war. + +For in spite of the calm and peace prevailing on the great passenger +ship, the shadow of war impended over all. The bloody struggles of the +great European cataclysm were proceeding at the other end of the English +Channel and dire hints of dangers on the sea in the "war zone" had +accompanied the sailing of the ship. But on this bright May day, as the +liner approached its destination, danger seemed far distant and few +indeed among passengers or crew gave serious thought to its imminence. +All was truly well on board. The skies were clear, the sea was smooth, +and though the myriad passengers realized that they had entered a danger +zone of the world's greatest war they had abounding confidence in the +giant ship, in its veteran commander, and in the line to which it +belonged, that had never yet lost the life of a single passenger +committed to its care. And confidently they looked forward to a safe +arrival in port next morning, the happy ending of a wartime voyage which +the children on board, and their children's children, should recall with +pride for a century to come. BUT-- + +Right ahead in the path of the floating palace, athwart the prescribed +course of the Lusitania there lurked the deadliest slinking serpent of +the seas--the tiny volcanic hull of an enemy submarine, most dangerous +of war's new weapons. Lying leisurely in wait, its body submerged just +beneath the swelling undulations of a summer sea, invisible, ruthless, +insatiable; only the protrusion of a foot or so of periscopic tube +betokened its presence without betraying its purpose. But in that +innocent-looking tube lay vast potentialities for evil--nay, devilish +certainties of dealing death and destruction. For the little +steel-encased arrangement of lenses and mirrors peeping from the depths +was the mechanical eye of the submarine and sufficed to betray to +watchful Teutons below the approach of the great ship, treasure laden +with human freight of non-combatants and neutrals, but flying the flag +of the German's foe. + +For the crew of the submarine "der Tag" had come. Without a thought of +the innocents and neutrals aboard; reckless alike of immediate results +and ultimate consequences, animated only by the deadly designs of a +war-madness and a deliberate campaign of frightfulness, the firing +signal was flashed from the German commander's station and the fatal +torpedo was launched against the unsuspecting and unprotected leviathan. +Traveling true to its mark, it tore its frightful way through the thin +sheathing of the ship and, exploding on impact, pierced her vitals and +sealed her doom. * * * + +Barely a quarter of an hour elapsed before the giant vessel disappeared +from sight, plunging bow foremost to the bottom in waters scarcely more +than one-third of her length in depth, so that the shock of her bow +striking the bottom of the sea was felt by the gallant captain on the +bridge before he was torn loose from his ill-fated vessel. + +And when the waters of the Atlantic closed over the hull of the +Lusitania, within sight of the Irish coast on that fatal Friday, the +lives of over eleven hundred non-combatant men, women and children, +including more than a hundred American neutrals, were ruthlessly +sacrificed to the Teuton god of war. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A SUMMER OF SLAUGHTER + +_Submarine Activities--Horrors in Serbia--Bloody Battles East and +West--Italy Enters the War and Invades Austria--Russians Pushed Back in +Galicia._ + +The Lusitania was the twenty-ninth vessel to be sunk or damaged in the +first week of May, 1915, in the war zone established by Germany about +the British isles. Most of these vessels were torpedoed by German +submarines, although in some cases it has not been established whether +the damage was inflicted by mines or underwater boats. + +Sixteen of the twenty-nine vessels were British trawlers. There were +four British and one French merchantman in the list. The others were +vessels of neutral nations. + +One of them was the American steamer Gulflight, torpedoed off Scilly +islands on May 1, with the loss of three lives. There were three +Norwegian, two Swedish, and one Danish merchant vessel sunk. + +BLOODY BATTLES EAST AND WEST. + +The second week in May saw minor German successes on the western front, +but these were immediately succeeded by determined efforts on the part +of the Allies to retrieve lost ground. The week of May 10 to 15 was +marked by fierce assaults by the British and French upon the German +positions in Flanders and northern France. Thousands of lives were +sacrificed on both sides. At one point on the Yser where the Germans +were beaten back, they left 2,000 dead on the field, but this was only a +small percentage of the total losses during this series of engagements +in May. Around Ypres early in the month the Canadians lost heavily, but +made a splendid record for gallantry and endurance in the face of odds. +The Germans began at this time the use of asphyxiating gases in their +attacks. The results were horrifying in the extreme, and as these +inhuman assaults with gas were continued, the Allies prepared to adopt +the use of similar noxious gases by way of retaliation. + +BRITISH WARSHIP TORPEDOED. + +On May 12 the British warship Goliath was sunk by a Turkish torpedo +during the continued attack by the Allies on the Dardanelles. Twenty +officers and 160 men of the crew were saved and over 500 lives were +lost. The Goliath was one of the older British battleships of the +pre-dreadnaught type. She was built in 1898, was 400 feet long and +feet wide, with a displacement of 12,950 tons. Her armament consisted of +four twelve-inch and twelve six-inch guns, twelve twelve-pounders, six +three-pounders, and two machine guns. + +In the determined attack on the Dardanelles, land forces of British and +French troops co-operated with the combined fleets. The Turks made a +stubborn resistance, but were compelled to give way gradually before the +terrific bombardment of the warships and the persistent attacks by land. +In the fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula the British colonial troops +from New Zealand covered themselves with glory, fighting like veterans +and breaking down Turkish opposition with the bayonet. On May 19 one of +the most important forts at the Narrows, guarding the entrance to the +Sea of Marmora, was silenced by the warships' fire, and this was an +important step on the Allies' way to Constantinople. + +Meanwhile an immense German army, said to number 1,600,000 men, had been +forcing the Russians back in Galicia to the San River and the gates of +Przemysl. A German bombardment of this fortress seemed imminent on May +20. + +ITALY ENTERS THE WAR. + +On Sunday, May 23, Italy finally plunged into the great conflict with a +declaration of war against Austria. The formal declaration, presented to +the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister, Baron von Burian, by the Duke of +Avarna, Italian ambassador at Vienna, asserted that Italy had "grave +motives" for annulling her treaty of alliance with Austria and +"confident in her good right," resumed her liberty of action. The +declaration of war continued as follows: + +"The government of the King, firmly resolved to provide by all means at +its disposal for safeguarding Italian rights and interests, cannot fail +in its duty to take, against every existing and future menace, the +measures which events impose upon it for the fulfillment of national +aspirations. + +"His majesty, the King, declares that he considers himself from tomorrow +(May 24, 1915), in a state of war with Austria-Hungary." + +Thus the ninety-sixth anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria, of +England, found eleven of the countries of Europe at war, their rulers +including three of her grandsons, two arrayed in a bitter struggle +against the third. The Triple Alliance on this date became the Quadruple +Alliance, when Italy joined the Allies. Austria was of course supported +by Germany. Italy was expected to put 3,000,000 men in the field. WHY +ITALY WANTED WAR + +The reasons why Italy entered the great conflict were succinctly stated +on May 19 by Signor Enrico Corradini, nationalist leader, as follows: + +"1. The necessity for Italy to take advantage of the present revolution +in European affairs to settle her national irredentist problem at the +expense of Austria. Our right to the Trentino, Trieste and Istria, now +held by Austria, is not questioned by reasonable people anywhere in +Europe. + +"2. The necessity for Italy to arrive at a secure and definite +settlement of her military frontiers on the north and east. + +"3. The necessity for Italy to create for herself by her intervention +a new moral and political position in the new European order of the +future, to replace that which she had, thanks to her alliance with the +central empires, a position which was liquidated at the outbreak of the +war. + +"4. The necessity for Italy to contribute to repelling the danger of +a German hegemony which would flourish at the expense of the various +individual cultures and civilizations." + +INVASION OF AUSTRIA + +Italy promptly threw an army across the Austrian frontier and began +active operations in the direction of Trent and Trieste. The fortified +city of Luzerne soon fell into Italian hands and continued successes +marked the progress of the invaders all through the month of June. +The Austrian strategy at first appeared to provide for a series of +withdrawals after skirmishing; but late in the month a more determined +resistance developed, the defenses of the Austrian troops being +skilfully prepared. The loss of life during the month was comparatively +light on both sides, but on June 26 the Italians--already masters of +Plava on the left bank of the Isonzo river, and the heights dominating +that town--were massing heavy bodies of troops before Gorizia and +Tolmino for crucial battles at those two points, both of which blocked +the way to the coveted Austrian seaport of Trieste. + +STRUGGLE FOR THE DARDANELLES + +All through the month of June the Allies continued their desperate +struggle for the possession of the Dardanelles, the gateway to +Constantinople. Under the direction of German officers and engineers, +the Turkish troops and gunners offered determined resistance and the +British, Colonial and French troops co-operating with the allied fleets, +gained headway but slowly and at tremendous cost. But it was declared +that the Allies were bent upon forcing a passage through the straits +regardless of cost and that every effort would be made to complete the +operation during the summer. Several German submarines appeared in the +Gulf of Saros during the month and effectively interfered with the +activity of the British and French fleets. The results of the operations +on the Gallipoli peninsula during the month indicated that the +Dardanelles would prove a veritable slaughter pen before the Allies +succeeded in winning their way to Stamboul. + +LEMBERG IS RECAPTURED + +On June 22 the city of Lemberg, capital of the Austrian province of +Galicia, was recaptured from the Russians, who had held it for nearly +ten months, by combined German-Austrian forces, under General Mackensen. +This marked the culmination of a successful Teuton campaign in Galicia, +including the recapture of the strong fortress of Przemysl, as well +as Lemberg, and the driving of the Russian invaders back to their own +borders. + +The eastern battle front in June extended for 680 miles north and south, +and while the German drive through Galicia was entirely successful, +the Russians gained some victories in the north. They were sorely +handicapped by the lack of supplies and ammunition for their forces, +and at the end of June the Russian authorities were organizing every +possible industry for the production of ammunition. + +The fiercest fighting of the war, as far as the Baltic provinces of +Russia are concerned, occurred in a battle for the mastery of the Dubysa +River early in June. The river changed hands five times in one day, +and at nightfall the stream was completely choked with the bodies of +thousands of dead, so that a plank roadway for artillery was laid by the +Russians across a solid bridge of bodies. + +HEROIC FEAT OF A CANADIAN + +A thrilling and unprecedented feat was performed by Lieut. R. A. J. +Warneford, a Canadian aviator, when alone in an aeroplane, he destroyed +a Zeppelin airship with its crew of twenty-eight men in Belgium. He +received the Victoria Cross for his exploit, but a few days later was +killed while testing a new aeroplane near Paris. He was buried with +naval honors in London, June 23. + +On July 3, 1915, when the twelfth month of the Great War began, it was +conservatively estimated that the total losses on all sides, including +killed, wounded and missing, had exceeded six millions of men. Over +vessels had been destroyed, including 120 ships of war. + +DEADLOCK IN THE WEST + +During July and August there were no general engagements of importance +in the Western theatre of war. The deadlock continued. The troops along +the Western battle lines were, however, subjected almost daily to +violent artillery bombardment. + +By August 22 the British line in northern France and Flanders had been +lengthened from 40 miles to over 100 miles, with over 800,000 troops +on the firing line. German submarines were very active in the war zone +during the month of August, over 170 merchant steamships of more than +500 tons displacement and nearly 2,000 noncombatant lives being the +awful toll to date of this new method of warfare. + +The British transport Royal Edward was torpedoed and sunk August 14 by +a German submarine in the Aegean Sea. Nearly 1,000 lives were lost. The +transport had on board a force of 32 officers and 1,350 men, in addition +to the ship's crew of 220 officers and men. The troops consisted mainly +of reinforcements for the 29th Division and details of the Royal Army +Medical Corps. + +FALL OF WARSAW + +Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was taken by the Germans August 5. +Bavarian troops under the command of Prince Leopold carried the forts of +the outer and inner lines of the city's defenses, where the rear guards +of the Russian troops made a tenacious resistance. + +The German armies under Gen. von Scholz and Gen. von Gallwitz advanced +in the direction of the road between Lomza, Ostrov and Vyszkoy and +fought a number of violent engagements. The brave and desperate +resistance of the Russians on both sides of the road between Ostrov and +Rozan was without success. + +Twenty-two Russian officers and 4,840 soldiers were taken prisoners. The +Germans also captured seventeen machine guns. + +The fall of Warsaw marked the culmination of the greatest sustained +offensive movement of the war. Thrice before Teutonic armies had knocked +at its gates, only to be denied by the strength of its defenses and the +resistance of the forces holding it. + +Warsaw lies on the Vistula, 625 miles southwest of Petrograd and +miles east of Berlin. It is an important industrial center and its +population is estimated at not far from 900,000. + +The great Russian fortress of Kovno was captured by the Germans August +17. More than 400 cannon were taken. The fortress was stormed in spite +of the most stubborn Russian resistance. + +The capture of Kovno was the most important German victory in the East +after the taking of Warsaw. + +Kovno fell under the eye of General von Hindenburg. The capture of the +fortress was the first personal triumph of the "old man of the +Mazurian lakes" since the great Austro-German campaign in the East was +inaugurated. The six great forts defending the city from the west and +southwest were simply blown to pieces by the incessant pounding of +Germany's great 42-centimeter guns and a host of minor pieces. + +The forts were under direct attack for scarcely a week, demonstrating +again the superiority of modern artillery over fort structures built by +man. + +Kovno, capital of the Russian province of that name, is on the right +bank of the Niemen. It is a fortress of the first class. The civilian +population of the city is more than 75,000. + +The important Russian fortress of Novo Georgievsk, the last halting +place of the Russians in Poland, fell into the hands of the Germans on +August 19, after a most stubborn resistance. The garrison consisted +of 85,000 men and of these over 20,000 were taken prisoners. Over +cannon were captured and a large amount of war ammunition seized. + +BATTLE OF THE BAY OF RIGA + +Russian naval forces aided by British submarines, in the Gulf of Riga +won a decided victory August 18 over the German fleet which penetrated +the gulf on August 13. + +The great German battle cruiser Moltke, one of the finest ships of +its kind afloat, was destroyed in the engagement. The cruiser had +a displacement of 23,000 tons and carried a crew of 1,107 men and +officers. Its main battery consisted of ten 11-inch guns, mounted in +pairs in five turrets. Its secondary battery contained twelve 6-inch +guns. Twelve 24-pounders and four torpedo tubes completed its armament. +The Moltke was 610 feet long over all, with a beam of 96-3/4 feet, and +cost $12,000,000. + +With the Moltke three German cruisers and seven torpedo boats, all +unnamed, were destroyed. + +The Russians lost the destroyer Novik of 1,260 tons, largest in the +navy, and the gunboats Sivutch and Koriets, of 875 tons displacement. + +The Russian victory did not end with the defeat of the German naval +forces. The invading fleet was accompanied by four enormous transports, +all crammed with troops. These soldiers attempted to make a landing on +Pernau bay, on the northeastern shoulder of the Gulf of Riga. They were +permitted to land and were then attacked and exterminated by the Russian +forces at that point. The loss was estimated at 6,000 men. + +WHITE STAB LINER ARABIC SUNK + +The White Star liner Arabic, which sailed August 18 from Liverpool for +New York, was sent to the bottom by a German torpedo August 19 off +Fastnet on the south coast of Ireland, not far from the point at which +the Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine. + +Out of 429 persons aboard including crew, 39 lost their lives. Two +Americans perished--Mrs. Josephine Bruguiere, widow of Emil Bruguiere, +California millionaire banker, and Dr. E. F. Wood, of Janesville, Wis. + +Capt. Finch, who commanded the steamer, gave the following graphic +account of the disaster: "We were forty-seven miles south of Galley +Head at 9:30 in the morning when I perceived the steamer Dunsley in +difficulty. Going toward her, I observed a torpedo coming for my ship, +but could not discern a submarine. The torpedo struck 100 feet from the +stern, making terrible havoc of the hull. The vessel began to settle +immediately and sank in about eight minutes. + +"My order from the bridge about getting the boats launched was promptly +obeyed. Two boats capsized. We had taken every precaution while in the +danger zone. There were plenty of life-belts on deck and the boats were +ready for immediate launching. The officers and crew behaved excellently +and did everything possible in the circumstances, getting people into +the boats and picking up those in the sea. + +"I was the last to leave, taking the plunge into the sea as the ship +was going down. After being in the water some time I was taken aboard a +raft, to which I had assisted two men and women. + +"If the submarine had given me a little more time, I am satisfied I +could have saved everybody." + +The Arabic's tonnage was 15,201 gross. It was 600 feet long, 65 feet +beam and 47 feet in depth. It was built at Belfast in 1903 by Harland & +Wolff. + +On September 4 the German forces under General von Beseler stormed and +captured the bridgehead at Friedrichstradt, the most important defense +of Riga. The furiousness of the attacks in this region led military +critics to believe that the fall of the city of Riga was imminent. + +Everywhere as Russians retreated they left a trail of utter devastation, +causing the Teutons to march around burning cities, finding the country +devoid of food or shelter. This destructive policy, however, resulted in +saving the Czar's army and rendering futile the hope of the Kaiser that +the military forces of Russia could be crushed. + +With the Russian armies in full retreat and their double line of +fortresses all fallen to the invader, the apparent calm on the Western +front continued to be the marvel of the European campaign, as up to +September 7 no development on the Western front indicated that any +effort was being made to distract the Kaiser's attention from his +victorious expedition into the territory of the Czar. + +THE DARDANELLES CAMPAIGN. + +The struggle of combined land and sea forces of the Allies to gain +control of the Dardanelles, and thus open the way for the British and +French fleets to Constantinople and the Black Sea, continued through the +autumn of 1915 and furnished some of the most sanguinary battles of the +war. From the day of the landing of British troops on the Grallipoli +peninsula up to the end of November the fighting was continuous and +bloody. The British losses were tremendous, while the Turkish defenders +of the supposedly impregnable straits also suffered heavily, but with +Mohammedan stoicism. + +A terrible picture of the slaughter at Seddul-Bahr, where the British +troops landed from transports under the guns of their fleet, in the face +of an awful Turkish bombardment, was painted on his return to England in +November by Lieutenant-Commander Josiah Wedgwood, a Liberal member of +Parliament, who had received special mention for bravery at the front, +and the coveted stripes of the Distinguished Service order. + +"Our school books told us," said Commander Wedgwood, "that the bloodiest +battle in history was that between the confederates and federals at +Sharpsburg during the American civil war, when one-third of all the men +engaged were left on the field. But Sharpsburg was a joy ride compared +with Seddul-Bahr." + +Paying a tribute to the enemy, he said: "The Turks are the finest +fighters in the world, save only the Canadians and Australians. And they +proved to be humane. They could easily have killed all those who went +to succor the wounded, but I found them extraordinarily merciful as +compared with the enemy in Flanders." + +Commander Wedgwood's first view of fighting at the Dardanelles was at +the so-called V beach, where a steamship, the "River Clyde," was run +aground to furnish cover for the landing of the British troops. + +"This modern 'wooden horse of Troy,'" said Commander Wedgwood, "was run +ashore on a beautiful Sunday morning, 400 yards from the medieval castle +of Seddul-Bahr. I was on the vessel, but never noticed her grounding for +the horrors ahead of us in the shallow waters on the beach. Five tows of +five boats each, loaded with men, were going ashore alongside of us. +One moment it had been early morning in a peaceful country, with rustic +sights and sounds and smells; the next moment, while the boats were just +twenty yards from shore, the blue sea around each boat was turning red. +It was truly horrible. Of all those brave men two-thirds died, and +hardly a dozen reached unwounded the shelter of the five-foot sand dune. + +"About 9 o'clock a dash across the row of lighters from the Wooden Horse +was led by Gen. Napier and his brigade major. Would they ever get to the +end of the lighters and jump into the sheltering water? No; side by side +they were seen to sit down. For one moment one thought they might be +taking cover; then their legs slid out and they rolled over. + +"It was the Munsters that charged first, with a sprig of shamrock on +their caps; then the Dublins, the Worcesters, the Hampshires. Lying on +the beach, on the rocks, on the lighters, they cried on the Mother of +God. There, now, was Midshipman Drury swimming to a lighter which had +broken loose, with a line in his mouth and a wound in his head. If ever +a boy deserved his Victoria Cross, that lad did. And there was the +captain of the River Clyde, now no longer a ship to be stuck to but a +part forever of Gallipoli, alone with a boat by the spit of rock, trying +to lift in the wounded under fire. + +"All these things I saw as in a dream. Columns of smoke rose from the +castle and town of Seddul-Bahr as the great shells from the fleet passed +over our heads and burst, and in every lull we heard the wounded. + +"At 1 o'clock the Lancashires were appearing over the ridge to the left +from 'Lancashire landing.' "We saw fifteen men in a window in the +castle on the right by the water. They signaled that they were all that +remained of the Dublins who had landed at the Camber at Seddul-Bahr. At +3 o'clock we got 150 men alive to shore. We watched our men working +to the right and up into the castle ruins--at each corner the officer +crouching in front with revolver in rest. + +"When night came a house in Seddul-Bahr was burning brightly and there +was a full moon. We disembarked men at once. All around the wounded +cried for help and shelter against the bullets, but there was no room on +boats or gang-way for anything but the men to come to shore. + +"For two nights no one had slept and then another day dawned. We were +firmly ashore at Lancashire landing, and at Du Toit's battery to the +northeast, and the Australians were dug in at Anzac. An end had to be +made of V beach. The whole fleet collected and all morning blew the +ridge and castle and town to pieces. + +"And all the time that wonderful infantry went forward up the hill and +through the ruined town. The troops that went in that attack had already +lost half their strength; the officers that led up those narrow streets +were nearly all killed. Dead beat, at 1 o'clock, before the final rush, +they hesitated. Then our last colonel, a staff man, Col. Doughty Wylie, +ran ashore with a cane, ran right up the hill, ran through the last +handful of men sheltering under the crest, took them with a rush into +the Turkish trench, and fell with a bullet through his head. But the +Turks ran and the ridge was ours." + +Many weeks of bloody fighting followed and while there was talk early in +November of a possible abandonment of the Dardanelles campaign, the end +of the month found the struggle still in progress, with no end in sight. + +Official figures made public October 15, show that the British +casualties at the Dardanelles up to October 9 were 96,899, of whom +1,185 were officers. The casualties among the Australian troops on the +Gallipoli peninsula up to the same date amounted to 29,121 officers and +men. + +THE ATTITUDE OF GREECE. + +On September 23, acting upon the advice of Premier Venizelos, King +Constantine of Greece ordered a general mobilization of the Greek army, +"as a measure of elementary prudence in view of the mobilization of +Bulgaria." Ten days later Premier Venizelos resigned upon official +notice that the King could not support his war policy, which was +believed to reflect the sentiments of the Greek people and to support +the Allies. King Constantine then endeavored to form a coalition +ministry. The great point at issue was whether Greece should support or +oppose the passage of the Allies through Greek territory to the aid of +Serbia. British and French troops to the number of 70,000 had meanwhile +been landed at Saloniki, the great Greek seaport, and were being hurried +to the support of the Serbians in their central territory, to oppose the +incursion of the Austro-Germans and the Bulgarians. In November King +Constantine and his military chiefs were visited by Field-Marshal Earl +Kitchener, the British Secretary of War, who made such demands upon them +in the interest of the Allies, backed by a temporary blockade of the +Greek coasts by the British and French fleets, that on November 25 it +was announced that cordial relations between Greece and the entente +powers had been established. The Greek government gave assurances that +no attempt would be made to interfere with the Allies' troops should +they under any contingency be forced to cross the Greek frontier, +but that railway and other facilities would be afforded them. It was +understood that the Allies also promised Greece a monetary indemnity +after the war for any damage that might be done through the occupation +of Greek territory. + +With the question of Grecian intervention out of the way, the Allies +then occupied themselves with the attitude of Rumania and the +intervention of Russia in behalf of Serbia, in order that the latter +country might be saved from the fate of Belgium. It was generally +understood that Rumania could not afford to incur the enmity of Germany +by active interference in behalf of Serbia, even though the Serbians and +Rumanians were natural allies against Bulgaria. + +On November 26, M. Pachitch, the Serbian premier, received a personal +telegram from the Russian emperor, in which the latter promised +the early appearance in Bulgaria of Russian troops and the Italian +government also promised the Serbians to send to their aid an +expeditionary force of 40,000 men. It was believed possible that the +Russian forces might seek to advance through Rumania, instead of forcing +a landing on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria--in which case the crossing +of Rumanian territory by Russian troops would bring Rumania into a +serious situation both economically and politically, and render it +difficult if not impossible for her to preserve her neutrality. At this +time Russia had concentrated a great army near the Rumanian frontier, +and it was understood that a large number of heavy guns had arrived at +Odessa for its use. The direction in which this Russian army would move +depended entirely upon the policy adopted by the Rumanian government. + +AMERICAN LOAN TO THE ALLIES. + +On September 28, formal announcement was made in New York of the +terms of an American loan to Great Britain and France, arranged by a +commission of British and French financial authorities after conferences +with American bankers; a bond issue of $500,000,000 was soon floated, +drawing 5 per cent interest and issued to the syndicate at 96; the +money to remain in the United States and to be used only in payment for +commodities. + +Late in November the French people were called upon to subscribe to a +"loan of victory." The response from the people of Paris alone in one +day amounted to $5,000,000,000, thus exceeding the records of all former +popular war loans, including British and German issues, and typifying +the patriotic ardor of the French people and their determination to +continue the war to an issue successful to allied arms. + +THE WESTERN CAMPAIGN. + +After a week's heavy bombardment of the German lines, an important +offensive movement was undertaken on September 25 by the French and +British against the German lines on the western front. The forward +movement occurred simultaneously in the Champagne district, between +Rheims and Verdun, by the French and in the Artois district, between +Ypres and Arras, by combined British and French forces. While the Allies +did not succeed in gaining much ground, and both sides suffered heavy +losses, it was claimed by the French war office on September 29 that +as a result of the four days' assaults of the Anglo-French forces the +Germans suffered losses amounting to the effective strength of 120, +men, while 23,000 men and 120 cannon were captured from the Teutonic +enemy. This constituted the result of what was described as the great +Anglo-French drive of the autumn, and the situation on the western +front then settled down once more into a state of siege. The first-line +trenches of the opposing forces along a wide-flung front were within a +short distance of each other. A new method of warfare had been developed +and the world began to realize that all historic conditions of war had +been revolutionized by the use of scientific weapons of destruction like +the machine gun, which mowed down men like hay, and the high explosive +shell that destroyed protective works as if they were made of cardboard +and filled the trenches with dead and dying bodies. Such was the +situation on the western front in the beginning of December. No let-up +in the determination of either side; no advance seemingly possible, no +attack that was not followed by a counter-attack; no gain of any +consequence anywhere; no possibility seemingly of any decisive battle; +nothing in sight but an absolute deadlock. + +ON THE EASTERN FRONT. + +Late in September the German campaign against Russia appeared to lose +most of its force. Continued attempts were made by Field Marshal von +Hindenburg to fight his way to Riga, but without avail, and Russian +successes at various points along the eastern battle front were numerous +in October and November. The Russians declared on November 15 that they +deemed the city of Riga safe, and by November 26 it was apparent that +the Germans were engaged in a general retirement all along the River +Dvina. The Allies then became interested in the Kaiser's probable choice +of a line of defense for the winter on the northern section of his +Russian front. The breakdown of the German offensive was attributed +by the Allies to three things--the increase in the Russian ammunition +supply, a German shortage of munitions, and the weakening of the German +line for the Balkan campaign. + +BULGARIA ENTERS THE WAR. + +On October 1, 1915, it was evident that Bulgarian forces would shortly +be employed on the side of the central powers. Bulgarian troops from +Sofia were moving on to the Serbian frontier. King Ferdinand had ordered +the mobilization of all men under sixty-five years of age and martial +law was proclaimed, no citizen under forty-five being allowed to leave +the country. On October 4 Russia sent an ultimatum to Bulgaria and the +Russian minister was ordered to leave Sofia if by 4 p.m., October 5, +Bulgaria did not definitely break with Germany, Austria and Turkey. All +the allied powers supported Russia in this demand. Bulgaria did not +reply within the time specified and the Russian minister was reported +too ill to move from Sofia, thus indicating that the diplomats of the +great contending powers were still at work in an effort to secure the +important support of Bulgaria in the Balkan campaign which was imminent. + +On October 6, when Bulgaria was said to have sent an ultimatum to Serbia +demanding the territory ceded after the recent Balkan wars, the envoys +of the Allies at Sofia requested their passports, and Bulgaria became +an active participant in the war. The Bulgarian minister at Nish, the +Serbian capital, received his passports on October 8, and on the same +day the Bulgarian minister at Paris was handed his passports. On the +following day, October 9, Belgrade, the former Serbian capital, was +occupied by Austro-German forces and the invasion of Serbia by Austria +and Germany from the north and by Bulgaria from the east began in +earnest. The Serbian capital was removed the same day to Ishtib, in the +south. + +THE SERBIAN CAMPAIGN. + +When the great army of Germans and Austrians entered Serbia at Belgrade +and other points along the Danube and began to drive the Serbian forces +to the south, they met with immediate and continued successes. Bulgarian +troops meanwhile pressed the Serbians on the west and by the end of +November it seemed as if the entire territory of Serbia was doomed to +the fate of Belgium. But on the south, allied troops, including a great +body of French who had been landed at Saloniki in Greece and made their +way northward, disputed the advance of the invaders and at several +points drove back the Bulgarians, thus holding the southern territory of +Serbia for their ally in the same manner that Flanders was being held by +the Allies for Belgium. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +SECOND WINTER OF WAR + +In all the arenas of the great struggle, the winter campaign of 1915-16, +the second winter of the war, was accompanied by unparalleled hardships +and sufferings. It was, in fact, described by Major Moraht, military +expert of the Berliner Tageblatt and the best known German military +critic, as "the most terrific campaign in the world's history." Hundreds +of thousands of men of all classes, in all the armies stretched along +the battle fronts east and west, struggled against wind, weather, and +winter amid conditions of the most extreme self-denial. Speaking for +the Teutonic forces in January, Major Moraht said: "On our western and +eastern fronts and along the lines held by our Austro-Hungarian allies, +the conditions under which we must stubbornly hold out are such as never +in the history of the world's most terrible campaign had to be endured +before." The winter was exceptionally severe and men were invalided by +the thousands, owing to frost-bites, despite ingenious precautions and +the fact that their spells in the trenches were reduced considerably. + +The conditions faced by the Austrians and Italians in the Alps and on +the Isonzo were especially appalling. Thus a detachment of Austrian and +Alpine troops, engaged in patrol duty, met its doom in an avalanche in +southern Tyrol. Only one out of twelve was rescued alive, and he lay +buried under snow for fourteen hours before he was rescued. + +Added to the sufferings of the fighting men during the winter the sum +total of human misery in Europe when 1916 dawned was vastly increased by +the awful conditions prevailing in Poland and in Serbia. Poland, a land +long recognized as given over to sorrows, had been crossed and recrossed +by hostile armies. It had been harried, almost destroyed. Towns and food +supplies, fields and granaries, were obliterated. The cattle had been +driven off by the invaders and the people were left starving. The misery +of Belgium a year before was as nothing compared with the misery of +Poland amid the rigors of winter, and the unhappy country clamored +for the help of happier peoples. It had become a land of graves and +trenches, of ruin and destruction on a scale that had been wrought +nowhere else by the war. Many of the abandoned trenches were the +temporary "homes" of countless refugees, mostly women and children, who +had been driven from their homes in the burned and ruined villages that +dotted the land. And there was little or no relief in sight for +the stricken Poles, innocent victims of a ruthless war and pitiful +playthings of Fate. + +ON THE WESTERN FRONT + +Artillery fighting with mortars and long-range cannon was a continuous +performance during December and January in nearly every section of the +western battle line. Every day tens of thousands of shells, both high +explosive and shrapnel, were hurled at the trenches and men were killed +or wounded by the score at a time. To the war-hardened men behind the +guns on both sides this business of slaying and running the risk of +being slain or crippled became so prolonged and monotonous that they +thought no more of it than of cutting down a forest or building a +pontoon bridge. + +Early in January the city of Nancy, just behind the French lines, was +bombarded for three days by German 15-inch guns. Much damage was +done and a number of the inhabitants were killed and wounded. As a +consequence there was an exodus from the city, safe conducts being +issued to more than 30,000 persons. + +Estimates made in Vienna of the total booty of the Teutonic allies +during the first seventeen months of the war, up to January 1, 1916, +were as follows: Nearly 3,000,000 prisoners, 10,000 guns, and 40, +machine guns, while 470,000 square kilometers of enemy territory had +been occupied. + +About the same time the German losses, as compiled from official lists, +were estimated at 2,588,000, including over 500,000 killed and 350, +taken by the Allies as prisoners of war. + +CONSCRIPTION IN ENGLAND + +After every effort had been exhausted in the British Isles to raise +troops by voluntary enlistment, first under Lord Kitchener and then +under Lord Derby, the British government was finally compelled to resort +to conscription, although nearly 3,000,000 men had voluntarily responded +to the call to the colors. A bill was presented in the House of Commons +by Premier Asquith on January 5, 1916, providing for compulsory service +by "all men between the ages of 18 and 41 who are bachelors or widowers +without children dependent on them." Ireland was excluded from the terms +of the measure, which finally passed the Commons on January 20, the +opposition having dwindled to a meager handful of votes. Four members of +the Cabinet, however, resigned as a protest against conscription. + +BRITISH BATTLESHIPS SUNK + +On January 9 the British battleship King Edward VII foundered at sea +as the result of striking a mine. Owing to a heavy sea it had to be +abandoned and sank shortly afterward. The entire crew of nearly 800 men +were saved. The vessel was a predreadnaught of 16,350 tons and cost +nearly $8,000,000. A week previously the British battleship Natal, a +vessel of similar character, was sunk by an internal explosion. + +The main battle fleets of both Britain and Germany remained "in statuo +quo" up to March 1, 1916. British cruisers and patrol ships maintained a +constant watch upon the waters of the North Sea, and visitors permitted +to see the battle fleet at its secret rendezvous reported efficiency and +eternal vigilance as its watchwords. The German fleet lay in safety in +the Kiel Canal, still awaiting orders to put to sea and enjoy "der Tag," +after nineteen months of inactivity. + +RUSSIA'S WINTER CAMPAIGN + +After several months of comparative inactivity Russia launched a forward +movement against the Austro-German forces late in December. This winter +drive was not unexpected, as the Russian armies had had time to recover +from their reverses of the summer and autumn of 1915 and had received +much-needed supplies of guns and ammunition. + +The fact that Russia was vigorously on the offensive again was soon +demonstrated. The first week of 1916 was marked by a progressive +development of a forward Russian movement extending along the Stye and +Strypa rivers from the Pripet marshes to Bessarabia. The main attack +seemed to be directed against Bukowina and Eastern Galicia, and for some +time the pressure of the Russian attacks forced back the lines of the +Austro-German right along the eastern front. + +During January the Russians were also actively engaged against the Turks +in the Caucasus, where the battle front was over 100 miles long, and +against the Turks, aided by Germans in Persia, They began a general +offensive in the Caucasus on January 11 and made steady gains over the +Turks, while similar successes attended their efforts in Persia, where +revolutionists had entered the field against the Russians and British. + +THE BALKAN CAMPAIGN + +The month of December saw the end of the Austro-German and Bulgarian +drives through Serbia. By the end of the year the remnants of the +Serbian army had been driven across the frontiers and some 50,000 of +them found refuge in January on the Greek island of Corfu, which was +seized by the Allies for that purpose. King Peter found an asylum in +Italy; Belgrade and Nish were occupied by Austrians and Germans, and +the Bulgarians halted at the Greek border. The small British and French +forces in Serbia, greatly outnumbered, retired before the enemy's +advance from north and east, but saved the Serbian army from total +annihilation by protecting its retreat to the southern frontier. Then +the British and French retreated across the Greek border to Saloniki, +where they were largely reinforced and proceeded to fortify themselves +against possible German or Bulgarian attacks. King Constantine of +Greece, brother-in-law of the Kaiser, feebly protested against the +proceedings of the Allies on Greek soil, saying that he wished his +country to remain neutral--but his protest was offset by the facts that +the great majority of the people of Greece were favorable to the Allies +and that their landing at Saloniki was for the purpose of aiding Serbia, +Greece's friend and ally, which Greece had notably failed to do. +Frequent threats of the bombardment of Saloniki by the Germans or by the +Bulgars were made during January, but up to February 10 the threatened +attack had failed to materialize and the Allies were strongly intrenched +in a 30-mile arc around the town, while the guns of a powerful fleet +of British and French warships commanded the approaches and protected +transports and landings. + +SINKING OF THE PERSIA + +On December 30 the Peninsular & Oriental liner Persia was torpedoed by +a submarine, probably Austrian, in the Mediterranean about 300 miles +northwest of Alexandria, and sank in five minutes. One hundred and +fifty-five out of the 400 passengers and crew were landed at Alexandria +on January 1, and eleven others were subsequently reported safe. Among +those lost was Robert N. McNeely, who was on his way to take up his +duties as American consul at Aden. + +FROM BERLIN TO CONSTANTINOPLE + +By the middle of January German engineers had succeeded in repairing the +railroad bridges and roadbed destroyed during the Serbian campaign and +thus reopened direct communication between Berlin and Constantinople. + +CANADIAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING BURNED + +On the night of February 3 the beautiful Gothic structure which housed +the Canadian Parliament at Ottawa--the architectural pride of the +Dominion--was wrecked by a fire which started in a reading room adjacent +to the chamber of the House of Commons. Six persons, two of them women +friends of the Speaker's family, lost their lives. The House was in +session when the fire broke out, and many members and other occupants of +the building escaped narrowly and with great difficulty. The money loss +from the fire was enormous, and priceless paintings, books and national +documents were destroyed. + +Opinions differed as to the causes of the fire, but the occurrence +about the same time of several highly suspicious fires in Canadian +munition factories and the unexplained rapidity with which the +Parliament Building fire spread with mysterious volumes of suffocating +smoke, caused widespread suspicion that the disaster was of incendiary +and enemy origin. A tidal wave of resentment flooded the Dominion and +deep feeling was aroused against men of German birth or extraction +remaining in Canada, some of them occupying public positions of +responsibility. A Commission was appointed by the Government to +investigate the causes of the fire, and, pending its report, official +denials were made that German spies had anything to do with the burning +of the Houses of Parliament. These denials, however, failed to convince +the Canadian people that German sympathizers were entirely innocent of +any participation in the origin of the conflagration. + +The ruined building was the central structure of the magnificent group +of Government buildings at Ottawa, and one of the finest examples +of Gothic architecture on the Continent. The Library of Parliament, +occupying a separate structure in the rear of the building wrecked, was +fortunately spared by the fire. It was announced by the Premier, Sir +Robert Borden, that steps would be taken to replace the Parliament +Building with a still finer structure, and the Houses of Parliament +continued their sessions in temporary quarters. One immediate result of +the fire and of the suspicions attached to its origin was to stimulate +recruiting in the Dominion and stiffen the resolve of the Canadian +people to do their utmost to aid the success of British arms at the +European front. Canada became more than ever an armed camp of determined +patriots. The general sentiment was expressed by the Toronto Globe, +which said: "If German agents see a way to injure Canada, they will stop +at nothing to compass their ends. Arson to them is a commonplace and +murder an incident in the day's work. The destruction of the Parliament +Building may have been the result of an accident, but the general belief +at Ottawa is that it was the work of an incendiary." + +RUSSIAN SUCCESSES IN ASIA MINOR + +On February 15, following a five days' siege, Erzerum, the great +Armenian fortress, where the main Turkish army of the Caucasus had taken +refuge, fell into the hands of the Russians. The Turkish army numbered +160,000 men and was under the chief command of the German general, Field +Marshal von der Goltz, formerly military governor of Belgium. The main +body of the Turks managed to avoid capture at Erzerum, but the Russians +took 15,000 prisoners there, besides hundreds of guns and immense +quantities of munitions and supplies. Then began a determined and deadly +pursuit of the Turkish army, with the object of driving it out of +Armenia, and the efforts of the Russians met with continued successes. +Turkish opposition in Asia Minor was swiftly broken down, and steps +were taken by the Russians to relieve the British force which had been +beleagured by the Turks at Kut-el-Amara, in Mesopatamia, 150 miles from +Erzerum. + +On February 27-28 the Turks hastily evacuated the important Black Sea +port of Trebizond and neighboring cities before the victorious Russian +advance. On March 1 two Russian armies were moving rapidly on Trebizond, +one along the shores of the Black Sea through Rizeh, and the other in +a northwesterly direction from Erzerum. The capture of Erzerum was +effected in bitter wintry weather. During the assault on the fortress +several Turkish regiments were annihilated or taken prisoners with all +their officers. Many Turks perished from the cold. + +GREAT BATTLE BEFORE VERDUN + +One of the greatest and most sanguinary battles of the war began before +Verdun on February 20, when the army of the Crown Prince of Germany, in +the presence of the Kaiser, started a determined and desperate drive +against the great French fortress. Ever since the battle of the Marne +halted the German advance on Paris early in September, 1914, the forces +of the Crown Prince had been striving unsuccessfully to break through +the French lines north and east of Verdun, but the fortress had well +maintained its reputation for impregnability and continued to bar the +high road to Paris. + +For ten days the battle raged on the plains, in the forests and on the +hills before Verdun, and the loss of life was appalling on both sides. +By February 26, after six days of continuous fighting, the Germans had +penetrated the French lines along several miles of front, had occupied +several villages a few miles north of Verdun, driven the French from the +peninsula of the Meuse formed by a bend of the river about six miles +from the city, and carried by storm the outlying fort of Douaumont, at +the northeast corner of the Verdun fortifications. But their advance +was then halted by the French in a series of the most brilliant +counter-attacks, and the German offensive appeared to die down by March +1, when their losses in the ten days' battle were estimated at 175,000, +including between 40,000 and 50,000 killed. The French losses were +heavy, but the nature of the German attacks, in which huge masses of men +were hurled against the French entrenchments, exposed the Teuton +forces "to the most withering and destructive fire from the French +75-centimeters and machine guns. The battle exceeded in violence and +losses even the great battle of the Yser earlier in the war. Heavy +reinforcements had been brought to the Verdun front by the Germans, and +it was estimated that their forces engaged in the attack numbered at +least 500,000 men, supported by numerous 15-inch and 17-inch Austrian +mortars, with all the heavy German artillery used in the Serbian +campaign and part of that formerly employed on the Russian front. + +While the battle of Verdun was in progress, the Germans also made +determined attacks in the Champagne region, graining some ground; but on +March 1 the Allied lines were holding fast all along the western front. + +Wounded soldiers returning from the front during the bloody struggle +before Verdun told tragic tales of the fighting. "I watched the assault +of the Germans upon the village of Milancourt, near the Meuse," said a +wounded Frenchman. "They came in solid ranks, without a word, loading +and reloading their rifles without cessation. Our seventy-fives fell +among them, and then the mitrailleuses entered into action. It was no +longer a battalion. It was a few scattered groups of men that one saw, +torn by a rain of shells and bullets, squeezing close against each other +as though for mutual protection. + +"On the border of Montfaucon I saw one of these groups disappear at +one blow, as if they had been swallowed into a marsh. Our shells! What +frightful work they did. Never will I forget those fragments of human +beings that fell just at my feet. Never can I forget that terrible +picture. + +"I followed the attack on Haumont and Samogneux. The field of battle +was lighted as if in full day by star shells. Black masses of Germans +advanced, protected by their artillery, while ours remained silent. +Finally our artillery began, and then the enemy ranks wavered, halted +and disappeared. + +"Our guns had waited until the Germans were in a little hollow all +arranged for the massacre. In a little while there lay the bodies of +some 2,000 or 3,000 Germans. They occupied some villages, but their +attack on Verdun has failed after terrible losses." + +GERMAN SUBMARINE ACTIVITIES + +The sinking of British and French ships, and sometimes neutral vessels, +by German and Austrian submarines continued during the month of +February. On February 27 the Peninsular & Oriental Line steamship +Maloja, of 12,431 tons, was sunk by a torpedo or mine only two miles off +the Admiralty pier at Dover, with a loss of 155 lives, including many +passengers, men, women and children, en route to India. Dozens of +craft went at once to the rescue, and one of them, the Empress of Fort +William, a vessel of 2,181 tons, was also torpedoed or struck a mine and +sank nearby. Of the Maloja's passengers and crew, 260 were rescued. + +On February 28 the great French liner La Provence was sunk in the +Mediterranean with a loss estimated at 900 lives. It had a displacement +of 19,200 tons, length 602 feet, beam 65 feet, and had been in the +service of the French Government as a troop transport. + +Under new orders to their submarine commanders, in spite of protests by +the United States Government, Germany and Austria inaugurated on March +1 the policy of sinking without warning all Allied merchant vessels +believed to carry any armament for defensive purposes, and the world +waited with bated breath for fresh developments of the Teutonic campaign +of frightfulness. + + + + +CHAPTER. XXVI + +CLIMAX OF THE WAR. + + _Prolonged Battle of Verdun the Most Terrible in History-- + Enormous Losses on Both Sides--_Submarine Activity + Imperils Relations of America and Germany_. + +Beginning with the first infantry attack by the Germans on Monday, +February 21, after twenty-four hours of continuous bombardment, the +battles incident to the siege of Verdun were fought at brief intervals +during the next two months, down to the middle of April, and marked +the climax of the War. The losses on both sides were enormous and +extraordinary, and taken as a whole the struggle on the semicircular +front north and east of the great French stronghold fully justified its +description as "the most terrible battle in the world's history." + +When spring of 1916 arrived, the struggle seemed to be a pretty even +draw, but the end was not in sight. Both sides showed the greatest +confidence in the outcome. In France the confidence of the nation found +expression in the voice of M. Alexandre Ribot, the veteran minister +of finance, who, having Verdun before his eyes, told the Chamber of +Deputies: "We have reached the decisive hour. We can say without +exaggeration, without illusion, and without vain optimism, that we now +see the end of this horrible war." + +But while the French were certain that victory would ultimately be +theirs, the German papers and people were just as fully persuaded that +this finest of the fortresses of France would finally fall before the +determined assaults of the Kaiser's army, which no fort had, as yet, +stopped. + +Both sides recognized that this was the supreme moment of the War. The +Germans had gained by April 15 from three to five miles along a front of +about 15 miles, but had taken only two of the ring of minor forts around +Verdun. The French claimed that the configuration of the ground occupied +by the contending forces at that time made their line impregnable. +Although Verdun was said by the German military experts to be only an +incident in the German offensive which was planned to secure the final +"decision," they realized the importance of Verdun to their whole line +on the Western front, and knew its value too well not to make the most +desperate and exhaustive efforts for its conquest. + +A TERRIFIC ARTILLERY DUEL. + +For many weeks the battle for Verdun was signalized by the most terrific +artillery fire in history. No words can tell of the ear-stunning roar of +the guns, or depict the horror of the tons of steel daily crashing and +splintering amid massed bodies of men, while the softly-falling snows of +late winter covered, but could not conceal, the ensanguined landscape. +Modern warfare was seen at Verdun in all its panoply of terror. Amid +fire and fury, the rich and fertile countryside was transformed into +a vast scene of ruin and desolation, while heroism and self-sacrifice +abounded on both sides, men were maddened by the frenzy of the fight and +the ghastly horrors of night and day, and Death stalked gloatingly and +glutted, but never surfeited, over the bloody field. + +The German attacks followed one another so fast and so furiously that +the weeks of fighting became one prolonged battle, and a description of +one attack will almost serve for all. Thus, a wounded French officer +said of the seven days of continuous fighting which opened the German +offensive against Verdun: "The first symptom of the battle favorable +to the French was the inability of the Germans to silence the French +artillery. The attack opened with strong reconnoitering parties +advancing, wherein was noted an unusually large proportion of officers. +For the first time the German officers were seen to be leading their men +into battle, instead of driving them, as had been the rule--and this was +said to be at the behest of the watching Kaiser. Then came the infantry +in great numbers. During the next two days the fighting waxed fiercer +and fiercer. + +"At first fourteen German divisions were engaged, then sixteen, and +finally seventeen divisions (340,000 men). The French command at this +point carried out a maneuver which will be recorded as a masterpiece in +military history. + +"If the Germans had been only fifteen yards away, the French could +have been submerged by the attack, providing the attacking forces were +prepared to make any sacrifice, but the distance being 1,500 yards there +was little chance for the Germans against the opposing artillery. The +French troops were accordingly swung back to positions from which they +could see the Germans approaching over exposed ground. The effect was +that the immediate front of the attack, which was originally twenty-five +miles in extent, was reduced to nine miles, but even this soon proved +too wide. The German losses were so great that the attack could not be +kept up at all points; and at the end of the seventh day the offensive +dwindled to fragmentary attacks,--but only to be renewed with added +vigor after a brief period of rest for the infantry on both sides, while +the artillery kept up its daily and nightly duel without ceasing, until +the entire terrain became an earthly inferno, thickly scattered over +with the dead and the dying." + +THE DEADLY MINE IN CAURES WOOD. + +Frightful in result, too, was the tragic stratagem played on the Germans +in Caures Wood, near the village of Beaumont. The whole wood had been +mined by the French, and was connected electrically with a station in +the village. When the Germans had advanced, fully a division strong, to +attack the wood, the French regiment holding it ran, as if seized with +panic, back toward the village. The Germans pursued them with shouts of +victory. Soon the last Frenchman had emerged from the trees, but the +French commander waited until the Germans were all in the mined area. +They were just beginning to debouch on the other side when he pressed +the button. There was a tremendous roar, drowning for a moment even the +boom of the cannon. The wood was covered with a cloud of smoke, and even +on the French trenches in Beaumont "there rained a ghastly dew." When +the French re-entered the wood, unopposed, they found not a single +German unwounded, and hardly a score alive. + +GERMAN LOSSES AT VERDUN. + +The German successes during the weeks of fighting in the vicinity of +Verdun, consisting of a series of advances along the front, without +any decisive result so far as the strength of the defense of the main +fortress was concerned, were gained at the cost of enormous losses in +killed and wounded. These losses were estimated on April 7 to have +reached the huge total of 200,000--one of the greatest battle losses in +the whole range of warfare. During the period from February 21, when the +battle of Verdun began, to April 1, it was said that two German army +corps had been withdrawn from the front, having lost in the first +attacks at least one-third of their force. They subsequently reappeared +and again suffered like losses, the German reinforcements being +practically used up as fast as they were put in line. + +Declarations gathered from prisoners and the observations of the French +staff led the latter to estimate that at least one-third of the total +number of men engaged were the minimum losses of the German infantry +during the first forty days of the battle, or 150,000 men of the first +fighting line alone. + +Concerning the German losses before Verdun, Col. Feyler, a Swiss +military expert, wrote on April 10 as follows: "It is certain that the +first great attacks in February and March caused the German assailants +very exceptional losses. The 18th army corps lost 17,000 men and the 3d +corps lost 22,000. These are figures which in the history of wars will +form a magnificent eulogy on the heroism of these troops. It will become +a classic example, like that of the Prussian Guard at St. Privat, +France, August 18, 1870. It is probable that before Verdun, as at St. +Privat, the leaders underestimated the defenders' strength, especially +in cannon and machine guns. + +"There are other examples. In the unfruitful attack on Fort Vaux, the +7th reserve regiment was literally mowed down by machine guns, while the +60th regiment lost 60 per cent of its effectives. In the attack on the +Malancourt and Avocourt woods, March 20, three regiments of the +11th Bavarian division, whose record in this war seems to have been +particularly praiseworthy, lost about 50 per cent of their men." + +LOSSES OF THE FRENCH. + +While the greater bulk of the total losses in killed and wounded before +Verdun was sustained by the Germans, however, it must not be imagined +for an instant that the French defenders of the fortress escaped +lightly. On the contrary, their losses were likewise enormous, being +estimated by the German general staff at a total of not less than +110,000 from February 20 to April 1. A considerable number of French +troops, officers and men, were also captured by the Germans during the +numerous attacks in February, March and April upon the French trenches +and other positions before Verdun. + +A MILLION MEN ENGAGED. + +Some idea of the tremendous forces engaged on both sides in what will +probably be called in history "the Siege of Verdun," may be gained from +the brief summary made on April 1 by an observer present with the +army of the Crown Prince of Germany on the north front of the Verdun +battlefield, from which point of vantage he telegraphed as follows: + +"Probably not far from a million men are battling on both sides around +Verdun. Never in the history of the world have such enormous masses of +military been engaged in battle at one point. + +"On the forty-mile semicircular firing-line around the French fortress, +from the River Meuse above St. Mihiel to Avocourt, the Germans probably +have several thousand guns, at least 2,500, in action or reserve. Were +each gun fired only once an hour, there would be a shot every second. + +"As probably half the guns are of middle and heavy caliber, the average +weight per shell is certain to be more than twenty-five pounds. It +follows that even in desultory firing about 160,000 pounds of iron, or +from four to five carloads, are raining on the French positions every +hour. And this is magnified many times when the fire is increased to the +intensity which the artillerymen call 'drumming' the positions of the +enemy. + +"To the German guns must be added the tremendous amount of artillery +used by the French in their defense, estimated to be almost as large now +as that of the Germans. The conclusion is that more than 6,000 cannon, +varying from 3-inch field guns to 42-centimeter (16-inch) siege mortars, +are engaged in hurling thousands of high explosive shells hourly in +the never-ceasing, thunderous artillery duels of the mighty battle of +Verdun." + +FROM A GERMAN OFFICER'S VIEWPOINT. + +The stories told by those who, on the German side, lay in trenches +under shell-fire before Verdun for days at a time and week after week, +freezing, thirsting, in mud and water, between the dead and the dying, +thrilled the hearer with their pathos and devotion. These were the men +who, like the waves of the sea, beat almost incessantly against the +obstinate fortifications of Verdun, and there learned a new respect for +the French enemy. Such a story was written from the front in April by a +German officer named Ross--a man of Scottish descent--who, before +the war, was editor of a newspaper in Munich. In the Berlin Vossische +Zeitung he said: + +"It is a worthy, embittered foe against whom this last decisive struggle +is aimed. France is fighting for her existence. She is no weaker than we +are in men, guns, or munitions. Only one thing decides between us--will +and nerves. Every doubting, belittling word is a creeping poison which +kills joyful, strong hope and does more damage than a thousand foes. +Only if we are convinced to our marrow that we shall win, shall we +conquer. + +"In this colossal combat, where numbers and mechanical weapons are so +utterly alike, moral superiority is everything. We have more than once +had the experience that the effective result of a battle has depended +upon who considered himself the victor and acted accordingly. Often the +merest remnant of will and nerves was the factor that influenced the +decision. + +"War, which only smoldered here and there during the endless trench +fighting, like damp wood, burns here with such all-consuming fire that +divisions have to be called up after days and hours in the trenches, and +are ground to pieces and burned up into so many cinders and ashes. + +"Such intensity of battle as is here before Verdun is unheard of. +No picture, no comparison, can give the remotest conception of the +concentration of guns and shells with which the two antagonists are +raging against each other. I have seen troops who had held out in the +fire for days and weeks, to whom in exposed positions food could hardly +be brought, on whose bodies the clothes were not dry, who, yet reeking +with dirt and dampness, had the nerve for new storming operations." + +BATTLE OF CAILLETTE WOOD. + +Among the fiercer struggles before Verdun, the battle of Caillette Wood, +east of the fortress city, will have a place in history as one of the +most bloody and thrilling. + +The position of the wood, to the right of Douaumont, was important +as part of the French line. It was carried by the Germans on Sunday +morning, April 2, after a bombardment of twelve hours, which seemed to +break even the record of Verdun for intensity. The French curtain +of fire had checked their further advance, according to a special +correspondent of the Chicago Herald, and a savage countercharge in +the afternoon had gained for the defenders a corpse-strewn welter of +splintered trees and shell-shattered ground that had been the southern +corner of the wood. Further charges had broken against a massive +barricade, the value of which as a defense paid good interest on the +expenditure of German lives which its construction demanded. A wonderful +work had been accomplished that Sunday morning in the livid, London-like +fog and twilight produced by the lowering clouds and battle smoke. + +FORMED A HUMAN CHAIN UNDER FIRE. + +While the German assaulting columns in the van fought the French hand to +hand, picked corps of workers behind them formed an amazing human chain +from the woods to the east over the shoulder of the center of the +Douaumont slope to the crossroads of a network of communicating trenches +600 yards in the rear. + +Four deep was this human chain, and along its line nearly 3,000 men +passed an unending stream of wooden billets, sandbags, chevaux-de-frise, +steel shelters, and light mitrailleuses--in a word, all the material for +defensive fortifications passed from hand to hand, like buckets at a +country fire. + +Despite the hurricane of French artillery fire, the German commander had +adopted the only possible means of rapid transport over the shell-torn +ground covered with debris, over which neither horse nor cart could +go. Every moment counted. Unless barriers rose swiftly, the French +counter-attacks, already massing, would sweep the assailants back into +the wood. + +Cover was disdained. The workers stood at full height, and the chain +stretched openly across the hillocks, a fair target for the French +gunners. The latter missed no chance. Again and again great holes were +torn in the line by the bursting melinite, but as coolly as at maneuvers +the iron-disciplined soldiers of Germany sprang forward from shelters to +take the places of the fallen, and the work went on apace. + +USE THE DEAD AS A SHELTER. + +Gradually another line doubled the chain of the workers, as the upheaved +corpses formed a continuous embankment, each additional dead man giving +greater protection to his comrades, until the barrier began to form +shape along the diameter of the wood. There others were digging and +burying logs deep in the earth, installing shelters and mitrailleuses or +feverishly building fortifications. + +At last the work was ended at fearful cost; but as the vanguard sullenly +withdrew behind it, from the whole length burst a havoc of flame upon +the advancing Frenchmen. Vainly the latter dashed forward. They couldn't +pass, and as the evening fell the barrier still held, covering the +German working parties, burrowed like moles in the mass of trenches and +boyeaux. + +FRENCH PLAN TO BLAST BARRICADE. + +[Illustration: VERDUN--THE WORLD'S GREATEST BATTLEFIELD. _--Chicago +American._ + +Approximate Positions of German Troops at Various Dates, and More +Important Actions of the Verdun Campaign in in Their Chronological + Order.--See Key to Letters and Numbers on Opposite Page.] + + THE VERDUN BATTLEFIELD + + Key to Map on Opposite Page + + Battle lines showing the approximate positions of the German troops at + Verdun at various dates are designated in the map as follows: + + A. Positions Feb. 21, 1916, when German offensive was begun. + + B. Positions on Feb. 23. + + C. Positions on Feb. 25. + + D. Positions on Feb. 27. + + E. Bethincourt salient, April 7, before French retired. + + F. Positions on April 18. + + The more important actions of the Verdun campaign in their chronological + order are indicated as follows: + + 1. Germans open offensive against Verdun, piercing French lines. + + 2. French evacuate Haumont, Feb. 22. + + 3. French recapture Forest of Caures, Feb. 22, but lose it again. + + 4. Germans pierce French line, taking 3,000 prisoners. + + 5. Germans capture Brabant, Haumont, Samogneux, etc., Feb. 23. + + 6. Berlin reports capture of four villages and 10,000 French prisoners + Feb. 23. + + 7. Germans capture Louvemont and fortified positions Feb. 25. Fort + Douaumont stormed by Brandenburg corps, then surrounded by + French, but relieved by Germans March 3. + + 8. Germans take Champneuville Feb. 27, with 5,000 prisoners. + + 9. Bloody encounters at village of Eix on Woevre plain, Feb. 27. + + 10. Germans occupy Moranville and Haudiomont, Feb. 27. + + 11. Champlon and Manheuilles fall Feb. 28; 1,300 French prisoners. + + 12. Verdun battered and set on fire by 42-centimeter guns. + + 13. French evacuate Fort Vaux, after heavy bombardment, March 1. + + 14. Germans begin violent bombardment of Dead Man's Hill, March 1. + + 15. Germans capture village of Douaumont, March 2; 1,000 prisoners. + + 16. Fresnes captured by Germans, March 5. + + 17. Germans capture Forges, March 5; drive against French left wing. + + 18. Germans take Regneville, west of Meuse, March 6. + + 19. Germans capture heights of Cumieres, etc., March 7. + + 20. Village of Vaux taken and retaken by Germans, March 8-10. + + 21. Crown Prince brings up 100,000 reinforcements, March 10-12. + + 22. French recapture trenches March 14, with 1,000 German prisoners. + + 23. Struggle for heights of Le Mort Homme, March 16. + + 24. Germans capture positions north of Avocourt, March 20. + + 25. Artillery duels east of Verdun, March 25. + + 26. French recapture part of Avocourt Wood, March 28. + + 27. Germans capture Malancourt, March 29-31. + + 28. Heavy fighting south of Douaumont, April 2-5; French successes in + battle of Caillette woods, etc. + + 29. Germans recapture Haucourt, April 6. + + 30. Germans close in on Bethincourt salient, April 7. + + 31. French withdraw from Bethincourt April 9, but hold lines south. + + 32. French lines bombarded continuously, April 10-15, with violent + assaults but no decisive results. + +So sound was the barricade, padded with sandbags and earth-works, that +the artillery fire fell practically unavailing, and the French general +realized that the barrier must be breached by explosives, as in +Napoleon's battles. + +It was 8 o'clock and already pitch dark in that blighted atmosphere when +a special blasting corps, as devoted as the German chain workers, crept +forward toward the German position. The rest of the French waited, +sheltered in the ravine east of Douaumont, until an explosion should +signal the assault. + +In Indian file, to give the least possible sign of their presence to the +hostile sentinels, the French blasters advanced in a long line, at first +with comparative rapidity, only stiffening into the grotesque rigidity +of simulated death when the searchlights played upon them, and resuming +progress when the beam shifted. Then as they approached the barrier they +moved slowly and more slowly. When they arrived within forty yards the +movement of the crawling men became imperceptible. + +The blasting corps lay at full length, like hundreds of other motionless +forms about them, but all were working busily. With a short trowel, the +file leader scuffled the earth from under his body, taking care not to +raise his arms, and gradually making a shallow trench deep enough to +hide him. The others followed his example until the whole line had sunk +beneath the surface. + +Then the leader began scooping his way forward, while his followers +deepened the furrow already made. Thus literally inch by inch the files +stole forward, sheltered in a narrow ditch from the gusts of German +machine-gun fire that constantly swept the terrain. Here and there the +sentinels' eyes caught a suspicious movement or an incautiously raised +head sank down pierced by a bullet, but the stealthy, molelike advance +continued. Hours passed. It was nearly dawn when the remnant of the +blasting corps reached the barricade at last and hurriedly put their +explosives in position. Back they wriggled breathlessly. An over-hasty +movement meant death, yet they must hurry lest the imminent explosions +overwhelm them. + +Suddenly there was a roar that dwarfed the cannonade and all along the +barrier fountains of fire rose skyward, hurling a rain of fragments upon +what was left of the blasting party. + +THREE OUT OF FOUR DIE. + +The barricade was breached, but 75 per cent of the devoted corps had +given their lives to do it. + +As the survivors lay exhausted the attackers charged over them, +cheering. In the melee that followed there was no room to shoot or wield +the rifle. Some of the French fought with unfixed bayonets, like the +stabbing swords of the Roman legions. Others had knives or clubs. All +were battle-frenzied, as only Frenchmen can be. + +The Germans broke, and as the first rays of dawn streaked the sky only +a small section of the wood was still in their hands. There a similar +barrier stopped progress, and it was evident that the night's work must +be repeated; but the hearts of the French soldiers were leaping with +victory as they dug furiously to consolidate the ground they had gained, +strewn with German bodies, thick as leaves. Over 6,000 Germans were +counted in a section a quarter of a mile square, and the conquerors saw +why their cannonade had been so ineffective. The Germans had piled a +second barrier of corpses close behind the first, so that the soft human +flesh would act as a buffer to neutralize the force of the shells. + +FRENCH DEFENSE TRULY HEROIC. + +While all the German attacks upon the French lines in front of Verdun +were marked with the utmost valor and intensity of devotion, the +continuous defense made by the French under General Petain was equally +vigorous and often truly heroic. Volunteers frequently remained in the +French trenches from which the rest of the French defenders had been +compelled to retire, to telephone information about the advancing enemy +to the French batteries, and some of the heaviest losses of the Germans +occurred when they believed themselves successful in an attack. + +The consequences of such devotion on the part of French volunteers +were exemplified early in the morning of April 12, at a point called +Caurettes Woods, along the northeastern slopes of the hill known as Le +Mort Homme (Dead Man's Hill), where a French withdrawal had been carried +out. Volunteers remained behind to signal information to the French +batteries, and an eyewitness of the attack described what followed thus: + +"The French seventy-fives immediately concentrated on the hostile trench +line. The Germans suffered heavily, but persevered, and soon dense +columns appeared amid the shell-torn brushwood on the southern fringe of +the Corbeaux Wood, pouring down into the valley separating them from the +former French position on the hillside. + +"Thinking the French still held the latter, the Germans deployed +with their latest trench-storming device in the form of liquid fire +containers, with special groups of four installed, two men working the +pump and two directing the fire jet. + +"The grayness of the dawn was illuminated by sheets of green and red +flame and black oily clouds rolled along the valley toward the river +like smoke from a burning 'gusher.' + +"Suddenly the air was filled with shrill whistling, as shells of the +seventy-fives were hurled against the attackers. Thanks to the devoted +sentinels dying at their posts in the sea of fire, the range was exact, +and the exploding melinite shattered the charging columns. + +"An appalling scene followed. The shells had burst or overthrown the +fire containers and the Germans were seen, running wildly amid the +flames which overwhelmed hundreds of wounded and disabled. + +FRENCH TROOPS CHARGE. + +"In this scene of confusion the French charged with bayonet, despite the +furnace heat and fumes produced by the red-hot containers flying in all +directions. The enemy offered little resistance. It was like a slaughter +of frenzied animals. + +"The French mitrailleuse corps pressed close on their comrades' heels, +placing weapons at vantage points that had escaped the fire and +showering a leaden hail upon the main body of Germans retreating up +Corbeaux Hill. + +"Hundreds fought in a terror-stricken mob to hide in a hole that might +have sheltered a score. Those beneath were stifled. Those above threw +themselves screaming into the air as the bullets pierced them or fell +dead in a wild dash toward a safer refuge. Flushed with success, +the French charged again right to the entrance of the wood, and the +slaughter recommenced. + +"Five of the heroic sentinels, wonderful to say, returned with the +French wave that ebbed when victory was won for that day." + +CONDITIONS AT VERDUN ON APRIL 20. + +Several determined attacks were delivered by the Germans on the French +lines at Verdun between April 15 and 20, enormous masses of men, +sometimes as many as 100,000, being hurled against points in the +northeast sector of the battle front. But the French defense held firm, +although some trenches were lost and a considerable number of French +prisoners were taken. Up to this time the total number of prisoners +taken by the Germans at Verdun, from the beginning of the offensive, +February 21, was claimed to be 711 officers and 38,155 men. + +Such were the conditions before Verdun on April 20, when, with spring +well under way on the Western battle fronts, there was daily expectation +of a vigorous drive by the Allies against the German lines between +Verdun and the sea. While both sides expressed confidence in the outcome +of the war, no man could foretell with any degree of certainty what the +final result of the great struggle would be. + +ZEPPELIN RAIDS ON ENGLAND. + +During the month of March and early in April a number of Zeppelin raids +upon various parts of England did more or less damage, though none of an +important military character. The east coast of Scotland also suffered +from a Zeppelin visit in April. + +Reports and figures issued by the British War Office showed that during +the fifteen months from Christmas, 1914, to April 1, 1916, no fewer than +thirty-four separate aerial raids occurred in Great Britain, including +those of aeroplanes and Zeppelins. The total casualties suffered, mainly +by civilians, men, women, and children, were 303 killed and 713 injured. +This record of results is interesting when it is remembered what +they must have cost the Germans in money and men, in view of the +comparatively small amount of damage that seems to have been done. +Germany, however, insisted that her air raids had done more substantial +harm to England than the War Office would admit. + +RUSSIAN ACTIVITIES IN THE EAST. + +With the approach of spring in 1916, new activities began on the Eastern +front, and the Russians threatened a vigorous attack on the German lines +in the north "after the thaw." By the middle of the summer the Russians +expected, according to semi-official reports, to have twelve million men +armed, drilled, and equipped for battle. + +On April 1 the Berlin government declared that in the Russian offensive +on the Eastern front, against Field Marshal von Hindenburg, which lasted +from March 18 to March 30, the losses to the Russians were 140,000 out +of the 500,000 men engaged. This campaign was carried on mostly in the +frozen terrain of the Dvinsk marshes, and along the Dvina River, and the +German losses were also heavy, although the Russian attacks were as a +rule repulsed. + +FALL OF TREBIZOND. + +In Asia Minor, however, Russian successes of the winter were crowned in +the early spring by the fall of the Baltic seaport of Trebizond, which +was occupied on April 18. This city, the most important Turkish port on +the Black Sea, was captured by the Russian army advancing from Erzerum. +Aided by the Russian Black Sea fleet, the invaders pushed past the last +series of natural obstacles along the Anatolian coast when, on Sunday, +April 16, they occupied a strongly fortified Turkish position on the +left bank of the Kara Dere River, twelve miles outside the fortified +town. The official Russian report said: + +"Our valiant troops, after a sanguinary battle on the Kara Dere River, +pressed the Turks without respite, and surmounted incredible +obstacles, everywhere breaking the fierce resistance of the enemy. +The well-combined action of the fleet permitted the execution of most +hazardous landing operations, and lent the support of its artillery to +the troops operating in the coastal region. + +"Credit for this fresh victory also is partly due the assistance given +our Caucasian army by the troops operating in other directions in +Asia Minor. By their desperate fighting and heroic exploits, they did +everything in their power to facilitate the task of the detachments on +the coast." + +GERMANY AND THE UNITED STATES. + +The long-continued controversy between the United States and Germany +over the methods and results of German submarine warfare came to a +climax with the torpedoing of the British channel steamer Sussex, on +March 24, 1916, in pursuance of the new German policy of attacking +merchant vessels without warning. There was no pretense that the Sussex +was an "armed merchantman," and no warning was given the passengers +and crew, the former including a number of Americans on their way from +Folkestone to the French port of Dieppe. The ship, though badly damaged, +made port with assistance, but the loss of life from the explosion +and drowning amounted to fifty, and several American passengers were +injured. Germany disclaimed responsibility for the disaster, but the +weight of evidence pointed to a German submarine as the cause, and in +view of the repeated violations of German promises to the United States +to give due warning to passenger vessels and insure safety to their +occupants, President Wilson and his advisers, in April, seriously +considered the advisability of breaking off diplomatic relations with +the German Empire, by way of a protest in the name of humanity. On April +18 the President decided to lay the whole matter before Congress. + +The record of German submarine attacks involving death or injury to +American citizens up to this time included the sinking or damaging of +the following vessels: British steamer Falaba, 160 lives lost, including +one American; American steamer Gulflight, three Americans lost; British +steamship Lusitania, 1,134 lives lost, including 115 Americans; American +steamer Leelanaw, sunk; liner Arabic sunk, two Americans killed; liner +Hesperian sunk mysteriously, three days after Germany had promised to +sink no more liners; Italian liner Ancona sunk (by Austrian submarine), +with loss of American lives; Japanese liner Yanaka Maru sunk in +Mediterranean; British liner Persia sunk, United States Consul McNeely +killed; steamer Sussex attacked, several Americans seriously injured; +British steamers Manchester Engineer, Eagle Point and Berwyn Dale +attacked, endangering American members of crews. + +A FINAL NOTE TO GERMANY. + +On Wednesday, April 19, President Wilson appeared before Congress, +assembled in joint session for the purpose of hearing him, and announced +that he had addressed a final note of warning to Germany, giving the +Imperial German Government irrevocable notice that the United States +would break off diplomatic relations if the illegal and inhuman +submarine campaign was continued. The language used by the President, +after recounting the course of events leading to his action, was as +follows: + +"I have deemed it my duty, therefore, to say to the Imperial German +Government that if it is still its purpose to prosecute relentless +and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of commerce by the use of +submarines, the government of the United States is at least forced to +the conclusion that there is but one course it can pursue; and that +unless the Imperial German Government should now immediately declare and +effect an abandonment of its present method of warfare against passenger +and freight-carrying vessels this government can have no choice but to +sever diplomatic relations with the government of the German Empire +altogether." + +THE GERMAN WAR CLOUD PASSES. + +Germany replied to the President's note on May 4, denying the +implication of intentional destruction of vessels regardless of their +nature or nationality, and declaring that in future no merchant vessels +should be sunk without warning or without saving human lives, "unless +the ships attempt to escape or offer resistance." + +On May 8, President Wilson dispatched a reply to Germany's note, +accepting the German promises as to the future conduct of submarine +warfare, but refusing to regard them as contingent on any action between +the United States and any other country. Germany later admitted that a +German submarine sank the Sussex, and promised that the commander would +be punished and indemnities paid to the families of those who perished. + +This was regarded at Washington as practically closing the submarine +controversy, and the German war-cloud, which had assumed serious +proportions, gradually passed away. ABORTIVE REVOLT IN IRELAND. + +An attempt at rebellion by Irish extremists, accompanied by bloody riots +in Dublin and other cities in the south and west of Ireland, followed +the sinking on April 21 of a German vessel which, convoyed by a +submarine, endeavored to land arms and ammunition on the Irish coast. +Sir Roger Casement, an anti-British Irishman of considerable note, who +had been resident in Germany for some months, was taken prisoner upon +landing from the submarine. + +For several days, beginning April 25, the rebels, who formed an +inconsiderable part of the Irish people and were strongly condemned by +the Nationalist leaders and party, held possession of streets and public +buildings in Dublin. Incendiary fires did damage estimated at over +$100,000,000, many peaceable citizens were killed, and the casualties +among British troops and constabulary amounted to 521, including +killed, before the uprising was quelled and the "Irish Republic" +overthrown, with the unconditional surrender of its deluded leaders, +on April 30. Next day the remnants of the Sinn Fein rebels in Ireland +surrendered, making over 1,000 prisoners, who were transported to +English prisons. Military law had been proclaimed throughout Ireland and +nearly a score of the leaders of the revolt, who were accused of murder, +were tried by court-martial and summarily executed. The revolt was +alleged to have been encouraged in Germany and also by Irish extremists +in the United States, by whom the rebel leaders executed in Ireland were +regarded as "martyrs." + +BRITISH SURRENDER AT KUT-EL AMARA. + +After holding out against the Turks at Kut-el-Amara, in Mesopotamia, +for 143 days, General Townshend, the British commander, was compelled, +through exhaustion of his supplies, to surrender his force of 9,000 +officers and men, on April 28. This force included about 2,000 English +and 7,000 Indian troops, many being on the sick list. The Turks +recognized the gallantry of the defense and refused to accept General +Townshend's sword. Many of the sick and wounded were exchanged, and it +was planned to imprison the rest of the British force on an island in +the Sea of Marmora. + +ATTACKS ON VERDUN CONTINUE. + +German attacks on the French lines at Verdun continued with the utmost +vigor up to June 10. From time to time they resulted in small successes, +gained at immense cost in human life. From May 27 to May 30 the battle +raged with especial severity, this period marking the greatest effort +made by the Germans during the whole of the prolonged operations at +Verdun. The French stood firm under an avalanche of shot and shell, and +drove back wave after wave of a tremendous flood of Teutonic infantry. +The infantry fighting in this struggle was described as the fiercest of +the war. + +The total German casualties up to June 1 were estimated at nearly +3,000,000; the French at 2,500,000, and the British at 600,000, over +25,000 of the latter being commissioned officers. + +General Joseph S. Gallieni, former minister of war of France, died at +Versailles on May 27, universally mourned by the French, who regarded +him as the saviour of Paris in the critical days of August-September, +1914, when he was military governor of Paris and commander of the +intrenched camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA FIGHT. + + _British and German High-Sea Fleets Finally Clash in the + North Sea--Huge Losses in Tonnage and Men on + Both Sides--_British Navy Remains in Control of the + Sea._ + +After many months of unceasing sea patrol on the part of the British, +and of diligent preparation in port on the German side, it came at +last--the long-expected clash of mighty rival fleets in the North Sea. + +It was on the misty afternoon of Wednesday, May 31, that Admiral David +Beatty, in command of Britain's battle-cruiser squadron, sighted the +vanguard of the German high-seas fleet steaming "on an enterprise to the +north" from its long-accustomed anchorages in the placid waters of the +Kiel Canal and under the guns of Helgoland. + +The British battleship fleet was far away to the northwest, but the +wireless promptly flashed the signal, "Enemy in sight," and as the +battle-cruisers raced to close quarters with the tardy foe, and +sacrificed themselves in the effort to hold him in the open sea, down +from the north rushed the leviathans of the Mistress of the Seas, that +were counted on to crush the enemy when the opportunity came. + +But the early stages of the fight found the British battling against +odds. Germany's mightiest warcraft were in the shadows of the mist, +behind the cruiser scouts; destroyers swarmed around them, submarines +appeared from the depths, and Zeppelins hovered overhead. + +Gallantly did Admiral Beatty on his victorious Lion struggle to hold +his own till the British battleships came up; but one after another his +hard-pressed cruisers succumbed to weight of metal, until five of them +had sunk beneath the sea, with all their devoted crews, before the +near approach of Admiral Jellicoe and his dreadnaughts sent the enemy +scuttling back to port, to claim a victory that startled the world for a +day, only to disappear when the full extent of the German losses became +known, and it was learned that the German high-seas fleet had lost +some of its proudest units, that its losses, not only relatively but +absolutely almost equaled those of the British fleet, and that the +British remained in full control of the high seas, after scouring them +in vain for further signs of the enemy. + +THE BRITISH LOSSES. + +The ships lost by the British in the battle included three +battle-cruisers, the Queen Mary, Indefatigable, and Invincible; three +light cruisers, the Defense, Black Prince, and Warrior, and eight +destroyers, the Tipperary, Turbulent, Nestor, Alcaster, Fortune, +Sparrowhawk, Ardent, and Shark. The Warrior, badly damaged, was taken in +tow, but sank before reaching port. All but one of its crew were saved. + +The British dreadnaught Marlborough was also damaged, but succeeded in +making port for repairs. + +Following are particulars of the British cruisers sunk: + +QUEEN MARY--27,000 tons; 720 feet long. Eight 13.5 inch guns, sixteen +4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes. Complement, 900. Cost, +$10,000,000. + +INDEFATIGABLE--18,750 tons: 578 feet long. Eight 12 inch guns, sixteen +4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes. Complement, 900. Cost, +$8,000,000. + +INVINCIBLE--17,250 tons; 562 feet long. Eight 12 inch guns, sixteen +4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes. Complement, 731. Cost, +$8,760,000. + +DEFENSE--14,600 tons; 525 feet long. Four 9.2 inch guns, ten 7.5 inch +guns, sixteen 12 pounders, five torpedo tubes. Complement, 755. Cost, +$6,810,000. + +BLACK PRINCE--13,550 tons; 480 feet long. Six 9.2 inch guns, twenty +pounders, three torpedo tubes. Complement, 704. Cost, $5,750,000. + +WARRIOR--13,550 tons; 480 feet long. Six 9.2 inch guns, four 7.5 inch +guns, twenty-four 3 pounders, three torpedo tubes. Complement, 704, all +saved but one. Cost, $5,900,000. + +The destroyers sunk were each of about 950 tons, 266 feet long, and +carried a complement of 100 men. Only a few survivors were picked up +after the battle. + +THE GERMAN LOSSES. + +The German losses, as claimed by the British, included two dreadnaughts, +believed to be the Hindenburgh and Westfalen, each of approximately +26,000 tons, with a complement of 1,000 men; the battle-cruiser +Derfflinger, 26,600 tons, complement, 900 men; the battleship Pommern, +of 12,997 tons, complement, 729 men, cost, $6,000,000; the new fast +cruiser Elbing, of 5,000 tons, complement, 500 men; the cruisers +Frauenlob, of 2,715 tons, complement, 264 men, and Wiesbaden, not +registered; a number of destroyers, variously estimated at from six +to sixteen, and one submarine rammed and sunk. Besides these, the +battle-cruiser Lutzow, of 26,600 tons, was reported badly damaged, and +the battle-cruiser Seydlitz, of equal size, suffered heavily in the +battle and was hotly pursued to the mine fields of Helgoland. + +The total loss of life in the battle amounted to approximately 4, +British, including 333 officers; and probably 4,000 or more Germans. +Rear-Admiral Horace Hood, second in command of the battle-cruiser fleet, +went down with the Invincible. Rear-Admiral Arbuthnot went down with the +Defense. + +STORY OF THE BATTLE. + +The great naval battle, which may go down in history as the battle of +the Skager Rack, was fought in the eastern waters of the North Sea, off +the coast of Denmark. It lasted for many hours, fighting being continued +through the night of May 31-June 1. In general, the battle area extended +from the Skager Rack southward to Horn Reef off the Danish coast, the +center of the fighting being about 100 miles north of Helgoland, the +main German naval base in the North Sea. + +Both in the number of lives and the tonnage lost, the battle was the +greatest sea-fight in history, as well as the first in which modern +dreadnaughts have been engaged. Never before have two naval forces of +such magnitude as the British and German high-sea fleets engaged in +combat. + +The greatest previous tonnage loss was during the Japanese-Russian war. +In the naval battle of Tsushima in May, 1905, the loss totaled 93, +tons. Twenty-one Russian craft were sunk in this fight. + +The text of the first British admiralty statement was in part as +follows: + +"On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 31, a naval engagement took place +off the coast of Jutland. The British ships on which the brunt of the +fighting fell were the battle-cruiser fleet and some cruisers and light +cruisers, supported by four fast battleships. Among these the losses +were heavy. + +"The German battle fleet aided by low visibility avoided a prolonged +action with our main forces. As soon as they appeared on the scene the +enemy returned to port, though not before receiving severe damage from +our battleships." + +The battle was one in which no quarter was asked or even possible. There +were no surrenders, and the ships lost went down and carried with them +virtually the whole crews. Only the Warrior, which was towed part way +from the scene of battle to a British port, was an exception. + +Of the thousand men on the Queen Mary, only a corporal's guard was +accounted for. The same was true of the Invincible, while there were +no survivors reported from the Indefatigable, the Defense or the Black +Prince. + +TELL OF BATTLE HORRORS. + +After the battle there were many stories of ships sinking with a great +explosion: of crews going down singing the national anthem; of merchant +ships passing through a sea thick with floating bodies. + +From survivors came thrilling stories of the horrors and humanities of +the battle. The British destroyer Shark acted as a decoy to bring the +German ships into the engagement. It was battered to pieces by gunfire, +and a half dozen sailors, picked up clinging to a buoy by a Danish ship, +told of its commander and two seamen serving its only remaining gun +until the last minute, when the commander's leg was blown off. + +A lifeboat with German survivors from the German cruiser Elbing rescued +Surgeon Burton of the British destroyer Tipperary. He had sustained four +wounds. + +THE FIRST OFFICIAL STORY. + +The first account in detail of the battle was given by a high official +of the British Admiralty, who said on June 4: + +"We were looking for a fight when our fleet went out. Stories that the +fleet was decoyed by the Germans are sheerest nonsense. In a word, +with an inferior fleet we engaged the entire German high sea fleet, +interrupted their plans, and drove them back into their harbors. + +"In carrying out the plan decided upon we sustained heavy losses, which +we expected, but we also attained the expected result of forcing the +enemy to abandon his plan and seek refuge after we had given battle in +his own waters near his coast. + +"With the exception of two divisions, part of which was only partly +engaged, the brunt of battle was borne by the battle-cruiser fleet, and +with one exception our battle fleet is ready for sea service. I must +admit that we had exceptionally hard luck with our battle-cruisers, +but the loss of three great ships does not in any measure cripple our +control of the sea. + +"The great battle had four phases. The first opened at 3:15 p. m., when +our battle-cruisers, at a range of six miles, joined action with German +battle-cruisers. Shortly afterward the second phase began with the +arrival on both sides of battleships, the Germans arriving first. But +before their arrival our three battle-cruisers had been blown up, +supposedly the result of gunfire, although possibly they were victims +of torpedoes. "Such close range fighting with battle-cruisers might be +criticized as bad tactics, but our fleet, following the traditions +of the navy, went out to engage the enemy, and on account of weather +conditions could do so only at short range. + +"The third phase was the engagement of battleships, which never was +more than partial. This phase included a running fight, as the German +dreadnaughts fled toward their bases. All the big ship fighting was over +by 9:15 p. m. + +ENEMY GONE BY DAWN. + +"Then came one of the most weird features of the battle, as German +destroyers made attack after attack, like infantry following artillery +preparation, on our big ships. But these onslaughts were futile, not a +single torpedo launched by them getting home. + +"With the morning these attacks ended and the scene of battle was swept +by Jellicoe's fleet. Not a single enemy vessel remained in sight. + +"An incident of the great battle was the torpedoing of the +super-dreadnaught Marlborough, which is now safely an harbor. It must +have struck a veritable hornets' nest of submarines, as by skillful +maneuvering it avoided three of these before it was finally hit. + +"Early in the engagement, according to Admiral Beatty's report, a German +battle-cruiser, after being hotly engaged, blew up and broke in two. + +"Officers of the fleet also reported passing a closely engaged German +battle-cruiser which was left behind while the British pursued the +Germans. On their return this vessel was missing. Judging from its +previous plight it must now be at the bottom of the sea. This accounts +for two of the enemy's battle-cruisers, and we have their admission that +they had lost two battleships. + +"Zeppelins did not play the important part attributed to them. Only one +appeared. It remained in action a brief time, retiring under heavy +fire, evidently badly damaged. Weather conditions were such that it is +doubtful whether any aircraft would have been of much service. + +"The enemy sprang no surprises. We saw nothing of any 17-inch guns. No +tricks were used which were not already known in naval warfare. + +"From the standpoint of actual strength the navy's loss in personnel, +while great, was not serious, as we have plenty of men to replace them. +But the deaths of so many gallant officers and men have caused profound +grief. + +"Admiral Hood went down with his flagship Invincible, in the words of +Admiral Beaty's report, 'leading his division into action with the most +inspiring courage.' His flag captain, Cay, went down with him. Capt. +Sowerby, former British naval attache at Washington, perished with +his ship, the Indefatigable, while Capt. Prowse died on the Queen Mary." + +BODIES FLOATING IN THE SEA. + +From Copenhagen it was reported on June 3 that hundreds of bodies, many +of them horribly mutilated by explosions, and great quantities of debris +were drifting about in the North Sea near the scene of the battle. All +steamers arriving at Danish ports reported sighting floating bodies and +bits of wreckage. + +The steamer Para picked up a raft aboard which were three German +survivors from the torpedo boat V-48. They had clung to the raft for +forty-eight hours and were semi-conscious when rescued. They reported +that ninety-nine of the V-48 crew perished and that in all about twenty +German torpedo boats were destroyed. + +Other German sailors, rescued by Scandinavian steamers, described the +Teutonic losses in the Jutland battle as colossal. A number of the crew +of the cruiser Wiesbaden and men from several German torpedo boats were +rescued and brought to Copenhagen. They reported that many of their +comrades, after floating for thirty-six hours on rafts without food or +water, drank the sea water, became insane and jumped into the ocean. + +The German survivors said that several of their torpedo boats and +submarines were capsized by the British shells and sank instantly. +Bodies of both British and German sailors were washed ashore on the +coast of Jutland. + +OFFICER'S STORY OF THE FIGHT. + +Survivors who arrived at Edinburgh on June 5 from British destroyers +which made a massed attack on a German battleship in the battle off +Jutland, were convinced that they sent to the bottom the dreadnaught +Hindenburg, the pride of the German navy. These sailors said that +the Hindenburg was struck successively by four torpedoes while the +destroyers dashed in alongside of its hull, tearing it to pieces until +the mighty ship reeled and sank. + +An officer from one of the British destroyers gave the following graphic +account of the battle: + +"The ships of the grand fleet went into action as if they were going +into maneuvers. From every yardarm the white ensign flew, the flag +which is to the sailor as the tattered colors were in days of old to a +hard-pressed regiment. That it went hard with the battle-cruisers is +apparent, but one ship cannot fight a dozen. They had fought a great +fight, a fight to be proud of, a fight which will live longer than many +a victory. + +"We fought close into the foe, and if anything is certain in the +uncertainties of naval battle it is that we gave at least as good as we +got. We passed along the line of German ships some miles away and let +off broadside after broadside. The air was heavy with masses of smoke, +black, yellow, green and every other color, which drifted slowly between +the opposing lines, hiding sometimes friend and sometimes foe. The enemy +ships were firing very fast, but watching the ships in front one came to +the conclusion that the shooting was decidedly erratic. Again and again +salvos of shells fell far short of the mark, to be followed immediately +by others which screamed past high in the air. + +ROAR OP THE GUNS TERRIFIC. + +"I watched the Iron Duke swinging through the seas, letting off +broadside after broadside, wicked tongues of flames leaping through +clouds of smoke. The din of battle was stunning, stupendous, deafening, +as hundreds of the heaviest guns in the world roared out at once. Great +masses of water rose in the air like waterspouts, reaching as high as +the masts, as the salvos of German shells fell short or went over their +target. Now and then a shell found its mark, but it left us absolutely +cold as to its effect on each man at a time like this. A dozen men may +be knocked out at one's side. It makes no difference. + +"It was impossible to see what was happening among the ships of the foe. +The smoke obscured everything so effectually that one could only get a +glimpse at intervals when a kindly wind blew a lane through the pall. It +was apparent that the best ships of the enemy were engaged, but how many +neither eye nor glass could make out. The number was certainly large. It +was equally impossible to see what damage we were causing. Only the high +command knew fine progress of the battle. That the damage inflicted on +the German ships was great does not admit of any doubt. At one time two +vessels, red with fire, gleamed through the smoke. + +FLAGSHIP LOSES ITS WIRELESS. + +"It is a curious feeling to be in the midst of a battle and not to know +to which side fortune leans. Where only a few ships are engaged it is +different. Our own losses were known with some degree of exactness, but +even that was uncertain. Thus at one time it was thought that the Lion +had been lost as it did not answer any call. It transpired that its +wireless had been destroyed. + +"With the dusk came the great opportunity of the mosquito craft and both +sides made use of it to the full. It was in this way that one of the +saddest of many sad incidents occurred. A destroyer, true to its name, +dashed for the big enemy ship. It soon got into effective range and +loosed its torpedo and with deadly effect on a German battleship. The +ship went down and the destroyer raced for safety, the commander and +officer standing on the bridge indulging in mutual congratulations at +their success. At that moment a shell hit the bridge and wiped out the +entire group. + +"We fought what was in its way a great fight, although it was not a +sailor's battle. Both the grand and the terrible were present to an +almost overpowering degree. As a spectacle it was magnificent, awful. +How awful, it was impossible to realize until the fever of action had +subsided, until the guns were silent and the great ships, some battered, +others absolutely untouched, were plowing home on the placid sea." + +MEN THRILLED BY BATTLE FEVER. + +After describing the battle itself, the officer reverted to incidents +preceding it, saying: + +"I shall never forget the thrill which passed through the men on the +ships of the grand fleet when that inspiring message was received from +the battle-cruiser squadron many leagues away: 'I am engaged with heavy +forces of the enemy.' One looked on the faces of his fellows and saw +that the effect was electrical. The great ships swung around into battle +order and the responsive sea rocked and churned as the massive vessels +raced for what were virtually enemy waters. As the grand fleet drew near +the scene of action the smoke of battle and mutter of guns came down on +the winds. The eagerness of the men became almost unbearably intense and +it was a blessed relief when our own guns gave tongue." + +RUSSIAN TROOPS LAND IN FRANCE. + +Between April 20 and June 1, a large flotilla of transports arriving at +Marseilles, France, brought Russian soldiers in large numbers to the +support of the French line. The transports were understood to have made +the voyage of 10,250 miles from Vladivostok under convoy by the British +navy. + +EARL KITCHENER KILLED AT SEA. + +The British armored cruiser Hampshire, 10,850 tons, with Earl Kitchener, +the British secretary of state for war, and his staff on board, was sunk +shortly after nightfall on June 5, to the west of the Orkney Islands, +either by a mine or a torpedo. Heavy seas were running and Admiral +Jellicoe reported that there were no survivors. The crew numbered +officers and men. Earl Kitchener was on his way to Russia for a secret +conference with the military authorities when the disaster occurred. His +latest achievement was the creation, from England's untrained manhood, +of an army approximating 5,000,000 men, of whom he was the military +idol. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +BATTLES EAST AND WEST + +After gallantly holding their own for many months against repeated +German attacks, the Canadian troops holding that section of the western +front southeast of Ypres, between Hooge and the Ypres-Menin railway, +were engaged during the week ending June 3, 1916, in a battle scarcely +less determined in its nature than that of St. Julien and other great +encounters in which they distinguished themselves and added to Canadian +military laurels earlier in the war. + +On Friday, June 2, the Germans, after a concentrated bombardment with +heavy artillery, pressed forward to the assault and succeeded in +penetrating the British lines. During the night they pushed their attack +and succeeded in cutting their way through the defenses to the depth of +nearly a mile in the direction of Zillebeke. The hard-fighting Canadians +then rallied and began counter-assaults at 7 o'clock on the following +morning. By Sunday morning, June 4, they had succeeded in gradually +driving the Germans from much of the ground they had gained, but the +losses to the Canadians were severe. + +In the British official report of the engagement, it was stated that +"the Canadians behaved with the utmost gallantry, counter-attacking +successfully after a heavy and continued bombardment." The German +losses were very heavy and a large number of dead were abandoned on the +recaptured ground. Frederick Palmer, the noted war correspondent, said +that for a thousand yards in the center of the line where the Germans +secured lodgment the Canadians fired from positions in the rear and +filled the ruined trenches with German dead. + +It was announced by the War Office that Generals Mercer and Williams, +who were inspecting the front trenches on June 2, during the German +bombardment, were among the missing. Soon after it was found that +General Mercer was severely wounded during the fight, and was taken +to hospital at Boulogne, while General Williams, who was wounded less +severely, was captured by the enemy. General Mercer was the commander +of the Third Division of Canadian troops, which in this action had its +first real test in hand-to-hand fighting, and came out of the trial like +veterans with glory undimmed. + +The two-days' fighting occurred around the famous Hill No. 60 and +Sanctuary Wood, names destined to live in Canadian history. It was +entirely a Canadian battle, and while the losses of the devoted troops +from the Dominion probably reached the regrettable total of over 6,000, +including a number of men captured by the Germans during the first day's +attack, when they overran the front trenches, they doggedly bombed and +bayoneted their way back to the wrecked trenches next day and regained +nearly all their front. The commanding officers were especially pleased +that the newer Canadian battalions had kept up the traditions of the +first contingent, established in 1915 at St. Julien and elsewhere in +France and Flanders, by immediately turning upon the Germans with a +counter-attack which was carried out both coolly and skilfully. + +The Ypres salient, thus successfully defended by the Canadians in one of +the hottest of the minor battles of the war, was regarded by the British +commander-in-chief as an important position which must be defended +despite the heavy losses. General Gwatkin, Chief of Staff for Canada, +stated that the German losses during the heavy fighting exceeded those +of the Canadians. + +Colonel Buller of the Princess Patricia Regiment was killed by shrapnel +while leading his men at Sanctuary Wood. + +The total enlistments in Canada up to June 10 exceeded 333,000 men. + +GREAT DRIVE BY THE RUSSIANS. + +The first week of June, 1916, saw the Russians successful in a great +drive against the Austrian positions in Volhynia and Galicia, a movement +that for awhile overshadowed the events on the western front. In the +space of five days a new Russian commander, General Brusiloff, who had +succeeded General Ivanhoff as Chief of the Russian Southwestern Armies, +captured 1,143 Austrian officers and 64,714 men, recovered almost, four +thousand square miles of fertile Volhyman soil, and recaptured the +fortified town of Lutsk. He had the advantage of a most efficient +artillery preparation, which blew the Austrian entanglements, trenches +and earthworks into such a chaos that the bewildered occupants +surrendered in thousands when the Russian infantry charged. + +German reinforcements from the trenches north of the Pripet River tried +to stay the Russian rush, but in vain, and many Germans were among the +prisoners taken. At several points the Russian cavalry led the attack +after the artillery had done its work. A division of young Russians, by +an impetuous attack, captured a bridge-head on the Styr and took 2, +German and Austrian troops and much rich booty. In Galicia the Russian +armies crossed the Stripa and by June 10 were once more too near Lemberg +for the comfort of the Austrian garrison. At that time the total number +of prisoners taken in this drive was considerably over 100,000, while +the booty in guns, rifles, ammunition and supplies of all conceivable +kinds was enormous. The Allies were greatly heartened by these Russian +successes on the eastern front, and on June 15 Germany was preparing to +meet them by troop movements from the north, where Field Marshal von +Hindenburgh was in command on Russian territory. The extent and rapidity +of the Russian successes up to that time were without parallel in +military history. + +RUSSIA COMPELS AUSTRIAN RETREAT + +During the following month the Russian advance toward the Carpathians, +for the second time in the war, continued steadily. It was apparent that +General Brusiloff, unlike his predecessors in command, was well supplied +with effective artillery and ammunition in plenty, and that the vast +resources of the Russian Empire had been at last successfully mobilized +for attack. Guns and ammunition, in immense quantities, had been secured +from Japan, among other sources, and this former enemy of Russia, now +her strong and capable ally, aided materially in changing the aspect of +affairs on the Eastern battle front. + +On June 16, the Russian offensive had progressed to the Galician +frontier, and terrific fighting marked the advance along the whole line +south of Volhynia. Two German armies went to the aid of the Austrians in +the region of the Stochod and Styr rivers, and German forces also made +a stand before Kovel. The mortality on both sides was described as +frightful, but the Russians continued to make headway and the capture +of thousands of Teutonic prisoners was of almost daily occurrence, the +total reaching 172,000 before June 18. + +Czernowitz, the capital of Bukowina, fell into the hands of the Russians +at midnight of June 17, after the bridgehead on the Pruth river had been +stormed by the victorious troops of the Czar. One thousand Austrians +were captured at the bridgehead, but the garrison succeeded in escaping. +The invading troops swept on, crossed the Sereth river, and soon gained +control of about one-half of Roumania's western frontier. By July +the Austrians were retreating into the foothills of the Carpathian +mountains, hotly pressed by the Russian advance. The German army around +Kovel continued to make a stubborn resistance, but could not prevent the +Austrian rout, and as the Russians approached the Carpathian passes the +Austrian prisoners taken by them during the drive reached a total of +200,000 officers and men. Immense quantities of munitions of war also +fell into their hands. + +On July 4 Russian cavalry patrols advanced over the passes into southern +Hungary, and General Brusiloff's army neared Lemberg, which was defended +by a combined Teutonic army under General von Bothmer, along the River +Strypa. The losses of the Austrians and Germans, in killed and wounded +up to this time, were placed at 500,000 men, the Russian offensive +having lasted one month, with no evidence of slackening. General von +Bothmer then began a retirement westward, while General Brusiloff +advanced between the Pruth and Dniester rivers, and a concerted push +toward Lemberg was begun. + +"BIG PUSH" ON THE WESTERN FRONT + +After many months of preparation by the British, during which +"Kitchener's army" was being sedulously trained for active service, a +new phase of the great war began on July 1, 1916, when a great +offensive was started on the western front by the British and French +simultaneously, after a seven-day bombardment of the German trenches. +In this preliminary bombardment more than one million shells were fired +daily, and the prolonged battle which ensued was the greatest of all +time. + +This offensive proved that the Allies had not been shaken from their +determination to bide their time until they were thoroughly prepared +and ready for the attack, and were able to co-ordinate their efforts in +genuine teamwork against the powerful and strongly-entrenched enemy in +the west, while the Russian offensive on the eastern front was also in +progress. This long-awaited movement was no isolated attack, costly but +ineffectual, like those of the English at Neuve Chapelle and Loos, +but "a carefully studied and deliberately prepared campaign of severe +pressure upon Germany at each of her battle fronts." It proved that the +war-councils of the Allies held in Paris and London, in Petrograd and +Rome, were no mere conventional affairs, but were at last to bear fruit +in concerted action that might decide the issue of the war. + +The "big push," as it was popularly called in England, was started by +the British and French on both sides of the River Somme, sixty miles +north of Paris, at 7:30 o 'clock on the morning of July 1, and resulted +on the same day in a great wedge being driven into the German lines +along a front of twenty-five miles, with its sharp point penetrating +nearly five miles. The French advance was made in the direction of +Peronne, an important center of transportation and distribution long +held by the Germans. + +An eyewitness who watched the beginning of the battle from a hill said +that overwhelming as was the power of the guns, yet as the gathering +of human and mechanical material proceeded, "the grim and significant +spectacle was the sight of detachments of infantry moving forward in +field-fighting equipment, until finally the dugouts were hives of khaki +ready to swarm out for battle." + +As the days of the bombardment passed, the air of expectancy was +noticeable everywhere through the British army, commanded by Sir Douglas +Haig. Finally the word was passed that the infantry was to make the +assault early the next morning. Then, "at 7:20 A.M. the rapid-fire +trench mortars added their shells to the deluge pouring upon the +first-line German trenches. After ten minutes of this, promptly at +7:30 o'clock, the guns lifted their fire to the second line of German +trenches, as if they were answering to the pressure of a single electric +button, and the men of the new British army leaped over their parapets +and rushed toward the wreckage the guns and mortars had wrought. Even +close at hand, they were visible for only a moment before being hidden +by the smoke of the German shell-curtain over what remained of the +trenches." + +Of the deadly work beneath that pall of smoke, as steel met steel and +the new soldiers of Britain fleshed their bayonets for the first time, +and fell by the thousand under the murderous fire of machine-guns, +history will tell the tale long after the survivors have ceased to +recount the deeds of the day to their grandchildren wherever the English +tongue is spoken. Each side gives credit to the other for the utmost +bravery and devotion during the battle. The new English regiments fought +like veterans, and fully maintained the traditions of the British army +for dogged bravery, while the Germans fought with desperate tenacity, +valor and resourcefulness, this last quality being displayed in the +devices which had been invented and were used to prevent or delay +the Allied advance. It was indeed wonderful how well the Germans had +protected their machine-guns from the devastating effects of the +preliminary bombardment, which tore trenches to pieces and utterly +demolished barbed-wire entanglements, but failed in many cases to +destroy the deep bomb-proofs in which the Teuton machine-guns were +protected and concealed. + +CONTINUATION OF THE GREAT BATTLE + +On July 2 and 3, the battle of the Somme continued without cessation +of infantry fighting, while the big guns thundered on both sides. +The British offensive took Fricourt on the 2nd, after a tremendous +bombardment, and occupied several villages, while the French advanced to +within three miles of Peronne. Ten thousand more prisoners fell into the +hands of the Allies on these two days. On the 4th, German resistance +temporarily halted the British, but the French offensive took German +second-line positions south of the Somme on a six-mile front. Violent +counter-attacks by the Germans on July 6 failed to wrest from the French +the ground won by them during the previous five days, and the Allied +troops resumed their advance, taking the German second-line trenches all +along the front in the face of a heavy fire. Next day Contalmaison was +won by the British, but recaptured by the Prussian Guard, who held the +town for three days, when they were again driven out. + +A desperate struggle for the possession of the Mametz woods marked +the fighting from the 10th to the 12th, the British and the Germans +alternating in its possession. Victory at this point finally lay with +the British, who on July 12 gained possession of the whole locality, +together with the Trones wood, which had also been the scene of a bloody +straggle. By this time some 30,000 German prisoners had been taken by +the Allies during the offensive, while the losses in killed and wounded +on both sides, in the absence of official reports, could only be +estimated in appalling numbers. + +TRAGIC TALE OF A GERMAN PRISONER + +A typical description of some of the horrors of the battle, as it surged +around Contalmaison, was given by a German prisoner on July 12 to the +war correspondent of the London Chronicle. He spoke English, having been +employed in London for some years prior to the war. With his regiment, +the 122nd Bavarians, he went into Contalmaison five days before his +capture. Soon the rations they took with them were exhausted, and owing +to the ceaseless gunfire they were unable to get fresh supplies. They +suffered agonies of thirst and the numbers of their dead and wounded +increased day after day. + +"There was a hole in the ground," said the German prisoner, whose head +was bound with a bloody bandage and who was still dazed and troubled +when the correspondent talked with him. "It was a dark hole which held +twenty men, all lying in a heap together, and that was the only dugout +for my company, so there was not room for more than a few. It was +necessary to take turns in this shelter while outside the English shells +were coming and bursting everywhere. Two or three men were dragged out +to make room for two or three others, then those who went outside were +killed or wounded. + +"There was only one doctor, an unter officer,"--he pointed to a man who +lay asleep on the ground face downward--"and he bandaged some of us till +he had no more bandages; then last night we knew the end was coming. +Your guns began to fire altogether, the dreadful _trommelfeuer_, as we +call it, and the shells burst and smashed up the earth about us. "We +stayed down in the hole, waiting for the end. Then we heard your +soldiers shouting. Presently two of them came down into our hole. They +were two boys and had their pockets full of bombs; they had bombs in +their hands also, and they seemed to wonder whether they should kill us, +but we were all wounded--nearly all--and we cried 'Kamerade!' and now we +are prisoners." + +Other prisoners said in effect that the fire was terrible in +Contalmaison and at least half their men holding it were killed or +wounded, so that when the British entered they walked over the bodies of +the dead. The men who escaped were in a pitiful condition. "They lay on +the ground utterly exhausted, most of them, and, what was strange, with +their faces to the earth. Perhaps it was to blot out the vision of the +things they had seen." + +Meanwhile, despite the threatening character of the Allied offensive on +the Somme, German assaults on the Verdun front continued unabated during +July, and there was little evidence of the withdrawal of German troops +from that point to reinforce the army opposed to the British. But +except at Verdun, Germany was at bay everywhere, and the situation was +recognized in the Fatherland as serious. Never before had the Allies +been able to drive at Germany from all sides at once. Only at Verdun the +German Crown Prince, long halted at that point, was keeping up a slow +but strong offensive pressure. + +GERMAN SUBMARINE REACHES BALTIMORE + +On July 9, the German merchant submarine Deutschland, in command of +Capt. Koenig, slipped into port at Baltimore, after eluding British +warships in the North Sea, English Channel, and Atlantic. The +Deutschland carried as cargo nearly a million dollars' worth of +dyestuffs, as well as important mail. The owners announced that she was +the first of a regular fleet to be placed in service between German and +American ports, to thwart the British blockade. She made the 4,000-mile +voyage in sixteen days, including nine hours during which, according to +her captain, she lay at the bottom of the Channel to escape capture. On +July 25 she was preparing for her return voyage with a cargo said to +consist largely of crude rubber and nickel, having been accepted by +the United States Government as an innocent merchantman and granted +clearance papers on that basis. Outside the Virginia capes, beyond the +three-mile limit, British and French cruisers awaited her possible +appearance, with the hope of effecting her capture. But it was announced +in Germany that the Deutschland reached her home port safely Aug. 23. + +CANADIANS STRENGTHEN THEIR FRONTS + +Along the portion of the western battle front held by Canadian troops, +there were frequent heavy bombardments by the enemy during the month +of July, but the gallant soldiers of the Dominion consolidated their +positions won in battle at Loos and elsewhere, and fully held their own. +In trench mortar fighting their batteries maintained the upper hand, +often returning six shells for one thrown by the Germans. The Canadian +patrols were very active; every night reconnaissances were made all +along the Canadian front, and numerous hostile working parties engaged +in strengthening German trenches and entanglements were dispersed by +Canadian rifle fire. + +On July 8, in the gardens of Kensington Palace, London, Princess Louise, +Duchess of Argyll, presented to General Steele, for the Canadian forces, +a silken Union Jack and a silver shield, given by the women and children +of the British Isles in acknowledgment of Canada's good will and +valuable co-operation. The Princess made a short address expressing high +admiration and enthusiastic appreciation of the eager readiness with +which the officers and men of Canada had come forward to take their +share in the cause of the Empire. General Steele, in receiving the +gifts, returned thanks on behalf of the Canadian troops. + +NEW RUSSIAN DRIVE NEAR RIGA + +On July 24, General Kuropatkin began a new Russian drive in the battle +sector south of Riga. After making a preliminary breach in the German +lines, Kuropatkin drove in a wedge of fresh troops which swept Marshal +von Hindenburg's German forces back along a front of 30 miles, and to a +depth at one point of 12 miles. The attack was preceded by a bombardment +lasting four days, which battered into ruins the German defense along +the coast line from the Gulf of Riga to Uxhull. The Kaiser and his chief +of staff recognized the importance of General Kuropatkin's advance by +hastening to the Eastern battle front on July 25. + +TWO TEARS' WAR CASUALTIES + + Killed. Wounded. Missing. + Russia 1,200,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 + Germany 900,000 1,900,000 150,000 + France 850,000 1,500,000 325,000 + Austro-Hungary 475,000 1,000,000 900,000 + Great Britain 160,000 450,000 70,000 + Turkey 75,000 200,000 75,000 + Serbia 60,000 125,000 75,000 + Italy 50,000 100,000 30,000 + Belgium 30,000 70,000 50,000 + Bulgaria 5,000 25,000 5,000 + _________ _________ _________ __________ + Total 3,805,000 7,870,000 3,680,000 + +THE STRUGGLE ON THE SOMME + +The second phase of the great Anglo-French offensive on the western +front began to develop late in July, and attacks were continuous +throughout the month of August and up to September 15. At every point in +the Somme region the giant British and French guns poured shell into +the German works, destroying barbed wire entanglements and wrecking +trenches, while Allied gains were reported almost daily, as the Germans +were slowly but surely ousted from their original positions along a wide +front. + +An engagement typical of the prolonged fighting on the Somme occurred +near Armentieres, where the Australians on a two-mile front made the +greatest trench raid ever undertaken in any war, inflicting heavy damage +upon the enemy by bombing and hand-to-hand fighting. The German position +at Longueval passed into British control on July 28, after what was +called the most terrific fighting of the war, in Delville Wood. + +Between August 6 and September 10 the British under Gen. Sir Douglas +Haig and the French under Gen. Foch fought off many determined German +counter-attacks in the Somme sector, and continued their advance, the +French gaining Maurepas and the British moving closer to Guillemont +and Ginchy, driving the Germans back along eleven miles of front and +capturing Thiepval Ridge and other important positions near Pozieres. + +On September 9 German official reports admitted considerable losses on +the western line, both in the section south of the Somme and to the +northeast of Verdun. Fierce attacks by the Germans at Verdun had been +renewed during August, but the French, under the able command of Gen. +Nivelle, more than held their own, recapturing a considerable portion of +the terrain occupied by the enemy, including Fleury and the important +Thiaumont Work. + +ITALIANS CAPTURE GORITZ. + +The greatest blow which the Italian army had struck against Austria +since the beginning of the war was completed on August 9, when Italian +troops captured the fortified city of Goritz, for which they had been +struggling for months. The number of prisoners taken by the Italians +was 21,750, and in the next few days nearly 20,000 more fell into their +hands, with great stores of war munitions and many guns. + +The taking of Goritz, one of the strongest fortresses in Europe, +compelled the retirement of the Austrians at other points along the +Isonzo River, and opened the road for the Italians, under Gen. Cadorna, +to strike at the coveted city of Trieste, twenty-two miles to the +southeast. With the capture of the "keystone" at Goritz, the Italian +commander confidently expected the resistance of the Austrians to weaken +and looked forward to the early occupation of the coveted provinces of +the Trentino. + +ITALY AT WAR WITH GERMANY + +On August 27, Italy declared war on Germany, giving as a reason the fact +that Germany had sent both land and sea forces to the aid of Austria. +The declaration became inevitable when Italy sent troops to Saloniki to +cooperate in the campaign of the Entente Allies on the Macedonian front. +For more than a year Italy's position with regard to Germany had been an +anomalous one, for although she withdrew from the Triple Alliance on May +25, 1915, and declared war against Austria, she remained officially at +peace with Germany until August 27, 1916. + +RUMANIA ENTERS THE WAR + +After many months of hesitation, Rumania finally decided to enter the +war on the side of the Allies and declared war on Austria, August 27. +The next day Germany declared war on Rumania, and the issue was squarely +joined in the Balkans, which then became the scene of a mighty struggle +for the possession of Germany's road to Constantinople and the East. +Tremendous activity at once began on the Balkan front, with Rumania's +endeavor to aid Russia in cutting off Bulgaria and Turkey from the +Central Powers. In the event of the success of this move, it was +expected that the Allies would start a gigantic drive toward +Constantinople. + +The most important gain for either side in the Balkans up to the middle +of September was the capture by the Bulgarians and Germans, on September +7, of the great fortress of Turtukai, fifty miles to the southeast of +Bucharest, the Rumanian capital, and chief defense of the capital on +that side. Russian troops were rushed to the aid of the Rumanians, +and the loss of Turtukai was offset by Rumanian successes across the +Hungarian border, where they captured a number of towns, driving the +Austrian defenders before them as their invasion of Hungary progressed. + +RUSSIAN ARMIES ACTIVE + +By September 10, Russian troops were massed in great force in +southeastern Rumania, and engaged the Bulgarians on the whole +seventy-mile front from the Danube to the Black Sea, fighting fiercely +to wrest the offensive from the enemy invading Rumania. In Transylvania +the Rumanians were advancing rapidly, having captured the important town +of Orsova, on the Danube, which gave them a grip on the Austrian second +line of defense behind the mountains dividing Transylvania from Hungary. +The entrance of Rumania into the war had increased the Austro-Hungarian +front by about 380 miles, which military men regarded as altogether too +long for the Teutonic armies to hold with any hope of success. + +The Russians were also on September 10 winning ground in their campaign +against Lemberg, the capital of Galicia. They had advanced until they +were within artillery range of Halicz, an important railway junction +sixty miles south of Lemberg. They had cut the railway line between +Lemberg and Halicz, and the latter town was in flames. + +ALLIED PROGRESS ON THE WESTERN FRONT + +British and French successes on the Western front continued during the +month of September, and the gains were encouraging to the Allies. On +September 15 the British took Flers, Martinpuich, the important position +known as the High Wood, Courcelette, and almost all of the Bouleaux +Wood, and also stormed the German positions from Combles north to +the Pozieres-Bapaume road, arriving within four miles of Bapaume and +capturing 2,300 prisoners. A prominent feature of the attack was the use +by the British of armored automobile trucks of unusual size and power, +so constructed that they were able to cross trenches and shell-holes. +These "tanks," as they were called, proved a genuine surprise to the +enemy. They were said to be developed from American tractors of the +"caterpillar" variety, which lay their own tracks as they proceed. + +A two-mile trench system, believed to be impregnable, was stormed by the +Allied forces near Thiepval September 17, while south of the Somme the +French took the German trenches along a front of three miles. Next day +more ground was taken in the advance toward Bapaume and German prisoners +continued to fall into the Allies' hands. The number of Teuton captives +taken during the Somme fighting from July 1 to September 22 was placed +at 55,800 men and officers. + +The month of September was remarkable for the great number of aerial +combats on the western front and the efficiency developed in this mode +of fighting. Many airplanes were shot down on both sides, but the Allies +seemed to be gaining the mastery of the air. On a single day, September +24, over a hundred air combats were reported, during which fifty-seven +airplanes were destroyed. On the same day two French airmen, in flights +of 500 miles, dropped bombs on the Krupp works at Essen in Germany. + +In a forward sweep near the end of the month the British took a number +of German positions northeast of Combles, while the French advanced +south of that point, so that the two armies almost surrounding it were +scarcely a mile apart. A day later British and French troops entered +Comibles from opposite sides and drove the Germans out. Continuing +the drive from Thiepval, which had also been occupied, the British +consolidated their positions and straightened their line a short +distance from Bapaume, their objective point at this time. More than +5,000 German prisoners were taken September 26 and 27. + +More Allied gains in the Somme sector were reported in the first week of +October. German counter-attacks were frequent, but lacked the vigor and +success of former efforts on this front. In a joint attack on October +the village of Le Sars was taken and the Allies found themselves within +two miles of Bapaume. General Foch with his French infantry took a +number of German positions near Ablaincourt, south of the Somme, October +14, and held his gains against repeated German attacks. The fighting was +extremely desperate and of a hand-to-hand character. Gas and liquid fire +were used by the Germans, but the new Allied lines were firmly held. +Liquid fire was also used against the British at Thiepval, but without +success. + +The Allied attacks on the Somme from October 9 to October 13 were +reckoned in Berlin dispatches as amongst the greatest actions of the +entire Somme battle, the enemy believing that the Allies themselves then +attempted to reach a decision by breaking through the German lines on +the largest possible scale. The losses on both sides during this period +were admittedly very heavy. + +On October 18 the town of Sailly-Saillisel fell to the French after hard +fighting and commanding ridges on either side of it were also captured. +Fresh progress brought the French troops to the outskirts of Peronne +next day, and on the 21st the British advanced their lines along a front +of three miles, capturing the Stuff and Regina redoubts and trenches and +taking more than 1,000 prisoners, besides bringing down seventeen enemy +airplanes. + +Captain Boelke, Germany's greatest airman, was killed October 28 in a +collision with another airplane during a battle on the western front. He +was 25 years of age, had been wounded several times during the war, and +is credited with having brought down forty Allied airplanes. + +The October losses of the British in the Somme campaign were announced +by the War Office to be 107,033, bringing the British total from the +beginning of the campaign to 414,202 men and officers, killed, wounded +and missing. + +In the first days of November the principal activity was in the vicinity +of Sailly. The Germans effected a successful counter-attack on November +6, recapturing some of the ground won by the Allies, with 400 prisoners, +300 of them French. Next day, however, a greater number of +German prisoners was taken by the French in an advance along a +two-and-a-half-mile front south of the Somme, and on the 9th the French +strengthened their positions near Sailly, clearing out German trenches +and taking more prisoners. + +On November 13 the British took a five-mile front in the German line +near the River Ancre, capturing two towns and 3,000 prisoners, the +Germans being taken by surprise in the early morning mist. Continuing +their advantage the following day, the British took Beaucourt-sur-Anere +with more than 5,000 prisoners. On the 15th German troops took the +offensive on both sides of the Somme and succeeded in forcing their way +back into some of the trenches and advance positions held by the French, +but the British continued their advance north of the Ancre. Next day the +French recovered the lost ground and their airmen engaged in fifty-four +air battles with German machines along the Somme front. On the 18th +British and French airplanes again bombarded Ostend, dropping 180 bombs, +and once more raided Zeebrugge. In an ensuing battle six German planes +were brought down. + +Infantry fighting in the Dixmude sector between Belgian and German +troops occurred on four consecutive days, from November 17 to 20, with +hand-grenade battles but no definite result. There was a general lull in +operations after this, caused by heavy weather and fogs. + +FRENCH ARE FINAL VICTORS AT VERDUN. + +In a dramatic blow at Verdun, after a period of comparative quiet at +that point, the French on October 24 took the village and fort of +Douaumont, also Thiaumont, the Haudromont quarries, La Caillette Wood, +Damloup battery and trenches along a four-mile front to a depth of two +miles. The ground retaken was the same that the Germans under the Crown +Prince took by two months' hard fighting. This was the quickest and most +effective blow struck in the Verdun campaign and reflected the highest +credit on the French general commanding, General Petain, and his devoted +troops, who thus turned the tide of victory at Verdun in favor of +the French and stamped with failure the efforts of the Crown Prince, +continued for nine months, to wrest Verdun from French control and open +a road to Paris. It was a campaign in which failure meant defeat for the +Germans, and its cost in men, money and munitions was enormous. + +Four thousand German prisoners were taken on the 24th and the next day +the French began encircling Fort Vaux, the only one of the outer ring of +forts at Verdun which remained in German hands. All attempts on the +part of the Crown Prince to regain the lost ground were fruitless. Four +German attacks were beaten back on the 26th, and the following day the +French advanced south and west of Vaux and tightened their grip on the +fortress. During violent artillery duels, many German attacks on the +gained ground were repulsed, and by November 1 the prisoners in French +hands numbered 7,000. + +On November 4 the French began the attempt to take the village of Vaux +held by the Crown Prince, and gained a foothold in the village. Next +day they captured the whole of Vaux village and also the village of +Damloup. The fort at Vaux had been evacuated by the Germans a few days +previously. Thus the long and bloody struggle for the possession of +Verdun apparently ended, although artillery duels of varying intensity +continued at intervals, and the laurels of the prolonged campaign rested +with the French. + +BRILLIANT WORK OF CANADIAN TROOPS. + +Brilliant work on the part of the Canadian troops on the Somme front +aided materially to gain the British successes recorded on October 21. +William Philips Simms, an eyewitness with the Canadian forces, gave a +graphic account of the attack, which was typical of much of the fighting +on the Somme. He said: + +"Eight minutes of dashing across a sea of mud worse than the Slough of +Despond, of methodically advanced barrage fire, of quick work in trench +fight, sufficed for the Canadians to take Regina trench--one of the +smoothest bits of trench-taking that has been witnessed in the Somme +drive. I saw the Canadians, muddy to the eyebrows--but grinning--on the +day after they had accomplished the feat. + +"The assault was over in eight minutes. It was carried out in brilliant +moonlight, and despite a terrific German counter barrage fire and a sea +of mud. Every objective the Canadians sought was won. + +"Though the Germans repeatedly counter-attacked, the Canadians not only +kept every inch they had wrested from the enemy, but before dawn they +had strongly reorganized their position and dug over 250 yards of +connecting trenches." + +ACTIVITIES OF THE RUSSIANS. + +On the eastern front in the middle of September strong Russian attacks +before Halicz were driving the Teutonic troops back toward Lemberg, and +several thousand German and Turkish troops were captured. The Russian +advance was checked, however, on September 18, after a total of 25, +prisoners had been taken by the Russians near Halicz. + +The Russian offensive was shifted September 21 from the Lemberg sector +to the east of Kovel and a few days after a fresh offensive began along +the entire eastern front, heavy fighting being reported west of Lutsk +and in the Carpathians. Turkish troops at this time appeared on the Riga +front, with German equipment and led by German and Austrian officers. +The great 300-mile battle continued unabated to the end of October, with +fighting all along the line from the Pinsk marshes on the north to the +Roumanian frontier on the south. + +By a sudden drive through the Russian front north of the Pinsk marshes +on November 10, the Germans succeeded in cutting the Russian first line, +taking nearly 4,000 prisoners and twenty-seven machine guns. The Russian +lines were believed to have been weakened by the transfer of troops to +Roumanian positions in the south. Following this there was terrific +fighting in the Narayuvka, where the Russian trenches were carried +by the Germans after they had been practically destroyed by high +explosives; but the ground lost, located near Slaventin, was gallantly +regained by the Russian troops on November 15. + +The Russian dreadnought Imperatritsa Maria was sunk by a mine near +Sulina, at the mouth of the Danube, November 11. It was launched in +and had a displacement of 22,500 tons. On November 18 Russian troops +near Sarny, southeast of Pinsk, brought down a Zeppelin airship, +capturing the crew of sixteen and 600 pounds of bombs. + +German casualties from the beginning of the war, as compiled in London +from German official lists, were set November 10 at 3,755,693. Of this +total 910,234 were killed. The total German casualties for the month of +October, 1916, reached 199,675 officers and men, of whom 34,231 were +killed. + +GREAT CAMPAIGNS IN THE BALKANS. + +For some time after Roumania entered the war her fighting forces were +divided between two campaigns--in the Dobrudja and in Transylvania, the +Austrian territory invaded by Roumania as soon as she declared war. On +September 15 the Roumanians began a retreat in the Dobrudja, before +advancing forces of Germans and Bulgarains led by General von +Macksensen. The Russo-Roumanian center was driven back thirty miles, +while the German and Bulgarian troops occupied several of the Roumanian +Black Sea ports. + +Then came a great six-day battle in the Dobrudja, with fighting along a +forty-five mile line from ten miles south of Constanza to Cernavoda, on +the Danube, and in this battle the Russo-Roumanians were successful, +compelling the Teutonic forces to retreat southward toward the border. +For a while Von Mackesen was on the defensive, but in a counter-attack +on September 23 he gained a marked victory over the Roumanians. +Gradually the latter were forced to retire, and although they made +a desperate resistance to the forces under Von Mackensen the latter +reached the coast by October 21, advancing on Constanza, Roumania's +chief port on the Black Sea, which was captured October 23. Cernavoda +fell on the 25th. + +Meanwhile in Transylvania events of a similar character had been +happening. At first successful in their invasion of Austrian territory, +the Roumanians were unable to hold their advantage, and while the tide +of battle was for several weeks in doubt, the German and Austrian troops +under General von Falkenhayn at length drove the invaders back across +the mountains. By October 8 a Teutonic invasion of Roumania from the +northwest was imminent, and two days later the Roumanians were pursued +through the passes by Austrian troops. By the 17th Teuton forces were +five miles inside the frontier. + +On October 25 Von Falkenhayn's army stormed the Vulcan Pass and pushed +nearer the railroad at Kimpolong, seventy-five miles from Bucharest. +These successes were not gained, however, without hard fighting, the +Roumanians making a desperate stand to prevent the Teuton invasion which +threatened their capital. They were aided by a French commander, General +Bertholet, and struck back hard at Von Falkenhayn, gaining some signal +successes in the last days of October and early in November and +capturing several thousand prisoners and much war material. These +successes, however, proved insufficient to do more than check the Teuton +advance toward Bucharest. + +In the Dobrudja, after the capture of Cernavoda by Von Mackensen, there +were strenuous efforts by the Roumanians, aided by Russians, to regain +their lost territory. In their early retreat they destroyed the great +eleven-mile bridge over the Danube at Cernavoda and so cut off for the +time being Von Mackesen's threatened drive to Bucharest from the south. +The Roumanians that had been opposing him fell back northward to the +Danube forts. They were hotly pursued by Bulgarians, who on October +29 were reported to be at Astrovo, fifty miles north of the +Constanza-Cernavoda railway line. The possession of the latter was an +immense advantage to Von Macksensen. + +General von Falkenhayn continued his advance into Roumania during +November and at the beginning of December the battle for Bucharest was +ranging on three sides of the capital, with the Roumanians successful at +some points, the invaders at others. West of Bucharest the defenders +had been pressed back to the Argesu River, while to the northwest the +Germanic forces had smashed through the Roumanian lines and were rapidly +moving down the Argesu Valley from Pitesci and down the Dombovitza from +the Kompelung region. + +To the south of the capital, King Ferdinand's troops delivered a +powerful counter-attack on December 2 that forced the Teutons back from +the Argesu line and reclaimed two villages. + +The Russians meanwhile were making a determined effort to relieve the +situation at Bucharest by a counter-demonstration in the Carpathians, +where on December 3 a great battle was developing in their favor. They +had gained a foothold in Kirlibaba, the key to the Rodna Pass and the +plains of Hungary, and were attacking successfully at other points on +the 250-mile front. The Russians also had seized the western end of the +Cernavoda bridge over the Danube, thus putting a check on any movement +of General von Mackensen's troops across the river from Dobrudja. +General Sakharoff's forces continued furious, attacks along the entire +line in the Dobrudja. + +ITALIAN CAMPAIGN IN THE TRENTINO. + +The Italian forces operating in the Trentino continued their activity +during the fall and early winter of 1916, continual gains being made +in their difficult undertaking. General Cadorna began a new drive on +Trieste in October, transferring the weight of his attacks from the +Carso sector to the Trentino front. The total number of Austrian +prisoners taken on the Isonzo front from August 6 to October 12 was set +by the Italian War Office at 30,880. No decided advantage was gained by +either side up to December 5, although the Italians continued to take +many prisoners and much Austrian war material in the course of their +operations, and in November compelled the Austrian generals to transfer +many troops from the Roumanian front in order to cope with the Italian +attacks, delivered in the most difficult terrain of the entire war +and often under weather conditions that tried the hardihood of troops +trained to Alpine warfare. + +DEATH OF THE AUSTRIAN EMPEROR. + +Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, died at +Schonbrunn Castle, near Vienna, November 21, at the age of 86. He had +ruled for sixty-eight years, his reign being marked by much turbulence +in the empire, both political and social, and by a long series of +domestic and personal disasters that culminated in the assassination of +his nephew, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the joint thrones of +Austria and Hungary, which furnished the Teutonic excuse for the great +war. Francis Joseph was succeeded by his grandnephew, Archduke Charles +Francis Joseph, of whose personality little was known outside Austria. + +ZEPPELIN RAIDERS BROUGHT DOWN. + +Several German Zeppelins were brought to earth on English soil during +the progress of aerial raids in September and November, 1916. Commander +Robinson and Lieutenants Tempest and Sowery of the Flying Corps each +accounted for one of the huge aircraft in the London district The +former received the Victoria cross for his exploit. The crew of one of +the Zeppelins was captured, but in the other cases the crews perished +with the airships, which fell flaming to earth. Two more Zeppelins were +brought down late in November on the eastern coast of England and fell +into the sea. One of these was destroyed nine miles from the coast by +naval seaplanes and a patrol boat. + +DEPORTATION OF BELGIAN WORKMEN. + +A wave of indignation swept over the civilized world, already outraged +almost beyond endurance by the unprecedented German disregard of +international law and the recognized customs of war, when it was +announced on November 10 that 30,000 Belgians had been deported into +exile by the German authorities in Belgium. It was alleged that all +males between the ages of 17 and 30 were being sent in cattle-cars to +Germany. Cardinal Mercier of Belgium protested in the name of humanity, +the men being ruthlessly torn from their families, and said the Belgians +were being reduced to a state of slavery. The Pope protested to the +German government against the reported action, and the State Department +at Washington made representations concerning it to Berlin. The total +number of Belgian males to be deported to work in German industries was +alleged to be 300,000. After investigation Viscount Bryce of England +and many other statesmen and publicists denounced the German action as +infamous. + +POLAND PROCLAIMED A KINGDOM BY GERMANY. + +By a joint manifesto, issued on November 4 by the Emperors of Germany +and Austria, the ancient kingdom of Poland was revived and Polish +autonomy ostensibly re-established. The kingdom was proclaimed with due +ceremony in Lublin and Warsaw. The definite territorial limits of the +new nation were not set, according to the proclamation, and would not +be until the close of the war. Constitutional rule and a national army, +however, were to be established at once. The joint opinion of other +nations, neutrals and Allies of the Entente, was that Poland as captured +territory could not be recognized as a new kingdom. + +THE FALL OF BUCHAREST. + +By December 2 the battle for Bucharest had reached the outskirts of +the Roumanian capital and the guns of Von Mackensen's forces began a +bombardment of the outer forts, and on December 6 the armies of the +Central Powers took Bucharest, cutting off a large part of the defending +army. Ploesci, the great oil center of Roumania, and Sinaia, the +summer capital, also fell. Many thousands of Roumanian troops were taken +prisoners in the operations near Bucharest, the number being estimated +at 38,500 for the first week of the month, and the Roumanians retired to +new positions to the north and east of their fallen capital. General von +Heinrich, governor of Lille during the deportation of Belgians from that +city, was appointed military governor of Bucharest, on which the Germans +imposed a levy amounting practically to $400 a person, or a total of +$140,000,000. + +Von Mackensen continued to press his advances in the Dobrudja and +eastern Wallachia during the month, though retarded by sturdy Russian +and Roumanian resistance. As Christmas approached the forces of the +Central Powers were pressing the Russo-Roumanians close to the Danube +where it runs east and west, forming the boundary between Roumania and +Bessarabia. + +CHANGE IN BRITISH GOVERNMENT. + +On December 7 Mr. Henry Lloyd-George accepted the British premiership +and formed a new Cabinet, which included an important representation +of labor and other elements of strength pointing to a systematic and +determined prosecution of the war from all angles. The Cabinet as +announced December 12 included Sir Edward Carson, the Irish Unionist +leader, as First Lord of the Admiralty, and Baron Devonport as food +controller, a new position. The size of the war council was reduced to +five, including the premier. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe was appointed +First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, being succeeded in command of the grand +fleet of Britain by Admiral Sir David Beatty, who commanded the British +battle-cruiser fleet in the battle of Jutland. + +France followed suit in reorganizing her war council under Premier +Briand, also restricting the number of members to five, and General +Joffre was succeeded in command of the armies of the north and the +northeast by General Nivelle, commander of the French troops at Verdun, +where notable victories were gained by the French in December, regaining +almost all the ground lost during the previous operations of the year. +General Joffre was promoted to the high honor of Marshal of France, the +ancient rank being revived for him. + +CENTRAL POWERS MOVE FOR PEACE. + +On December 12 the Central Powers simultaneously presented notes +to neutral powers for transmission to the nations of the Entente, +containing a proposal for an armistice to discuss the possibilities +of peace. No terms of peace accompanied the German notes and after +consultation with the allies of Great Britain Premier Lloyd-George +delivered a speech in the House of Commons on December 19, declaring +that the proposals of peace could not be entertained, and in which he +said: + +"I appear before the House of Commons today with the most terrible +responsibility that can fall upon the shoulders of any living man as +chief adviser of the Crown in the most gigantic war in which this +country was ever engaged--a war upon the events of which its destiny +depends. + +"We accepted this war for an object, and a world object, and the war +will end when the object is attained under God. I hope it will never end +until that time. + +MUST KNOW BERLIN PLANS. + +"We feel that we ought to know, before we can give favorable +consideration to such an invitation, that Germany is prepared to accede +to the only terms on which it is possible peace can be obtained and +maintained in Europe, Those terms have been repeatedly stated by all the +leading statesmen of the Allies. They have been stated repeatedly here +and outside. To quote the leader of the House last week: + +"'Reparation and guarantee against repetition, so there shall be no +mistake, and it is important that there should be no mistake in a matter +of life or death to millions.' + +"Let me repeat: Complete restitution, full reparation, and effectual +guarantees. + +NO HINT OP REPARATION. + +"Did the German Chancellor use a single phrase to indicate that he was +prepared to accept such a peace? Was there a hint of restitution? Was +there a suggestion of reparation? Was there an implication of any +security for the future that this outrage on civilization would not +again be perpetrated at the first profitable opportunity? + +"The very substance and style of the speech constitutes a denial of +peace on the only terms on which peace is possible. He is not even +conscious now that Germany has committed any offense against the rights +of free nations. + +"Listen to this from the note: + +"'Not for an instant have they [the Central Powers] swerved from the +conviction that respect of the rights of other nations is not in any +degree incompatible with their own rights and interests.' + +"The note and speech prove that they have not yet learned the alphabet +of respect for the rights of others. + +"The Allies entered this war to defend Europe against the aggression of +Prussian military domination, and, having begun it, they must insist +that the only end is the most complete effective guarantee against the +possibility of that caste ever again disturbing the peace of Europe. + +"You can't have absolute equality in sacrifice. In war that is +impossible. But you can have equal readiness to sacrifice from all. +There are hundreds of thousands who have given their lives; there are +millions who have given up comfortable homes and exchanged them for +daily communion with death. Multitudes have given up those whom they +loved best. + +FOR NATIONAL LENT. + +"Let the nation as a whole place its comforts, its luxuries, its +indulgences, its elegances on the national altar consecrated by such +sacrifices as these men have made! Let us proclaim during the war a +national Lent! The nation will be better and stronger for it, mentally +and morally, as well as physically. It will strengthen its fiber and +ennoble its spirit. Without it we shall not get the full benefit of this +struggle. + +"Our armies have driven the enemy out of the battered villages of France +and across the devastated plains of Belgium. They might hurl him across +the Rhine in battered disarray. But unless the nation as a whole +shoulders part of the burden of victory it won't profit by the triumph, +for it is not what a nation gains, but what it gives that makes it +great." + +PEACE MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT WILSON. + +A bombshell was cast into the camps of the nations at war on December +20, when President Wilson unexpectedly addressed a message to the +belligerents, urging them to state their terms of peace and end the war +without further fighting. + +An explanation of the President's message to the nations was made by +Secretary of State Lansing on the morning of its publication. In the +course of this he asserted that the United States had been brought +to "the verge of war," which was generally understood to mean that a +threatened resumption of submarine activities by Germany on a large +scale might create an intolerable situation; also that the President +desired to know the terms of peace contemplated by the powers at war, +so as to be informed as to how they would affect the interests of the +United States. + +Germany replied to the President's note on December 26, giving no terms, +but lauding the "high-minded suggestion" of Mr. Wilson and proposing "an +immediate meeting of delegates of the belligerent states, at a neutral +place," continuing as follows: "The imperial government is also of the +opinion that the great work of preventing further wars can be begun only +after the end of the present struggle of the nations. It will, when this +moment shall have come, be ready with pleasure to collaborate entirely +with the United States in this exalted task." + +The reply of the Entente Allies to President Wilson's message was +received January 11. While disclaiming any intention of exterminating +the Teutonic peoples, the Allies in this reply stated terms of peace +which would result in the humbling of Germany and Austria-Hungary and +the expulsion of Turkey from Europe. + +ENTENTE PEACE TERMS. + +The Entente peace terms enumerated in the reply to the President were: + +Restoration of Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro, with the payment of +indemnities to each by Germany. + +Evacuation of France, Russia and Roumania, with reparation to each by +Germany. + +Reorganization of Europe "guaranteed by a stable regime and founded as +much upon respect of nationalities and full security and liberty of +economic development, which all nations, great or small, possess, as +upon territorial conventions and international agreements suitable +to guarantee territorial and maritime frontiers against unjustified +attacks." + +ALSACE-LORRAINE TO FRANCE. + +Restoration to France of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany and to Italy of +the former northern provinces by Austria. + +Liberation of Italians, Slavs, Roumanians and Tcheco Slovaques (Czech +Slavs) from domination by the Central Powers, which would mean the +cession of several outlying portions of Austria-Hungary to Russia, +Roumania, Serbia and Italy. + +Enfranchisement of the Armenians and other "populations subject to the +bloody tyranny of the Turks." + +Expulsion of the Turkish empire from Europe, thus giving Constantinople +to Russia. + +WOULD LIBERATE EUROPE. + +"It goes without saying," concluded the note, "that, if the Allies wish +to liberate Europe from the brutal covetousness of Prussian militarism, +it never has been their design, as has been alleged, to encompass the +extermination of the German peoples and their political disappearance. + +"That which they desire above all is to insure a peace upon the +principles of liberty and justice, upon the inviolable fidelity to +international obligation with which the government of the United States +has never ceased to be inspired. + +WANT VICTORIOUS WAR. + +"United in the pursuits of this supreme object, the Allies are +determined, individually and collectively, to act with all their power +and to consent to all sacrifices to bring to a victorious close a +conflict upon which they are convinced not only their own safety and +prosperity depend, but also the future of civilization itself." + +Belgium, in addition to joining with her allies in the reply to the +President, sent an individual note, in which the conquered kingdom made +a stirring appeal for American sympathy in its purpose to fight on till +it won freedom with reparation. + +The Allies promised that in the event of peace on these terms Russia +would carry out her announced intention of conferring autonomy on +Poland. + +THE PECULIAR SITUATION IN GREECE. + +A curious situation developed in Greece during the fall and early winter +of 1916. The German sympathies of King Constantine had brought him into +conflict with the considerable portion of the Greek people led by +the former premier, Venizelos, and the latter had proclaimed a Greek +republic and placed troops in the field in active co-operation with +the Allies. Diplomatic representatives of the Entente Powers who had +remained in Athens were ordered to leave early in November, their +presence being felt to be a menace to the interests of the Allies, whose +warships commanded the Greek ports and whose troops were stationed +at Saloniki in large numbers. The ostensible neutrality of King +Constantine's government was regarded by the Allies as dangerous, the +failure of Greece to respond to the call of Serbia, its treaty ally, +having demonstrated the governmental inclination toward the cause of the +Central Powers. In order to minimize the danger, therefore, the French +admiral, Du Fournet, in command of the Allied fleet, demanded the +surrender to the Allies of certain guns and war material, and this +demand being refused French and British marines were landed at the +Piraeus on December 2, 1916, and took possession of the Acropolis. This +led to their being fired upon by Greek reservists who had been called +out, and some bloodshed resulted, there being about 200 casualties +before a compromise was reached between King Constantine and the Allied +commanders and the Greek crisis passed for the time being. The king +submitted to part of the Allied demands, the others were waived, and the +forces landed were withdrawn, after a day of fighting in which the +Greek reservists engaged in many clashes with the armed followers of +Venizelos. + +On January 9 ministers of the Entente Powers handed to the Greek +government an ultimatum giving Greece forty-eight hours to comply with +the demands contained in the note drawn up by France, Great Britain and +Russia on December 31. + +Included in the ultimatum was a request by the Entente Powers that the +Greek government fulfill at the earliest possible moment the agreement +of December 14 regarding the transfer of Greek troops from Thessaly. + +BRITISH ENTER GERMAN LINES. + +During the night of January 14 a party of British troops entered the +German lines east of Loos. Many casualties were inflicted on the enemy, +his dug-outs were bombed and some prisoners were secured. North of the +Ancre an enemy transport was successfully engaged. + +In addition to the usual artillery activity the enemy's positions were +effectually bombarded southeast of Loos and opposite the Bois Grenier. + +GERMANS DRIVEN BACK. + +The official communication of the French war office January 15, 1917, +announced that reciprocal bombardments took place on both banks of the +Somme, the right bank of the Meuse and in Lorraine. + +After a bombardment the night before between the Aisne and the Argonne +the Germans attacked the French advanced posts; they were driven back +after a spirited combat with grenades. + +On their side the French carried out several surprise attacks on the +enemy lines, taking material and prisoners. + +On January 16 a powerful offensive was started by the Russo-Roumanian +forces in the Roumanian theatre of war, with strong attacks between the +Casinu and Sushitza valleys and on both sides of Fundeni. In places the +trenches of the German Allies were entered. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +CONTINUATION OF WAR IN 1917. + + _German Sea Raider Busy--British Victory in Mesopotamia + --Russia Dethrones the Czar--United States' Relations + with Germany Severed--Germans Retreat on the West_. + +On January 10 the Greek government accepted the ultimatum of the +Allies, providing satisfaction to them without interfering with the +administration of the country or local communications. From this time on +the situation in Greece ceased to be a source of serious trouble to the +Allied commanders at Saloniki. + +GERMAN SEA RAIDER BUSY. + +It was learned on January 17 that a German sea raider, which had +succeeded in slipping through the cordon of British ships, had been +preying on commerce in the south Atlantic for six weeks. Twenty-one +vessels were reported to have been sunk by the raider, with a total loss +of approximately $40,000,000. Victims of the raider who were landed at +Pernambuco, Brazil, January 18 stated their belief that she was the +steamship Moewe, notorious as a raider early in the war, but later +reported docked in the Kiel Canal. It was said that she left the Canal +disguised as a Danish hay-ship. + +NAVAL BATTLE IN THE NORTH SEA. + +In a sea battle off Zeebrugge, Holland, on January 23, fourteen German +torpedo-boat destroyers, attempting to leave port, were attacked by a +British flotilla and seven of them were reported sunk. + +BRITISH VICTORY IN MESOPOTAMIA. + +Victorious advances were made in Mesopotamia during the month of January +by the British forces, who were determined to wipe out the reverse +sustained in the surrender at Kut-el-Amara in 1916. On January 21 it was +announced that the Turks had been driven out of positions on the right +bank of the Tigris, near Kut, the British occupying their trenches on a +wide front. + +After a series of persistent attacks Kut-el-Amara fell before the +British advance on February 26, opening the road to Bagdad. The Turkish +garrison of the city took flight, hotly pursued by the British cavalry, +and more than 2,000 prisoners were taken, with many guns and large +quantities of war material. Next day the British defeated the Turks in a +sanguinary battle 15 miles northwest of the captured town, and took many +more prisoners. Bagdad soon fell into their hands, and as the month of +April approached the British were on the eve of effecting a junction +with the Russian army advancing through Mesopotamia. + +ON THE EASTERN FRONT. + +After many vicissitudes in the fighting on the Eastern front in January, +the Russians struck a smashing blow at the Teuton line on January 28, +tearing a mile-wide gap in Bukowina, close to the Roumanian frontier. +Berlin admitted that the offensives on the Sereth and Riga fronts had +been temporarily stopped, that many prisoners had been taken by the +Russians, and that the German lines had been withdrawn because of +superior pressure. The reorganized Roumanian army was reported ready for +a new offensive in the spring. + +The Russian successes were, however, only temporary and the remainder of +the winter campaign was marked by repeated efforts on the part of the +Germans to break down the Russian defenses of Riga on the north, and to +push the Slavs still further back on the south. Late in February the +Teuton forces entered Russian positions in Galicia and also re-took +the offensive on the Roumanian front, raiding Russian trenches in the +Carpathians and blocking all Russian attempts to force the mountain +passes. On February 28 they recaptured most of the peaks in the Bukowina +which were lost to the Russians earlier in the year, and took a large +number of Russian prisoners. + +Meanwhile the Russian advance in Persia and Mesopotamia against the +Turks continued unchecked, and events of importance were shaping +themselves in the Russian empire, calculated to have an immense effect +on the conduct of the Russian armies in the field as well as on the +fortunes of the Romanoff dynasty. + +RUSSIA DETHRONES THE CZAR. + +Early in March, after several days of ominous silence in regard to +events in Petrograd, the news of a successful revolution in Russia +astonished the world. From March 9 to March 15, it appeared, the Russian +people, headed by Michael Rodzianko, President of the Duma, set about +cleaning house with quiet but characteristic thoroughness. Beginning +with minor food riots and labor strikes, the cry for food reached the +hearts of the soldiers, and one by one, regiments rebelled until finally +those troops which had for a time stood loyal to the government of the +Czar and his bureaucratic advisers gathered up their arms and marched +into the ranks of the revolutionists. + +The change came with startling and dramatic rapidity. The Duma, ordered +by Imperial rescript to dissolve, refused to obey and voted to continue +its meetings. An Executive Committee was appointed, headed by the +President of the Duma, which after arresting a number of pro-German +ministers of the Czar, proclaimed itself a Provisional Government +and announced its intention of creating a new representative form of +government for the country. With the assistance of the army, it was soon +in control. + +Czar Nicholas was promptly compelled to abdicate the throne for himself +and his young son. At first the crown was offered to his brother, the +Grand Duke Michael, but inside of twenty-four hours he declined it, also +abdicating formally. The Czar and imperial family were confined, while +the former pro-German ministers were thrown into prison. The new +Provisional Government pledged itself to conduct the war against Germany +vigorously, and promised the people complete religious liberty and +freedom of speech, political amnesty, universal suffrage, and a +constitutional assembly to determine the form of the permanent new +government. Great Britain, France, and Italy were prompt to recognize +the Duma committee and it was also given enthusiastic support by the +Russian armies in the field. + +By March 20 absolute quiet prevailed in Petrograd and throughout Russia. +The Allies were officially notified of the abdication of Nicholas II and +informed by Foreign Minister Milukoff that Russia would stay in the +war with them to the end. Prince Lvoff, one of the most popular men in +Russia, was placed at the head of the Government Constitute and general +political amnesty was proclaimed in a ukase which brought numbers of +political prisoners back to their homes from Siberia, and caused great +rejoicing throughout the country, no longer an empire of the Romanoffs, +who had ruled it for centuries with a rod of iron. + +The United States recognized the new order of things in Russia on March +22. A few days later the grand dukes and royal princes of Russia jointly +informed the Government Constitute that they formally associated +themselves with the abdication of Grand Duke Michael and would turn over +to the new Government the crown lands and other state grants in their +possession, thus completing the total abdication of the Romanoff +dynasty and placing the seal of complete success on the most remarkable +revolution the world ever saw--accomplished almost without bloodshed, +for the troops in Petrograd had refused to fire upon the revolutionists +after the first few hours of disturbance in the streets of the capital, +and most of the casualties were among the soldiers themselves. + +The Russian revolution, produced in the crucible of war, meant the +overthrow of Germanism in Russia, which had hampered the efforts of its +armies by treasonable neglect, if not worse, and in the opinion of many +neutral observers, destroyed the last chance of a German victory in the +war. The effect of the revolution on Germany was twofold--it darkened +her military outlook, and gave a tremendous impulse to the latent +liberal forces within her empire. Its effect on the war was almost +equivalent to bringing a new nation into the camp of the Allies. Its +meaning to German democracy was thus stated: + +"Germany has been taught to believe that the European war was +inaugurated by Russia for aggressive purposes. Germany's democratic +leaders repeatedly pointed to Czarism as the evil spirit dominating +the Entente. The object of the Central Powers was proclaimed to be +the overthrow of the Russian autocratic menace. Therefore the Russian +revolution may profoundly move German democracy. This is probably its +greatest disillusionment since the war began." + +CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. + +To get a clear picture of the conditions that produced the revolution, +it is necessary to remember that from a very early period the +German-born Czarina and the clique of pro-German reactionaries whom +her influence made powerful with the Czar, were bent on ending the war +prematurely in the interests of reaction. The Ministers set up under +these auspices for over two years acted in defiance of public opinion. +Their policy was not obscure: they hampered the army in respect of +munitions, disorganized the country in respect of its distributive +services, brought about artificial famine in a land which is one of the +world's chief food-producers, and themselves, through police agents, +sought to stir up abortive revolts in order that they might plead +military failure and internal revolution as a reason for withdrawing +from the war. + +The Russian people foiled them for a long time by magnificent and +much-enduring patriotism. When the government left the army without +munitions, the local authorities--the zemstvos and unions of +towns--stepped in and organized their supply. When police agents tried +to bring about riots and strikes, the workmen's own leaders prevented +their breaking out. When secret negotiations were opened up with +Germany, the Duma blasted them by public exposure on the popular side. + +The Duma's demand for sympathetic and really national government was +enforced, first by the Council of the Empire, normally the stronghold of +high officialdom, and then by the Congress of Nobles, which represents +the landed aristocracy. + +But with the nobility, much of the bureaucracy, the army, the navy, +the Duma, the professional classes, and the working classes all ranged +against them, the "dark forces" of the empire held obstinately on their +way. The murder of the court favorite, the infamous monk Rasputin, +only intensified the reaction, though its story and sequel showed +significantly how far many members of the Imperial family were from +supporting the reigning head and his consort in the policy which was +jeopardizing the dynasty. But the Czar's political blindness was +incurable. In a kind of panic he got rid of every remaining progressive +minister; a nonentity of no importance from the Czar's personal circle +was made prime minister, and the real power fell to Protopopoff, the +strong man of the "dark forces," who was to see their designs through, +but was the first victim of the popular uprising. As minister of the +interior he defied all Russia, precipitated the revolution, and in his +violent death the career of the "dark forces" in Russia was ended, no +doubt for all time. + +UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE. + +On February 1 Germany entered upon unrestricted submarine warfare, a +last resort of desperation. Ten ships were reported sunk and eight lives +lost that day. Neutral vessels and belligerents were destroyed without +discrimination, and in the first six days the tonnage of the vessels +sunk by German U-boats was 86, tons, including 45 ships of all +nationalities. The British liner California, formerly of the Anchor +Line, was torpedoed on the seventh day, and sank with a loss of 100 +lives. Transatlantic ships were held in New York and other eastern +ports, pending instructions from the Government as to sailing in the +face of the German warning, against which President Wilson had strongly +protested. + +RELATIONS WITH GERMANY SEVERED. + +Diplomatic relations were broken with Germany on February 2, +when President Wilson appeared before a joint session of Congress and +announced that the German Ambassador, Count von Bernstorff, had been +given his passports, and that Ambassador Gerard had been recalled from +Berlin. War with Germany was then believed to be only a matter of hours, +awaiting the first German overt act. The reserve force of the Atlantic +Fleet was ordered to make ready for immediate service. But the hour had +not yet struck for war. + +INTERNED SHIPS DAMAGED BY GERMANS. + +Examination of a number of the German merchant vessels interned in +United States ports showed that most of them had been seriously damaged +by their crews to render them unseaworthy, and it was rumored that the +partial wreckage of these ships had been ordered February 1 by the +German government. Twenty-three German ships seized by the naval +authorities at Manila were also found to have received willful damage. + +On February 8 the State Department notified all American vessel-owners +that merchant ships under the American flag might arm against submarines +but that no naval convoys would be supplied by the Government. Sailings +of American liners were still held up pending decision about their +armament. + +The United States Senate indorsed the stand of the President in the +break with Germany, by a vote of 78 to 5. + +On February 13 it was announced at Washington that an advance was made +by the German government, through the Swiss legation, offering to reopen +the discussion of submarine methods. The answer of the United States was +to the effect that the Government refused to discuss the international +situation with Germany until the U-boat warfare was abandoned and the +pledges made in the case of the steamer Sussex were restored. The +Spanish ambassador took over the deserted American embassy at Berlin. +President Wilson, with his cabinet, prepared a bill of particulars +containing the grievances against the German government, with special +emphasis on the refusal of the latter to liberate seventy-two American +seamen taken to Germany as prisoners on the steamer Yarrowdale, one of +the vessels captured in the South Atlantic by the raider supposed to be +the Moewe. + +GERMAN PLOT IN MEXICO. + +Intense feeling was aroused throughout the United States when it was +learned on February 28 that Germany had suggested to Mexico an alliance +by which war was to be made on the United States if it did not remain +neutral. Mexico was to have German aid to regain the southwestern +territory acquired from it, and to have a share in the ultimate peace +conference. It was to induce Japan to leave the Allies and join in +making war on America. Documentary proof of such plots was said to be +in the hands of the President, but a few days later the German foreign +secretary admitted the scheme as his own and sought to justify it as a +necessary precaution against war. The discovery of the plot did more +than anything else to arouse the American people to a sense of the +danger impending from Germany. + +GERMANS RETREAT ON THE WEST. + +After numerous minor successes by the British and French on the Western +front, the Germans effected a retreat late in February, which was the +greatest retirement in two years, as they yielded on a front of several +miles on the Ancre to the Allies, including important towns. The growing +superiority of the Allies in artillery had begun to count, and the +retirement, while announced from Berlin as strategic, was undoubtedly +forced by the development of Allied strength. The capture of Bapaume +soon followed. By March 2 the Germans had retreated on a front of +miles to a depth of from two to three miles, and the British were still +pushing forward. + +Another extended German retreat began on the West front March 17, the +British and French advancing without resistance for from two to four +miles on a front of 35 miles. Peronne was captured next day and it +became evident that the Germans were falling back to a so-called +Hindenburg line, 25 miles to the rear of their former positions. The +Allied advance continued until more than 300 towns and villages were +reoccupied and some 1,500 square miles of French territory regained by +March 21. The German armies in their retreat devastated the country in +the most wanton manner, even going so far as to destroy fruit trees, +wells, churches, and buildings of every kind. They also drove before +them many of the inhabitants, including women and girls, leaving only +a remnant of the former populations, mostly old and feeble folk and +children, these being left destitute and without food even for a day. +The story of this devastating retreat aroused horror throughout the +world. + +On March 25 the French pressed an attack against the whole front between +St. Quentin and Soissons and made progress everywhere. From this time on +the French offensive was active for three weeks, culminating in a great +victory on the Soissons front April 16, in which the German losses were +placed at 100,000. + +A GREAT BRITISH OFFENSIVE. + +In the week of April 9 the British made great gains in the Arras sector, +capturing German positions to a great depth and taking a total of some +15,000 prisoners and 190 guns of all calibers, some of which were turned +against the Germans as they sought to stem the tide of British successes +by desperate rearguard actions. Notable victories were won by the +Canadian troops in the capture of the hotly contested Vimy Ridge and +other positions during the battle of Arras, as this series of important +engagements was called, even before it was concluded with all the honors +in Allied hands. + +For several days after the first dash on Monday morning, April 9, the +British tore through the German defenses on an extended front north and +south of Arras, from the north bank of the River Scarpe to the German +trench system just south of Loos, and straddled the iron line of +Hindenburg by April 13 as far as a point seven miles southeast of Arras. + +But success did not stop here. To the south the British progressed on +a front of about nine miles, between Metz-en-Coutre and a point to the +north of Hargicourt The French columns joining the British in this +sector swept forward along with their allies. They attacked with +tremendous vigor German positions south of St. Quentin and carried +several lines of trenches between the Somme and the St. Quentin railway. +These positions were held despite every effort of the Germans to retake +them. + +Throughout the length of interlinked chain of advances the fighting was +of the utmost ferocity. + +For the first time in the war the British were making sharp drives and +smashes like a skillful pugilist, every one of which contained force +enough to have been considered a major attack in the history of other +wars. In places the attack has shaken loose from the trenches and was +being delivered along the lines of the old Napoleonic strategy. + +The British captures of Vimy and later of Givenchy were looked on +as victories of the utmost importance, equal to the storming by the +Canadians of the Vimy Ridge. When this line of hills was firmly in the +hands of the Canadians, they hauled their heavy guns up to the summit +with extraordinary speed and proceeded to batter to pieces the powerful +defenses of Vimy, while they made continual thrusts down the eastern +slopes. + +In 1915 Vimy was for a time held by the French under Gen. Foch, but they +were shouldered out with great slaughter by the Germans, who proceeded +to lavish the last details of their military science upon the +fortifications of the town. + +Givenchy, too, before which many British dead lie buried, was a +stronghold upon which the Germans counted to stem any advance. + +On April 16 the extension of the British attack nearly to Loos +threatened to pocket Lens, just as a loop had been thrown around St. +Quentin, and the fall of this industrial city with its rich coal mines +was considered inevitable. Indeed, credible reports had been received in +Paris that the devastation of the rich city of Lille by the Germans was +well under way, indicating that they contemplated a reluctant evacuation +of the most important center in northern France. At all events, an +immediate ebb in the German tide was necessitated by the British +successes of April 9 to 16. The momentum of Field Marshal Haig's advance +and the successes of the French on their share of the western front +appeared to make a further retirement of the whole German line +imperative--and the great Allied drive had scarcely begun. + +SCENE OF THE CANADIAN VICTORY. + +An exploration on April 13 of Vimy Ridge, carried by the Canadian troops +in a series of historic charges, showed that the British artillery +virtually blew off the top of it, and the German stronghold which had +resisted all efforts of the French and British during more than two +years of war, was finally forced into such a position by high explosives +that it could no longer resist infantry charges. Walking on the top of +the ridge was a continuous climb from one shell crater to another. Two +surmounting knobs, known only on military maps as numbered hills, had +attracted the fire of the heaviest British guns and had been shattered +into unrecognizable buttes on the landscape. + +It was little wonder the Germans made such desperate efforts to hold the +Vimy ridge and to retake certain portions of it by counter attacks which +failed miserably. The ridge stood as a natural barrier between the +Germans and their opponents and was a great protective chain of hills +shielding invaluable coal, iron, and other mineral lands that Germany +had wrested from France in the first onrush of the war in 1914. The city +of Lens, within sight of the British lines, from the ridge, is a great +mining center. + +THE FRENCH VICTORY AT SOISSONS. + +On April 16 the "big push" of the Allies in France flared into a +continuous battle covering nearly every mile of the long line from the +North Sea to the Swiss border. Between Soissons and Rheims the French +engaged in a terrific struggle, driving forward in a solid mass against +the German lines on a front of twenty-five miles. Their way paved by ten +days of "drum fire," the troops of Gen. Nivelle swept forward, carrying +all of the first line of German positions between Soissons and Craonne. +They also took the second line positions, south of Juvincourt, east of +Craonne, reached the outskirts of Bermericourt, and advanced up the +Aisne canal at Loivre and Courcy. + +During these operations the French captured 10,000 Germans and a vast +amount of war material. + +The British were continuing their pressure on both Lens and St. Quentin, +but were temporarily held up by a great storm on the 16th. The night +before they captured the village of Villaret, which straightened Field +Marshal Haig's line northwest of St. Quentin, and made further progress +to the northwest of Lens. The prison cages to the rear of Arras were +filled with German prisoners, nearly all of whom were captured in a +dazed condition from the terrific British fire that won the great battle +of Arras. + +A TITANIC STRUGGLE FORESEEN. + +"The struggle in the western theater of war promises to be a titanic +one," said an eye-witness at British headquarters, April 16. "The Allies +are prepared as never before, both in material and personnel, and are +co-operating with a smoothness which comes from a complete understanding +and thorough appreciation of the work in hand. + +"The Germans have more divisions on the western front than would have +been thought possible a year ago, but already a half score of Germany's +best divisions have been smashed to pieces by the British onslaught and +their own unsuccessful counter-attacks. The Bavarian divisions were +sacrificed first, but the Prussian Guard divisions, thrown in to stem +the British flood tide, have suffered such casualties in the last few +days that they will have to be relieved." + +The Canadians accounted for a large contingent of Prussian grenadiers +in the fighting about "The Pimple" on Vimy ridge while an engagement at +Lagnicourt April 15 took its heaviest toll both in dead and prisoners +from five German guard regiments. + +GERMAN ROUT AT LAGNICOURT. + +The rout of the Germans at Lagnicourt, after what they believed to have +been a successful attack, will ever be one of the striking pictures of +the war. Repulsed and running for their own trenches, they were trapped +by the barbed wire entanglements which had been built with such great +strength and thickness in front of them. The boast of the Hindenburg +line had been its belts of protective wire. + +Caught within the meshes of this wire, the German guardsmen screamed +madly for help and guidance. Some, like trapped rabbits, scurried up +and down the outer barrier, searching in vain for openings. The British +troops meantime had the greatest opportunity for open field rifle +shooting since the battle of the Marne. Lying flat upon the ground, they +poured bullets into the panic-stricken, gray-coated Germans until each +man had fired a full 100 rounds. + +While this was going on the British field guns came into play with a +shrapnel barrage fire which completed the demolition of the entrapped +enemy. It was little wonder that later 1,500 German dead could be +counted, or that 400 guardsmen surrendered with upheld hands and +emotional cries of "Kamerad!" + +FRENCH CONTINUE ADVANCE IN APRIL + +The French under General Nivelle continued their victorious advance on +the Soissons-Craonne line April 18, crushing the German resistance along +a front of thirty-five miles, and raising the total of German prisoners +taken during the movement to 17,000. Seventy-five guns, including a +number of heavy siege pieces, were captured. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +GEN. PERSHING'S OWN STORY + + _American Operations in France Described by the Commander-in- + Chief--Glowing Tribute to His Men_. + +A remarkable summary of the operations of the American Expeditionary +Force in France from the date of its organization, May 26, 1917, to the +signing of the armistice November 11, 1918, was cabled to the Secretary +of War by General Pershing on November 20, 1918. His account of the +active military operations was as follows: + +COMBAT OPERATIONS + +During our period 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 26th on April 20, 1918, in the Toul sector, but none +had participated in action as a unit. The 1st 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 21, +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 28 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 1st 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 2 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 26 the 1st 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 28 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 +counterattacks 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 German Aisne offensive, which began on May 27, 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 3d +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 bridgehead at the +Marne, opposite Chateau-Thierry. The 2d 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 1, before the Second was relieved, it +captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision. + +Meanwhile our 2d Corps, under Major-General 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 defences. Five of +the ten divisions were withdrawn from the British area in June, three +to relieve divisions in Lorraine and in the Vosges and two to the Paris +area to join the group of American divisions which stood between the +city and any further advance of the enemy in that direction. + +AMERICAN DIVISIONS IN THE FIGHTING + +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 42d Division were in the line east of Rheims against the +German offensive of July 15, and held their ground unflinchingly. On the +right flank of this offensive four companies of the 28th Division were +in position in face of the advancing waves of the German infantry. The +3d 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 3d 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 counterattacks 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 +counteroffensive. The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on +July 18 was given to our 1st and 2d 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 1st Division +continued to advance until it had gained the heights above Soissons and +captured the village of Berzy-le-Sec. The 2d 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 26th Division, which, with a French division, was under command of +our 1st Corps, acted as a pivot of the movement toward Soissons. On the +18th it took the village of Torcy while the 3d Division was crossing the +Marne in pursuit of the retiring enemy. The 26th attacked again on the +21st, and the enemy withdrew past the Chateau-Thierry-Soissons road. The +3d 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 42d 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 3d and 4th Divisions were already +advancing, while the French divisions with which we were cooperating +were moving forward at other points. + +The 3d 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 77th Division took up a position on the Vesle. The operations +of these divisions on the Vesle were under the 3d 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 +forth-coming 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 10 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 30, 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 afterward extended +across the Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne Forest, and included +the 2d Colonial French, which held the point of the salient, and the +17th 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 railroads, 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. + +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 1st +Corps (82d, 90th, 5th and 2d Divisions), under command of Major-Gen. +Hunter Liggett, restrung its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with its left +joining our 3d Corps (the 89th, 42d and 1st Divisions), under Major-Gen. +Joseph T. Dickman, in line to Xivray, were to swing toward Vigneulles on +the pivot of the Moselle River for the initial assault. From Xivray to +Mouilly the 2d Colonial French Corps was in line in the center, and our +5th Corps, under command of Major-Gen. George H. Cameron, with our 26th +Division and a French division at the western base of the salient, were +to attack three different hills--Les Eparges, Combres and Amaramthe. +Our 1st Corps had in reserve the 78th Division, our 4th Corps the 3d +Division, and our First Army the 35th and 91st Divisions, with the 80th +and 33d 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 preparations, the seven American divisions +in the front line advanced at 5 a.m. on September 12, assisted by a +limited number of tanks manned partly by Americans and partly by 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 1st Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while our 4th Corps curved back +to the southwest through Nonsard. The 2d Colonial French Corps made the +slight advance required of it on very difficult ground, and the 5th +Corps took its three ridges and repulsed a counterattack. A rapid march +brought reserve regiments of a division of the 5th Corps into Vigneulles +in the early morning, where it linked up with patrols of our 4th 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, +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 3d Corps from the Meuse to Malancourt, +with the 33d, 80th and 4th Divisions in line, and the 3d Division as +corps reserve; the 5th Corps from Malancourt to Vauquois, with 79th, +87th and 91st Divisions in line, and the 32d in corps reserve, and the +1st Corps, from Vauquois to Vienne le Chateau, with 35th, 28th and +77th Divisions in line, and the 92d in corps reserve. The army reserve +consisted of the 1st, 29th and 82d Divisions. + +On the night of September 25 our troops quietly took the place of the +French, who thinly held the line of 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 all the first-line defences. 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 2d 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 th$ 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 drag-ropes 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 counterattacks in strong +force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quantities of gas. +From September 28 until October 4 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 2d Corps, composed of the 27th and 30th +Divisions, which had remained with the British, to have a place of honor +in cooperation with the Australian Corps on September 29 and October +in the assault on the Hindenburg Line where the St. Quentin Canal passes +through a tunnel under a ridge. The 30th Division speedily broke through +the main line of defense for all its objectives, while the 27th 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 +crossfire from machine guns the other elements fought desperately +against odds. In this and in later actions, from October 6 to October +19, our 2d 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 2-9 our 2d and 36th Divisions were sent to assist the French +in an important attack against the old German positions before Rheims. +The 2d 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 counterattacks 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 9 the 36th Division relieved +the 2d, 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 +overnight. 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 and progress according to previously accepted standards, +but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage of +our troops. + +On October 4 the attack was renewed all along our front. The 3d Corps, +tilting to the left, followed the Brieulles-Cunel Road; our 5th Corps +took Gesnes, while the 1st 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 +counterattacks challenged us at every point. On the 7th the 1st Corps +captured Chatel-Chenery and continued along the river to Cornay. On the +east of the Meuse sector one of the two divisions cooeperating with the +French, captured Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the 5th +Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took Fleville, and the 3d Corps, +which had continuous fighting against odds, was working its way through +Briueulles 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 9 the +immediate command of the First Army was turned over to Lieut.-Gen. +Hunter Liggett. The command of the Second Army, whose divisions occupied +a sector in the Woevre, was given to Lieut.-Gen. Robert L. Bullard, +who had been commander of the 1st Division and then of the 3d Corps. +Major-Gen. Dickman was transferred to the command of the 1st Corps, +while the 5th Corps was placed under Major-Gen. Charles P. Summerall, +who had recently commanded the 1st Division. Major-Gen. John L. Hines, +who had gone rapidly up from regimental to division commander, was +assigned to the 3d 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 18 there was very fierce fighting in the +Caures Woods east of the Meuse and in the Ormont Woods. On the 14th 1st +Corps took St. Juvin, and the 5th Corps, in hand-to-hand encounters, +entered the formidable Kriemhilde line, where the enemy had hoped to +check us indefinitely. Later the 5th Corps penetrated further the +Kriemhilde line, and the 1st Corps took Champignuelles 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 37th and +31st 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 31, in continuation +of the Flanders offensive, they attacked and methodically broke down +all enemy resistance. On Nov. 3 the 37th 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 91st 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 3d and 5th Corps pushed northward to the level of +Bantheville. While we continued to press forward and throw back the +enemy's violent counterattacks 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 1. 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 3d Corps took Ancrevlle, Doulcon and Andevanne, and +the 5th Corps took Landres et St. Georges and passed through successive +lines of resistance to Bayonville and Chennery. On the 2d the 1st 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 1st Corps reached Authe and Chatillon-Sur-Bar, the 5th +Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the 3d Corps, Halles, penetrating the +enemy's lines to a depth of twelve miles. Our large-caliber guns had +advanced and were skilfully brought into position to fire upon the +important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon and Conflans. Our 3d 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 1st 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 26 and November 6 we took 26, +prisoners and 468 guns on this front. Our divisions engaged were the +1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 26th, 28th, 29th, 32d, 33d, 35th, 37th, 42d, +77th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 82d, 89th, 90th and 91st. Many of our divisions +remained in line for a length of time that requires nerves of steel, +while others were sent in again after only a few days of rest. The 1st, +5th, 26th, 77th, 80th, 89th, and 90th 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 10, the 3d, the 2d Colonial and the +17th 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 11, 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. + +RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES + +Cooeperation among the Allies has at all times been most cordial. A far +greater effort has been put forth by the allied armies and staffs to +assist us than could have been expected. The French Government and Army +have always stood ready to furnish us with supplies, equipment and +transportation and to aid us in every way. In the towns and hamlets +wherever our troops have been stationed or billeted the French people +have everywhere received them more as relatives and intimate friends +than as soldiers of a foreign army. For these things words are quite +inadequate to express our gratitude. There can be no doubt that the +relations growing out of our associations here assure a permanent +friendship between the two peoples. Although we have not been so +intimately associated with the people of Great Britain, yet their troops +and ours when thrown together have always warmly fraternized. The +reception of those of our forces who have passed through England and +of those who have been stationed there has always been enthusiastic. +Altogether it has been deeply impressed upon us that the ties of +language and blood bring the British and ourselves together completely +and inseparably. + +STRENGTH + +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 18 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 44, +prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers and trench mortars. + +[General Pershing then highly praised the work of the General Staff, the +Service of Supply, Medical Corps, Quartermaster Department, Ordnance +Department, Signal Corps, Engineer Corps, and continued:] + +Our aviators have no equals in daring or in fighting ability, and have +left a record of courageous deeds that will ever remain a brilliant +page in the annals of our army. While the Tank Corps has had limited +opportunities, its personnel has responded gallantly on every possible +occasion, and has shown courage of the highest order. + +The navy in European waters has at all times most cordially aided the +army, and it is most gratifying to report that there has never before +been such perfect cooeperation between these two branches of the service. + +Finally, I pay 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. + +I am, Mr. Secretary, very respectfully, + +JOHN J. PERSHING, + +General, Commander-in-Chief, + +American Expeditionary Forces. + +To the Secretary of War. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +WHEN THE DAYS OF RECKONING DAWNED + + _American Troops on All Fronts--Changes Come Fast and Furious--First + Hun Cry for Peace--Virtue, Vice and Violence--Austria + Surrenders--Opens Up the Dardanelles--Closing Days of Hohenzollern + Reign--Killing of Tisza--Terms Prepared for Germany-- + Armistice Signed by Germany_. + +AMERICAN TROOPS ON ALL FRONTS + +The collapse of Russia in 1917 had released vast bodies of German troops +for service in France, but the calamities that overtook them on the +French front were so destructive that insufficient man power was left +to take care of the southeastern fronts, so that Serbia was enabled to +institute a new offensive, and with the aid of Greece, in a few days cut +Bulgaria out of the German horde, pressed forward in Serbia, and pushed +ahead through the Balkan regions. Meanwhile American strength was +greatly augumented in the west and at the same time American troops +appeared on the Murman coast in the north and Siberia on the Pacific +east, on the Piave front in Italy, and at every other point where +hostile strength was greatest or strategic advantage was to be gained by +their presence. + +Concurrently, the United States navy swept the western seas of Europe +free of German submarines. Our naval forces were combined with those of +Great Britain as the sea arm of a united command, under the joint name +of the Grand Fleet; and American troop ships landed newly trained +American soldiers in France at the average number of about 250,000 a +month--over 2,200,000 in little more than a year; at the same time +helping to reopen in safety the lanes of ocean commerce by which the +trade of our European allies was fully restored, German ports corked +tight, and Germany thereby thrown back absolutely upon her own interior +resources. Out of this vigorous and abundant American action emerged the +conditions that insured a "Peace of Justice." + +These things were the quick work of the latter part of 1917 and the +campaigns of 1918. The achievement was gigantic, but it had no effect in +taking attention or diverting action from those movements that offered +at once an advantage to our common cause, while disintegrating the hoary +tyrannies of Central and Eastern Europe. + +CHANGES COME FAST AND FURIOUS + +Events in the field reacted with powerful effect upon autocratic +Austria. The Austrian throne was built upon the backs of vassal states, +all of which had yielded thousands of emigrants to this country; and +these transplanted peoples, having found freedom, proceeded to incite +the countries of their origin to throw off their burdens and like +Americans, be free to govern themselves. + +The moment had come for Bohemia, Poland, and all Czecho-Slav and +Jugo-Slav peoples to rise. The United States Government, in full +sympathy with their yearnings, had received their representatives at +Washington, had furnished funds as well as moral support to their +provisional governments, had supported an independent Czecho-Slav army +in Russia with American reinforcements, with clothing, arms, munitions, +and supplies, and now, at exactly the right juncture, in August, 1918, +recognized the Czecho-Slav as a cobelligerent power lawfully at war +against the central empires. + +FERDINAND FALLS FROM THE WAR WAGON + +This was the push that brought the break. Germany still had her armies +intact on the soil of other countries, and was a consolidated force, +tired though not beaten. But the fat and filthy "Czar" Ferdinand +of Bulgaria sat in voluntary exile, eating like bread the ashes of +repentance, and mingling his drink with weeping; so that his country, +yellow at best, and frightened by the fear of being done to as it had +done by Serbia, quit abruptly, without shame, almost without firing a +shot. With that defection the last wisp of Germany's long cherished +dream of a boche Middle-Europe and a boche empire stretching from Berlin +to Bagdad, faded forever. In October, 1918, Austria consented to a +reconstituted independent Bohemian state, and with apparent readiness +granted self-government to Hungary. + +Meantime, in September and October, 1918, the American and allied armies +chased the Germans from the coast and far into the interior of Belgium, +the Belgian army, financed by the United States, taking part in that +operation. Town after town, city after city in Belgium and France +fell to the American and allied forces, so that the German government +(October 27) addressed a note to the President of the United States +asking him to intercede with our allies for an armistice and a +conference for discussion of terms of peace. This led to four exchanges +of notes, in which Germany's expressions were specious, and assumed a +right to negotiate. The last of these notes was submitted by President +Wilson to the allied council at Paris; and the council answered by +referring the whole question of armistice to Marshal Foch and the allied +military chiefs. + +THE "CROOKED KAMERAD" + +In those same months of September and October, 1918, Austria and Turkey +made proffers of separate surrender. This was the logical sequence of a +"crooked kamerad" peace-offensive inaugurated by Germany as soon as she +found herself being rolled, helplessly, toward the Rhine. It was at once +the most vicious game that her genius for the vicious had ever prompted, +and it was put forward at the very time when the fourth liberty loan was +in course of being floated. + +Our soldiers on all fronts had often suffered through a trick of false +surrender by German soldiers. It is best described by one of our boys +who was lying on a table in a base hospital, waiting his turn to be +operated upon, when he heard another who was being wheeled out from the +operating room and was muttering through the ether fumes: + +"Fired at me ten feet away, he did, point blank, and then he dropped his +rifle and stuck up his hands and called me 'Kamerad'! Kamerad, the dirty +crook! Didn't I stick 'im pritty, Bill"! + +It had been a common thing on the western front for a group of boches to +come running toward the American lines unarmed, with their hands in +the air, crying "Kamerad! Kamerad!" And then, when our men went out +to receive them, fall flat, to make way for a force of armed boches +immediately behind them, who opened fire--plain murder as ever was done. + +So it was a crooked Kamerad cry, a peace offensive intended to sing us +to sleep, that Germany launched in September, 1918. Of a sudden, our +newspapers were filled with what appeared to be straight news dispatches +dated at Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London, Paris, Geneva, +and even Berlin, telling tales (that were not so) of starvation and +disaffection in Germany, or broken morale in the German armies, and +riotous demonstrations demanding peace. The impression was immediate and +came near to being disastrous. + +Many urgent requests were being made just then for public help from +America. The gigantic fourth loan, the needs of the Red Cross, the +thousand and one things, big and little, that had to be taken care of, +and the very earnest and pressing call for a sharper realization of +war's awful facts, were being driven with might and main, all over the +land; and all was going well. + +Within three days, before even the Associated Press discovered the +fraud, these outrageous German lies had taken effect. Subscriptions to +the loan began to slacken, alarmingly. Interest in the battle news began +to fade. People were telling each other the war was over. + +PRINCE MAX WRITES A NOTE + +Then on October 6th, 1918, came the note of the German Chancellor, Prince +Maximilian of Baden, asking an armistice and a peace conference--in +essence, an astounding request for time to reconsolidate the German +armies and bring up fresh guns and munitions. America might have been +fooled into a frightful error if the great war-organizations had not +come forward with a roaring counterblast. The peace offensive failed. +More than that, the people resented it in a prompt and highly practical +way. They oversubscribed the six billion loan. Most of them, especially +the smaller subscribers, doubled their subscriptions in the last two +days of the time allotted for the flotation. October 7th, President +Wilson answered Prince Max's request with a refusal. + +But it was a fortunate thing for the allied cause that the peace +offensive was made, for its one effect was to create a profound distrust +of all war news coming out of Amsterdam or Copenhagen. It revealed the +fact that Berlin had been closely censoring all news dispatches that +assumed to disclose the state of affairs in the central empires; +censoring them rigorously, and inventing most of them. Germany had not +yet learned that lies would not win the war; but the rest of the world +had learned that Germany, as a liar, was so supernally endowed that +her feeblest efforts in that domain would have made Ananias, Baron +Munchausen, and Joe Mulhatton look like a trio of supersaints, choking +with truth. + +FIRST HUN CRY FOR PEACE + +Germany's definite turn toward peace came in October, 1918, in the form +of further and very awkward notes written by Prince Maximilian of Baden, +the German Chancellor, and Doctor Solf, German Minister of foreign +affairs. While the first of these notes was coming along, the Leinster +was sunk by a German submarine on the Irish coast. The Leinster was a +passenger ship, employed in regular service on a long ferriage. She had +a full passenger list, nearly 400 people, peaceable folk all, just about +such as may be found any day aboard a Staten Island ferry boat. It was +not in any sense an act of war, but mere and open piracy, killing for +the love of killing. It was one of the most horrible acts in a long, +long list of horrors for which Germany has learned she must account in +the long reckoning she has been forced to face. + +VIRTUE, VICE AND VIOLENCE + +At the same time, strangely contrasting with the virtuous attitude +assumed in the notes, towns and cities in France and Belgium were being +blown up before evacuation by the Germans, their men were being marched +away to slavery in Germany, their women and young girls assigned as +"orderlies" in the service of German officers--such "orderlies" as +Turkey buys and sells for its harems. The contrast between German +professions of virtue and German bestiality of act was ghastly. It is +hard to believe that such things could happen between earth and sky, and +they who did them still live; yet the things, hypocritical on one side +and sickeningly horrible on the other, were actually done. + +RESULTS OF A FEW BUSY MONTHS + +Between the day when that little group of Americans stopped the hordes +of hell at Chateau Thierry, and Germany's acceptance of the American and +allied armistice terms, these other and happier things had come to pass. + +Bulgaria had been forced to quit. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey +sued for peace. Turkey's military power was broken in Asia Minor, +Germany undertook the greatest retreat in history, and these countries +and Austria-Hungary were suffering from serious internal dissensions. + +The allies took about half a million prisoners and some 4,000 cannon. +They destroyed more than 300 airplanes and 100 balloons. They recovered +more than 7,000 square miles of territory in France and Belgium, 20, +square miles in Serbia, Albania and Montenegro, and 15,000 square miles +in Asia Minor. + +In France, the cities of Lille, Turcoing, Roubaix, Douai, Lens, Cambrai, +St. Quentin, Peronne, Laon, Soissons, Noyon, La Bassee, Bapaume, +St. Mihiel, Chateau Thierry, Grand Pre, Soissons, Vouziers, LaFere, +LeCateau, Juniville, Craonne, and Machault were reoccupied. Valenciennes +fell to the British. Reims and Verdun were freed, after four years' +artillery domination. + +The St. Mihiel salient was wiped out by Pershing's American army, the +great St. Gobain massif recovered, the Hindenburg line and lesser +defensive systems shattered, and the Argonne massif won. + +The Belgian Coast was cleared of the enemy and the Belgian cities of +Bruges, Ostend, Zeebrugge, Roulers, Courtrai, Ghent, Audenarde, and +Tournai were recaptured. + +The allied advance in France was about fifty miles eastward from +Villers-Bretonneaux, near Amiens, and nearly the same distance northward +from Chateau Thierry. In Belgium, the allies had progressed about forty +miles eastward from Nieuport. + +Three-fourths of Serbia, four-fifths of Albania, and a large slice of +Montenegro were repatriated. + +The allied advance covered more than 200 miles northward to Negotin, on +the Danube, within twenty-two miles of Hungarian Territory. + +The British in Asia Minor advanced over 350 miles and took Aleppo, +possession of which gave them the key to Constantinople from the south. + +The British expedition in Mesopotamia began an operation designed to +capture Mosul and open the way to the eastern terminus of the proposed +Berlin-to-Bagdad railway, which ends at Nesibin. + +In Russia the allies advanced 275 miles up the Dwina river and +penetrated about 350 miles southward from the Murman coast. They also +pushed 600 miles inland from Vladivostok. + +OPENS UP THE DARDANELLES + +On the very last day of October, 1918, Turkey surrendered to the +British, opening the Dardanelles and through those waters giving the +allied fleets access to the German-dominated Black Sea and the coast of +southern Russia, and putting at the mercy of the allies the only active +units of the German navy. The surrender included Palestine and the +Mesopotamian fronts. General Allenby's farther drive at Constantinople +became unnecessary, having served the purpose of hastening Turkey's +decision; and Allenby himself was assigned to the occupancy of the Turk +Capital. + +The same day, October 31, 1918, the Austrian government ordered +demobilization of the Austrian armies, and the Austrian forces began a +hasty retreat from Italy. The retreat became a rout before evening of +that day, the Italians pursuing and capturing over 50,000 men and +cannon, and cutting off some 200,000 Austrians in a trap between the +Brenta and Piave rivers. General Diaz, the Italian commander, after +considerable entreaty, consented to receive General Weber of the +Austrian command, who brought a plea for armistice. + +The result of their conference was an agreement for an armistice that +should go into effect at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of November 4th--an +allowance of time sufficient to get the acceptance signed at Vienna. +Meanwhile there would be no cessation of fighting. + +AUSTRIA SURRENDERS + +The terms were thorough and severe. They amounted to Austria's +unconditional surrender, disarmament, demobilization of armies, delivery +of the major fleet and all submarines to the United States and allies, +restoration to Italy of all the Italian provinces that Austria had +taken in older wars, free passage to American and allied forces through +Austrian territory, abandonment of land, sea and island fortifications +to the Americans and allies, immediate release (without reciprocation) +of all American and allied soldiers and sailors held prisoner in +Austria, return of all allied merchant ships held at Austrian ports, +freedom of navigation on the Danube by American and allied war and +merchant ships, internment of all German troops remaining in Austria by +November 18th, 1918, and immediate withdrawal of all Austrian troops +serving with the German armies anywhere between the Swiss border and the +North sea. + +The terms were accepted in full by the Vienna government, but between +the time it was delivered by General Diaz to General Weber and 3 o'clock +of November 4th, the Austrian armies on Italian soil stampeded in a +panic so complete that the pursuing Italians had taken 200,000 of them +prisoner, making altogether nearly half a million taken since October +24th. In the same time about 7,000 guns, 12,000 auto cars and over +200,000 horses were captured, and Austrian fatalities ran into numbers +almost equal to the largest army Napoleon ever had under command in any +one of his great campaigns. + +Austria had begun to yield during the last week of October, when Hungary +abandoned the empire, released its civil and military officials from +their oath of allegiance to the imperial crown, and formed arrangements +for an independent government of its own. Count Tisza, formerly premier +of Hungary, and the most reactionary of Hungarian statesmen, was +assassinated toward the close of that week. + +THE KILLING OF TISZA + +An Amsterdam report dated November 3d quoted from the Vossische Zeitung +of Berlin an account of that event, from which it appears that about +o'clock in the evening three soldiers invaded Count Tisza's residence +and presented themselves in the drawing room. Count Tisza, with his wife +and the Countess Almassy, advanced to meet the intruders, asking what +they wanted. "What have you in your hand?" a soldier demanded of Tisza. +Tisza replied that he held a revolver. The soldier told him to put it +away, but Tisza replied: "I shall not, because you have not laid aside +your rifles." The soldiers then requested the women to leave the room, +but they declined to do so. A soldier then addressed Tisza as follows: +"You are responsible for the destruction of millions of people, because +you caused the war." Then raising their rifles, the soldiers shouted: +"The hour of reckoning has come." The soldiers fired three shots and +Tisza fell. His last words were: "I am dying. It had to be." The +soldiers quitted the house, accompanied by gendarmes, who previously +were employed to guard the door. + +It was the removal of Count Tisza that really cleared the way for the +new Hungarian state. Bohemia and the other Slavic vassal states of +Austria had already broken away. President Wilson had recognized Poland +as an independent and belligerent state. Austria's remaining dependence, +after Hungary's defection, was upon the German population of its north +and northwestern provinces, and the provinces wrenched from Italy forty +years before. Austrian armies numbering more than half a million men had +driven the Italians back from the territory they had won in 1917 under +General Cadorna, and had been brought to a stand on the river Piave, +where a deadlock somewhat resembling that in front of Verdun had been +maintained many months. These armies were affected by the movement that +was dissolving the empire, and gave way, with the result above stated. + +The terms of the Austrian armistice were furnished to General Diaz +through Marshal Foch, by the American and allied council sitting at +Versailles. + +During the interim between the delivery and the acceptance of the +Austrian Armistice and the surrender of Austria, the Versailles Council +prepared terms of an armistice that had been sued for by the German +government. + +TERMS PREPARDED FOR GERMANY + +On November 4th, 1918, Berlin was notified by the Versailles council +that Marshal Foch had in his hands the terms on which armistice would +be granted. November 8th, a German commission of five were admitted to +audience with Marshal Foch, who read and delivered the document, with +notice that it must be accepted and signed within seventy-two hours. +A request by Herr Erzberger, one of the German commissioners, that +fighting be suspended during that time, was curtly refused; and the +armistice terms were communicated by the commissioners to the German +revolutionary government, which had come into power by voluntary +transfer of the chancelorship from Prince Maximilian of Baden to +Friedrich Ebert, Vice-president of the social democratic party. + +The revolution began in the German fleet at Kiel, where the sailors +mutinied and hoisted the red flag. It spread with great rapidity and +very little disorder throughout all the German states. + +November 9th the Kaiser was compelled by the revolutionists to abdicate, +and the crown prince signed a renunciation of his right to the +succession. The abdication of the Kings of Bavaria and Wurtemburg +occurred at the same time. The ex-emperor and the crown prince, in an +attempt to reach the British line and surrender themselves, were headed +off by the revolutionary forces and took refuge in Holland. + +ARMISTICE SIGNED BY GERMANY + +November 11th, 1918, the armistice was signed by the German +commissioners, upon orders from Berlin. On the morning of that day, at +11 o'clock Paris time, fighting ceased on all fronts. + +The terms of the armistice were in substance as follows. They demanded: + +Evacuation within thirty-one days of Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, +Luxemburg, Russia, Roumania and Turkey, all territory that had belonged +to Austria-Hungary, and all territory held by German troops on the west +bank of the Rhine. + +Renunciation of the treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest. + +Delivery to and occupation by American and allied troops within nineteen +days, of Mayence, Coblenz and Cologne, together with their bridgeheads. +The bridgeheads include all German territory within a radius of eighteen +miles on the east (German) bank of the Rhine, at each of these points. + +The surrender of 5,000 cannon, 25,000 machine guns, 5,000 motor lorries, +8,000 flame throwers, 1,700 airplanes, 5,000 locomotives, 150,000 wagons +(railway cars) and all the railways of Alsace-Lorraine. + +Establishment of a neutral strip twenty-four miles wide on the east +(German) side of the Rhine, paralleling that river from the Holland +border to the border of Switzerland. + +The return within fifteen days, of all inhabitants removed from invaded +countries, including hostages and persons under trial or convicted. + +Release of American and allied prisoners of war held by Germany--the +American and allied powers to retain all Germans held by them as +prisoners of war. + +Surrender of half of the German fleet to America and the allies, +together with all submarines, other miscellaneous German ships, and all +American and allied merchant ships held by Germany. The other half of +the German fleet to be disarmed and dismantled. + +Notification to neutral countries by Germany that they are free to trade +on the seas with America and the allied countries. + +Access by way of Dantzig or the Vistula river, to all territory in the +East evacuated by Germany. + +Evacuation by all German forces in East Africa within a time to be fixed +by the allies. + +Restitution for all damage done by German forces. + +Return of the funds taken by the Germans from the National Bank of +Belgium, and the gold taken from Russia and Roumania. + +These terms, which not only constitute Germany's unconditional +surrender, but reduce Germany to a condition that absolutely prevents +her resumption of war, form the base of the final treaty of peace. + +CLOSING DAYS OF HOHENZOLLERN REIGN + +Into the four months preceding November 11, 1918, were crammed events +that drove the Germans back, deprived them of their allies, brought the +utter collapse of Imperial government, drove the emperor into exile, +saw a socialist republic set up with Berlin as its capital, brought the +whole of what had been the empire to a state of seething unrest and +change touched with the poison of bolshevism. November 4, a memorable +date, found Germany alone and unsupported against a world triumphant in +arms. All the laboriously built up structure of her military state was +brought to a futile struggle for life, the whole vast fabric of her +underground diplomacy, her intricate, world-penetrating spy system, her +marvelously elaborate and totally unscrupulous propaganda, crumbled away; +nothing remained of the earlier vigor but a memory--that shall be a +stench forever. + +November 11, 1918, will go down in history as the memorable day in which +the last surviving medieval tyranny in Europe disappeared in blood +and smoke; for its final act was filled with characteristic hate and +brutality. + +In the very last hours before armistice took effect, German batteries +poured a deluge of high explosives and poison gas on Mezieres, where +there were no allied soldiers at all, but only civilians, men, women and +children, twenty thousand of them, penned like rats in a trap, without +possibility of escape. Says one correspondent, describing that horror: +"Words cannot depict the plight of the unhappy victims of this crowning +German atrocity. Incendiary shells fired the hospital, and by the glare +of a hundred fires the wounded were carried to a shelter of cellars +where the whole population was crouching. + +"That was not enough to appease the bitter blood lust of the Germans in +defeat. Cellars may give protection from fire or melinite; but they are +worse than death traps against the heavy fumes of poisonous gas. So the +murderous order was given, and faithfully the boche gunners carried it +out. There were no gas masks for the civilians and no chemicals that +might permit them to save lives. Many succumbed." + +FINAL ACT OF THE HUN AT SEA + +The final act at sea was almost concurrent with this tragedy. The +16,000-ton battleship Britannia was torpedoed off the entrance to the +straits of Gibraltar, November 9, and sank in three and one-half hours. + +FOLLOWING THE DAYS OF RECKONING + +And so, spewing murder in its last writhing, the monster died. It had +begun by furiously ravaging Belgium in August, 1914; it ended with the +awful, wanton murder of noncombatants at Mezieres in November, 1918. +Throughout four years, three months and ten days, it had ramped and +raged over the land, under the sea and in the air, slaughtering, +poisoning, ravaging, without cessation, killing wherever it could, +robbing with colossal greed, defiling what it could neither kill nor +carry away, leaving across the pages of history a trail of blood and +filth and slime that all the tears of all the angels cannot ever wash +away. + +But it left a world of nations free to work out their several destinies, +self-determining, not subject any more to the threat of causeless war at +the hands of a government steeled to barbarity. A world cemented by the +blood the monster itself had caused to be shed; by the memory of brave +sons fallen that others might live; by the tears of countless women and +children made widows and orphans; by a new understanding between all the +nations of men that dwell upon the face of the earth, because of mutual +sacrifices in a common cause; by a knowledge that the long night of +medieval tyranny had faded out and a new day had come, in which power +shall arise from and be wielded by the peoples, never again by kings or +emperors. And so our planet shall be ruled as long as man inhabits it. +Out of bitter darkness, in the splendor of this new day the spirit of +liberty has risen, with healing on its wings. + +We who have lived through the struggle may say with gratitude, each of +us, "I saw the light! I saw the morning break!" + +AMONG THE LAST SHOTS FIRED + +While Berlin was trying to get into touch with Marshal Foch, and the end +was coming into sight, the Americans along the Meuse put forth all the +energy that was in them, in their eager desire to hand the enemy a final +series of wallops. It was here one of the most brilliant exploits of the +war occurred. + +On the night of November 4, American troops, though under very heavy +artillery and machine gun fire, succeeded in building four pontoon +bridges across the Meuse, a little more than a mile east of Brieulles. +Early in the morning one of these was destroyed, but a strong force +crossed over the other three, and swept forward with such rapidity, +though in the face of superior numbers, that by noon the enemy was in +disorderly retreat northward. By nightfall the Americans on that side of +the river had captured Liny-Devant-Dun and Mille-Devant-Dun, on the east +bank of the river, while a large American and French force pushed back +the Germans on the west bank, capturing Beaumont, Pouilly and several +less important places, and taking positions on three sides of Stenay, +the pivot on which the whole German retirement had turned. American +troops the 5th and 6th of November had advanced to within five miles +of the main communication line of the Germans between Metz, Mezieres, +Hirson and the north. + +After destroying the bridge connecting Stenay with Laneuville, the +Germans had opened the locks of the Ardennes canal and flooded the river +to a width of about two-thirds of a mile. + +It was here the Americans undertook and accomplished the impossible. +They picked out the best of their swimmers, who crossed the stream +carrying light lines attached to heavy cables, which were drawn after +them, and by a hasty pontoon construction got the whole force across. +Then, in the face of heavy firing, they pounded their way over a mud +flat nearly a mile wide, and hit the canal, which by then, had been +drained, forming a deep ditch that would have stopped any other +soldiers. But the Americans rustled up some grappling irons and hooks, +which they tied to the ends of ropes, and throwing them to the coping, +then swarmed up and chased the disconcerted Germans out of their last +position in that sector. + +On November 7th American troops entered Sedan and cut the German line of +communication between Metz and the north. + +The same day, troops from Ohio, under command of General Farnsworth, +took the Ecke salient sixteen miles southwest of Ghent in Belgium, and +were advancing on the city when the Germans suddenly evacuated it, +departing in haste toward the German frontier. + +Stenay was the last town to fall into American hands. It was occupied +without resistance, an hour before the armistice went into effect. While +preparations for attack were in course, paroles came in reporting that +the Germans had cleared out. The American troops at once poured in, and +established occupation at 10:45 in the forenoon, just a quarter of an +hour before word came that the armistice had taken effect. + +In a few minutes flags of the allies were flying from housetops, and the +church bells were ringing out the war. It was over. + +AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR + +The last morning on the fighting lines was busy wherever American troops +were placed, from the Moselle to Sedan. All the batteries kept their +guns going, and the Germans replied in kind. The American heavy guns +fired their parting salvo at 11:00 o'clock, less two or three seconds. +To this final crack the Germans tossed a few over, just after 11:00. +There was a strong American infantry advance, northeast of Verdun, +in the direction of Ornes, beginning at nine o'clock, after lively +artillery preparation. The German artillery responded feebly, but the +machine gun resistance was stubborn. Nevertheless, the Americans made +progress. The Americans had received orders to hold the positions +reached by 11:00 o'clock, and at those points they began to dig in, +marking the advance positions of the American line when hostilities +ceased. + +Then the individual groups unfurled the Stars and Stripes, shook hands +and cheered. Soon afterwards they were preparing for luncheon. All the +boys were hungry, as they had breakfasted early in anticipation of what +they considered the greatest day in American history. + +THE ALL PULL TOGETHER SHOT + +There was a regular celebration at Pepper hill, north of Verdun, where +a battery of Rhode Island artillery rigged a twenty-foot rope to the +lanyard of a .155 cannon, and every man in the company, from the captain +to the cook, laid hold of it and waited. At the tick of eleven o'clock +they gave that rope one mighty yank, all together, and the gun roared +out the last shot of the war. + +--_The Last Yank of the Yanks_. + +AT THE END OF THE WORLD WAR + +The great drama is ended. For the first time in four years the sound +of giant cannon cannot be heard anywhere along the long line from the +channel to the Adriatic; the deadly rattle of machine guns is stilled. +No gas fumes poison the winter air. No clouds of burning cities darken +the sun. Better than all, no life blood flows; the fighting men rest in +their lines, the bayonet is sheathed, the bullet sleeps harmless in its +clip. + +This at last is peace. In the great cities, the towns and hamlets of +Europe and America, a vast wave of emotion inundates the hearts of men; +in the allied lands there is exultation; in Germany there is at least +relief, and perhaps the dawning of a new hope. + +We have had our day of glorification. It is now time for our best +thought, and the first of this thought will be for the men who have +given their lives for our cause and for the men more fortunate, but not +less willing to give all, who in France and Flanders have covered +our flag once more with undying glory, the soldiers of the Marne, of +Cantigny, of the great German repulse east of Reims, of Chateau Thierry, +of St. Mihiel, the Argonne, and Sedan. The graves of our men have +consecrated these immortal battlefields and our sacred dead will live on +in the memory of the republic forever. As for those who return, crowned +with victory, they shall now be first and foremost under the roof tree +of the great motherland, who sent them forth with aching yet uplifted +heart, confident that they would honor her even as they have done. + +In this hour we salute our army and our navy, which have not failed us +at any point, in any test, however arduous or fiery. Under commanders +devoted, efficient, indefatigable, our regiments have met the most +famous troops of the enemy and crushed their resistance, have set new +records of sanguinary valor under punishment, and driven always and +irresistibly on to victory. They have written a page in the annals of +the republic and in the history of war which will shine down the ages +with unsurpassed magnificence. + +It has been terrible, yet glorious, to live through such a time, even +for us who have not passed through the great experience of battle, who +have not watched and taken part in the heroic charge of our infantry +across death-swept meadows, or heard with our ears the thunder of the +great guns or felt the earth shake under the tread of marching legions. +We at home have had our own experiences, our deep anxieties, our doubts, +our griefs, and always we have been conscious of the might of forces in +grapple and the high issues that hung upon the fate of the armies. In +the background of all our thoughts at all times has been the solemn +consciousness that the destiny of mankind was at work in mighty throes +toward an end hidden to our knowledge if not to our faith and hope. We +have none of us passed through this experience without receiving its +mark. Life can never be altogether what it was before for any of us. New +generations will spring forth innocent of the memories which are ours +and the unexpressible lessons of our day. But for us it has been, +with all its tragedy and vast destruction, a day of illumination and +inspiration. + +Standing on the threshold of a peace restored, we must pray that out of +the epic experience of the great conflict something more than the +stern negative of our victory shall be preserved for the time to come, +something positive of good, something of that divine light of men's +heroic sacrifice which shone out in the darkest hour, something of new +strength and understanding of life and of human potentialities. + +We have before us now a tremendous task of restoration. America is in a +more fortunate situation than the nations of Europe; yet to return our +resources to the channels of peace, to free our institutions from the +hasty improvisations of war emergency, and to protect them from the +effects of forced and abnormal application, is a task which will test +the wisdom and character of our leaders and our people. + +If our war experience has proved anything of America, it has been the +soundness and beneficence of American institutions and the life they +make possible. Let us realize that truth, and resolve that these +institutions shall be strengthened in peace and not weakened, and that +the life which has grown up and flowered under their influence shall be +jealously preserved for our children and our children's children, and +for the sake of our heroic dead." + +THE CROWNING HUMILIATION + +The Crowning Humiliation, or Before and After Seeing Foch, might be the +appropriate title for the latest story now added to the pages of world +history. + +Four years and four months ago the German leadership, fully confident +of its strength, assured of its weapons, arrogant beyond anything in +recorded history, challenged the organized and unorganized forces of the +civilized world to mortal combat. They thrust the Imperial German sword +through all the covenants and commands of civilization and of justice. +Bursting out upon an unprepared and unsuspecting world, they were, +despite their incredible strength, checked by France on the battlefield +of the Marne, encircled by the British fleets, and like Napoleon after +Leipzig, condemned to ultimate defeat. At the hour when the white flag +was brought to the French lines, British armies were approaching the +field of Waterloo, American armies stood victorious in Sedan, and French +armies were sweeping forward from the Oise to the Meuse. The crowning +humiliation came with the admission of defeat. Germany sought armistice +at the hands of a Marshal of France! + +FOCH--"THE GRAY MAN OF CHRIST" + +In the closing days of the great war a striking contrast was drawn by +the Los Angeles Times between William Hohenzollern and Marshal Foch, +from the religious standpoint. The former German monarch coupled Gott +with himself as an equal, while Ferdinand Foch was called, with apparent +reason, "the gray man of Christ." + +"This has been Christ's war," said the Times. "Christ on one side, +and all that stood opposed to Christ on the other side. And the +generalissimo, in supreme command of all the armies that fought on the +side of Christ, is Christ's man. * * * It seems to be beyond all shadow +of doubt that when the hour came in which all that Christ stood for was +to either stand or fall, Christ raised up a man to lead the hosts that +battled for him." And the Times continues: + +"If you will look for Foch in some quiet church, it is there that he +will be found, humbly giving God the glory and absolutely declining to +attribute it to himself. Can that kind of a man win a war? Can a man who +is a practical soldier be also a practical Christian? And is Foch that +kind of a man? Let us see. + +"A California boy, serving as a soldier in the American Expeditionary +Forces in France, wrote a letter to his parents in San Bernardino +recently, in which he gives, as well as anyone else could give, the +answer to the question we ask. This American boy, Evans by name, tells +of meeting Marshal Foch at close range in France. + +"Evans had gone into an old church to have a look at it, and as he stood +there with bared head satisfying his respectful curiosity, a gray man +with the eagles of a general on the collar of his shabby uniform entered +the church. Only one orderly accompanied the quiet, gray man. No +glittering staff of officers, no entourage of gold-laced aides were with +him; nobody but just the orderly. + +"Evans paid small attention at first to the gray man, but was curious +to see him kneel in the church, praying. The minutes passed until full +three-quarters of an hour had gone by before the gray man arose from his +knees. + +"Then Evans followed him down the street and was surprised to see +soldiers salute this man in great excitement, and women and children +stopping in their tracks with awe-struck faces as he passed. + +"It was Foch! And now Evans, of San Bernardino, counts the experience as +the greatest in his life. During that three-quarters of an hour that +the generalissimo of all the Allied armies was on his knees in humble +supplication in that quiet church, 10,000 guns were roaring at his word +on a hundred hills that rocked with death. + +"Moreover, it is not a new thing with him. He has done it his whole life +long." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +HOME FOLLOWS THE FLAG + +_Nearly 28,000,000 Red Cross Relief Workers Distributing Aid in Ten +Countries--Two War Fund Drives in 1918 Raise $291,000,000--Other +Organizations Active--3,000 Buildings Necessary--Caring for the +Boys--Boy Scouts Play Their Part Well._ + +From the hour of enlistment to the hour of return, the United States +soldiers and sailors have had with them, throughout the war, the +advantage of intelligent, sympathetic help from various civilian +organizations, co-ordinating with the military. + +First of all is the Red Cross, but that organization really is a +non-combatant arm of the national service; and its work, generously +financed by public subscription, is the greatest of its kind ever done +in field or hospital, in any war. + +Red Cross history would fill a big volume, no matter how meagrely told. +There are 3,854 chapters of the organization. At the annual meeting of +their war council, October 23, 1918, the chairman, Henry P. Davison, +submitted a report that is literally astonishing, because the facts +related had developed without, publicity and were quite unknown to the +people of the country at large. Here are a few of them, taken from Mr. +Davison's official statement: + +NEARLY 28,000,000 WORKERS + +The Red Cross in America has a membership of 20,648,103, and in +addition, 8,000,000 members in the Junior Red Cross--a total enrollment +of more than one-fourth the population of the United States. + +American Red Cross workers produced up to July 1st, 1918, a total +of 221,282,838 articles of an estimated value of $44,000,000. About +8,000,000 women are engaged in canteen work and the production of relief +supplies. + +The American Red Cross is distributing aid in ten countries--the United +States, England, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Palestine, Greece, +Russia and Siberia. Besides it has sent representatives to Serbia, +Denmark and Madeira. + +Two war fund "drives" in 1918 brought money contributions to the amount +of $291,000,000. Membership dues of $24,500,000 brought the total up +to $315,500,000 for the fiscal year. All this money was expended for +purposes of pure mercy. + +It has been because of the spirit which has pervaded all American Red +Cross effort in this war that the aged governor of one of the stricken +and battered provinces of France stated not long since that, though +France had long known of American's greatness, strength and enterprise, +it remained for the American Red Cross in this war to reveal America's +heart. + +The home service of the Red Cross, with its now more than 40, +workers, is extending its ministrations of sympathy and counsel each +month to upward of 100,000 families left behind by soldiers at the +front. + +OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ACTIVE + +Next to the Red Cross in importance comes the Young Men's Christian +Association, affectionately known to the army as "the Y." Then the Young +Women's Christian Association; the National Catholic War Council; the +Salvation Army; the Knights of Columbus; The Jewish Welfare Board: the +War Camp Community Service; and The American Library Association. + +What might be called the field army of these seven great agencies +comprises more than 15,000 uniformed workers on both sides of the +Atlantic and in Siberia; and General Pershing, late in October of 1918, +asked that additional workers be sent over at the rate of at least a +thousand a month. + +They represent every type of activity--secretaries, athletic directors, +librarians, preachers, lecturers, entertainers, motion picture +operators, truck drivers, hotel managers and caterers. Many of them +pay their own expenses. Those who cannot do that are paid their actual +living expenses if they are single; and if they have families, are +allowed approximately the pay of a second lieutenant. + +3,000 BUILDINGS NECESSARY + +More than 3,000 separate buildings have been erected (or rented) to make +possible this huge work. These are of various sorts, from the great +resorts at Aix les Bains, where our soldiers can spend their furloughs, +to the hostess houses at the cantonments on this side. In addition, +there are scores of warehouses and garages, and hundreds of "huts" +which consist of nothing more than ruined cellars and dugouts in +war-demolished towns or old-line trenches. + +These figures do not include the buildings occupied by the organizations +in times of peace, though all such buildings and quarters are at the +disposal of soldiers and sailors. All are supported by their regular +funds, supplemented by contributions entirely apart from those funds. + +ALL PULL TOGETHER + +The spirit of these seven organizations is uplifting in the broadest +sense of the word. They depend upon people of ideals for support. Their +purpose is to surround each boy, so far as possible, with the influences +that were best in his life at home. Differences of creed or dogma are +unknown. The W.M.C.A. and The Jewish Welfare Board work side by side +with no thought of divergence in faith. They are as one, and their +working creed is service, in the spirit of brotherhood to all men. + +These are 842 libraries, with 1,547 branches, containing more +than 3,600,000 books and 5,000,000 copies of periodicals. In the +navy-branches are maintained 250 additional libraries aboard our war and +mercantile ships. + +Almost every family in the United States having a son in the service +has received letters written on the stationery of one or other of the +organizations, for together they supply abundant writing materials. They +supply 125,000,000 sheets of writing paper a month, and keep on hand all +the time about $500,000 worth of postage stamps. + +A soldier boy finds himself located in a little French village that +before the war sheltered 500 people and now must accommodate as many +soldiers besides. His sleeping place is a barn, which he must share with +forty other boys. There is no store in the town, no theatre, no library, +no place to write a letter or be warm and dry--until the hut comes. + +ALL MODERN IDEAS + +With it come books and writing paper and baseballs and bats and boxing +gloves and chocolate and cigarettes and motion pictures and lectures and +theatrical entertainments. Home comes with the hut, bringing all the +love and care and cheer of the folks who have stayed behind. + +The boy is called into the front line trenches. He is there through the +long cold night, his feet wet, his whole body chilled to the bone. As +the first rays of the sun announce the new day, a shout of welcome runs +through the trench. He looks to see a secretary--Y, or K. of C., or +Jewish Welfare Board or Salvation Army--it matters not. Down the trench +comes this secretary with chocolates and cigarettes, doughnuts and hot +coffee or cocoa--a reminder that even here, in front, the love and care +of the folks back home still follow him. + +CARING FOR THE BOYS + +Is he wounded? Aiding the stretcher bearers, the secretaries work side +by side, taking the wounded back to the dressing stations. + +Is he taken prisoner? Even in the prison camp the long arm of these +friendly organizations reaches out to aid him. In Switzerland both the Y +and the K. of C. have established headquarters, and through such neutral +agencies as the Danish Red Cross they carry on their program of help +even in the enemy prison camps. + +Does he wish to send money back to the folks at home? The Y.M.C.A. and +the K. of C., the Jewish Welfare Board and the Salvation Army transmit +hundreds of thousands of dollars a month from the front to mothers and +sisters and wives over here. + +If the Boy is allowed to visit the armies of our Allies he will find +that they too have asked for the hut, and received it. More than a +thousand Y huts under the name of "Foyers du Soldat" are helping to +maintain morale in the French army--erected at the special request of +the French Ministry of War. The King of Italy made a personal request +for the extension of the "Y" work to his armies. The men who were +charged with the task of winning this war believed that America could do +nothing better to hasten victory than to extend the influence of these +great creators and conservers of morale to the brave soldiers of our +Allies. + +The cheer, the comfort, the recuperative influence of these united +services to our soldiers cannot be overestimated. They are incalculably +valuable--and they are purely and originally American. + +WOUNDED YANKS ARE CHEERFUL + +A Paris correspondent just from the front says--The spirit of American +soldiers passing through casualty stations is admirable. One "doughboy" +from Kansas, hobbling up to an American Red Cross canteen on one leg and +crutches, shouted, "Here I come. I'm only hitting on three cylinders, +but still able to get about." + +Another boasted of his luck because he had only three shrapnel wounds, +one in his hand, one in his shoulder and one in the back. + +An American Red Cross canteen at a receiving station often offers men +their first chance to talk over their experiences. They stand round with +a cup of chocolate in one hand, a doughnut in the other, and fight their +fights over again until officers drive them to the dressing rooms. + +BOY SCOUTS PLAY THEIR PART WELL + +"Boys will be men" is a new version of an old saying. It is justified +by the record of the Boy Scouts of America, for a better formation of +upright, manly character never was achieved by any other means. That +Scout training makes good men and fine soldiers has been amply proven on +a broad scale. + +November 1, 1918, The Boy Scouts of America had a registered membership +of over 350,000, and applications for membership were coming in at the +rate of a thousand a day. April 9, 1917, three days after this country +entered the war, the National Council of the organization formally +resolved "To co-operate with the Red Cross through its local chapters +in meeting their responsibilities occasioned by the state of war." The +members have nobly followed out that resolution. + +BOYS HELP MOST WONDERFUL + +They have sold liberty bonds in the amount of $206,179,150, to 1,349, +individual subscribers. As "dispatch bearers of the government" they +have distributed over 15,000,000 war pamphlets. They have been sedulous +and invaluable in checking enemy propaganda. They have served on +innumerable public occasions as police aids and as ushers at great +meetings. They performed one feat that might to many have appeared +impossible, in searching out for the war department enough black walnut +trees to furnish 14,038,560 feet of board lumber that was urgently +needed for gunstocks and plane propellors. They have been tireless in +supplementing the service of other organizations. And they never make +any display of their work--they just do it, and keep on doing it, +without any talk. They are useful; and every man who was a boy scout is +a better man for having been one. + +THIRTY-THREE Y.M.C.A. WORKERS GIVE LIVES IN WAR + +From the time the United States entered the war up to the signing of +the armistice, thirty-three Y.M.C.A. workers, twenty-nine men and four +women, have given up their lives in the service abroad. + +British air forces kept pace with the German armies across the Rhine. +In the last five months, in which occurred some of the heaviest air +fighting in the war, Germany lost in aerial combats with the British +alone 1,837 machines. It is estimated that something like 2,700 machines +were accounted for by the British since June 1, and to this total may be +added the heavy destruction wrought by French and American aviators. + +GREATEST MAIL SERVICE IN THE WORLD + +The mail service of the American armies in France and Belgium was one of +the most remarkably original features of the war. Mail was handled by +postal experts from home in such manner as sent millions of letters by +the straightest course to every point in the United States, from the +great cities down to the smallest hamlet. + +"SAG" RELIEVED POISON GAS VICTIMS + +American soldiers in the fighting lines were furnished with tubes of +medicinal paste to cure mustard gas burns. It was simply smeared over +the burned patches, or rubbed on the skin to prevent burning. It was +called "sag," which is the reverse spelling of "gas." + +GERMANS ABANDONED MUCH EQUIPMENT + +While they were chasing the Germans after they had broken the Hindenburg +line, American soldiers salvaged enormous quantities of equipment +thrown away or abandoned by the boches in their haste to get out of the +Americans' way. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE + +On the memorable afternoon of Monday, November 11, 1918. President +Wilson convened the Senate and the House of Representatives in the +capitol at Washington, and there read out the terms of the armistice +which Germany had accepted, and to the observance of which Germany was +pledged with guaranties so strict that evasion was made impossible. The +President is an unemotional man, but in that hour he must have felt deep +satisfaction in the fact that the document in his hand had been made +possible by the will and the action of the great nation whose chief +magistrate he was, and is--the nation that with generous hand and prompt +compliance had backed him at every step of the difficult road to triumph +over the dark forces of evil that had plagued the whole earth and +imperilled the very life of civilization. + +His audience (the legislative arm of our government and the co-ordinate +judiciary arm as represented by Justices of the Supreme Court; the +members of the President's cabinet, the diplomatic corps; and high +officers of the army and navy) was less repressed. As the strongest +points were reached, all present joined in mighty applause. + +THE NATION LISTENS AND APPLAUDS + +The whole country was listening, for while the President's voice was +being heard in that place, the wires were carrying the words to every +city and hamlet in all the broad land. + +The armistice had been signed by the German envoys in the very last +hour of the seventy-two that Marshal Foch had granted them. Long before +daylight, the news came by cable, the sirens and factory whistles were +thrown wide open, and the whole population of the United States, men, +women and children, roused out of bed, swarmed the streets and highways, +and gave themselves over to such a jubilation as no country ever before +had seen--nor any previous day in the story of the human race had called +for. It is not to be forgotten; for by reason of the magnificent and +final victory of right over might, another such day need never dawn. + +PRESIDENT MAKES ARMISTICE PUBLIC + +President Wilson in making public the armistice terms addressed the +governing bodies of our country as follows: + +"Gentlemen of the Congress: In these anxious times of rapid and +stupendous change it will in some degree lighten my sense of +responsibility to perform in person the duty of communicating to you +some of the larger circumstances of the situation with which it is +necessary to deal. + +"The German authorities who have, at the invitation of the supreme war +council, been in communication with Marshal Foch, have accepted and +signed the terms of armistice which he was authorized and instructed to +communicate to them. + +TERMS OF THE ARMISTICE + +One--Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after the +signature of the armistice. + +Two--Immediate evacuation of invaded countries; Belgium, France, +Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered as to be completed within fifteen +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. + +Three--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. + +MUST SURRENDER MILITARY SUPPLIES + +Four--Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the following +equipment: Five thousand guns (2,500 heavy, 2,500 field), 25,000 machine +guns, 3,000 minenwerfer (mine throwers), 1,700 aeroplanes (fighters, +bombers, firstly D-73 Js and night bombing machines). 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. + +Five--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 to the east from the frontier of Holland to the +parallel of Gernsheim and as far as practicable a distance of thirty +kilometers from the east of the stream from this parallel upon the Swiss +frontier. Evacuation by the enemy of the Rhine lands shall be so ordered +as to be completed within a further period of eleven days, in all +nineteen days after the signature of the armistice. All movements of +evacuation and occupation will be regulated according to the note +annexed. + +Six--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 person shall be prosecuted +for participation in war measures prior to the signing of this +armistice. No destruction of any kind to be committed. Military +establishments of all kinds shall be delivered intact, 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. + +Seven--All civil and military personnel at present employed on them +shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, 150,000 wagons and 5,000 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 the same period, 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 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. A note appended +regulates the details of these measures. + +MUST REVEAL ALL MINES + +Eight--The German command shall be responsible for revealing within +forty-eight hours all mines or delay-acting fuses deposed 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. + +Nine--The right of requisition shall be exercised by the allies and the +United States armies in all occupied territory. The upkeep of the troops +of occupation in the Rhineland (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be +charged to the German government, subject to the regulation of accounts +with those whom it may concern. + +Ten--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 +Switzerland shall continue as before. The repatriation of German +prisoners of war shall be regulated at the conclusion of the +preliminaries of peace. + +Eleven--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. + +Twelve--All German troops at present in any territory which before the +war belonged to Roumania or Turkey shall withdraw within the frontiers +of Germany as they existed on August 3, 1914. Territory which belonged +to Austria-Hungary is added to that from which the Germans must withdraw +immediately, and as to territory which belonged to Russia it is provided +that the German troops now there 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. + +Thirteen--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. + +Fourteen--German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures +and any other undertaking with a view to obtaining supplies intended for +Germany in Roumania and Russia (as defined on August 1, 1914). + +Fifteen--Denunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk +and of the supplementary treaties. Sixteen--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. + +Seventeen--Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa +within a period to be fixed by the allies. + +REPATRIATION AND REPARATION + +Eighteen--Repatriation, without reciprocity, within a 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, with the reservation that any future claims +and demands of the allies and the United States of America remain +unaffected. + +Nineteen--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 for war losses. Immediate +restitution 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. + +Twenty--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 mercantile marines +of the allied and associated powers, all questions of neutrality being +waived. + +Twenty-one--All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the +allied and associated powers in German hands to be returned without +reciprocity. + +Twenty-two--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 that cannot take the sea shall be disarmed of their +material and personnel and shall remain under the supervision of the +allies and the United States. + +Twenty-three--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, or, for +the want of them, in allied 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 German 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 direction by +wireless. The military armament of all vessels of the auxiliary fleet +shall be put on shore. + +Twenty-four--The allies and the United States of America shall have +the right to sweep up all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany +outside German territorial waters and the positions of these are to be +indicated. + +Twenty-five--Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the +naval and mercantile marines of the allied and associated powers. To +secure this, the 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. + +Twenty-six--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. + +Twenty-seven--All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilized +in German bases to be specified by the allies and the United States of +America. + +Twenty-eight--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. + +EVACUATED ALL BLACK SEA PORTS + +Twenty-nine--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 ports are to be +returned and German materials as specified in clause twenty-eight are to +be abandoned. + +Thirty--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. + +Thirty-one--No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted +before evacuation, surrender, or restoration. + +Thirty-two--The German government will notify the 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. + +Thirty-three--No transfers of German merchant shipping of any +description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the +armistice. + +Thirty-four--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 three and eighteen +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 assure the execution +of this convention under the best conditions the principle of a +permanent international armistice commission is admitted. This +commission shall act under the authority of the allied military and +naval commanders-in-chief. + +Thirty-five--This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within +seventy-two hours of notification. + +PRESIDENT'S COMMENT ON ARMISTICE + +"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 had 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 +much more lasting than 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 has +already been manifested in a very practical way. Their representatives +in the supreme war council at Versailles have by unanimous resolution +assured the people 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. + +"For, with the fall of the ancient governments which rested like an +incubus upon the people 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. + +"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. + +"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 tests. 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. + +"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." + + + +GERMAN MALTREATMENT OF PRISONERS + +Prisoners set free under terms of the armistice brought back tales of +their almost unbelievably barbarous treatment in German prison camps. A +correspondent, Philip Gibbs, describes some of them as living skeletons. +Of one typical group he says "they were so thin and weak they could +scarcely walk, and had dry skins, through which their cheekbones stood +out, and the look of men who had been buried and come to life again. +Many of them were covered with blotches. 'It was six months of +starvation,' said one young man who was a mere wreck. They told me food +was so scarce and they were tortured with hunger so vile that some of +them had a sort of dropsy and swelled up horribly, and died. After they +left their prison camp they were so weak and ill they could hardly +hobble along; and some of them died on the way back, at the very +threshhold of new life on this side of the line." + +[Illustration: MAP OF WORLD WAR ZONE + +Showing Final Battle Line from Holland to Switzerland. Shaded Portion +Shows German Territory Evacuated. + +1. Rhine line to be occupied by Allied troops as provided in Armistice, +showing cities and brdgeheads. + +2. Neutral Zone Line as provided by terms of Armistice.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +HONOR TO THE VICTORS + +November 16, 1918, the American Distinguished Service Medal was +conferred upon General Pershing at his headquarters in the field by +General Tasker H. Bliss, representing President Wilson. The ceremony +was witnessed by the members of the allied missions, and was most +impressive, Admiral Benson, representing the United States Navy, and +William G. Sharp, American Ambassador to France, were also present. + +SERVICE MEDAL TO GENERAL PERSHING + +General Bliss, in presenting the decoration, read this order issued by +Newton T. Baker, Secretary of War: + +"The President directs you to say to Gen. Pershing that he awards the +medal to the commander of our armies in the field as a token of the +gratitude of the American people for his distinguished services and in +appreciation of the successes which oar armies have achieved under his +leadership." + +After reading the order General Bliss called to mind that when the first +division went away many doubted if it would be followed by another for +at least a year. + +"But," he added, "you have created and organized and trained here on +the soil of France an American army of between two and two and a half +million men. You have created the agencies for its reception, its +transportation and supply. To the delight of all of us you have +consistently adhered to your ideal of an American army under American +officers and American leadership. + +"And I know that I speak for our president, when I say that, as to those +who have died, the good God has given eternal rest, so may He give to us +eternal peace." + +At a previous date, and while hostilities were still in course, Marshal +Foch had conferred upon General Pershing the grand cordon of the Legion +of Honor. The names of these two great commanders, reflecting supreme +honor upon their respective countries, have become imperishable in the +records of civilization. Their careers present unusual analogy. They +were bred to the art of war, and stand among the foremost in the roll of +great soldiers who have fought for and established Peace, in many lands +and many ages. + +PERSHING'S SPLENDID RECORD + +John Joseph Pershing was born September 30, 1860, in Linn county, +Missouri, to John F. and Ann E. (Thompson) Pershing. He was given the +degree of Bachelor of Arts by the Kirksville (Missouri) normal school in +1880; graduated at West Point in 1886; was made Bachelor of Laws by the +University of Nebraska in 1893; married Francis H. Warren, daughter of +Senator Warren of Wyoming, at Washington, January 28, 1905. (His +wife and two daughters perished in the fire at the Presidio, San +Francisco, August 15,1915.) He was commissioned a second lieutenant +in the 6th cavalry July 1, 1886; became a captain in the 10th cavalry +October 20, 1892. Passed through the other grades up to that of +Brigadier General in 1913, after the battle of Bagsag, P.I., in June of +that year. Had seen service in several Indian campaigns, in Cuba and the +Phillipines, and was United States military attache with the army of +General Kuroko in the war between Japan and Russia. Later was officer +commanding at the Presidio, going thence to the Mexican border in 1913. +Was in command of the troops that went into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho +Villa in 1916. When the United States entered the European war he was +placed in command. Here was displayed in full not only his genius as a +soldier, but as an organizer of the very highest skill. His home is in +Cheyenne, Wyoming. + +HONORS TO MARSHAL FOCH + +At Senlis in France on Tuesday, November 12th, the day after the +armistice was signed, General Pershing conferred upon Marshal Foch the +American Distinguished Service Medal. The presentation was made in +the name of President Wilson, at the villa where Marshal Foch had his +headquarters, and was an impressive ceremony. + +A guard of honor was drawn up and trumpeters blew a fanfare as Marshal +Foch, with General Pershing on his right, took position a few paces in +front of the guard. General Pershing said: + +"The Congress of the United States has created this medal to be +conferred upon those who have rendered distinguished service to our +country. President Wilson has directed me to present to you the first +of these medals in the name of the United States Government and +the American army, as an expression of their admiration and their +confidence. It is a token of the gratitude of the American people for +your great achievements. I am very happy to have been given the honor of +presenting this medal to you." + +In accepting the decoration, Marshal Foch said: + +"I will wear this medal with pleasure and pride. In days of triumph, as +well as in dark and critical hours, I will never forget the tragical +day last March when General Pershing put at my disposal, without +restriction, all the resources of the American army. The success won +in the hard fighting by the American army is the consequence of the +excellent conception, command and organization of the American General +Staff, and the irreducible will to win of the American troops. The name +'Meuse' may be inscribed proudly upon the American flag." + +MARSHAL FOCH'S RECORD + +Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, was born at Tarbes in the French +Pyrenees, August 4th of 1851--a year during which all Europe was +agitated by the approach of war. His earlier education, largely +religious, was had at the schools of Saint Etienne, Rodez and Metz. In +his twentieth year he entered the Ecole Polytechnique at Paris for +a course of instruction in military science, after which he was +commissioned a lieutenant in the artillery branch of the French army, +rising to a captaincy in 1878. + +In 1892, with the rank of major, he became an instructor in the war +school, specializing in military history and theory. He returned to army +service as a lieutenant colonel in 1901, and in 1907 was made a general +of brigade. Shortly thereafter, at the close of a term in command of +artillery in the Fifth Army Corps, he was put at the head of the war +school. + +When war broke out in August, 1914, General Foch was in charge of the +military post at Nancy, a point commanding the way between the Vosges +mountains and the Duchy of Luxemburg. When the Germans came down toward +the Marne and the situation in the field became very critical, his +controlling doctrine of attack was brought into brilliant play. + +The part of the French line under his command being endangered, he +reported to Marshal Joffre: "My right wing is suffering severe pressure. +My left is suffering from heavy assaults. I am about to attack with my +centre." + +He did. That attack stopped the German advance, turned their forces from +the road to Paris, and sent them suddenly southward. + +Looking back over those days, it is seen now that this action marked +the shock-point of the war. It disjointed the whole German plan, saved +France, and gave France and England time to raise and equip their +armies, and mobilize their industrial resources. The German high command +had promised the German people to finish the war in six weeks. General +Foch inaugurated their finish in less than four. + +His operations since that time are well remembered. Down to the day when +at President Wilson's earnest urging he was placed in supreme command of +the allied armies on all fronts, March 29, 1918, he had been steadily +victorious. The week before, the Germans had begun their last and most +powerful "drive." The manner in which General Foch sold terrain to them +for the highest price they could be made to pay in German lives is +understood now, and admired. When he had teased them along and worn them +down, he sharply altered his strategy and attacked with a force and +continuity so terrific that it practically destroyed the German armies, +and compelled Germany to beg for the armistice that ended the war. From +July 18, 1918, down to November 11, he pounded and powdered the enemy +without cessation. + +It is a matter of which Americans may well be proud that Marshal Foch, +with keen judgment and knowledge of military values, selected the first +and second divisions of the United States regular army to strike +the first blow in that tremendous assault. The only other troops +participating were those of a French colonial division, from Morocco. + +GENERAL PERSHING'S THANKSGIVING ADDRESS + +Thanksgiving Day, 1918, was celebrated in the most befitting manner +at the American Army headquarters in France. After Bishop Brent's +benediction, a band concert was given. General Pershing then addressed +his victorious army as follows: + +"Fellow soldiers: Never in the history of our country have we as a +people, come together with such full hearts as on this greatest of all +Thanksgiving days. The moment throbs with emotion, seeking to find +full expression. Representing the high ideals of our countrymen and +cherishing the spirit of our forefathers who first celebrated this +festival of Thanksgiving, we are proud to have repaid a debt of +gratitude to the land of Lafayette and to have lent our aid in saving +civilization from destruction. + +"The unscrupulous invader has been driven from the devastated scenes of +his unholy conquest. The tide of conflict which during the dark days of +midsummer threatened to overwhelm the allied forces has been turned into +glorious victory. As the sounds of battle die away and the beaten foe +hurries from the field it is fitting that the conquering armies should +pause to give thanks to the God of Battles, who has guided our cause +aright. + +"VICTORY OUR GOAL" + +"Victory was our goal. It is a hard won gift of the soldier to his +country. + +"In this hour of thanksgiving our eternal gratitude goes out to those +heroes who loved liberty better than life, who sleep yonder, where they +fell; to the maimed, whose honorable scars testify stronger than +words to their splendid valor, and to the brave fellows whose strong, +relentless blows finally crushed the enemy's power. + +"Nor in our prayer shall we forget the widow who freely gave the husband +more precious than her life, nor those who, in hidden heroism, have +impoverished themselves to enrich the cause, nor our comrades who in +more obscure posts here and at home have furnished their toll to the +soldiers at the front. + +"Great cause, indeed, have we to thank God for trials successfully met +and victories won. Still more should we thank Him for the golden future, +with its wealth of opportunity and its hope of a permanent, universal +peace." + +THE HOMECOMING OF KING ALBERT + +The world rejoiced with Belgium when King Albert and the Queen returned +in triumph to Brussels, November 21, 1918, just a little over four years +after the bodeful day when they left it, in 1914. Belgium, the first +martyr to German ferocity, had come back to its own--had justified +the historic words of its King to the insolent Germans, "Belgium is a +country, not a road," and stood firm, a David of the Nations, against +the onslaught of the most awful and bloody hordes the world has seen +since Attila, the other Hun, drove with his swarming savages over +Europe, centuries ago, roaring that grass would never grow again where +their horses trod. + +Civilization had been justified. The "scrap of paper" had come to life. +It was a great day, an hour of right and might, a soul-stirring climax +to a most stupendous drama. The hero rode in triumph; and the villain, +after ignominious flight, was hiding behind the skirts of a Dutchwoman, +over the border. + +No finer troops marched through Brussels on this gala day than the +Yanks, who were given a conspicuous place in the celebration. A +battalion of infantry from the Ninety-First American Division and a +battery from the Fifty-Third Brigade, fresh from the beating they had +given the Huns at Oudenark a few days before, were prominent in the +lines, and shared in the plaudits a liberated people showered upon their +own heroic troops. Troops that had held the last strip of Belgian soil +through all those bitter years with a tenacity the Huns could never +shake. These Belgian soldiers, had, of course, the place of honor. +French and British troops, with bands playing and colors flying, shared +in the glorious triumph. + +The King and the royal family rode at the head of two Belgian +divisions--a column of veterans stretching out fifteen miles. The day +was like midsummer--bright and fair. All the roads leading to the Rue +Royale and the Boulevard Anspach were packed hours before the King's +arrival. At the Port de Flandre the throngs were so dense they were +impassable. The whole city was gorgeously decorated. Aircraft were +overhead, dropping confetti. The balconies all along the route were +draped with flags and colored banners, and filled with people who, when +the King and his family rode by, showered them with flowers and little +flags. At one place a company of five hundred young women sang the +Brabanconne, the Belgian national song, and the American, French and +British national anthems. + +The royal progress ended at the Palais de la Nation, where the King +dismounted and entered, to address the parliament in its first assembly +after the war--an historic session. Then he reviewed the troops in the +great square, and thence went to the Hotel de Ville to receive the +address of the Burgomaster Max, that sturdy figure, which the Germans at +the height of their tyranny had not been able to budge. + +AMERICA'S TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENT BEHIND THE LINES + +When the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the United States +land forces in Europe numbered some 2,200,000 fighting men. Of these +about 750,000 were in the Argonne section, on the French front. The +others were in various units on the French, Belgian, Italian and other +fronts. Additions were arriving from the States at the rate of 8,000 men +each day. + +Behind these combat forces was an immense support in men and supplies +of every kind from home, and a transport system surpassing that of +any other belligerent, perfectly equipped; and a great army of relief +workers, in addition to one of the finest hospital systems the world has +ever seen. + +The American army had taken to France and had in operation 967 standard +gauge locomotives and 13,174 standard gauge freight cars of American +manufacture. In addition it had in service 350 locomotives and 973 cars +of foreign origin. To meet demands which the existing French railways +were unable to meet, 843 miles of standard gauge railway were +constructed. Five hundred miles of this had been built since June, 1918. + +The department of light railways had constructed 115 miles of road, and +140 miles of German light railways were repaired and put in operation. +Two hundred and twenty-five miles of French railway were operated by the +Americans. + +But railways represent only a fraction of the transport effort Modern +warfare is motor warfare and it is virtually impossible to present in +figures this phase of the work of the American army. + +In building new roads as the exigencies of battle operations required, +in keeping French roads repaired under the ceaseless tide of war +transport and in constructing bridges in devastated battle regions, +American engineers worked day and night. The whole region behind the +American lines was full of typical American road machinery, much of it +of a character never seen before in Europe. + +To do this work the American expeditionary forces had in operation +November 11, 1918, more than 53,000 motor vehicles of all descriptions. + +The American forces were in no danger of being placed on short rations, +had the war continued. + +One ration represents the quantity of each article each man is entitled +to daily. It is interesting to note the supply of some of the principal +ration components on hand. + +The Americans had 390,000,000 rations of beans alone, 183,000, +rations of flour and flour substitutes, 267,000,000 rations of milk; +161,000,000 rations of butter or substitutes; 143,000,000 rations of +sugar; 89,000,000 rations of meat; 57,000,000 rations of coffee and +113,000,000 rations of rice, hominy and other foods, with requisites +such as flavorings, fruits, candy and potatoes in proportion, while for +smokers, there were 761,000,000 rations of cigarettes and tobacco in +other forms. + +It is difficult to describe in exact figures what the American +expeditionary forces have done in the construction and improvement of +dockage and warehouses since the first troops landed. This work has +been proportionate to the whole effort in other directions. Ten steamer +berths have been built at Bordeaux, having a total length of 4,100 feet. +At Montoir, near St. Nazaire, eight berths were under construction with +a total length of over 3,200 feet. + +Great labor had been expended in dredging operations, repairing French +docks and increasing railway terminal facilities. Warehouses having +an aggregate floor area of almost 23,000,000 square feet had been +constructed. This development of French ports increased facilities to +such an extent that even if the Germans had captured Calais and other +channel ports, as they had planned, the allies' loss would have been +strategically unimportant. + +So largely were facilities increased that the English armies could have +had their bases at the lower French ports, if necessary. In other words, +American work in port construction lessened to a material degree the +value to the Germans of their proposed capture of the channel ports. + +These figures serve in a measure to show the magnitude of American +accomplishments, and the great machine is in operation today as the +American Third army moves forward into German territory. + +During the second stage of the Argonne operation a captured German +major, while in casual conversation with an American officer said: "We +know defeat is inevitable. We know your First and Second armies are +operating and that your Third army is nearly ready to function. We know +there are more and more armies to follow. We can measure your effort. +The end must come soon." + +AMERICAN FORCES AND CASUALTIES + +At the opening of November, 1918, the United States armies on all fronts +numbered about 2,200,000 men, and was being increased at an average rate +of 250,000 a month. In transit from home ports to ports in Europe and +Siberia, only one transport ship was lost, and of its complement of +troops 126 men were drowned. The sinking was caused by collision with +another ship in the same convoy, not by an enemy submarine. The United +States has not lost one man in transport, by an act of a hostile ship or +submarine. + +Army and marine casualties reported by the commanders of overseas forces +to the government at Washington up to November 27th, 1918 (after the +seventeenth month of our participation in the war), were as follows: + +Killed in action, 28,363; died of wounds, 12,101; died of disease, +16,034; died of other causes, 1,980; wounded, 189,995 (of this number +92,036 only slightly wounded); missing in action and prisoners, 14,250; +making a total numbering 262,723. + +War Department reports show that over-seas Air Service Casualties +to October 24th, 1918, were 128 battle fatalities and 224 killed in +accidents. + +TOTAL OF CIVIL WAR CASUALTIES COMPARED ARE AS FOLLOWS + +Federal troops killed in action, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; died of +disease, 224,586; making total Federal fatalities 334,656. + +Confederates killed and died of wounds, 95,000; died of disease, +164,000; making the total Confederate fatalities 259,000. + +According to the War Department records, total dead of the Civil War is +618,524. + +BRITISH, FRENCH AND ITALIAN LOSSES + +British losses are estimated at 1,000,000 killed and 2,049,991 wounded, +missing and prisoners. + +The French losses are over 1,500,000 in killed and over 3,000,000 in +wounded and prisoners. + +The Italian losses, including casualties and prisoners, are estimated at +a total of 2,000,000, including 500,000 dead. + +7,589 CASUALTIES IN ROYAL AIR FORCES + +Casualties in the royal air forces from April, 1918, when the air forces +were amalgamated, to Nov. 11, were: Killed, 2,680; wounded, missing +and prisoners, 4,909, according to an official statement by the air +ministry. + +CANADA'S CASUALTIES + +Canada's casualty list up to November 1, 1918 (eleven days before the +armistice), totaled 211,358, classified as follows: Killed in action, +34,877; died of wounds or disease, 15,457; wounded, 152,779; presumed +dead, missing in action and known prisoners of war, 8,245. Canada's +total land forces numbered nearly a half million men; that is, over +eighty per cent of the men of the Dominion of military age, who were +physically fit. They constituted over forty per cent of the male +population. It is a strange coincidence of figures that the losses above +enumerated constitute just about the same per cent (forty) of the armed +forces, that those forces bore to the young nation's total manhood. +Canada's efforts and sacrifices in the war have not been fully +understood. When they are, they will evoke the admiration of the world, +and of history. + +GERMAN LOSSES + +Exact figures covering, German losses since August 1st, 1914, when +the war began with the German invasion of Belgium, cannot be had. The +records are kept at Berlin and their figures have been withheld from +even the people of Germany. + +The only estimates available are those made by commanders opposing the +German forces, and these were confessedly cautious, the allied policy +being to minimize estimates of enemy reverses, so that no false +encouragement might reach the public in any of the allied countries. On +this basis, the estimates approximate a German loss of over 1,580, +killed and 4,490,000 disabled, prisoners, and missing, a total of +6,070,000. + +The Austrian losses in killed are estimated at 800,000 and 3,200, +prisoners, wounded and missing. + +TOTAL LOSSES + +The world's actual loss of men in the war is estimated at not less than +10,000,000, counting those killed in action, died of wounds, or dead +from other causes in prison camps or in the field. + +These estimates do not include 800,000 Armenian Christians massacred by +the Turks at the order of the German general staff, nor the Belgian and +French civilians starved to death, infected with typhus and tuberculosis +by hypodermic injection, or murdered outright by German soldiery under +orders, nor the German wholesale slaughter of Serbians, of Greeks in +Asia Minor, nor similar victims in Poland, Lithuania and southwest +Russia, outnumbering no doubt the total loss of fighting men in all the +armies. It is not likely these murders of noncombatants can ever be +counted up. + +GERMANY'S NAVAL SURRENDER + +Surrender of the German navy and delivery of its ships to the Grand +Fleet (consisting of the British and United States navies), began +November 21, 1918, just ten days after the armistice was signed Ninety +German ships of all grades constituted the first delivery. Admiral Sims, +of the American Navy, King George and the Prince of Wales, were aboard +the Queen Elizabeth, the flagship of Admiral Beatty, commanding the +Grand Fleet. Five hundred British and American war vessels were in the +receiving lines, and convoyed the surrendered German ships to the Firth +of Forth, just below Edinburgh, Scotland, where they will lie until +their disposal is determined. Among the German vessels surrendered that +day were sixty submarines. + +Other deliveries of German war vessels were continued. On November 29th +it was discovered that of the 360 submarines of all types built by the +Germans, the Grand Fleet had destroyed or captured 200. Of the remaining +160 nearly all had been surrendered by that date. This being the exact +number called to surrender by the terms of the armistice, it would +appear the allied conference was fully informed to that effect, and +thereby was enabled to strip Germany of the last of these vessels, whose +record of murder and piracy at sea is without any precedent whatever in +history. + +FORMER KAISERIN WEEPS + +The meeting of former Emperor William and the former empress at +Amerongen is described by a Dutch correspondent as follows: + +"The gates were thrown open, the drawbridge was lowered with a noise of +chains and iron bars that sounded very medieval, and in the courtyard +before the castle an elderly man in a gray military cloak was seen at a +distance, walking slowly and leaning on his stick. It was the ex-kaiser. +The ex-kaiserin's car was driven into the courtyard, the ex-kaiser threw +down his stick and, before the valet was able, opened the door and +handed out his wife. + +"They shook hands and then threw themselves into each other's arms, +the ex-kaiserin falling upon her husband's shoulder and crying like a +child." + +FORMER KAISER'S ACT OF RENUNCIATION + +The text of the former German emperor's act of renunciation, which was +issued by the New German government, "in order to reply to certain +misunderstandings which have arisen with regard to the abdication," +follows: + +_By the present document I renounce forever my rights to the crown of +Prussia and the rights to the German imperial crown. I release, at the +same time, all the officials of the German empire and Prussia, and also +all officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Prussian +navy and army and of contingents from confederate states from the oath +of fidelity they have taken to me._ + +_As their emperor, king and supreme chief, I expect from them, until a +new organization of the German empire exists, that they will aid those +who effectively hold the power in Germany to protect the German people +against the menacing dangers of anarchy, famine and foreign domination._ + +_Made and executed and signed by our own hand with the imperial seal at +Amerongen Nov. 28._ + +_WILLIAM_. + +PERSHING PAYS TRIBUTE TO HIS MEN + +In closing his preliminary report to the Secretary of War, made public +on December 4, 1918, General Pershing expresses his feeling for the men +who served with him, as follows: + +"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 XXXV. + +CHRONOLOGY OF WORLD WAR + +_Comprehensive Chronology of the Four Years of War--Dates of Important +Battles and Naval Engagements--Ready Reference of Historical Events from +June, 1914, to End of War in 1918._ + + +June 28--Archduke Ferdinand and wife assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia. + +July 28--Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. + +August 1--Germany declares war on Russia and general mobilization is +under way in France and Austria-Hungary. Aug. 2--German troops enter +France at Cirey; Russian troops enter Germany at Schwidden; German army +enters Luxemburg over protest, and Germany asks Belgium for free passage +of her troops. Aug. 3--British fleet mobilizes; Belgium appeals to Great +Britain for diplomatic aid and German ambassador quits Paris. + +Aug. 4--France declares war on Germany; Germany declares war on Belgium; +Great Britain sends Belgium neutrality ultimatum to Germany; British +army mobilized and state of war between Great Britain and Germany +is declared. President Wilson issues neutrality proclamation. Aug. +5--Germans begin fighting on Belgium frontier; Germany asks for Italy's +help. Aug. 6--Austria declares war on Russia. Aug. 7--Germans defeated +by French at Altkirch. Aug. 9--Germans capture Liege. Portugal announces +it will support Great Britain; British land troops in France. Aug. +10--France declares war on Austria-Hungary. + +Aug. 12--Great Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; Montenegro +declares war on Germany. Aug. 15--Japan sends ultimatum to Germany to +withdraw from Japanese and Chinese waters and evacuate Kiao-chow; Russia +offers autonomy to Poland. Aug. 20--German army enters Brussels. Aug. +23--Japan declares war on Germany; Russia victorious in battles in East +Prussia. Aug. 24--Japanese warships bombard Tsingtao. Aug. 25--Japan +and Austria break off diplomatic relations. Aug. 28--English win naval +battle over German fleet near Helgoland, Aug. 29--Germans defeat +Russians at Allenstein; occupy Amiens; advance to La Fere, sixty-five +miles from Paris. + +September 1--Germans cross Marne; bombs dropped on Paris; Turkish army +mobilized; Zeppelins drop bombs on Antwerp. Sept. 2--Government of +France transferred to Bordeaux; Russians capture Lemberg. Sept. +4--Germans cross the Marne. Sept. 5--England, France, and Russia sign +pact to make no separate peace. Sept. 6--French win battle of Marne; +British cruiser Path finder sunk in North sea by a German submarine. +Sept. 7--Germans retreat from the Marne. Sept. 14--Battle of Aisne +starts; German retreat halted. Sept. 15---First battle of Soissons +fought. Sept. 20--Russians capture Jaroslau and begin siege of Przemysl. + +October 9-10--Germans capture Antwerp. Oct. 12--Germans take Ghent. Oct. +20--Fighting along Yser river begins. Oct. 29--Turkey begins war on +Russia. + +November 7--Tsingtro falls before Japanese troops. Nov. 9--German +cruiser Emden destroyed. + +December 11--German advance on Warsaw checked. Dec. 14--Belgrade +recaptured by Serbians. Dec. 16--German cruisers bombard Scarborough, +Hartlepool, and Whitby, on English coast, killing fifty or more persons; +Austrians said to have lost upwards of 100,000 men in Serbian defeat. +Dec. 25--Italy occupies Avlona, Albania. + + + +January 1--British battleship Formidable sunk. Jan. 8--Roumania +mobilizes 750,000 men; violent fighting in the Argonne. Jan. 11--Germans +cross the Rawka, thirty miles from Warsaw. Jan. 24--British win naval +battle in North sea. Jan. 29--Russian army invades Hungary; German +efforts to cross Aisne repulsed. + +February 1--British repel strong German attack near La Bassee. Feb. +2--Turks are defeated in attack on Suez canal. Feb. 4--Russians capture +Tarnow in Galicia. Feb. 8--Turks along Suez canal in full retreat; +Turkish land defenses at the Dardanelles shelled by British torpedo +boats. Feb. 11--Germans evacuate Lodz. Feb. 12--Germans drive Russians +from positions in East Prussia, taking 26,000 prisoners. Feb. +14--Russians report capture of fortifications at Smolnik. Feb. +16--Germans capture Plock and Bielsk in Poland; French capture two miles +of German trenches in Champagne district. + +February 17--Germans report they have taken 50,000 Russian prisoners in +Mazurian lake district. Feb. 18--German blockade of English and French +coasts put into effect. Feb. 19-20--British and French fleets bombard +Dardanelles forts. Feb. 21--American steamer Evelyn sunk by mine in +North sea. Feb. 22--German war office announces capture of 100, +Russian prisoners in engagements in Mazurian lake region; American +steamer Carib sunk by mine in North sea. Feb. 28--Dardanelles entrance +forts capitulate to English and French. + +March 4--Landing of allied troops on both sides of Dardanelles straits +reported; German U-4 sunk by French destroyers. March 10--Battle of +Neuve Chapelle begins. March, 14--German cruiser Dresden sunk in Pacific +by English. March 18--British battleships Irresistible and Ocean and +French battleship Bouvet sunk in Dardanelles strait. March 22--Fort +of Przemysl surrenders to Russians. March 23--Allies land troops on +Gallipoli peninsula. March 25--Russians victorious over Austrians in +Carpathians. + +April 8--German auxiliary cruiser, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, interned at +Newport News, Va. April 16--Italy has 1,200,000 men mobilized under +arms; Austrians report complete defeat of Russians in Carpathian +campaign. April 23--Germans force way across Ypres canal and take 1, +prisoners. April 25--Allies stop German drive on Ypres line in Belgium. +April 29--British report regaining of two-thirds of lost ground in Ypres +battle. + +May 7--Liner Lusitania torpedoed and sunk by German submarine off the +coast of Ireland with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, 102 Americans. +May 9--French advance two and one-half miles against German forces north +of Arras, taking 2,000 prisoners. May 23--Italy declares war on Austria. + +June 3--Germans recapture Przemysl with Austrian help. June 18--British +suffer defeat north of La Bassee canal. June 28--Italians enter Austrian +territory south of Riva on western shore of Lake Garda. + +July 3--Tolmino falls into Italian hands. July 9--British make +gains north of Ypres and French retake trenches in the Vosges. July +13--Germans defeated in the Argonne. July 29--Warsaw evacuated; Lublin +captured by Austrians. + +August 4--Germans occupy Warsaw. Aug. 14--Austrians and Germans +concentrate 400,000 soldiers on Serbian frontier. Aug. 21--Italy +declares war on Turkey. + +September 1--Ambassador Bernstorff announces Germans will sink no more +liners without warning. Sept. 4--German submarine torpedoes liner +Hesperian. Sept. 9--Germans make air raid on London, killing twenty +persons and wounding 100 others; United States asks Austria to recall +Ambassador Dumba. Sept. 20--Germans begin drive on Serbia to open route +to Turkey. Sept. 22--Russian army retreating from Vilna, escapes German +encircling movement. Sept. 25-30--Battle of Champagne, resulting in +great advance for allied armies and causing Kaiser Wilhelm to rush to +the west front; German counter attacks repulsed. + +October 5--Russia and Bulgaria sever diplomatic relations; Russian, +French, British, Italian, and Serbian diplomatic representatives ask for +passports in Sofia. Oct. 10--Gen. Mackensen's forces take Belgrade. Oct. +12--Edith Cavell executed by Germans. Oct. 13--Bulgaria declares war on +Serbia. Oct. 15--Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Oct. 16--France +declares war on Bulgaria. Oct. 19--Russia and Italy declare war on +Bulgaria. Oct. 27--Germans join Bulgarians in northeastern Serbia and +open way to Constantinople. Oct. 30--Germans defeated at Mitau. + +November 9--Italian liner Ancona torpedoed. + +December 1--British retreat from near Bagdad. Dec. 4--Ford "peace party" +sails for Europe. Dec. 8-9--Allies defeated in Macedonia. Dec. 15--Sir +John Douglas Haig succeeds Sir John French as chief of English Armies on +west front. + + + +January 8--British troops at Kut-el-Amara surrounded. Jan. 9--British +evacuate Gallipoli peninsula. Jan. 13--Austrians capture Cetinje, +capital of Montenegro. Jan. 23--Scutari, capital of Albania, captured by +Austrians. + +February 22--Crown prince's army begins attack on Verdun. + +March 8--Germany declares war on Portugal. March, 15--Austria-Hungary +declares war on Portugal. March 24--Steamer Sussex torpedoed and sunk. + +April 18--President Wilson sends note to Germany. April 19--President +Wilson speaks to congress, explaining diplomatic situation. April +24--Insurrection in Dublin. April 29--British troops at Kut-el-Amara +surrender to Turks. April 30--Irish revolution suppressed. + +May 3--Irish leaders of _insurrection executed_. May 4--Germany makes +promise to change methods of submarine warfare. May 13--Austrians begin +great offensive against Italians in Trentino. May 31--Great naval battle +off Danish coast. + +June 5--Lord Kitchener lost with cruiser Hampshire. June 11--Russians +capture Dubno. June 29--Sir Roger Casement sentenced to be hanged for +treason. + +July 1--British and French begin great offensive on the Somme. July +6--David Lloyd George appointed secretary of war. July 9--German +merchant submarine Deutschland arrives at Baltimore. July 23--Gen. +Kuropatkin's army wins battle near Riga. July 27--English take Delville +wood; Serbian forces begin attack on Bulgars in Macedonia. + +August 2--French take Fleury. Aug. 3--Sir Roger Casement executed for +treason. Aug. 4--French recapture Thiaumont for fourth time; British +repulse Turkish attack on Suez canal. Aug, 7--Italians on Isonzo front +capture Monte Sabotino and Monte San Michele. Aug. 8--Turks force +Russian evacuation of Bitlis and Mush. Aug. 9--Italians cross Isonzo +river and occupy Austrian city of Goeritz. Aug. 10--Austrians evacuate +Stanislau; allies take Doiran, near Saloniki, from Bulgarians. + +August 19--German submarines sink British light cruisers Nottingham and +Falmouth. Aug. 24--French occupy Maurepas, north of the Somme; Russians +recapture Mush in Armenia. Aug. 27--Italy declares war on Germany; +Roumania enters war on side of allies. Aug. 29--Field Marshal von +Hindenburg made chief of staff of German armies, succeeding Gen. +von Falkenhayn. August 30--Russian armies seize all five passes in +Carpathians into Hungary. + +September 3--Allies renew offensive north of Somme; Bulgarian and German +troops invade Dobrudja, in Roumania. Sept. 7--Germans and Bulgarians +capture Roumanian fortress of Tutrakan; Roumanians take Orsova, +Bulgarian city. Sept. 19--German-Bulgarian army captures Roumanian +fortress of Silistria. Sept. 14--British for first time use "tanks." +Sept. 15--Italians begin new offensive on Carso. + +October 2--Roumanian army of invasion in Bulgaria defeated by Germans +and Bulgarians under Von Mackensen. Oct. 4--German submarines sink +French cruiser Gallia and Cunard liner Franconia. Oct. 8--German +submarines sink six merchant steamships off Nantucket, Mass. Oct. +11--Greek seacoast forts dismantled and turned over to allies on demand +of England and France. Oct. 23--German-Bulgar armies capture Constanza, +Roumania Oct. 24--French win back Douaumont, Thiaumont field work, +Haudromont quarries, and Caillette wood near Verdun, in smash of two +miles. + +November 1--Italians, in new offensive on the Carso plateau, capture +5,000 Austrians. Nov. 2--Germans evacuate Fort Vaux at Verdun. Nov. +5--Germans and Austrians proclaim new kingdom of Poland, of territory +captured from Russia. Nov. 6--Submarine sinks British passenger steamer +Arabia. Nov. 7--Cardinal Mercier protests against German deportation of +Belgians; submarine sinks American steamer Columbian. Nov. 8--Russian +army invades Transylvania, Hungary. Nov. 9--Austro-German armies defeat +Russians in Volhyina and take 4,000 prisoners. + +November 13--British launch new offensive in Somme region on both sides +of Ancre. Nov. 14--British capture fortified village of Beacourt, near +the Ancre. Nov. 19--Serbian, French, and Russian troops recapture +Monastir; Germans cross Transylvania Alps and enter western Roumania. +Nov. 21--British hospital ship Britannic sunk by mine in Aegean sea. +Nov. 23--Roumanian army retreats ninety miles from Bucharest. Nov. +24--German-Bulgarian armies take Orsova and Turnu-Severin from +Roumanians. Nov. 25--Greek provisional government declares war on +Germany and Bulgaria. Nov. 28--Roumanian government abandons Bucharest +and moves capital to Jassy. + +December 5--Premier Herbert Asquith of England resigns. Dec. 7--David +Lloyd George accepts British premiership. Dec. 8--Gen. von Mackensen +captures big Roumanian army in Prohova valley. Dec. 12--Chancellor von +Bethman-Hollweg announces in reichstag that Germany will propose peace; +new cabinet in France under Aristide Briand as premier, and Gen. Robert +Georges Nivelle given chief of command of French army. Dec. 15--French +at Verdun win two miles of front and capture 11,000. + +December 19--Llloyd George declines German peace proposals. Dec. +23--Baron Burian succeeded as minister of foreign affairs in Austria +by Count Czernin. Dec. 26--Germany proposes to President Wilson "an +immediate meeting of delegates of the belligerents." Dec. 27--Russians +defeated in five-day battle in eastern Wallachia, Roumauia. + + + +January 1--Submarine sinks British transport Ivernia. Jan. 9--Russian +premier, Trepoff, resigns. Golitzin succeeds him. Jan. 31--Germany +announces unrestricted submarine warfare. + +February 3--President Wilson reviews submarine controversy before +congress; United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany; +American steamer Housatonic sunk without warning. Feb. 7--Senate +indorses President's act of breaking off diplomatic relations. Feb. +12--United States refuses German request to discuss matters of +difference unless Germany withdraws unrestricted submarine warfare +order. + +February 14--Von Bernstorff sails for Germany. Feb. 25--British under +Gen. Maude capture Kut-el-Amara; submarine sinks liner Laconia without +warning; many lost including two Americans. Feb. 26--President Wilson +asks congress for authority to arm American merchantships. Feb. +28--Secretary Lansing makes public Zimmerman note to Mexico, proposing +Mexican-Japanese-German alliance. + +March 9--President Wilson calls extra session of congress for April 16. +March 11--British under Gen. Maude capture Bagdad; revolution starts in +Petrograd. March 15--Czar Nicholas of Russia abdicates. March 17--French +and British capture Bapaume. March 18--New French ministry formed by +Alexander Ribot. + +March 21--Russian forces cross Persian border into Turkish territory; +American oil steamer Healdton torpedoed without warning. March +22---United States recognizes new government of Russia. March 27--Gen. +Murray's British expedition into the Holy Land defeats Turkish army near +Gaza. + +April 2--President Wilson asks congress to declare that acts of Germany +constitute a state of war; submarine sinks American steamer Aztec +without warning. April 4--United States senate passes resolution +declaring a state of war exists with Germany. April 6--House passes war +resolution and President Wilson signs joint resolution of congress. +April 8--Austria declares severance of diplomatic relations with United +States. + +April 9--British defeat Germans at Vimy Ridge and take 6,000 prisoners; +United States seizes fourteen Austrian interned ships. April 20--Turkey +severs diplomatic relations with the U.S. April 28--Congress passes +selective service act for raising of army of 500,000; Guatemala severs +diplomatic relations with Germany. + +May 7--War department orders raising of nine volunteer regiments of +engineers to go to France. May 14--Espionage act becomes law by passing +senate. May 18--President Wilson signs selective service act. Also +directs expeditionary force of regulars under Gen. Pershing to go +to France. May 19--Congress passes war appropriation bill of +$3,000,000,000. + +June 5--Nearly 10,000,000 men in U. S. register for military service. +June 12--King Constantino of Greece abdicates. June 13--Gen. Pershing +and staff arrive in Paris. June 15--First Liberty loan closes with large +over-subscription. June 26--First contingent American troops under Gen. +Sibert arrives in France. June 29--Greece severs diplomatic relations +with Teutonic allies. + +July 9--President Wilson drafts state militia into federal service. Also +places food and fuel under federal control. July 13--War department +order drafts 678,000 men into military service. July 14--Aircraft +appropriation bill of $640,000,000 passes house; Chancellor von +Bethmann-Hollweg's resignation forced by German political crisis. + +July 18--United States government orders censorship of telegrams and +cablegrams crossing frontiers. July 19--New German Chancellor Michaelis +declares Germany will not war for conquest; radicals and Catholic party +ask peace without forced acquisitions of territory. July 22--Siam +declares war on Germany. July 23--Premier Kerensky given unlimited +powers in Russia. July 28--United States war industries board created to +supervise expenditures. + +August 25--Italian Second army breaks through Austrian line on Isonzo +front. Aug. 28--President Wilson rejects Pope Benedict's peace plea. + +September 10--Gen. Korniloff demands control of Russian government. +Sept. 11--Russian deputies vote to support Kerensky. Korniloff's +generals ordered arrested. Sept. 16--Russia proclaims new republic by +order of Premier Kerensky. Sept. 20--Gen. Haig advances mile through +German lines at Ypres. Sept. 21--Gen. Tasker H. Bliss named chief of +staff, U.S. army. + +October 16--Germans occupy islands of Runo and Adro in the Gulf of Riga. +Oct. 25--French under Gen. Petain advance and take 12,000 prisoners on +Aisne front. Oct. 27--Formal announcement made that American troops in +France had fired their first shots in the war. Oct. 29--Italian Isonzo +front collapses and Austro-German army reaches outposts of Udine. + +November 1--Secretary Lansing makes public the Luxburg "spurlos +versenkt" note. Nov. 7--Austro-German troops capture? Nov. 9--Permanent +interallied military commission created. Nov. 24--Navy department +announces capture of first German submarine by American destroyer. Nov. +28--Bolsheviki get absolute control of Russian assembly in Russian +elections. + +December 6--Submarine sinks the Jacob Jones, first regular warship +of American navy destroyed. Dec. 7--Congress declares war on +Austria-Hungary. Dec. 8--Jerusalem surrenders to Gen. Allenby's forces. + + + +January 5--President Wilson delivers speech to congress giving "fourteen +points" necessary to peace. Jan. 20--British monitors win seafight +with cruisers Goeben and Breslau, sinking latter. Jan. 28--Russia and +Roumania sever diplomatic relations. + +February 2--United States troops take over their first sector, near +Toul. Feb. 6--United States troopship Tuscania sunk by submarine, +lost. Feb. 11--President Wilson, in address to congress, gives four +additional peace principles, including self-determination of nations; +Bolsheviki declare war with Germany over, but refuse to sign peace +treaty. Feb. 13--Bolo Pasha sentenced to death in France for treason. +Feb. 25--Germans take Reval, Russian naval base, and Pskov; Chancellor +von Hertling agrees "in principle" with President Wilson's peace +principles, in address to reichstag. + +March 1--Americans repulse German attack on Toul sector. March 2--Treaty +of peace with Germany signed by Bolsheviki at Brest-Litovsk. March +4--Germany and Roumania sign armistice on German terms. March 13--German +troops occupy Odessa. March 14--All Russian congress of soviets ratifies +peace treaty. March 21--German spring offensive starts on fifty mile +front. March 22--Germans take 16,000 British prisoners and 200 guns. + +March 23--German drive gains nine miles. "Mystery gun" shells Paris. +March 24--Germans reach the Somme, gaining fifteen miles. American +engineers rushed to aid British. March 25--Germans take Bapaume. March +27--Germans take Albert. March 28--British counter attack and gain; +French take three towns; Germans advance toward Amiens. March +29--"Mystery gun" kills seventy-five churchgoers in Paris on Good +Friday. + +April 4--Germans start second phase of their spring drive on the Somme. +April 10--Germans take 10,000 British prisoners in Flanders. April +16--Germans capture Messines ridge, near Ypres; Bolo Pasha executed. +April 23--British and French navies "bottle up" Zeebrugge. April +26--Germans capture Mount Kemmel, taking 6,500 prisoners. + +May 5--Austria starts drive on Italy. May 10--British navy bottles +up Ostend. May 24--British ship Moldavia, carrying American troops, +torpedoed; 56 lost. May 27--Germans begin third phase of drive on west +front; gain five miles. May 28--Germans take 15,000 prisoners in drive. +May 29--Germans take Soissons and menace Reims. American troops capture +Cantigny. May 30--Germans reach the Marne, fifty-five miles from Paris. +May 31--Germans take 45,000 prisoners in drive. + +June 1--Germans advance nine miles; are forty-six miles from Paris. June +3--Five German submarines attack the coast and sink eleven ships. +June 5--U. S. marines fight on the Marne near Chateau Thierry. June +9--Germans start fourth phase of their drive by advancing toward Noyon. +June 10--Germans gain two miles. U. S. marines capture south end of +Belleau wood. + +June 12--French and Americans start counter attack. June 15--Austrians +begin another drive on Italy and take 16,000 prisoners. June +17--Italians check Austrians on Piave river. June 19--Austrians cross +the Piave, June 22--Italians defeat Austrians on the Piave. June +23--Austrians begin great retreat across the Piave. + +July 18---Gen. Foch launches allied offensive, with French, American, +British, Italian and Belgian troops. July 21--Americans and French +capture Chateau Thierry. July 30--German crown prince flees from the +Marne and withdraws army. + +August 2--Soissons recaptured by Foch. Aug. 4--Americans take Fismes. +Aug. 5--American troops landed at Archangel. Aug. 7--Americans cross the +Yesle. Aug. 16--Bapaume recaptured. Aug. 28--French recross the Somme. + +September 1--Foch retakes Peronne. Sept. 12--Americans launch successful +attack in St. Mihiel salient. Sept. 28--Allies win on 250 mile line, +from North sea to Verdun. Sept, 29--Allies cross Hindenburg line. Sept. +30--Bulgaria surrenders, after successful allied campaign in Balkans. +October 1--French take St. Quentin. Oct. 4--Austria asks Holland to +mediate with allies for peace. Oct. 5--Germans start abandonment of +Lille and from Douai. Oct. 6--Germany asks President Wilson for +armistice. Oct. 7--Americans capture hills around Argonne. Oct. +8--President Wilson refuses armistice. Oct. 9--Allies capture Cambrai. +Oct. 10--Allies capture Le Gateau. Oct. 11--American transport Otranto +torpedoed and sunk; 500 lost. Oct. 13--Foch's troops take Laon and La +Fere. + +October 14:--British and Belgians take Koulers; President Wilson demands +surrender by Germany. Oct. 15--British and Belgians cross Lys river, +take 12,000 prisoners and 100 guns. Oct. 16--Allies enter Lille +outskirts. Oct. 17--Allies capture Lille, Bruges, Zeebrugge, Ostend, and +Douai. Oct. 18--Czecho-slovaks issue declaration of independence; Czechs +rebel and seize Prague, captial of Bohemia; French take Thielt. + +October 19--President Wilson refuses Austrian peace plea and says +Czecho-slovak state must be considered. Oct. 21--Allies cross the Oise +and threaten Valenciennes. Oct. 22--Haig's forces cross the Scheldt. +Oct. 23--President Wilson refuses latest German peace plea. Oct. +27--German government asks President Wilson to state terms. Oct. +28--Austria begs for separate peace. + +October 29--Austria opens direct negotiations with Secretary Lansing. +Oct. 30--Italians inflict great defeat on Austria; capture 33, +Austrians evacuating Italian territory. Oct. 31--Turkey surrenders; +Austrians utterly routed by Italians; lose 50,000; Austrian envoys, +under white flag, enter Italian lines. + +November 1--Italians pursue beaten Austrians across Tagliamento river; +allied conference at Versailles fixes peace terms for Germany. Nov. +3--Austria signs armistice amounting virtually to unconditional +surrender. Nov. 4--Allied terms are sent to Germany. Nov. 7--Germany's +envoys enter allied lines by arrangement. + +November 9--Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates and crown prince renounces throne. +Nov. 10--Former Kaiser Wilhelm and his eldest son, Friedrick Wilhelm, +flee to Holland to escape widespread revolution throughout Germany. + +November 9---Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates and crown prince renounces throne. +British battleship Britannia torpedoed and sunk by German submarine off +entrance to Straits of Gibraltar. Nov. 10--Former Kaiser Wilhelm and +his eldest son, Frederick Wilhelm, flee to Holland to escape widespread +revolution throughout Germany. King of Bavaria abdicates. Nov. +11--Armistice signed at 11 o'clock a. m., Paris time. Firing ceased on +all fronts. An American battery from Providence, Rhode Island, fired +last shot at exactly 11 o'clock on the front northwest of Verdun. +Germans began evacuation of Belgium and Alsace-Lorraine. + +November 12--German republic proclaimed at Berlin. Emperor Charles of +Austria abdicates. Belgium demands complete independence instead of +guaranteed neutrality. To secure status as a belligerent at the peace +council, Roumania again declares war on Germany. United States decides +to feed the German people. United States stops draft boards and lifts +war restriction of industries. Nov. 13--American troops cross the German +former frontier and enter Alsace-Lorraine. + +November 14--Polish troops occupy the royal palaces in Warsaw and seize +telegraph and telephone connections with Vienna. United States loans +another hundred million dollars to Italy for food supplies. Dangerous +bolshevik disorders in Germany and Austria. German crown prince interned +in Holland. + +November 15--Distinguished Service Medal conferred on General Pershing +at his headquarters in France by General Tasker H. Bliss. United States +Postoffice department takes control of all ocean cable lines, consent +of other governments having been obtained. Prof. Thomas G. Masaryk +proclaimed President of the new Czecho-Slav republic. + +November 16--Copenhagen reported many German ships due for surrender +under armistice conditions. Demobilization of United States troops +ordered by the government, beginning with those in army camps at home. +United States takes over express service. Belgian troops enter Brussels. +German cruiser Wiesbaden torpedoed by German revolutionary sailors, with +loss of 330 lives. + +November 17--Two hundred and fifty thousand American troops advance nine +miles in French territory evacuated by Germans. French armies advance +across the west boundary of Alsace-Lorraine and occupy many towns. +People of Luxemburg demand abdication of Grand Duchess. + +November 18--President Wilson decides to attend the peace conference to +be held in Europe. French occupy Metz. American troops reach the +German border. British troops land at Gallipoli. American troops defeat +bolshevik forces at Fulka, on the river Dvina. United States government +takes over German insurance companies' agencies in America to be sold by +the Custodian of alien property. + +November 29--The President announced names of commissioners to represent +the United States at peace conference. They are: Woodrow Wilson, +President of the United States; Robert Lansing, Secretary of State; Col. +Edward M. House; Henry White, former ambassador to Italy and to France, +and Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, American adviser of the supreme war council. + +December 4, 1918--President Wilson and a numerous staff sailed for +Europe from New York aboard the George Washington, escorted by warships +under command of Admiral Mayo, to attend the Peace Conference at +Versailles, France. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of America's War for Humanity +by Thomas Herbert Russell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA'S WAR FOR HUMANITY *** + +***** This file should be named 10147.txt or 10147.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/1/4/10147/ + +Produced by David Widger, Juliet Sutherland, and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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