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Pollard, + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's A Short History of the Great War, by A. F. Pollard + +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: A Short History of the Great War + +Author: A. F. Pollard + + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7189] +This file was first posted on March 26, 2003 +Last Updated: May 7, 2013 + + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR *** + + + + +Text File produced by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders Team + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + A SHORT HISTORY OF<br />THE GREAT WAR + </h2> + <h4> + BY + </h4> + <h2> + A. F. POLLARD<br />M.A., Litt.D. + </h2> + <h4> + FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD<br />PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH HISTORY IN + THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON + </h4> + <h3> + WITH NINETEEN MAPS + </h3> + <h5> + METHUEN & CO. LTD.<br />36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br />LONDON + </h5> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h4> + NOTE + </h4> + <div class="middle"> + <p> + The manuscript of this book, except the last chapter, was finished on 21 + May 1919, and the revision of the last chapter was completed in October. + It may be some relief to a public, distracted by the apologetic deluge + which has followed on the peace, to find how little the broad and + familiar outlines of the war have thereby been affected. + </p> + <p> + A. F. P. + </p> + </div> + +<h3>Click on any image to enlarge it to full size</h3> + + + <h2> + <a href="#maps">MAPS</a> + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + CHAP. + </td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + I. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter01">THE BREACH OF THE PEACE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + II. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter02">THE GERMAN INVASION </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + III. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter03">RUSSIA MOVES </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + IV. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter04">THE WAR ON AND BEYOND THE SEAS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + V. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter05">ESTABLISHING THE WESTERN FRONT </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + VI. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter06">THE FIRST WINTER OF THE WAR </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + VII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter07">THE FAILURE OF THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + VIII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter08">THE DEFEAT OF RUSSIA </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + IX. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter09">THE CLIMAX OF GERMAN SUCCESS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + X. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter10">THE SECOND WINTER OF THE WAR </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XI. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter11">THE SECOND GERMAN OFFENSIVE IN THE WEST</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter12">THE ALLIED COUNTER-OFFENSIVE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XIII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter13">THE BALKANS AND POLITICAL REACTIONS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XIV. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter14">THE TURN OF THE TIDE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XV. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter15">HOPE DEFERRED </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XVI. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter16">THE BALANCE OF POWER </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XVII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter17">THE EVE OF THE FINAL STRUGGLE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XVIII. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter18">THE LAST GERMAN OFFENSIVE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XIX. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter19">THE VICTORY OF THE ENTENTE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + XX. + </td> + <td> + <a href="#chapter20">THE FOUNDATIONS OF PEACE </a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter01" id="chapter01"></a> + </p> + <h1> + A SHORT HISTORY OF THE<br />GREAT WAR + </h1> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <h3> + THE BREACH OF THE PEACE + </h3> + <p> + On 28 June 1914 the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the + Hapsburg throne, was shot in the streets of Serajevo, the capital of the + Austrian province of Bosnia. Redeemed by the Russo-Turkish war of 1876-7 + from Ottoman rule, Bosnia had by the Congress of Berlin in 1878 been + entrusted to Austrian administration; but in 1908, fearing lest a Turkey + rejuvenated by the Young Turk revolution should seek to revive its claims + on Bosnia, the Austrian Government annexed on its own authority a province + confided to its care by a European mandate. This arbitrary act was only + challenged on paper at the time; but the striking success of Serbia in the + Balkan wars of 1912-13 brought out the dangers and defects of Austrian + policy. For the Serbs were kin to the great majority of the Bosnian people + and to millions of other South Slavs who were subject to the Austrian + crown and discontented with its repressive government; and the growing + prestige of Serbia bred hopes and feelings of Slav nationality on both + sides of the Hapsburg frontier. The would-be and the real assassins of the + Archduke, while technically Austrian subjects, were Slavs by birth, and + the murder brought to a head the antagonism between a race becoming + conscious of its possibilities and a government determined to repress + them. The crime gave a moral advantage to the oppressor, but the guilt has + yet to be apportioned, and instigation may have come from secret sources + within the Hapsburg empire; for the Archduke was hated by dominant cliques + on account of his alleged pro-Slav sympathies and his suspected intention + of admitting his future Slav subjects to a share in political power. + </p> + <p> + For some weeks after the murder it bade fair to pass without a European + crisis, for the public was unaware of what happened at a secret conclave + held at Potsdam on 5 July. It was there decided that Germany should + support to the uttermost whatever claims Austria might think fit to make + on Serbia for redress, and she was encouraged to put them so high as + either to ensure the domination of the Balkans by the Central Empires + through Serbian submission, or to provoke a war by which alone the German + militarists thought that German aims could be achieved. That was the + purport of the demands presented to Serbia on 23 July: acceptance would + have reduced her to a dependence less formal but little less real than + that of Bosnia, while the delay in presenting the demands was used to + complete the preparations for war which rejection would provoke. It was + not, however, against Serbia that the German moves were planned. She could + be left to Austria, while Germany dealt with the Powers which would + certainly be involved by the attack on Serbian independence. + </p> + <p> + The great Power immediately concerned was Russia, which had long aspired + to an outlet into European waters not blocked by winter ice or controlled + by Baltic States. For that and for the less interested reasons of religion + and racial sympathy she had fought scores of campaigns against the Turks + which culminated in the liberation of most of the Balkans in 1878; and she + could not stand idle while the fruits of her age-long efforts were + gathered by the Central Empires and she herself was cut off from the + Mediterranean by an obstacle more fatal than Turkish dominion in the form + of a Teutonic corridor from Berlin to Baghdad. Serbia, too, Orthodox in + religion and Slav in race, was more closely bound to Russia than was any + other Balkan State; and an attack on Serbia was a deadly affront to the + Russian Empire. It was not intended as anything else. Russia was slowly + recovering from her defeat in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 and from + the revolutionary outbreaks which had followed; and there was little doubt + that sooner or later she would seek compensation for the rebuffs she had + suffered from the mailed fist during her impotence. Conscience made + Germany sensitive to the Slav peril, and her militarist philosophy taught + her that the best defence was to get her blow in first. Her diplomacy in + July was directed towards combining this advantage with the appearance, + needed to bemuse her people and the world at large, of acting in + self-defence. + </p> + <p> + But Russia was the object of Germany's diplomatic activity rather than of + her military preparations. It was thought that Russia could not mobilize + in less than six weeks or strike effectively in less than two or three + months, and that that interval would suffice for the crushing of France, + who was bound by treaty to intervene if Russia were attacked. The German + mobilization was therefore directed first against France, defence against + Russia being left to second-line German troops and to an Austrian + offensive. The defeat of France was not, however, regarded by Germans as a + mere incident in a war against Russia; for it was a cardinal point in the + programme of the militarists, whose mind was indiscreetly revealed by + Bernhardi, that France must be so completely crushed that she could never + again cross Germany's path. To Frenchmen the war appeared to be mainly a + continuation of the national duel which had been waged since the sixteenth + century. To Great Britain it appeared, on the other hand, as the forcible + culmination of a new rivalry for colonial empire and the dominion of the + seas. But these were in truth but local aspects of a comprehensive German + ambition expressed in the antithesis <i>Weltmacht oder Niedergang</i>. + Bismarck had made the German Empire and raised it to the first place as a + European Power. Europe, it was discovered, was a small portion of the + globe; and Bismarck's successful methods were now to be used on a wider + scale to raise Germany to a similar predominance in the world. The Serbian + plot was merely the lever to set the whole machinery working, and German + activities all the world over from Belgrade and Petrograd to + Constantinople, Ulster, and Mexico were parts in a comprehensive piece. + </p> + <p> + But while the German sword was pointed everywhere, its hilt was in Berlin. + Prussia supplied the mind which conceived the policy and controlled its + execution; and in the circumstances of the Prussian Government must be + sought the mainspring of the war. The cause of the war was not the Serbian + imbroglio nor even German rivalry with Russia, France, or Britain. These + were the occasions of its outbreak and extension; but national rivalries + always exist and occasions for war are never wanting. They only result in + war when one of the parties to the dispute wants to break the peace; and + the Prussian will-to-war was due to the domestic situation of a Prussian + government which had been made by the sword and had realized before 1914 + that it could not be maintained without a further use of the sword. That + government was the work of Bismarck, who had been called to power in 1863 + to save the Hohenzollerns from subjection to Parliament and had found in + the Danish and Austrian wars of 1864 and 1866 the means of solving the + constitutional issue at Berlin. The cannon of Kniggratz proved more + convincing than Liberal arguments; and the methods of blood and iron, by + which Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon conquered Denmark, Austria, and France + and annexed to Prussia the greater part of German soil, impressed upon + Germany a constitution in which the rule of the sword was merely concealed + behind a skilfully emasculated parliamentary system. The Reichstag with + its universal suffrage was the scabbard of the Prussian sword, and it was + because the sword could not do the work required of it while it lay in the + scabbard that it was drawn in 1914. + </p> + <p> + Since 1871 the object of every Prussian Government had been to reconcile + the German people to the veiled rule of the sword by exhibiting results + which, it was contended, could not otherwise have been secured. Historians + dwelt on the failure of the German Parliament at Frankfurt to promote a + national unity which was left for Prussian arms to achieve, and + philosophers deduced from that example a comprehensive creed of might. + More material arguments were provided for the man in business and in the + street by the skilful activities of the Government in promoting trade, + industry, and social welfare; and the wealth, which would in any case have + accrued from the removal of the tariff-walls and other barriers between + the thirty-nine independent States of Germany, was credited to the + particular method of war by which the unification had been accomplished. + No State had hitherto made such economic progress as did the German Empire + in the generation after Metz and Sedan, and the success of their rulers + led most of the German people to place implicit reliance on the testimony + those rulers bore to the virtue of their means. The means did not, + however, commend themselves to the rest of the world with equal + conviction; and an increasing aversion to the mailed fist on the part of + other countries led to what Germans called the hostile encirclement of + their Fatherland. Gradually it became clearer that Prussian autocracy + could not reproduce in the sphere of world-ambitions the success which had + attended it in Germany unless it could reduce the world to the same + submission by the use of similar arguments. + </p> + <p> + But still the Prussian Government was driven towards imperialistic + expansion by the ever-increasing force of public opinion and popular + discontent. It could only purchase renewed leases of autocratic power at + home, with its perquisites for those who wielded and supported autocracy, + by feeding the minds of the people with diplomatic triumphs and their + bodies with new markets for commercial and industrial expansion; and the + incidents of military domination grew ever more irksome to the populace. + The middle classes were fairly content, and the parties which represented + them in the Reichstag offered no real opposition to Prussian ideas of + government. But the Social Democrats were more radical in their principles + and were regarded by Prussian statesmen as open enemies of the Prussian + State. Rather than submit to social democracy Prussians avowed their + intention of making war, and war abroad would serve their turn a great + deal better than civil strife. The hour was rapidly advancing two years + before the war broke out. The German rebuff over Agadir in 1911 was + followed by a general election in 1912 at which the Social Democrats + polled nearly a third of the votes and secured by far the largest + representation of any party in the Reichstag. In 1913, after a + particularly violent expression of militarism called "the Zabern + incident," the Reichstag summoned up courage for the first time in its + history to pass a vote of censure on the Government. The ground was + slipping from under the feet of Prussian militarism; it must either + fortify its position by fresh victories or take the risk of revolution. It + preferred the chances of European war, and found in the Serbian incident a + means of provoking a war the blame for which could be laid at others' + doors. + </p> + <p> + The German Kaiser played but a secondary part in these transactions. It is + true that the German constitution placed in his hands the command of the + German Army and Navy and the control of foreign policy; but no paper or + parchment could give him the intellect to direct the course of human + affairs. He had indeed dismissed Bismarck in 1890, but dropping the pilot + did not qualify him to guide the ship of state, and he was himself in 1906 + compelled to submit to the guidance of his ministers. The shallow waters + of his mind spread over too vast a sphere of activity to attain any depth, + and he had the foibles of Frederick the Great without his courage or his + capacity. His barbaric love of pomp betrayed the poverty of his spirit and + exhibited a monarchy reduced from power to a pageant. He was not without + his generous impulses or exalted sentiments, and there was no section of + the British public, from Mr. Ramsay Macdonald to Mr. Rudyard Kipling and + the "Daily Mail," to which one or other of his guises had not commended + itself; it pleased him to pose as the guardian of the peace of Europe, the + champion of civilization against the Boxers, and of society against red + revolution. But vanity lay at the root of all these manifestations, and he + took himself not less seriously as an arbiter of letters, art, and + religion than as a divinely appointed ruler of the State. The many parts + he played were signs of versatile emotion rather than of power; and his + significance in history is that he was the crest of a wave, its + superficial froth and foam without its massive strength. A little man in a + great position, he was powerless to ride the whirlwind or direct the + storm, and he figured largely in the public eye because he vented through + an imperial megaphone the fleeting catchwords of the vulgar mind. + </p> + <p> + After Agadir he had often been called a coward behind his back, and it was + whispered that his throne would be in danger if that surrender were + repeated. He had merited these reproaches because no one had done more + than he to inflate the arrogance of his people, and his eldest son took + the lead in exasperating public opinion behind the scenes. The + militarists, with considerable backing from financial and commercial + groups, were bent on war, and war appeals to the men in the streets of all + but the weakest countries. The mass of the people had not made up their + mind for a war that was not defensive; but modern governments have ample + means for tuning public opinion, and with a people so accustomed as the + Germans to accept the truth from above, their rulers would have little + difficulty, when once they had agreed upon war, in representing it as one + of defence. It is, however, impossible to say when, if ever, the rulers of + Germany agreed to attack; and to the last the Imperial Chancellor, + Bethmann-Hollweg, struggled to delay if not to avert the breach. But he + gradually lost his grip on the Kaiser. The decisive factor in the + Emperor's mind may have been the rout in 1912-13 of the Turks, on whom + Germany had staked her credit in return for control of the Berlin-Baghdad + route; for the free Balkan confederation, which loomed on the horizon, + would bar for ever German expansion towards the East. The Balkan States + themselves provided the German opportunity; the Treaty of Bukarest in 1913 + entrenched discord in their hearts and reopened a path for German ambition + and intrigue. Austria, not without the usual instigation, proposed to + Italy a joint attack upon Serbia; the offer was not accepted, but by the + winter of 1913-14 the Kaiser had gone over to the party which had resolved + upon war and was seeking an occasion to palliate the cause. + </p> + <p> + The immeasurable distance between the cause and the occasion was shown by + the fact that Belgium was the first to suffer in an Austro-Serbian + dispute; and the universal character of the issue was foreshadowed by the + breach of its neutrality. Germany would not have planned for two years + past an offensive through that inoffensive, unconcerned, and distant + country, had the cause of the war been a murder at Serajevo. The cause was + a comprehensive determination on the German part to settle international + issues by the sword, and it involved the destinies of civilization. The + blow was aimed directly or indirectly at the whole world, and Germany's + only prospect of success lay in the chance that most of the world would + fail to perceive its implications or delay too long its effective + intervention. It was the defect of her self-idolatry and concentration + that she could not develop an international mind or fathom the mentality + of other peoples. She could not conceive how England would act on a "scrap + of paper," and never dreamt of American participation. But she saw that + Russia and France would inevitably and immediately be involved in war by + the attempt at armed dictation in the Balkans, and that the issue would + decide the fate of Europe. The war would therefore be European and could + only be won by the defeat of France and Russia. Serbia would be merely the + scene of local and unimportant operations, and, Russia being the slower to + move, the bulk of the German forces were concentrated on the Rhine for the + purpose of overwhelming France. + </p> + <p> + The condition of French politics was one of the temptations which led the + Prussian militarists to embark upon the hazard. France had had her + troubles with militarism, and its excesses over the Dreyfus case had + produced a reaction from which both the army command and its political + ally the Church had suffered. A wave of national secularism carried a law + against ecclesiastical associations which drove religious orders from + France, and international Socialism found vent in a pacifist agitation + against the terms of military service. A rapid succession of unstable + ministries, which the group system in French parliamentary politics + encouraged, militated against sound and continuous administration; and in + April 1914 a series of revelations in the Senate had thrown an unpleasant + light upon the efficiency of the army organization. On military grounds + alone there was much to be said for the German calculation that in six + weeks the French armies could be crushed and Paris reached. But the + Germans paid the French the compliment of believing that this success + could not be achieved before Russia made her weight felt, unless the + Germans broke the international guarantees on which the French relied, and + sought in Belgium an easier and less protected line of advance than + through the Vosges. + </p> + <p> + For that crime public opinion was not prepared either in France or + England, but it had for two years at least been the settled policy of the + German military staff, and it had even been foretold in England a year + before that the German attack would proceed by way of Lige and Namur. + There had also been military "conversations" between Belgian and British + officers with regard to possible British assistance in the event of + Germany's violation of Belgian neutrality. But the Belgian Ministry was + naturally reluctant to proceed far on that assumption, which might have + been treated as an insult by an honest or dishonest German Government; and + it was impossible for England to press its assistance upon a neutralized + State which could not even discuss it without casting a slur upon the + honour of its most powerful neighbour. Nor was England bound by treaty to + defend the neutrality of Belgium. She had been so bound by a treaty + concluded during the Franco-Prussian War; but that treaty expired in the + following year, and the treaty of 1839, which regulated the international + situation of Belgium, merely bound the five great signatory Powers not to + violate Belgian neutrality without obliging them individually or + collectively to resist its violation. It was not in fact regarded in 1839 + as conceivable that any of the Great Powers would ever violate so solemn a + pledge, and there was some complacent satisfaction that by thus + neutralizing a land which had for centuries been the cockpit of Europe, + the Powers had laid the foundations of permanent peace. But the bond of + international morality was loosened during the next half-century, and in + the eighties even English newspapers argued in favour of a German + right-of-way through Belgium for the purposes of war with France. It does + not appear that the treaty was ever regarded as a serious obstacle by the + German military staff; for neither treaties nor morality belong to the + curricula of military science which had concluded that encirclement was + the only way to defeat a modern army, and that through Belgium alone could + the French defence be encircled. The Chancellor admitted that technically + Germany was wrong, and promised full reparation after the war. But he was + never forgiven the admission, even by German jurists, who argued that + treaties were only binding <i>rebus sic stantibus</i>, while the + conditions in which they were signed remained substantially the same; and + Germans had long cast covetous eyes on the Congo State, the possession of + which, they contended, was inconsistent with Belgium's legal immunity from + attack in Europe. + </p> + <p> + The opposition of Bethmann-Hollweg and the German foreign office was + accordingly brushed aside, and the army made all preparations for an + invasion of France through Belgium. The diplomatists would have made a + stouter resistance had they anticipated the attitude England was to adopt. + But the German ambassador in London, Prince Lichnowsky, failed to convince + his Government that there was anything to fear from the British Empire. + Mr. Lloyd George has claimed it as one of the advantages we derive from + the British press that it misleads public opinion abroad, and a study of + "The Times," the only British newspaper that carries much weight in + foreign countries, may well have persuaded the German Government in 1914 + that eight years of Liberal administration were not likely to have + provided England with the means, or left it the spirit, to challenge the + might of Germany. She was known to have entered into no binding alliance + with France or Russia; the peace had never in all their history been + broken between the two great Protestant Powers; and, while there had been + serious naval and colonial rivalry and some diplomatic friction, relations + in 1913-14 seemed to have entered calmer waters. Germany had been well + satisfied with the efforts and sacrifices England had made to prevent the + Balkan crisis from developing into a European war; and Lichnowsky was + successfully negotiating treaties which gave Germany unexpected advantages + with regard to the Baghdad railway and African colonization. On the eve of + war the English were hailed as cousins in Berlin, and the earliest draft + of the German official apology, intended for American consumption, spoke + of Great Britain and Germany labouring shoulder to shoulder to preserve + the peace against Russian aggression. The anger of the Kaiser, the + agitation of the Chancellor, and the fury of the populace when England + declared war showed that Germany had no present intention of adding the + British Empire to her list of enemies and little fear that it would + intervene unless it were attacked. Any anxiety she may have felt was + soothed by the studied assumption that England's desire, if any, to + intervene would be effectively checked by her domestic situation. Agents + from Ulster were buying munitions to fight Home Rule with official + connivance in Germany, and it was confidently expected that war would + shake a ramshackle British Empire to its foundations; there would be + rebellions in Ireland, India, and South Africa, and the self-governing + Dominions would at least refuse to participate in Great Britain's European + adventures. In such circumstances "the flannelled fool at the wicket and + the muddied oaf at the goal" might be trusted to hug his island security + and stick to his idle sports; and the most windy and patriotic of popular + British weeklies was at the end of July placarding the streets of London + with the imprecation "To hell with Servia." + </p> + <p> + The object of German diplomacy was to avoid offence to British + susceptibilities, and the first requisite was to keep behind the scenes. + The Kaiser went off on a yachting cruise to Norway, where, however, he was + kept in constant touch with affairs, while Austria on 23 July presented + her ultimatum to the Serbian Government. The terms amounted to a demand + for the virtual surrender of Serbian independence, and were in fact + intended to be rejected. Serbia, however, acting on Russian and other + advice, accepted them all except two, which she asked should be referred + to the Hague Tribunal. Austria refused on the ground that the dispute was + not of a justiciable nature; and the meagre five days' grace having + expired on the 28th, Austrian troops crossed the Save and occupied + Belgrade, the Serbians withdrawing without resistance. Meanwhile feverish + activity agitated the chancelleries of Europe. The terms of the ultimatum + had been discussed by the British Cabinet on Friday the 24th, and the + British Fleet, which had been reviewed at Spithead on the previous + Saturday, was, instead of dispersing at Portland, kept together, and then, + on the 29th, dispatched to its war stations in the North Sea. + Simultaneously the German High Seas Fleet withdrew on the 26th to Kiel and + Wilhelmshaven. Russia replied to the Austrian invasion of Serbia by + mobilizing her southern command and extending the mobilization, as the + hand of Germany became more apparent, to her northern armies. Sir Edward + Grey made unceasing efforts to avert the clash of arms by peaceable + negotiation, and proposed a conference of the four Great Powers not + immediately concerned in the dispute--Germany, France, Italy, and Great + Britain. Germany, knowing that she would stand alone in the conference, + declined. The dispute, she pretended, was merely a local affair between + Austria and Serbia, in which no other Power had the right to intervene. + But she refused to localize the dispute to the extent of regarding it as a + Balkan conflict between the interests of Austria and Russia. Austria was + less unyielding when it became evident that Russia would draw the sword + rather than acquiesce in Serbia's subjection, and on the 30th it seemed + that the way had been opened for a settlement by direct negotiation + between Vienna and Petrograd. At that moment Germany threw off the + diplomatic disguise of being a pacific second to her Austrian friend, and + cut the web of argument by an ultimatum to Russia on the 31st. Fear lest + the diplomatists should baulk them of their war had already led the German + militarists to publish in their press the unauthorized news of a complete + German mobilization, and on 1-2 August German armies crossed the + frontiers. It was not till some days later that war was declared between + Austria and any of the Allies; the war from first to last was made in + Germany. + </p> + <p> + Throughout that week-end the British Cabinet remained in anxious conclave. + The Unionist leaders early assured it of their support in any measures + they might think fit to take to vindicate Great Britain's honour and + obligations; but they could not relieve it of its own responsibility, and + the question did not seem as easy to answer as it has done since the + conduct of Germany and the nature of her ambitions have been revealed. A + purely Balkan conflict did not appear to be an issue on which to stake the + fortunes of the British Empire. We were not even bound to intervene in a + trial of strength between the Central Empires and Russia and France, for + on 1 August Italy decided that the action of the Central Empires was + aggressive and that therefore she was not required by the Triple Alliance + to participate. There had in the past been a tendency on the part of + France to use both the Russian alliance and English friendship for + purposes in Morocco and elsewhere which had not been quite relished in + England; and intervention in continental wars between two balanced + alliances would have found few friends but for recent German chauvinism. + It might well seem that in the absence of definite obligations and after + having exhausted all means of averting war, Great Britain was entitled to + maintain an attitude of benevolent neutrality, reserving her efforts for a + later period when better prepared she might intervene with greater effect + between the exhausted belligerents. + </p> + <p> + Such arguments, if they were used, were swept aside by indignation at + Germany's conduct. Doubts might exist of the purely defensive intentions + of France and Russia; each State had its ultra-patriots who had done their + best to give away their country's case; and if Russia was suspect of + Panslavist ambition, France was accused of building up a colonial empire + in North Africa in order to throw millions of coloured troops into the + scale for the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine. But no such charge could be + brought against Belgium. She had no interest and no intention but to live + in peace with her neighbours, and that peace had been guaranteed her by + international contract. If such a title to peace was insecure there could + be no security for the world and nothing but subservience for little + nations. The public sense which for a century had been accustomed to + welcome national independence wherever it raised its head--in Greece, the + Balkans, Italy, Hungary, Poland, the South American Republics--revolted at + its denial to Belgium in the interest of German military aggression; and + censure of the breach of international contract was converted to passion + by the wrong wantonly done to a weak and peaceful by a mighty and + ambitious Power. Great Britain was not literally bound to intervene; but + if ever there was a moral obligation on a country, it lay upon her now, + and the instant meeting of that obligation implied an instinctive + recognition of the character of the war that was to be fought. Mixed and + confused though the national issues might be in various quarters, the war, + so far as concerned the two Powers who were to be mainly instrumental in + its winning, was a civil war of mankind to determine the principle upon + which international relations should repose. + </p> + <p> + That issue was not for every one to see, and there were many to whom the + struggle was merely national rivalry in which the interests of England + happened to coincide with those of France and in which we should have + intervened just the same without any question of Belgium's neutrality. + Whether it might have been so can never be determined. But it is certain + that no such struggle would have enlisted the united sympathies and + whole-hearted devotion of the British realms, still less those of the + United States, and in it we might well have been defeated. From that + division and possible defeat we and the world were saved by Germany's + decision that military advantage outweighed moral considerations. The + invasion of Belgium and Luxemburg united the British Empire on the + question of intervention. Three ministers alone out of more than + forty--Lord Morley, Mr. John Burns, and Mr. C. P. Trevelyan--dissented + from the Cabinet's decision, and the minority in the nation was of still + more slender proportions. Parliament supported the Ministry without a + division when on 4 August England declared war. + </p> + <p> + Had we counted the cost? the German Chancellor asked our ambassador in + Berlin on the eve of the declaration. The cost would not have affected our + decision, but it was certainly not anticipated, and the Entente was + ill-prepared to cope with the strength displayed by Germany. The British + Navy was, indeed, as ready as the German Army, and the command of the sea + passed automatically into our hands when the German Fleet withdrew from + the North Sea on 26 July. But for that circumstance not a single division + could have been sent across the sea, and the war would have been over in a + few months. Nor was the British Army unprepared for the task that had been + allotted to it in anticipation. It was the judgment not only of our own + but of Allied Staffs that an expeditionary force of six divisions would + suffice to balance German superiority in the West; and that force, + consisting of better material better trained than any other army in the + field, was in its place in the line of battle hundreds of miles from its + base within three weeks of the declaration of war. The real miscalculation + was of the respective strength of France and Germany, and no one had + foreseen that it would ultimately require three times the force that + France could put in the field to liberate French soil from the German + invader. The National Service League would have provided us with a large + army; but even its proposals were vitiated by their assumption that these + forces were needed to do the navy's work of home-defence, and by the + absence of provision for munitions, without which sending masses of men + into battle was sending them to useless slaughter. Time was needed to + remedy these miscalculations, but time was provided by our command of the + sea, about which there had been no misjudgment and no lack of pre-vision. + We made our mistakes before, and during the war, but neither Mr. Asquith's + Governments nor that of his successor need fear comparison with those of + our Allies or our enemies on that account; and it is merely a modest + foible of the people, which has hardly lost a war for nearly four hundred + years, to ascribe its escape to fortune, and to envy the prescience and + the science which have lightened the path of its enemies to destruction. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map01.png"><img src="images/map01s.png" width="476" + height="555" alt="The German Invasion Of France" /></a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter02" id="chapter02"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <h3> + THE GERMAN INVASION + </h3> + <p> + Germany began the war on the Western front before it was declared, and on + 1-2 August German cavalry crossed the French frontier between Luxemburg + and Switzerland at three points in the direction of Longwy, Lunville, and + Belfort. But these were only feints designed to prolong the delusion that + Germany would attack on the only front legitimately open to warfare and to + delay the reconstruction of the French defence required to meet the real + offensive. The reasons for German strategy were conclusive to the General + Staff, and they were frankly explained by Bethmann-Hollweg to the British + ambassador. There was no time to lose if France was to be defeated before + an effective Russian move, and time would be lost by a frontal attack. The + best railways and roads from Berlin to Paris ran through Belgium; the + Vosges protected more than half of the French frontier south of Luxemburg, + Belfort defended the narrow gap between them and Switzerland, and even the + wider thirty miles' gap between the northern slopes of the Vosges and + Luxemburg was too narrow for the deployment of Germany's strength; the way + was also barred by the elaborate fortifications of Verdun, Toul, and + Nancy. Strategy pointed conclusively to the Belgian route, and its + advantages were clinched by the fact that France was relying on the + illusory scrap of paper. Her dispositions assumed an attack in Lorraine, + and her northern fortifications round Lille, Maubeuge, and Hirson were + feeble compared with those of Belfort, Toul, and Verdun. Given a rapid and + easy march through Belgium, the German armies would turn the left flank of + the French defence and cut it off from the capital. Hence the resistance + of Belgium had a great military importance apart from its moral value. To + its lasting honour the Belgian Government had scorned the German proposal + for connivance even in the attractive form which would have limited the + German use of Belgian territory to the eastern bank of the Meuse. + </p> + <p> + Haste and contempt for the Belgian Army, whose imperfect organization was + due to a natural reliance on the neutrality which Germany had guaranteed, + accounted for the first derangement of German plans. The invasion began + towards Vis, near the Dutch frontier where the direct road from Aix to + Brussels crosses the Meuse, but the main advance-guard followed the trunk + railway from Berlin to Paris via Venders and Lige. It was, however, + inadequately mobilized and equipped, and was only intended to clear away + an opposition which was not expected to be serious. The Belgians fought + more stubbornly than was anticipated; and aided by Brialmont's + fortification of Lige, although his plans for defence were not properly + executed, they held up the Germans for two days in front of the city. It + was entered on 7 August, but its fall did not give the Germans the free + passage they wanted; for the forts on the heights to the north commanded + the railway, and the Germans contented themselves with bringing up their + transport and 11 2 in. howitzers. Brialmont had not foreseen the explosive + force of modern shells, and two days' bombardment on the 13th-15th reduced + the remaining forts, in spite of their construction underground, to a mass + of shell-holes with a handful of wounded or unconscious survivors. The + last to be reduced was Fort Loncin, whose gallant commander, General + Leman, was found poisoned and half-dead from suffocation. He had succeeded + in delaying the German advance for a momentous week. + </p> + <p> + No more could be done with the forces at his disposal, and the German + masses of infantry were pouring across the Meuse at Vis, towards Lige by + Verviers, up the right bank of the Meuse towards Namur, and farther south + through the Ardennes. The German cavalry which spread over the country + east and north-east of Brussels and was sometimes repulsed by the + Belgians, was merely a screen, which defective air-work failed to + penetrate, and the frequent engagements were merely the brushes of + outposts. Within a week from the fall of Fort Loncin half of Belgium was + overrun and the real menace revealed. Belgium was powerless before the + avalanche, and its only hope lay in France. But the French Army was still + mobilizing on its northern front, and its incursions into Alsace and + Lorraine did nothing to relieve the pressure. The Belgians had to fall + back towards Antwerp, uncovering Brussels, which was occupied by the + Germans on the 20th and mulcted in a preliminary levy of eight million + pounds, and leaving to the fortifications of Namur the task of barring the + German advance to the northern frontiers of France. Namur proved a broken + reed. The troops which paraded through Brussels with impressive pomp and + regularity were only a detail of the extreme right wing of the invading + force; the mass was advancing along the north bank of the Meuse and + overrunning the whole of Belgium south and east of the river. On the 15th + an attempt to seize Dinant and the river crossing above Namur was repulsed + by French artillery; but there was apparently no cavalry to follow up this + success, and the Germans were allowed to bring up their heavy howitzers + for the bombardment of Namur without disturbance. It began on the 20th, + and, unsupported by the Allied assistance for which they looked, the + Belgians were panic-stricken; on the 23rd the city and most of the forts + were in German hands though two resisted until the 26th. The Germans had + not, as at Lige, wasted their infantry in premature attacks, and with + little loss to them, a fortress reputed impregnable had been captured, the + greater part of the southern Belgian Army destroyed, and the provisional + plan of French defence frustrated. The fall of Namur was the first + resounding success of the Germans in the war. + </p> + <p> + Its loss was not redeemed by the French offensive in Alsace and Lorraine. + On 7 August a weak French force advanced through the Belfort gap and, + finding still weaker forces to oppose it, proceeded to occupy Altkirch and + Mulhouse, while a proclamation by General Joffre announced the approaching + liberation of the provinces torn from France in 1870. It was a feeble and + ill-conceived effort to snatch a political advantage out of a forbidding + military situation. German reinforcements swept up from Colmar and Neu + Breisach, and on the both the French were back within a few miles of the + frontier, leaving their sympathizers to the vengeance of their enemies. + More legitimate though not more successful was the French thrust in + Lorraine. It had other motives than the political: it would, if pushed + home, menace the left of the German armies in Belgium and disturb their + communications; and a smaller success would avert the danger of a German + advance in Lorraine which would threaten the right of the French on the + Meuse. Accordingly, Generals Pau and de Castelnau, commanding the armies + of Alsace and Lorraine respectively, ordered a general advance on the + 10th. At first it met with success: the chief passes of the Vosges from + Mt. Donon on the north to the Belfort gap were seized; counter-thrusts by + the Germans towards Spincourt and Blamont in the plain of Lorraine were + parried; Thann was captured, Mulhouse was re-occupied, and the Germans + looked like losing Alsace as far north as Colmar. German Lorraine seemed + equally insecure, for on the 18th Castelnau's troops were in Saarburg + cutting the rail and roads between Strassburg and Metz. The Germans, + however, were not unprepared: their Fifth Army, under the Crown Prince + Rupprecht of Bavaria, came down from Metz and fell upon the exposed French + left, which was routed with great losses in guns and prisoners on the + 21st. Not only did the invasion collapse, but the Bavarians pushed across + the French frontier nearly as far as Toul and occupied Lunville, + compelling also a French retreat from the passes of the Vosges. General + Pau had soon to follow suit and retire again from Mulhouse and all but the + south-west corner of Alsace. + </p> + <p> + The operations in Alsace and Lorraine had dismally failed to discount the + advance of the Germans through Belgium or even to impede the march of + their centre through Luxemburg and the Ardennes. At the end of three weeks + France was still in the throes of mobilization: the original scheme of + defence along the Franco-German frontier had been upset by the German + attack through Belgium; and second thoughts had fared little better at + Namur. The shortest line of defence after the Germans had broken through + at Lige was one running from Antwerp to Namur, and the shortest line is + imperative for the weaker combatant. But the Germans were well across it + when they entered Brussels, and with the fall of Namur the hinge upon + which depended the defence of the northern frontier of France was broken. + It was to an almost forlorn hope that the British Army was committed when + it took its place on the left of the French northern armies at Mons to + encounter for the first time since Waterloo the shock of a first-rate + European force. But for its valour and the distraction caused by the + Russian invasion of East Prussia, Paris and possibly the French armies + might not have been saved. + </p> + <p> + It was a meagre force for so great a responsibility, but far from the + "contemptible little army" it was falsely believed to have been called by + the Kaiser. The men were all volunteers who had enlisted for seven years' + service with the colours as against the three years' service of the + Germans and the French; and on an average they had seen far more actual + fighting than the Germans, who contemptuously dismissed this experience as + colonial warfare. If in the science of tactics and strategy the British + was inferior to the German Army, its marksmanship and individual + steadiness were unequalled; and under anything like equal conditions + British troops proved themselves the better men. But the conditions were + never equal during the first two years of the war owing to the German + superiority in numbers and in artillery; and there was a third cause of + inequality due to the different military systems of the two countries. + Universal service enabled Germany to select the ablest men--at least from + the middle and upper classes--to officer and command her armies. In + England before the war only an infinitesimal fraction of her youthful + ability found its way into the army. Independent means and social position + rather than brains were the common qualifications for a commission; and + what there was to be said for such a system so long as fighting was mainly + a matter of physical courage and individual leadership lost its validity + when war became a matter of science and mechanical ingenuity. The fact + that four of the six British army-commanders (Plumer, Byng, Rawlinson, + Cavan) in the West at the end of the war were old Etonians, testifies to + more things than their military skill; and it was a characteristic irony + that from first to last the British armies should have been commanded by + cavalry officers in a war in which cavalry played hardly any part. + </p> + <p> + The commander-in-chief was Sir John French, who had made his reputation as + a cavalry leader in the Boer War and had been chief of the imperial staff + since 1911. As inspector-general of the forces from 1907 to 1911 he had a + good deal to do with Lord Haldane's reorganization of the British Army, + and as chief of the staff he was largely responsible for the equipment of + the Expeditionary Force and the agreement with the French Government with + regard to its dimensions and the way in which it should be used. He was + the obvious general to command it when it came to the test. With similar + unanimity the popular voice approved of the appointment of Lord Kitchener + as Secretary of State for War on 5 August. The Expeditionary Force + consisted of three army corps, each comprising two divisions, and a + cavalry division under Allenby. The First Army Corps was commanded by Sir + Douglas Haig, the youngest lieutenant-general in the army, and the second + by Sir James Grierson, its most accomplished student. Unhappily Grierson + died suddenly soon after the landing, and he was succeeded by Sir H. + Smith-Dorrien, who, like French, had made his name in South Africa. The + Third Corps, under Sir W. Pulteney, came later into the field. The + embarkation began on 7 August, less than three days after war had been + declared, and the Government showed a sound confidence in our + little-understood command of the sea when it risked the whole of our + effective fighting force by sending it across the Channel to assist the + French and thus abandoning the defence of British shores to the British + Navy. By the 16th the transportation had been accomplished without a hitch + or loss of any kind. It was an achievement which even domestic faction + failed to belittle until time itself had effaced it from popular + recollection. + </p> + <p> + From Boulogne and from other ports the troops were sent up to the wavering + line of battle along the Franco-Belgian frontier. They came not to win a + victory but to save an army from disaster. The mass of French reserves + were in Lorraine or far away to the south, and the safety of the French + line on the northern front had depended upon the assumed impregnability of + Namur and an equally fallacious underestimate of the number of German + troops in Belgium. Three French armies, the Third, the Fourth, and the + Fifth, were strung along the frontier from Montmdy across the Meuse and + the Sambre to a point north-west of Charleroi, where the British took up + their position stretching through Binche, Mons, and along the canal from + Mons to Cond. Far away to the south-west was a French Territorial corps + in front of Arras, and at Maubeuge behind the British centre was a French + cavalry corps under General Sordet. The French staff anticipated a defeat + of the German attack on these lines and then a successful offensive, and + military critics in England even wrote of the hopeless position of the + Germans under Von Buelow and Von Kluck thrust far forward into a <i>cul-de-sac</i> + in Belgium with the French on their left at Charleroi, the British on + their right front at Mons, and the Belgians on their right rear before + Antwerp. The German calculation was that the Belgians had been effectively + masked by a corps detached north-westwards from Brussels, that the Duke of + Wrttemberg and Von Hausen had troops enough to force the Meuse, drive in + the French right, and threaten the centre at Charleroi, and that Von + Buelow could cross the Sambre and Von Kluck encircle the British flank. + The strength which the Germans developed in Belgium and the extension of + their right wing are said to have been an afterthought due to the + intervention of the British Expeditionary Force; but the original German + plan required some such modification when the presence of British troops + lengthened the line of French defence. + </p> + <p> + The first two army corps, under Haig to the right and Smith-Dorrien to the + left, were in position on Saturday the 22nd hard at work throwing up + entrenchments and clearing the ground of obstacles to their fire. That day + was more eventful for the French, and it is not quite clear why they were + not assisted by a British offensive on their left. On the right, the Third + and Fourth French armies under Ruffey and Langle de Cary had advanced from + the Meuse to attack the Germans across the Semois. They were severely + checked and withdrew behind the Meuse, while an unsuspected army of Saxons + under Von Hausen attacked the right flank of the Fifth French army under + Lanrezac which lay along the Sambre with its right flank resting on the + Meuse. The fall of Namur in the angle of the two rivers made Von Hausen's + task comparatively easy, and the Fifth army, which was also attacked by + Von Buelow in front, fell back in some confusion. A breach was thus made + in the French line, and Von Hausen turned left to roll up the Fourth and + Third armies of Langle de Cary and Ruffey; they, too, in their turn retreated + in some haste, and the Germans were free to concentrate on the British. + They had cleared their left and centre of danger, and Von Kluck was able + on the 23rd not only to face our troops with superior forces in front, but + to outflank them towards the west and bring Von Buelow down upon them from + Charleroi on the east. He had at least four army corps with which to crush + the British two, and our 75,000 men were spread out on a line of + twenty-five miles thinner far than the French line just broken at + Charleroi. Finally, owing to defective staff-work and the confusion of the + French retreat, they were left in utter ignorance of what had happened, + and faced the German attack as if they were part of one unbroken front + instead of being a fragment round which the tide of battle surged, and + under the impression conveyed to them on their arrival at the scene of + action that their opponents numbered little more than one or at most two + army corps. + </p> + <p> + Fighting began at 12.40 p.m. on Sunday the 23rd with a bombardment from + between five and six hundred German guns along the whole twenty-five miles + of front. It did surprisingly little damage in spite of the spotting by + German aeroplanes; and when the German infantry came forward in massed + formation, they discovered that their shelling had had no effect upon the + moral of our troops or the accuracy of their rifle-fire. The Germans + fought, of course, with obstinate courage and advanced again and again + into the murderous fire of our rifles and machine guns and against + occasional bayonet charges. But their own shooting went to pieces under + the stress, and the frontal attack was a failure. Success there could not, + however, ward off Von Buelow's threat to our right flank, and under the + converging pressure Binche and then Mons itself had to be evacuated. But + it was the long-delayed news of the French defeat and withdrawal on the + whole of the rest of the line, coupled with more accurate information + about the size of the German force, that determined the abandonment of the + British position. Sir John French had to hold on till nightfall, but + orders were given to prepare the way for retreat. The weary troops were to + have a few hours' rest and start at daybreak. Their retreat was covered by + a counter-attack soon after dawn by the First Division on the right which + suggested to the Germans that we had been strongly reinforced and intended + an offensive. Meanwhile Smith-Dorrien moved back five miles from the + Canal, and then stood to protect the withdrawal of the First Division + after its feint attack. It was a heavy task, and the 9th Lancers suffered + severely in an attempt to hold up the Germans at Audregnies. But by Monday + afternoon Haig's First Army Corps was back on the line between Maubeuge + and Bavai, and Smith-Dorrien fell into line from Bavai westwards to Bry. + </p> + <p> + The design was to offer a second battle in this position, and + entrenchments were begun. The fortress of Maubeuge and the Sambre gave + some protection to the British right, but the Sambre was only of use in + front if the Meuse was held by the French on the right and Von Kluck could + not outflank on the left. Neither of these conditions was fulfilled: Von + Kluck had seized Tournai and captured the whole of the French Territorial + brigade which attempted to defend it, while the Meuse had been forced and + the three French armies were in full retreat. A battle on the Maubeuge-Bry + line would invite an encirclement from which the British had barely + escaped at Mons, and the retreat was reluctantly continued to Le Cateau. + Marching, the First Army Corps along the east of the Forest of Mormal and + the Second along the west, our troops reached at nightfall on the 25th a + line running from Maroilles through Landrecies and Le Cateau to + Serainvilliers near Cambrai; but they had little rest. About 10 p.m., amid + rain and darkness, the Germans got into Landrecies. In the fierce + hand-to-hand struggle which ensued, the individual resourcefulness of our + men gave them the advantage, and the Germans were driven out by + detachments of the Grenadier, Coldstream, and 1st Irish Guards. They were + simultaneously repulsed at Maroilles with some French assistance; but + daybreak saw a third and more powerful attack delivered on Le Cateau. Sir + John French had told Smith-Dorrien the night before that he was risking a + second Sedan by a stand. But Smith-Dorrien thought he had no option. For + eight hours on the 26th his men, reinforced by Snow's Division, but + outnumbered in guns by nearly four to one, held their own, until another + envelopment was threatened by Von Kluck. Fortunately the struggle had + apparently exhausted the Germans; Sordet's cavalry had ridden across + Smith-Dorrien's front and protected his left from envelopment; and the + remnants of the three divisions were able to withdraw. The retreat was + harrowing enough, and the 1st Gordons, missing their way in the dark, fell + into the hands of the Germans and were all killed, wounded, or taken + prisoners. But Le Cateau had taken the sting out of the German pursuit, + and touch was at last regained with French forces to the east, with a + newly-formed corps under D'Amade to the west, and with a Sixth French army + which Maunoury was collecting on the Somme. On the evening of Friday the + 28th Smith-Dorrien reached the Oise between Chauny and Noyon and Haig at + La Fre. The First Army Corps had marched by Guise; the loss of a + detachment of Munsters by misadventure early on the 27th was redeemed by + the defeat on the 28th of two German columns by two brigades of Allenby's + cavalry led by Gough and Chetwode. That night the Expeditionary Force had + its first real sleep since Sunday, and next day there were no marching + orders. + </p> + <p> + The British Army had saved itself and a good deal else by its courage, + skill, and, above all, its endurance. But there was much that was lost in + men, material, and ground. The fortification of the French frontier south + and west of Mons was obsolete, and the country had been denuded of troops + save a few Territorials in the process of mobilization. Maubeuge was the + only fortress that made a stand, and Uhlans swept across Belgium as far as + the Lys and down upon Lille and Arras with the object of cutting + communications between the British Army and its bases at Boulogne and + Dieppe. Some resistance was offered at Bapaume, where the arrival of a + British detachment delayed the German advance until Amiens had been + evacuated and the rolling stock removed. But the threat was sufficiently + serious to induce Sir John French to move his base as far south as St. + Nazaire at the mouth of the Loire, and the Germans could, had they been so + minded, have occupied the Channel ports as far as the Seine. But they were + not calculating on a long war or a serious contest with British forces for + the control of Flanders, and their object was to destroy the French armies + and dictate a peace at Paris before the autumn leaves began to fall. + </p> + <p> + They seemed to be making excellent progress towards that end. Sir J. + French, indeed, took a sombre view of our losses at Le Cateau, and + apparently it needed a visitation from Lord Kitchener on 1st September to + retain the British Army in co-operation with the French. The fall of + Namur, the battles of Charleroi and Mons, and the defeat of the French on + the Semois were followed by the rout of Ruffey's and Langle's armies on + the Meuse. They stretched north-westwards from Montmdy by way of Sedan + and Mezires down the Meuse towards Dinant and Namur. But their left flank + had been turned by Von Hausen's victory and the fall of Namur; and on the + 27th Von Hausen, wheeling to his left, rolled up the French left wing + while the Duke of Wrttemberg and the Crown Prince attacked all along the + front. Ruffey had to seek safety in the Argonne, while Langle's army made + for Rethel on the Aisne. On the 28th Longwy, the last French fortress + north of Verdun, capitulated after a stout resistance. The defence of the + frontier had collapsed, and the hopes that were entertained of resistance + along the upper Aisne and thence by Laon and La Fre towards St. Quentin, + proved delusive. Lanrezac's Fifth army turned on the 29th between Vervins + and Ribemont, and near Guise inflicted on the Germans the most serious + check to their advance. This reaction was not helped by the British + retreat on Lanrezac's left, and its principal value was to protect that + withdrawal. Nor was it better supported on the right. The Third and Fourth + French armies were too severely hustled in their retreat to make a stand, + and the reserves were still far away to the south. On the 28th-29th the + Aisne was forced at Rethel, and Reims and Chalons were abandoned to the + enemy; and La Fre and Laon followed on the 30th. + </p> + <p> + The British fell back from the Aisne and the Oise through the forests of + Villers-Cotterets and Compigne towards the Marne. At Nry on 1 September + a battery of Royal Horse Artillery was almost wiped out, and the guns were + only saved by a gallant cavalry charge of the 1st Brigade; and on the same + day a hard rearguard defence had to be fought by the 4th Guards Brigade. + On the 3rd they reached the Marne, but it too was abandoned farther east + without resistance, and on the 5th the Expeditionary Force was + concentrated behind the Grand Morin. A retreat, upon the successful + conduct of which depended the existence of the Force, the security of + France, and the cause of the Entente, had been successfully accomplished + by the skill of its commanders and still more by the fortitude and + unquenchable spirit of the men. The French, too, showed a steadiness in + misfortune for which their enemies had not looked; their reverses had been + more severe, and their preparation less complete than our own, and a high + morale was required for armies to react against such a run of ill-success + with the effectiveness that was presently displayed upon the Marne. + </p> + <p> + A public on both sides of the Channel which was unfamiliar with the + elements of military science and history, looked, as soon as it was + allowed to learn the facts about the German advance, for the investment of + Paris and regarded the French capital as the objective of the German + invasion. But Napoleon's maxim that fortresses are captured on the field + of battle was even truer in 1914 than it was a century earlier; for only + the dispersal of the enemy enables an army to bring up the heavy artillery + needed to batter down modern fortifications, and the great war saw no + sieges worth the name because, the armies being once driven off, no forts + could stand prolonged bombardment by the artillery which followed in the + victor's train. The cities that suffered were not isolated units, they + were merely knotty points in the lines of battle, and there could be no + siege of Paris so long as Joffre's armies kept in line along the Marne or + anywhere in contact with the capital. There was therefore no change of + plan and no mystery when Von Kluck's right veered in the direction of its + advance from south-west to south and then south-east. It was both avoiding + an obstacle and pursuing its original design of outflanking the Entente's + left. Not that Paris was without its strategic value. It and the line of + the Seine impeded the encirclement, offered a nucleus of resistance, and + provided a screen behind which could be organized a blow against the right + flank of the deflected German march. Still, there was no certainty that + Joffre could hold the Marne, and the French Government took the somewhat + alarming precaution of removing to Bordeaux. + </p> + <p> + The presence of the British on the French left, the spectacular threat to + Paris, and the comparative proximity of these operations to our own shores + have possibly led to too great an emphasis being placed upon Von Kluck's + attempt to outflank the left, or at least to too little weight being + attached to the German effort to turn the right in Lorraine. The Crown + Prince was in front of Verdun and the Kaiser himself went to stimulate the + Bavarians at Lunville and Nancy, and it was not the imperial habit to + bestow the light of the imperial countenance upon scenes of secondary + importance. Lunville had been occupied on the 22nd after the French + failure on the Saar, and on the 23rd fighting began for the Grand Couronn + de Nancy defended by Castelnau. The line of battle stretched from St. Di + to Pont--Mousson; but although the fiercest attack was still to come, the + German thrust had been decisively checked at Mirecourt before Joffre + determined to stand on the Marne. At last the French seemed to have a + security on their right flank, the lack of which had proved fatal at + Charleroi and on the Meuse. Paris on the one wing and Nancy on the other + forbade the threat of encirclement which had hitherto compelled retreat; + and the French armies were also at last in touch with their reserves. + </p> + <p> + There were other elements in the situation to encourage resistance The + momentum of the German rush was somewhat spent in its rapidity, and the + Germans were to illustrate the defect in their own maxim that the essence + of war is violence; for violence is not the same as force and often wastes + it. Moreover, the Russian invasion of East Prussia, if it did not actually + compel the transference of divisions from France to the Eastern front, + diverted thither reserves which might otherwise have appeared on the Marne + or released the troops detained until 7 September by the siege of + Maubeuge. Assuredly Joffre seized the right moment when on the 4th he + decided to strike his blow. Two new armies of reserves had come into line, + Foch's Ninth and Maunoury's Sixth; and two old armies had new commanders, + the Third with Sarrail instead of Ruffey and the Fifth with Franchet + d'Esperey instead of Lanrezac. In the east Castelnau and Sarrail stood + almost back to back along the eastern and western heights of the Meuse + above Verdun. On Sarrail's left was Langle's Fourth army behind Vitry, and + the line was continued westwards by Foch behind Sezanne and the marshes of + St. Gond. Next came D'Esperey's Fifth at La Fert-Gaucher, and cavalry + linked his left with the British guarded by the Crecy forest. Thence + north-westward stretched across the Paris front the new Sixth army of + Maunoury. + </p> + <p> + As early as 31 August Von Kluck had turned south-east at a right angle to + his south-western march from Brussels to Amiens; but he had not thereby + replaced his enveloping design by a stroke at Joffre's centre. For he + thought he had disposed of the British at Le Cateau and of Maunoury on the + Somme, and that D'Esperey's Fifth had thus become the flank of Joffre's + forces. He was merely curving his claws to grip, and by the night of the + 5th he had crossed the Marne, the Petit Morin, and the Grand Morin, and + his patrols had reached the Seine. It was a brief and solitary glimpse of + the river on which stood the capital of France. The battle began, like + that of Mons, on a Sunday, the 6th of September reached its climax on the + 9th, and was over by the 12th, The fighting extended in a curved line from + Meaux, which is almost a suburb of Paris, to Lunville, which is almost on + the German frontier; and Joffre hoped that this line was too strong to be + broken, and could be gradually drawn tighter until the head of the German + invasion was squeezed out of the <i>cul-de-sac</i> into which, in the + German anxiety for a prompt decision, it had been thrust. The German + object, of course, was, as soon as Von Kluck discovered that Maunoury's + new and the British returning armies forbade the enveloping plan, to break + the line where it bent the most, that is, towards the south-east, and the + weight of attack was thrown against Foch and Langle in Champagne. The + business of those two generals was to stand fast while the right flank of + the Germans was exposed to the counter-offensive of Maunoury and the + British. + </p> + <p> + Von Kluck had committed the error of underrating his foes, and assuming + that they had been broken beyond the chance of reaction; for to march + across the front of an army that is still able to strike is inviting + disaster, and Joffre had at last been able to shift his weight from east + to west to cope with Von Kluck's unexpected attack through Belgium. + Maunoury's army debouched from Meaux and began fighting its way to the + Ourcq, a little river which runs southwards into the Marne at Lizy, while + the British emerged from the Crecy forest and drove the Germans back to + the Grand Morin. D'Esperey made headway against the bulk of Von Kluck's + army between La Fert-Gaucher and Esternay, while Foch held his own + against Von Buelow and Von Hausen's right, and Langle against the Duke of + Wrttemberg. Sarrail's Third army had, however, to give a little ground + along the Meuse. The morrow's tale was similar: most progress was made by + the British, who drove the Germans across the Grand Morin at Coulommiers, + and thus enabled D'Esperey to do the like with Von Kluck's centre. On the + 8th, however, Maunoury was hard pressed by Von Kluck's desperate efforts + to deal with this sudden danger; but reinforcements poured out from Paris, + the British gained the Petit Morin from Trilport to La Trtoire, while + D'Esperey carried victory farther east and captured Montmirail. By 11 a.m. + on the 9th Von Kluck's army was ordered to retreat, thus exposing Von + Buelow's right, and giving Foch his opportunity for the decisive stroke of + the battle. + </p> + <p> + It consisted of two blows, right and left, and both came off late on the + 9th. Maunoury's counter-attack on the left had compelled the Germans to + weaken their centre. Not only was Von Buelow's right exposed, but a gap + had been left between his left and Von Hausen's right, possibly for troops + which were detained at Maubeuge or had been diverted to East Prussia. Nor + was this all, for his centre was bogged in the famous marshes of St. Gond. + Foch struck hard at Von Buelow's centre, right, and left, and by the + morning of the 10th he had smashed the keystone of the German arch. + Meanwhile, on the 9th Maunoury had cleared the Germans from the Ourcq, the + British had crossed the Marne at Chngis, and reached it at + Chteau-Thierry, and D'Esperey farther east. Von Kluck now received + considerable reinforcements which Von Buelow needed more, and the latter's + rapid retreat made even reinforcements useless for holding the Ourcq. It + was equally fatal to success against Langle and Sarrail, and on the 10th + the German retreat became general. By the end of the week the Germans were + back on a line running nearly due east from a point on the Oise behind + Compigne to the Aisne, along it to Berry-au-Bac, and thence across + Champagne and the Argonne to Verdun. They had failed in Lorraine as well, + where the climax of their attack was from the 6th to the 9th. Castelnau + then took the offensive, and by the 12th had driven the Bavarians from + before Nancy beyond the Meurthe, and out of Lunville and St. Di. + </p> + <p> + The German right had fallen back thirty-five miles and the centre nearly + fifty; but the retreat was not a rout, and the losses in guns and + prisoners were meagre. The first battle of the Marne was important by + reason of what it prevented the Germans from doing, rather than by reason + of what the Allies achieved, and they had to wait nearly four years for + that precipitate evacuation of France which it was hoped would follow upon + the German repulse from the Marne in September 1914. Nevertheless it was + one of the decisive battles and turning-points of the war. The German + surprise, so long and so carefully prepared, had failed, and the knockout + blow had been parried. The Allied victory had not decided how the war + would end, but it had decided that the war would be long--a test of + endurance rather than of generalship, a struggle of peoples and a conflict + of principles rather than duel between professional armies. There would be + time for peaceful and even unarmed nations to gird themselves in defence; + and the cause of democracy would not go down because military autocrats + had thought to dispose of France before her allies could effectively + intervene. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter03" id="chapter03"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <h3> + RUSSIA MOVES + </h3> + <p> + The first month of the war in the West had coincided more nearly with + German plans than with Entente hopes, but both Germany and the Western + Allies agreed in miscalculating Russia. The great Moltke had remarked + early in his career that Russia had a habit of appearing too late on the + field and then coming too strong. The war was to prove that to be a fault + of democracy rather than of autocrats, and Russia intervened with an + unexpected promptitude which was to be followed in time by an equally + unexpected collapse. The forecasting of the course of wars is commonly + left to military experts, and military experts commonly err through + ignoring the moral and political factors which determine the weight and + distribution of military forces. The soldier, so far as he looks behind + armies at all, only looks to the numbers from which those armies may be + recruited, and pays scant regard to the political, moral, social, and + economic conditions which may make havoc of armies, evoke them where they + do not exist, or transfer them to unforeseen scales in the military + balance. Russia appeared to the strategist as a vast reservoir of food for + powder which would take time to mobilize, but prove almost irresistible if + it were given time. Both these calculations proved fallacious, and still + less was it foreseen that the reservoir would revolt. The first + misjudgment deranged the German plans, the second those of the Allies, + while the third upset the minds of the world. + </p> + <p> + The outbreak of war found Russia with a peace-strength of over a million + men, a war-strength of four millions, and reserves which were limited not + by her population but by her capacity for transport, organization, and + production of munitions. Her Prussian frontiers were guarded by no natural + defences, but neither were Prussia's. Nature, it has been said, did not + foresee Prussia; Prussia is the work of men's hands. Nor had Nature + foreseen Russia, and men's hands had not made up the deficiency. + Mechanical means had remedied the natural defects of Prussia's frontier, + but not those of the Russian; and Russia's defence consisted mainly in + distance, mud, and lack of communications. The value of these varied, of + course, with the seasons, and the motor-transport, which atoned to some + extent for the lack of railways, told in favour of German science and + industry, and against the backward Russians. Apart from the absence of + natural defences, the Russian frontier had been artificially drawn so as + to make her Polish province an indefensible salient, though properly + organized it would have been an almost intolerable threat alike to East + Prussia and to Austrian Galicia. But for her preoccupation in the West, + Germany could have conquered Poland in a fortnight, and Russian plans, + indeed, contemplated a withdrawal as far as the line of Brest-Litovsk. As + it was, the German offensive in Belgium and France left the defence of + Prussia to the chances of an Austrian offensive against Lublin, a + containing army of some 200,000 first-line and 300,000 second-line troops, + and the delays in Russian mobilization. + </p> + <p> + Two of these proved to be broken reeds. Russian troops were almost as + prompt in invading East Prussia as German troops in crossing the frontiers + of France and Belgium, and by the end of the first week in August a flight + to Berlin had begun. The shortest way from the Russian frontier to Berlin + was by Posen, and it lay through a country peopled with Poles who were + bitterly hostile to their German masters. But it was impossible to exploit + these advantages at the expense of deepening the Polish salient with its + already too narrow base, and the flanks in East Prussia and Galicia had + first to be cleared. Under the supreme command of the Grand Duke Nicholas, + who in spite of his rank was a competent professional soldier, and the + more immediate direction of Rennenkampf, one of the few Russian officers + to emerge with enchanced reputation from the Japanese War, the Russians + proceed to concentrate on East Prussia (<i>see</i> Map). On the east + Gumbinnen was captured after a battle on the 20th, and the important + junction of Insterburg occupied by Rennenkampf, while on the south + Samsonov on the 21st turned the German right, threatened Allenstein and + drove the fugitives, as Rennenkampf had done, into the lines of + Knigsberg. East Prussia lay at Russia's feet, and something like a panic + alarmed Berlin. The Teutonic cause was faring even worse in Galicia and + Poland. Austria had a million troops in Galicia, but her offensive under + Dankl towards Lublin only produced a strategic Russia retirement, while + Ruszky and Brussilov overran the eastern borders and menaced Lemberg. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately for the Germans their own right hand proved a stronger + defence. The incompetent General von Franois, who had been driven into + Knigsberg, was superseded by Hindenburg, a retired veteran of nearly + seventy, whose military career had made so slight an impression on the + German mind that his name was not even included in the German "Who's Who." + Nevertheless he had commanded corps on the Prussian frontier, and even + after his retirement made the study of its defence his hobby. He knew + every yard of the intricate mixture of land and water which made up the + district of the Masurian Lakes, and had, unfortunately for Russia, + defeated a German financial scheme for draining the country and turning it + into land over which an invader could safely march. Within five days of + Samsonov's victory, Hindenburg, taking advantage of the magnificent system + of German strategic railways, had collected some 150,000 men from the + fortresses on the Vistula and concentrated them on a strong position + stretching from near Allenstein south-west towards Soldau, his left + resting on the railway from Eylau to Insterburg and his right on that from + Eylau to Warsaw. In front of him were marshes with the ways through which + he was, but Samsonov was not, familiar; and the railways enabled him to + threaten either of the enemy's flanks. + </p> + <p> + Samsonov was practically isolated. Rightly ignoring the strong defences of + Knigsberg but wrongly getting out of touch with Rennenkampf, he had + pushed on, thinking there could be no serious resistance east of the + Vistula and hoping to seize the bridge at Graudenz. Hindenburg made a + feint on his right, but pushed his real outflanking movement along the + railway on his left. But the feint was enough to outflank Samsonov's left + and close the retreat towards Warsaw. It also diverted his reserves from + his centre and from his right, which on the 27th was cut off from a + possible junction with Rennenkampf. A gallant attempt by Gourko to relieve + him on the 30th came too late. The only exit was along a narrow strip of + land between the marshes leading to Ortelsburg, and here between the 28th + and the 31st the Russian forces were almost annihilated. Less than a third + escaped, and the loss of guns was even greater. Over eighty thousand + prisoners were taken, and the Germans who had missed their Sedan in the + West secured a passable imitation in the East. Samsonov perished in the + retreat. The Russian censorship suppressed the news, and what was allowed + to come through from Germany was treated in Entente countries as a German + lie. For more than a fortnight little was known of a victory which, save + for Allenby's four years later, was the completest in the war. The relief + in Berlin was immense; Hindenburg became the popular idol, Field-Marshal, + and Generalissimo of the Teutonic armies in the East; and a little + village, which lay behind Hindenburg's centre, was selected to give its + name to the battle and to commemorate a national revenge for that defeat + at Tannenberg five centuries before when the Slavonic kingdom of Poland + had broken the power of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. + </p> + <p> + Russia, however, was a different power from the Teutonic Order, and + Austrian generals were not Hindenburgs; Ruszky and Brussilov, too, were + better leaders than Samsonov, and though Rennenkampf had to evacuate East + Prussia before Hindenburg's advance, the Austrians were driven like chaff + before their enemies in Galicia. The object of Russian strategy was to + straighten the serpentine line of the frontier for military purposes. + Hence, while pushing forward her wings in East Prussia and Galicia, she + would merely stand on guard or withdraw in the Polish centre, and the + Germans encountered little opposition when they seized Czenstochowa and + Kalisch and pushed towards the Warta, or the Austrians when they advanced + by Zamosc towards the Bug. The advance in East Prussia was also + represented as a chivalrous attempt to reduce the pressure in France by a + threat to Berlin, and the real Russian effort was the sweep westwards from + the eastern Galician frontier, where the Second Russian army under Ruszky + and the Third farther south under Brussilov were already threatening the + envelopment of Lemberg (or Lwow [Footnote: Pronounced and sometimes spelt + Lvoff.]) and the Austrians under Von Auffenberg. Ruszky, formerly like + Foch a professor in a military academy, was perhaps the most scientific of + Russian generals; Brussilov showed his strategy two years later at Luck; + [Footnote: Pronounced Lutsk: the Slavonic "c" = "ts" "cz" = "ch" and "sz" + = "sh."] and Radko Dmitrieff was a Bulgarian general, now in Russian + service, who in the Balkan wars had won the battle of Kirk Kilisse and + helped to win that of Lule-Burgas. There was not an abler trio in any + field of the war. + </p> + <p> + By the end of August Brussilov had captured Tarnopol and Halicz and forced + the successive rivers which guarded the right flank of Lemberg and Von + Auffenberg's forces and protected their communications with the Carpathian + passes; and on 1 September the battle for the capital of eastern Galicia + began. It lasted for nearly three days, and was almost as decisive as that + of Tannenberg. Brussilov's outflanking movement was continued with + success, but the <i>coup de grce</i> was given here, as at Charleroi and + the Marne, by isolating a central group and thus breaking the line. + Thrusting forward his right, Ruszky outflanked Lemberg and interposed + between Von Auffenberg and the Austrian army in Poland. On the 3rd Lemberg + was evacuated, and the retreat, which was for a time protected by the + entrenched camp at Grodek, gradually became more disorderly. Over 70,000 + prisoners were taken, mostly, no doubt, Czecho-Slovaks and Jugo-Slavs who + had more sympathy with the Russians than with their Teutonic masters, and + masses of machine guns and artillery. The victory was brilliantly and + promptly followed up. While Brussilov pressed on to Stryj and the + Carpathians, Ruszky and Dmitrieff beat Von Auffenberg again at Rawa Ruska + near the frontier on the 10th, and Ivanoff, who had taken command in + Poland, drove Dankl and the Archduke Joseph Ferdinand from the line they + held between Lublin and the borders. The whole of the Austrian forces fell + back behind the Vistula and the San, Von Auffenberg finding safety in + Przemysl, and others a more temporary refuge at Jaroslav, while the van of + the retreating army did not stop short of Cracow. The German detachments + in Poland had to conform, and by the middle of September Poland had been + cleared as far as the Warta, and Galicia was defenceless, save for + invested Przemysl, as far south as the Carpathians and as far west as the + Dunajec. The days of the Marne were even more sombre for the Central + Empires on the Vistula and the San. + </p> + <p> + Their gloom was relieved by the halo which shone round Hindenburg's head. + Rennenkampf was gone and all the faculties of the University of Knigsberg + conferred degrees on the victor to celebrate its escape. Reinforcements + were sent to the frontier, and on 7 September Russia was invaded. The + object of the offensive is not clear except on the assumption that + Hindenburg's strategic acumen was defective, and that he thought he could + turn the Russian right by an advance across the Niemen. But the + difficulties were insuperable and the distances were vast. Even if he got + to Kovno it would need far greater forces than he possessed to cover and + control the illimitable land beyond; and between him and success lay + swamps more extensive then the Masurian Lakes and the heavily fortified + line of the Narew. He was, indeed, in his turn falling into Samsonov's + error, and seems to have been saved from his fate mainly by the + prematurely successful Russian defence. He was allowed to reach the Niemen + at various points between Kovno and Grodno, but was unhappily prevented + from committing his fortunes to the eastern bank by the Russian artillery, + which repeatedly destroyed his pontoons as soon as they were constructed. + Lower down on his right an attempt on the fortress of Ossowiec proved + equally futile, because the Germans could find no ground within range + solid enough to bear the weight of their artillery. The inevitable retreat + began on the 27th, and it was sadly harassed by the pursuing Russians, + especially in the forest of Augustowo, where Rennenkampf claimed to have + inflicted losses amounting to 60,000 men in killed, prisoners, and + wounded. By 1 October the Russian cavalry was again across the German + frontier, and Hindenburg was called south to attempt in Poland to + frustrate the Russian advance on Cracow which his turning movement in the + north had failed to check. + </p> + <p> + The call was urgent, for the conquest of Galicia portended disaster to the + Central Empires. Cracow was a key both to Berlin and Vienna; its + possession would turn the Oder and open the door to Silesia, which was + hardly less vital to Germany than Westphalia as a mining and manufacturing + district. It would also give access to Vienna and facilitate the + separation of Hungary, and all that that meant in the Balkans, from the + Teutonic alliance. Even without the loss of Cracow, that of the rest of + Galicia was serious enough; her oil-wells were the main sources of the + German supply of petroleum, and her Slav population, once assured of the + solidity of Russian success, would throw off its allegiance to the + Hapsburgs and entice the Czecho-Slovaks on its borders to do the same. + These prospects were not visionary in September 1914. Jaroslav fell on the + 23rd and Przemysl was invested. Russian cavalry rode through the + Carpathian passes into the Hungarian plain, and west of the San patrols + penetrated within a hundred miles of Cracow. In her own interests as well + as in those of her ally, Germany was compelled to throw more of her weight + against the Russian front. The German and Austrian commands were unified + under Hindenburg, and having failed on the north he now tried to stop the + Russians by a blow at their centre in Poland. Here Ruszky was now in + command, while Ivanoff with Brussilov and Dmitrieff as his two lieutenants + controlled the armies in Galicia. + </p> + <p> + Like every German general Hindenburg believed in the offensive being the + best form of defence, and like all Germans in the advantage of waging war + in the enemy's country. His plan of attack was a concentric advance on + Warsaw along the three railway lines leading from Thorn, Kalisch, and + Czenstochowa, combined with an effort to cross the Vistula at Josefow + while the Austrians kept step in Galicia, relieved Przemysl, and recovered + Lemberg. There was even a movement southwards from East Prussia which + captured Mlawa, but it was only a raid which did not hamper the Grand + Duke's contemplated counter-offensive. Warsaw had obvious attractions; + Josefow was selected because it was far from Russia's railway lines but + near to Ostrowiec, the terminus of a line which led from the German + frontier; and the object of crossing the Vistula was to take in the rear + the great fortress of Ivangorod lower down, and then to get behind Warsaw. + The Grand Duke had divined these intentions, while he concealed his own by + misleading the Germans into a belief that he proposed abandoning the + Polish salient and retiring on Brest. His real plan was to stand on the + east bank of the Vistula save for the defence of Warsaw which lies upon + the west, and to counter-attack round the north of the German left wing + under the guns of the great fortress of Novo Georgievsk. Rennenkampf was + brought down to command this movement, while Ruszky took charge of the + defence at Josefow. + </p> + <p> + On 10 October Hindenburg's centre moved out from Lodz and on the 15th the + battle was joined all along the Vistula. Warsaw was vigorously defended by + Siberian and Caucasian troops, aided by Japanese guns. The battle raged + from the 16th to the 19th, when the planned surprise from Novo Georgievsk + forced back the German left and threatened the centre before Warsaw. + Ruszky was still more successful with his stratagem at Josefow. The + Germans were suffered to construct their pontoons, cross the river, and + make for the railway between Warsaw and Lublin. Then on the 21st the + Russians came down upon them with a bayonet charge, and not a man is said + to have escaped across the river. Next day the Russians also crossed at + Novo Alexandria lower down, and a general attack drove the Germans back to + Radom on the 25th and thence from Kielce on 3 November. Threatened by + Rennenkampf on the north and Ruszky on the south, the German centre had to + abandon Skierniewce, Lowicz, and then Lodz, destroying every vestige of + communication as they withdrew and lavishly sacrificing men in rearguard + actions to protect their stores and their equipment. + </p> + <p> + Ironically enough the chief success of Hindenburg's offensive was achieved + by the Austrian subordinates he had come to help. Ivanoff was a bad + substitute for Ruszky, and Dankl temporarily retrieved the reputation he + had lost the previous month. Jaroslav was recovered, Przemysl was relieved + and abundantly revictualled for a second and a longer siege, and an attack + on Sambor bade fair to put the Austrians once more in Lemberg. But the + German defeat in Poland compelled an Austrian retreat in Galicia. Przemysl + was reinvested and the Russians resumed their march with quickened pace on + Cracow. This time they threatened it first from the north of the Vistula, + and on 9 November their cavalry, pursuing the Germans, was at Miechow, + only twenty miles from Cracow. Moving more slowly through Galicia while + Brussilov occupied the Carpathian passes, Dmitrieff pushed his cavalry + into Wielitza south-east of the city on 6 December, and on the 8th he + fought a successful action in its outskirts. Farther north the Cossacks + had occupied Nieszawa, a few miles from Thorn, on 9 November, and on the + following day a Russian raid across the Silesian frontier cut the German + railway from Posen to Cracow. It was high time that the Germans turned the + weight of their offensive from the Flanders front and the Channel ports to + parrying the Russian menace on their East. + </p> + <p> + Austria was in no happier case. Her invasion of Serbia which had opened + the flood-gates of war had been almost submerged in the torrent, and the + punitive expedition she had planned had brought punishment mainly upon + herself, and that not merely at the hands of Serbia's powerful patron, but + at those of the little people who were to be chastised. The early fighting + was of a desultory character, and Austria's two first-line corps having + been withdrawn to meet the Russians, the Serbs and Montenegrins made a + combined effort on 12 August to invade Bosnia and capture Serajevo. No + great progress was made, and on the 16th the Austrians retaliated with the + capture of Shabatz in the north-west corner of Serbia. But next day the + Serbs routed a large Austrian force in the neighbourhood, and the Crown + Prince Alexander followed up this victory by another on the 18th against + the Austrians on the Jadar, who were seeking, in co-operation with those + at Shabatz, to cut the Serbs off from their base. The result was that by + the 24th the Austrians were practically cleared out of the country, and + Vienna announced that the punitive expedition, which had cost 40,000 + casualties and fifty guns, had accomplished its object. + </p> + <p> + A second attempt to achieve it was, however, provoked by the invasion of + Bosnia with which the Serbs had supplemented their victory, and by their + capture of Semlin in order to stop the Austrian bombardment of Belgrade. + On 8 September the Austrians launched an attack across the Drina which + forms the boundary between Serbia and Bosnia, and the battle raged till + the 17th. Again the Serbs were victorious, though they made no impression + on Serajevo and the Austrians retained a foothold on the eastern bank of + the Drina; and for six weeks Serbia was left in comparative peace. But at + the end of October the entrance of Turkey into the war and the relief + afforded to Austria's troops farther north by the increasing activity of + Germany in Poland and Galicia encouraged another effort; and under General + Potiorek the Austrians began a more ambitious campaign. The Serbian + frontier constituted a sharp salient which was indefensible against a + superior force, and the Austrians exploited this advantage by extending + their front of attack from Semendria on the Danube right round to Ushitza + beyond the Drina. Their object was to envelop the Serbs and seize, + firstly, Valievo, their advanced base, secondly, Kraguievatz the Serbian + arsenal, and, finally, Nish, to which the Serbian Court and Government had + withdrawn. + </p> + <p> + The only chance the Serbs had of success was to shorten their line by + withdrawing to the semicircular mountain ridge which lies south and + south-east of Valievo, and even so their prospects were gloomy. Two wars + had already depleted Serbia's manhood and her munitions, and her numbers + were sadly inferior to the Austrians. But individually her troops were far + better fighters than their opponents, and the Crown Prince, Marshal + Putnik, and General Mshitch, the commander of the 1st Serbian Army, quite + outclassed Potiorek in tactics, strategy, and knowledge of the terrain. By + 10 November the Austrians were in Valievo, and Potiorek was inclined to + rest on his laurels. For a fatal fortnight he did nothing, and even + detached three of his corps to serve in the Carpathians against the + Russians who were there doing Serbia the service they had done in East + Prussia to the Allies on the Marne. In that interval Greek and other + munitions were conveyed in spite of Bulgar and Turkish intervention to the + hard-pressed Serbians; King Peter, old, blind, and deaf, came from Nish to + make a stirring appeal to his troops; and when on 1-3 December Potiorek + once more advanced to the ridges of Rudnik and Maljen, he encountered a + re-munitioned army, skilfully posted in strong positions and pledged to + death or victory. Victory was its guerdon all along the line; the Austrian + left centre and centre were broken on the 5th; at night their right was + shattered near Ushitza; and on the morrow the whole army was in retreat, + which soon became a rout. There were 80,000 casualties before, on the + 15th, the fugitives were back in their own land across the Drina, the + Danube, and the Save, leaving Belgrade once more in the hands of the + heroic Serbs. + </p> + <p> + Austria had, however, acquired a strange new friend in the Turk, who had + thrice besieged Vienna, and with whom she had waged an intermittent + warfare of the Crescent and the Cross for some four centuries; and the + blood-stained hand of Turkey was stretched out to save its "natural + allies"--to quote Bernhardi--at Buda-Pesth and Potsdam. There was, indeed, + a bond of sympathy, for in each of the enemy capitals a ruling caste + oppressed one or more subject nationalities. Prussia stood for the Junker + domination of the German tribes; Austria, for Teutonic government of + Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles; Hungary, for Magyar dictation to Jugo-Slavs + and Rumanes; and Turkey, for the exploitation or extermination of + Armenians, Greeks, and Arabs. The Young Turk, who had dispossessed Abdul + Hamid in 1908, only differed from the Old in being more efficient and less + of a gentleman, and in seeking his inspiration from Krupp's guns and + Treitschke's philosophy instead of from the Koran. He was a Turk without + the Turk's excuse, and the adventurer Enver, who inaugurated the rule of + the Committee of Union and Progress by assassinating his rivals, was + willing to give Germany control of the Berlin-Baghdad route in return for + a free hand with the subject nationalities of the Ottoman Empire. Russia + was the common obstacle to both ambitions; but, Russia finally crippled, + the Balkan States would become Turco-Teutonic provinces, and the Near East + a German avenue into Asia, while Egypt might be recovered for the Sultan + and made a base for German penetration of Africa. + </p> + <p> + Millions of German money had already been invested in this scheme, and the + Kaiser's versatile piety had assumed a Mohammedan hue in the East. He had + proclaimed himself the friend of every Mohammedan under the sun, and had + carefully refrained from wounding the feelings of the authors of the + Armenian massacres. The defeat of his Turkish friends in the Balkan Wars + had been almost as great a blow to him as to them, and he had seen in the + subsequent discord of the victors a chance of crushing them all. Rumania, + he thought, was tied to his chariot-wheels by its Hohenzollern king, and + Greece by its Hohenzollern queen; and Bulgaria could be won through its + hatred of the successful Serbs. Serbia conquered, the corridor would be + complete; but Serbia could not be permanently crushed while Russia + remained intact, and Turkey would be a useful ally in the Russian + campaign. There were millions of Mohammedans under Russian rule, and a + Turkish invasion of the Caucasus, even if it did not stimulate + insurrection in Russia, would keep hundreds of thousands of Russian troops + from East Prussia, Poland, or Galicia. + </p> + <p> + Apart from the vulgar bribes which affected the Young Turk politicians + there were other motives to move the populace. A Jehad against the + Christian might stir the honest fanatic; well-to-do Turks had invested + some of their savings in two Turkish Dreadnoughts under construction in + England which the British Government had commandeered; and two German + warships, the <i>Goeben</i> and the <i>Breslau</i>, had arrived at the + Golden Horn to impress or to encourage the Ottoman mind. Such were some of + the straws which finally broke the back of sober resistance to the warlike + gamble of Enver and Talaat; but the substantial argument was the chance + which was offered for Turkey to get back some of what her inveterate + Russian enemy had seized in the course of a century and her inveterate + British friend had pocketed as the price of her protection. On 29 October + a horde of Bedouins invaded the Sinai Peninsula while Turkish torpedo + boats raided Odessa, and on 1 November the British ambassador departed + from Constantinople. The two Central Empires had enlisted their first + ally, and the war had taken another stride towards Armageddon. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter04" id="chapter04"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <h3> + THE WAR ON AND BEYOND THE SEAS + </h3> + <p> + The declaration of war by Great Britain on 4 August converted the conflict + into one unlike any other that had been waged since Napoleon was sent to + St. Helena in 1815; and sea-power was once more revealed to a somewhat + purblind world. There had, indeed, been wars in which navies had been + engaged, and Japan in 1904 had exhibited the latest model of a naval + battle. But Japan only commanded the sea in Far Eastern waters; and the + wars in which Great Britain herself was engaged since 1815 had displayed + her command in limited spheres and at the expense of enemies who had no + pretensions to be her naval rivals. But in 1914 the second navy in the + world seemed by the conduct of Germany to challenge the first, and for + nearly four and a half years there were hopes and fears of a titanic + contest for the command of the sea. But in fact the challenge was not + forthcoming, and from first to last the command remained in our hands + through Germany's default. There was no Trafalgar because no one came + forth to fight, and in the end the German Navy surrendered without a + struggle. + </p> + <p> + But while our command of the sea was not disputed in deed by the Germans, + it was disputed in word by domestic critics and denied by loquacious + generals; and the exploits of German submarines, airships, and aeroplanes + lent some colour to the denial and to the assertion that England had + ceased to be an island. Both contentions were the outcome of inadequate + knowledge and worse confusion of thought. Islands are made by the sea and + not by the air; even if the Germans had secured command of the air, which + they did not, that command would not have given them the advantages which + accrue from the command of the sea. It might please pessimists to believe + that England would be cowed into submission by air-raids, but the most + inveterate scaremongers hesitated to assert that armies with their + indispensable artillery and equipment could be dropped on British soil + from the skies. Belgium and France were far more troubled than we by + aircraft; but it was not aircraft that carried German armies to Brussels + and near to the gates of Paris, and London was saved from the fate of + Louvain by British command of the sea. Nor was that command abolished or + even threatened by submarines, and the fear lest it was came of the + mentality which denies the existence of a power on the ground that it is + not perfect. Command of the sea never has been and never can be absolute. + French privateers had never been more active nor British losses at sea + more acute than after Trafalgar, when no French Navy ventured out of port; + and the destruction of every German Dreadnought would not have affected by + one iota the success of German submarines. + </p> + <p> + The command of the sea does not mean immunity from the risks of naval + warfare or from loss by the capture or sinking of merchant vessels. It + does not imply absolute security for British coasts, for British coasts + have been raided in every great war that Britain has waged. It does not + even involve the defeat or destruction of the enemy's naval forces, or it + would be a simple task for any naval Power to deprive us of the command of + the sea by locking its fleets in harbour, and on that theory the forts of + the Dardanelles would have enabled Turkey to deny the command of the sea + to the combined fleets of the world. The meaning is familiar enough to + intelligent students of history. Bacon sketched it three hundred years ago + when he wrote, "He that commands the sea is at great liberty and may take + as much and as little of the war as he will ... and the wealth of both + Indies seems in great part but an accessory to the command of the seas." + "Both Indies" have grown to-day to include the resources of nearly the + whole extra-European world which the command of the sea placed at the + disposal of the Entente and denied to the Central Empires; and the last + great war, like those against Napoleon, Louis XIV, and Philip II, was + decided by the same indispensable factor in world-power. Others might + control for a time a continent; only those who command the sea can dispose + of the destinies of the world. + </p> + <p> + But while an essential factor in world-power, the command of the sea is + not its sum; and the war throughout its course illustrated the weakness of + attack by sea against a well-defended coast. No attempt was made to land + an army on German territory, and complete command of the gean did not + avail for the capture of Gallipoli. It could not turn sea into land nor + enable a navy to do an army's work, and command of the sea while a more + extensive is a less intensive kind of power than command of the land. The + nature of the command varies, indeed, with the solidity of the element in + which it is exercised: land is more solid than water, and water than air; + the command of the land is therefore more complete than command of the + sea, and command of the sea than command of the air; and endless confusion + arose from the use of the same word to describe three different degrees of + control. Victory can be achieved on sea, conquest only on land; and + nothing like victory, let alone conquest, in war has yet been won in the + air. Conquest, however, while it cannot be effected, can be prevented on + sea, as it was at Salamis in 1588, at Trafalgar, and Navarino; for + sea-power, while conclusive for defence, is merely conducive to offence, + and that is why it has ever been a means of liberty rather than of + despotism. Armies are the weapons of autocracy, navies those of freedom; + for peoples do not live upon water, and only armies command their homes. + Command of the sea is a sufficient protection for an island-empire; to + conquer others it needs a superior army, and the absence of such an army + proved the defensive aims of the British Empire before the war. World + domination could only be secured by the combination of a dominant army + with a dominant navy, and hence the significance of the German naval + programme designed at least to prevent the counteraction of one by the + other. + </p> + <p> + But while a supreme navy suffices to protect an island empire, it does not + suffice to defend continental states; and the importance of British + sea-power was that it gave us and other oversea peoples the liberty to + take as much or as little part as we chose in a war to defend states that + were threatened on land. The existence of that facility did not determine + the extent to which it might be used by ourselves or by allies. That would + depend upon the size of the armies we raised and the labour we spent upon + their equipment; and we might have restricted our expeditionary forces to + the numbers we sent under Marlborough against Louis XIV or under + Wellington against Napoleon. But we could not have sent any without the + command of the sea; and the essence of that command is that, firstly, it + prevented the enemy from using his armies to invade our shores, and, + secondly, it enabled us to send whatever forces we liked to whatever + sphere of operations was not commanded by the enemy's armies. Philip II + had demonstrated once for all the emptiness of the invasion scare when he + sent a superb military expedition, the Spanish Armada, across a sea which + he did not command; and the efforts of German submarines failed to affect + the transport of our own and our Allies' troops or seriously to impede + their communications. + </p> + <p> + The command of the sea was, in fact, abandoned by the Germans when on 26 + July 1914 their fleet was recalled from the Norwegian fiords; and the + cruisers which the outbreak of war found beyond reach of German + territorial waters were in turn and in time destroyed. One Dreadnought, + the <i>Goeben</i>, and a light cruiser, the <i>Breslau</i>, escaped to + play a chequered part in the war. Caught by its outbreak in the + Mediterranean, they attempted to make the Straits, were headed off by the + British, and gained Messina on 5 August. Evading the British Fleet under + circumstances which were held to cast no reflection on the British + commander, and with assistance which it was deemed impolitic to make + public, they pursued their flight eastward, gallantly assaulted by the + smaller and slower <i>Gloucester</i> off Cape Matapan, until they reached + the Dardanelles and took the Turkish Government under their charge. Out in + the Atlantic the swift <i>Karlsruhe</i> caused some anxiety till she was + wrecked in the West Indies, and the <i>Geier</i> was interned at Honolulu + by the United States. A few converted merchantmen also pursued a brief + career as raiders: the <i>Cap Trafalgar</i> was disposed of in a spirited + action by the converted Cunarder <i>Carmania</i> on 14 September off + Brazil; the <i>Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse</i> was sunk by the <i>Highflyer</i> + off Cape Verde Islands on 27 August; and the <i>Spreewald</i> was captured + in the North Atlantic by the <i>Berwick</i> on 12 September. For the rest, + the German mercantile marine was interned in neutral ports or restricted + to Baltic waters, and apart from Von Spee and the submarines the German + flag disappeared from the seas. + </p> + <p> + The Germans had realized from the start a vital difference between war on + sea and war on land. The land affords some protection to the weaker + combatant especially on the defensive; the sea gives none. There are no + trenches in the sea, but only graves. It is merciless to the vanquished, + and the casualties in a beaten fleet are total losses; instead of + prisoners, fugitives, and wounded, there is one vast list of drowned. + Ships that are sunk do not return to the battle- line, and their loss + takes long to repair. Years are required to build a Dreadnought, and years + to make a seaman. Armies are easier to create and more difficult to + destroy than fleets, and the sailor's fight is ever one to a finish, with + little chance of escape from the dread alternative. It is a case of all or + nothing; there are no water-tight compartments in sea- power, no + fluctuating spheres of power, no divided areas in some of which one and in + some the other combatant may be supreme. Apart from land-locked waters the + sea is one and indivisible, and he who has the command, commands it + everywhere. The battle at sea is a battle without a morrow for those who + lose; and from the day when the Germans wisely withdrew into Kiel and + Wilhelmshaven there was little chance that they would come out to fight to + a finish except as a counsel of despair or until they could by mine or + submarine or skilful raid reduce the disparity of force. That was the + purpose of their early naval strategy; it proved ineffective owing to + British skill and caution, and it became hopeless when it appeared that we + could build ships much faster than the Germans could sink them or build + ships themselves; and the Germans then turned from the task of destroying + the British Navy to that of destroying the commerce on which we depended + for subsistence, from the hope of securing the command of the sea for + themselves to that of turning it into a "no man's land," a desert which no + allied or neutral ship could cross. + </p> + <p> + The mine-sowing began the moment war was declared, and on 5 August the <i>Konigin + Luise</i> was sunk in the nefarious act of sowing loose mines in the North + Sea. Fixed mines for coast and harbour defence or minefields at sea are + legitimate means of war, provided that warning is given of the dangerous + area; loose mines are prohibited by international law, because they can + make no distinction in their destruction between neutrals and + belligerents, merchantmen and men-of-war. But the German flag having + practically disappeared from the seas, the Germans paid little heed to the + risks of other people. On 6 August a light cruiser, the <i>Amphion</i>, + struck one of these mines and was sunk, and on 3 September a gunboat, the + <i>Speedy</i>, met with a similar fate. A more serious loss, though only + one man was killed, was that of the super-Dreadnought <i>Audacious</i>, + which struck a mine to the north of Ireland on 27 October and sank as she + was being towed into harbour; and a mine caused the loss of the <i>Hampshire</i>, + with Lord Kitchener on board, in June 1916. + </p> + <p> + The submarine proved, however, the greater danger, and there was nothing + illegal in the sinking of men-of-war or transports. On 5 September the <i>Pathfinder</i>, + a light cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk, and on the 13th the British + retaliated by sinking the German light cruiser <i>Hela</i> near + Heligoland. The warning, however, had not been taken to heart, and on 22 + September the German submarine commander, Otto Weddigen, successively sank + the <i>Aboukir</i>, the <i>Hogue</i>, and the <i>Cressy</i>, three old but + substantial cruisers on patrol duty off the Dutch coast. The <i>Hogue</i> + and the <i>Cressy</i> were lost because they came up to the rescue and + were protected by no screen of destroyers, and 680 officers and men were + drowned. A fourth cruiser, the <i>Hawke</i>, was torpedoed off Aberdeen on + 15 October, and on 1 January 1915 the <i>Formidable</i>, of 15,000 tons, + was sunk off Start Point on her way to the Dardanelles, with a loss of 600 + of her crew. The Germans were not, however, immune in their submarine + campaign. H.M.S. <i>Birmingham</i> rammed and sank a German submarine on 6 + August, the <i>Badger</i> did the like on 25 October, and U18 was sunk on + 23 November; Weddigen himself was rammed, with the loss of his submarine + and all on board, later on by the <i>Dreadnought</i>. + </p> + <p> + The British losses by mine and submarine created some discontent on the + ground that our naval strategy was defensive rather than offensive; and + military critics, whose notions of naval warfare were derived from the + study of German text-books on the principles of war on land, continually + pressed for a more active policy, and asked why our superior navy did not + treat the German Fleet as the German Army treated its enemies in France + and Belgium. It was forgotten that he who possesses all must always be on + the defensive; there must be something tangible to attack before there can + be an offensive, and there could have been no Trafalgar had Napoleon kept + his fleet in harbour. The abandonment of the high seas by the German Navy + precluded a naval battle, and the defensive strength of harbour defences + which kept Nelson outside Toulon had so increased as to make it vastly + harder for Jellicoe to penetrate Wilhelmshaven or Kiel. Naval power, which + the war proved to be more than ever effective on sea, was shown to be more + than ever powerless on shore. The mine and the submarine made the + sustained bombardment of land fortifications a dangerous practice, and + moving batteries on shore were more than a match for ships, because they + could not be sunk and could be more easily repaired or replaced. There + were wild dreams of British forces landing on German coasts, and still + wilder alarms about German armies descending on British shores; but the + only landing effected on hostile territory during the war was at + Gallipoli, and it did not encourage a similar attempt against the better + defended lands held by the Germans. We had to content ourselves with the + practical realization in war of our continual claim in peace that + sea-power is an instrument for the defence of island states rather than + one for offence against continental peoples. Only when and where those + peoples wished to be defended and opened their ports to their allies, was + it found possible to land a relieving force. The British armies which + liberated Brussels had to travel via Boulogne and not Ostend; and the + German ships which sheltered in port had to be routed out by the pressure + of Allied arms on land. + </p> + <p> + The naval actions of the war were therefore of the nature of outpost raids + and skirmishes rather than of battles. The first that developed any + serious fighting took place in the Bight of Heligoland on 28 August. + Apparently with the design of inducing the Germans to come out, a flotilla + of submarines under Commodore Keyes was sent close in to Heligoland, with + some destroyers and two light cruisers, the <i>Arethusa</i> and <i>Fearless</i>, + behind them, and more substantial vessels out of sight in the offing. + Presently there appeared a German force of destroyers and two cruisers, + the <i>Ariadne</i> and the <i>Strassburg</i>; they were driven off mainly + by the gallant fighting of the <i>Arethusa</i>; but thinking there was no + further support the Germans then sent out three heavier cruisers, the <i>Mainz</i>, + the <i>Koln</i>, and apparently the <i>Yorck</i>. The <i>Arethusa</i> and + <i>Fearless</i> held their own for two or three hours until Beatty's + battle-cruisers, led by the <i>Lion</i>, came safely through the German + mine-fields and submarines to their assistance. The <i>Lion's</i> + 13.5-inch guns soon settled the issue: the <i>Mainz</i> and the <i>Kln</i> + were sunk, while no British unit was lost, and the casualties were 32 + killed and 52 wounded against 300 German prisoners and double that number + of other casualties. The overwhelming effect of heavier gunfire had been + clearly demonstrated, and it was further illustrated on 17 October by the + destruction of four German destroyers off the Dutch coast by the light + cruiser <i>Undaunted</i> accompanied by four British destroyers; but the + next exhibition of naval gun-power was to be at our expense. + </p> + <p> + Among the incidental advantages which the adhesion of Great Britain + brought to the Entente was the intervention of Japan, which, apart from + its alliance with us, had never forgiven Germany the part she took in + depriving Japan of the fruits of her victory over China in 1894, and + regarded as a standing offence the naval base which Germany had + established at Tsingtau and the hold she had acquired on North Pacific + islands. On 15 August Japan demanded within eight days the surrender of + the lease of Tsingtau and the evacuation of Far Eastern waters by German + warships. No answer was, of course, returned, but the German squadron + under Von Spee wisely left Tsingtau in anticipation of its investment by + the Japanese. It began on the 27th, and troops were landed on 2 September: + on the 23rd a British contingent arrived from Wei-hai-wei to co-operate, + and gradually the lines of investment and the heavy artillery were drawn + closer. The final assault was fixed for 7 November, but the Germans + forestalled it by surrender; there were 3000 prisoners out of an original + garrison of 5000, and Germany's last overseas base, on which she had spent + 20,000,000, passed into the enemy's hands. Australian troops had already + occupied without serious opposition German New Guinea, the Bismarck + archipelago, and the Gilbert and Caroline Islands, while Samoa surrendered + to a New Zealand force, and the Marshall Islands to the Japanese. + </p> + <p> + Von Spee's squadron was thus left without a German naval base; but one of + its vessels was to show that there was still a career for a raider, and + the others were to demonstrate the paradox that neutral ports might be + more useful than bases of their own, inasmuch as they could not be treated + like Tsingtau. On fleeing from the Japanese menace Von Spee had steamed + eastwards across the Pacific, but two of his cruisers, the <i>Knigsberg</i> + and the <i>Emden</i>, were detached to help the Germans in East Africa and + to raid British commerce in the Indian Ocean. On 20 September the <i>Knigsberg</i> + sank H.M.S. <i>Pegasus</i> at Zanzibar, but failed to give much assistance + in the projected attack on Mombasa, and was presently bottled up in the + Rufigi River. The <i>Emden</i> under Captain Mller had better success. + Throughout September and October she haunted the coasts of India and + harried British trade, setting fire to an oil-tank at Madras, torpedoing a + Russian cruiser and a French destroyer in the roadstead of Penang, and + capturing in all some seventeen British merchantmen. She had, however, + lost her own attendant colliers about 25 October, and a raid on the Cocos + or Keeling islands on 9 November was interrupted by the arrival of H.M.S. + <i>Sydney</i>, which had been warned by wireless, on her way from + Australia. In less than two hours the <i>Sydney's</i> 6-in. guns had + battered the <i>Emden</i> to pieces, and with only 18 casualties had + killed or wounded 230 of the enemy. Mller became an honourable prisoner + of war; he had proved himself the most skilful of German captains and the + best of German gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Von Spee had gained the South American coast and made himself at + home in its friendly ports and islands. He had with him two sister + cruisers, the <i>Scharnhorst</i> and the <i>Gneisenau</i>, each of 11,400 + tons and an armament of eight 8.2-inch guns, and three smaller cruisers, + the <i>Dresden</i>, <i>Leipzig</i>, and <i>Nrnberg</i>, each about the + size of the <i>Emden</i>, from 3200 to 3540 tons, and carrying ten + 4.1-inch guns; none of them had a speed of less than 22 knots. To protect + the South Pacific trade the British Government had in August sent Admiral + Cradock with a somewhat miscellaneous squadron, consisting of the <i>Canopus</i>, + a pre-Dreadnought battleship of nearly 13,000 tons, with 6-inch armour, + four 12-inch guns, and a speed of 19 knots; the <i>Good Hope</i>, a + cruiser of 14,000 tons, with two 9.2-inch and sixteen 6-inch guns, and a + speed of 22 knots; the <i>Monmouth</i> of 9800 tons, fourteen 6-inch guns, + and the same speed as the <i>Good Hope</i>; the <i>Glasgow</i> of 4800 + tons, with two 6-inch and ten 4-inch guns, and a speed of 25 knots; and + the <i>Otranto</i>, an armed liner. Reinforcements were expected from + home, and possibly from Japan; but the squadrons were not unequally + matched in weight of metal, though the British were handicapped by the + diversity and antiquity of their armament. The balance was, however, + destroyed before the battle, because, as Cradock in the third week of + October made his way north along the Pacific coast, the <i>Canopus</i> + developed defects which necessitated her being left behind for repairs. + </p> + <p> + The squadrons fell in with one another north-west of Coronel late in the + afternoon of 1 November. Cradock had turned south, presumably to join the + <i>Canopus</i>, but Von Spee secured the inestimable advantage of the + in-shore course, and as the sun set it silhouetted the British ships + against the sky while the gathering gloom obscured the Germans. The fight + was really between the two leading cruisers on each side, the <i>Good Hope</i> + and the <i>Monmouth</i> against the <i>Scharnhorst</i> and the <i>Gneisenau</i>. + The Germans got the range first, and the <i>Good Hope</i>'s two 9.2-inch + guns were soon put out of action in spite of their superior weight. At + 7:50 she blew up, and the <i>Monmouth</i> was a wreck. The + lightly-armoured <i>Glasgow</i> had no option but to use her superior + speed and escape to warn the <i>Canopus</i>. This she did, and the two got + safely round Cape Horn to the Falkland Isles, leaving for the time the + Germans in command of the South Pacific coast. Sixteen hundred and fifty + officers, midshipmen, and men lost their lives with Cradock, and none were + rescued by the Germans. There was hardly a parallel in British naval + history for such a defeat. + </p> + <p> + Prompt measures were taken to retrieve it. Lord Fisher had succeeded + Prince Louis of Battenberg at the Admiralty on 30 October, and one of his + first acts was to dispatch on 5 November a squadron under Admiral Sturdee, + comprising the <i>Invincible</i> and <i>Inflexible</i>, and four lighter + cruisers, the <i>Carnarvon, Kent, Cornwall</i>, and <i>Bristol</i>; the <i>Glasgow</i> + was picked up in the South Atlantic, while the <i>Canopus</i> was at Port + Stanley in the Falklands. The <i>Invincible</i> and <i>Inflexible</i> were + the two first battle-cruisers built; each had a tonnage of 17,250, a speed + of 27-28 knots, and eight 12-inch guns which could be fired as a broadside + to right or left; and there would be little chance for Von Spee if he + encountered such a weight of metal. Sturdee reached Port Stanley on 7 + December. Von Spee, who had been refitting at Juan Fernandez, left it on + 15 November, possibly fearing the Japanese approach, and made for Cape + Horn and the Atlantic. His plan was to snap up the <i>Canopus</i> and the + <i>Glasgow</i>, get what he could out of the Falklands, and then proceed + to support the rebellion in South Africa. Early on 8 December he + unsuspectingly approached Port Stanley, not discovering the presence of + Sturdee's squadron until it was too late. He then made off north-eastwards + with the <i>Scharnhorst</i> and the <i>Gneisenau</i>, while his lighter + cruisers turned south-eastwards. The former were sunk in the afternoon by + the two British battle- cruisers and the <i>Carnarvon</i>, while the + latter succumbed in the evening to the <i>Kent, Glasgow</i>, and <i>Cornwall</i>; + only the <i>Dresden</i> escaped, to be sunk in five minutes on 14 March + 1915 at Juan Fernandez by the <i>Kent</i> and the <i>Glasgow</i>. The <i>Invincible</i> + had no casualties, the <i>Inflexible</i> one man killed; the <i>Kent</i> + had four killed and twelve wounded, and the <i>Glasgow</i> nine and four. + About two hundred Germans were saved from drowning, but they did not + include Von Spee. + </p> + <p> + Such were the effects upon human life of a disparity of weight of metal in + naval action. No skill could avoid the brutal precision of mechanical and + material superiority. Von Spee had it at Coronel, Sturdee at the + Falklands, and there is no reason to suppose that if the persons had been + exchanged, the result would have been any different. It is the romance of + the past which attributes naval success mainly to superior seamanship or + courage; the "little" <i>Revenge</i> was the super-Dreadnought of her + time, and the victories of the Elizabethan sea-dogs were as surely won by + superior weight of metal as those of Nelson or to-day. Von Spee and his + men fought as bravely and as skilfully as Cradock and his; and the war for + command of the sea went against the Germans because while the Germans were + building pre-Dreadnoughts and casting 8-inch guns, we were building + Dreadnoughts and casting 10 or 12-inch guns; and while they were + constructing their Dreadnoughts, we were building super-Dreadnoughts with + 13.5 and 15-inch guns. Success in naval warfare goes not so much to the + brave as to those who think ahead in terms of mechanical force. + </p> + <p> + The last German cruisers outside harbour were now destroyed, and barely a + raider remained at large, while the British went on gathering the fruits + of their command of the sea by mustering in Europe the forces of the + Empire and acquiring abroad the disjointed German colonies. Naval strategy + was reduced to the dull but arduous task of blocking the exits from the + North Sea and guarding against the furtive German raids. The battle-fleet + was stationed in Scapa Flow, the cruisers off Rosyth, while little more + than a patrol--backed by a squadron of pre-Dreadnoughts in the + Channel--was left to watch the Straits of Dover and supplement the + mine-fields. Both combatants drew advantage from the narrow front of + Germany's outlook towards the sea; the exits were easier for us to close + than Nelson had found the lengthy coast of France, and no German Fleet + slipped across the Atlantic as Villeneuve did in 1805. On the other hand, + the narrow front was easier to fortify, protect with mine-fields, and + defend against attack. If there was to be a conclusive naval battle, the + field would be in the North Sea, and the only hope of success for the + Germans lay in the dispersion of our battle-fleet. + </p> + <p> + This was the object of the German raids on Yarmouth on 3 November, and on + Scarborough, Whitby, and the Hartlepools on 16 December. The former + effected nothing except sowing of some floating mines which subsequently + sank British submarine and two fishing-smacks, while one of the + participating cruisers, the <i>Yorck</i>, struck a German mine and sank on + entering Wilhelmshaven. The December raid was more successful in its + murderous intention of extending the <i>schrecklichkeit</i> practised in + Belgium to civilians on British shores. British delegates had insisted at + The Hague in 1907 on large rights of naval bombardment, and the Germans + expanded the plea that the presence of civilians does not exempt a + fortified town from bombardment into the argument that the presence of a + soldier or even of war-material justifies the shelling of a crowd of + civilians or a watering-place. There was a cavalry station at Scarborough, + a coastguard at Whitby, and some infantry and a battery at Hartlepool; + Scarborough also had a wireless installation, and Hartlepool its docks, + and both were undoubtedly used for purposes of war. The truth is that war + tends to pervade and absorb the whole energies of the community, and the + only legitimate criticism of German methods is that they pushed to + extremes of barbarity premisses which were commonly admitted and could + logically lead in no other direction. The old restriction of war to a few + actual combatants disappeared as manhood took to universal service, + womanhood to munition-making, and whole nations to war-work, and as the + reach of artillery and aircraft extended the sphere of operations hundreds + of miles behind the battle-lines. Eighteen were killed at Scarborough, + mostly women and children, and 70 were wounded; Whitby had 3 killed and 2 + wounded, but the damage at Hartlepool was serious. Six hundred houses were + damaged or destroyed, 119 persons were killed, over 300 were wounded, and + the mines the Germans scattered sank three steamers with considerable loss + of life. The raiders escaped by the skin of their teeth in a fog which + closed down just as two British battle-cruisers appeared on the scene of + their retreat. That the raid had been effected at all evoked some protest + from a public unaware that such incidents have always been an inevitable + accompaniment of all our naval wars; and critics declared that we had lost + the command of the sea in the first great war in our history in which not + an enemy landed on English soil except as a prisoner. It was the German + plan to provoke such comment, a feeling of insecurity, and a demand for + the scattering of our Grand Fleet along the coasts for defence in order + that it might be dealt with in detail; but the design was happily defeated + by the restraint of the people and the sense of better judges. + </p> + <p> + The Germans, however, were encouraged by their success to repeat the + attempt once too often, and on 24 January 1915 a more ambitious effort was + made by Admiral Hipper to emulate these raids, or perhaps rather to lure + the British on to mine-fields north of Heligoland which he extended before + he set out. He had with him three of the best German battle-cruisers, the + <i>Derfflinger</i>, <i>Seydlitz</i>, and <i>Moltke</i>, with speeds + ranging from 27 to 25 knots, tonnage from 26,000 to 22,000, and 12 or + 11-inch guns; the <i>Blcher</i> of 15,550 tons, 24 knots, and 8.2-inch + guns; six light cruisers and a torpedo flotilla. The Germans rarely if + ever came out without information of their intended movement preceding + them, and Beatty put to sea within an hour of their start. His flagship + was the <i>Lion</i>, 26,350 tons, 29 knots, and eight 13.5-inch guns, and + he had five other battle-cruisers, the <i>Tiger</i>, 28,000 tons, 28 + knots, and the same armament as the <i>Lion</i>; the <i>Princess Royal</i>, + a sister ship of the <i>Lion</i>; the <i>New Zealand</i>, 18,800 tons, 25 + knots, and eight 12-inch guns; and the <i>Indomitable</i>, sister to + Sturdee's <i>Invincible</i> and <i>Inflexible</i>. There were also four + cruisers of the "town" class, three light cruisers, and torpedo flotillas. + The fight was, however, mainly between the battle-crusiers. As soon as + Hipper heard of Beatty's approach he turned south-east. Gradually he was + overhauled, each of the leading British cruisers, <i>Lion</i>, <i>Tiger</i>, + and <i>Princess Royal</i> firing salvos into the slower <i>Blcher</i> as + they passed on to tackle the <i>Moltke</i>, <i>Seydlitz</i>, and <i>Derfflinger</i>. + The <i>Blcher</i> was finally reduced to a wreck by the <i>New Zealand</i> + and <i>Indomitable</i>, and then torpedoed by the <i>Meteor</i>; bombs + from German aircraft prevented our boats from rescuing more than 120 + survivors from the sinking ship. Meanwhile the <i>Lion</i> was damaged by + a shell and had to fall behind, and an hour and twenty minutes passed + before Beatty could return to the scene of action; he found that his + second in command had broken off the fight out of respect for the German + mine-field, which seems, however, to have been still thirty or forty miles + away. The German battle-cruisers, which might apparently have been + destroyed, thus got home with a severe battering which incapacitated them + for action for some months. No British ship was lost, and our casualties + were about a score of men. + </p> + <p> + The result was disappointing in the escape of the German cruisers, but it + left no doubt about the command of the sea. It was, indeed, being daily + demonstrated by the security of the Channel passage, the muster of forces + from oversea, and the conquest of German colonies. These were mainly in + Africa, and consisted of Togoland, the German Cameroons, German South-West + Africa, and East Africa. The tide of conquest flowed in this order round + Africa from north-west to south-east, and Togoland, which was also the + smallest, was the first to be subdued. It was about the size of Ireland, + and was hemmed in on all sides, by British sea-power on the south, Nigeria + on the west, and French colonies on the north and east; and converging + attacks forced the handful of German troops to unconditional surrender on + 27 August, The Cameroons were larger than the German Empire in Europe, and + the first attacks, being made with inadequate preparation, were repulsed + in the latter days of August. On 27 September, however, by co-operation + between French troops and two British warships, Duala the capital was + captured and the whole coast-line was seized. + </p> + <p> + The conquest of German South-West Africa was a more serious matter, not + only because the Germans were there more numerous and better organized, + but because the task was complicated by the politics of the Union. It was + not a Crown colony subject to the orders of the Imperial Government; + troops could only move at the instance of a responsible local + administration, and the back-veld Boers, led by Hertzog and De Wet, were + strenuously opposed to participation in the war on the British side. + Fortunately, perhaps, the Germans began hostilities by raiding the + frontiers of Cape Colony, and on 18 September the British retaliated by + seizing Luderitz Bay, which, like their other port, Swakopmund, the + Germans had abandoned to concentrate at their inland capital, Windhoek. On + the 26th there was a small British reverse at Sandfontein, which was + followed by the more serious news of Maritz' rebellion in the Cape. Maritz + had fought against the British in the Boer War and for the Germans against + the revolted Hereros; he now held the ambiguous position of rank in the + German Army and command of British forces, but came down on the German + side of the fence. Botha ordered his arrest, and Maritz, with German + assistance in arms and ammunition, attempted to overrun the north-west of + Cape Colony. A fortnight's campaign in October ended with the dispersal of + his commandos by Colonel Van Deventer. + </p> + <p> + Maritz was the stormy petrel of a far more serious disturbance. While the + grant of self-government to the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony in + 1908 had placated the great majority and the better-educated Boers, + tradition and prejudice kept their hold upon the more conservative + minority; and some like Beyers, who had once been received by the Kaiser, + looked to a war with Germany to restore their ancient independence. On 24 + October De Wet seized Heilbronn in the Orange State, and Beyers Rustenburg + in the Transvaal. Botha's appeal to the loyal Boers met, however, with an + effective response, and soon he had 30,000 men at his disposal. He acted + with remarkable swiftness: on the 27th he dispersed the commandos of + Beyers and Kemp, and on 7 November General Smuts announced that there were + but a few scattered bands of rebels in the Transvaal. De Wet made a longer + run by his elusive heels, but found the motor-transport of his enemies an + insuperable bar to the repetition of his exploits of 1900-2. He had a + slight success at Doornberg on 7 November, when his force amounted to 2000 + men; but Botha now came south into the Orange State and completely + defeated De Wet on the 11th to the east of Winburg. De Wet himself escaped + and attempted a junction with Beyers who had fled south from the + Transvaal. But he was gradually driven westward into the Kalahari desert + and overtaken by Colonel Jordaan's motors a hundred miles west of Mafeking + on 1 December, while Beyers was drowned in trying to cross the Vaal on the + 8th. De Wet was once more given his life, and the other rebels were + treated with a lenience which nothing but its wisdom could excuse. + </p> + <p> + The rising put off to another year the conquest of German South-West + Africa. The conquest of East Africa (<i>see</i> Map, p. 249) was postponed + for a longer period by the inherent difficulties of the task and the + imported defects in its management. German East Africa was actually and + potentially by far the most valuable of German oversea possessions. Twice + the size of Germany, it had a population of eight million natives and five + thousand Europeans. Although tropical in its climate, high ground, and + especially the slopes of Kilimanjaro, provided inhabitable land for white + men, and its wealth in forests, gold and other minerals, pastoral and + agricultural facilities was considerable. There were four excellent ports, + and from two of them, Tanga and the capital, Dar-es-Salaam, railways ran + far into the interior. On the north it was bounded by British East Africa + and Uganda, on the west by the Belgian Congo State, and on the south-west + by British Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, while on the south Portuguese + Mozambique provided some means of supply and an ultimate refuge in defeat. + The German forces were greatly superior to those of the British in East + Africa, and the Uganda railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria Nyanza + running parallel with the frontier was a tempting object of attack. The + Germans took the offensive against the British north and south-west, + without achieving any great success. But only the arrival of + reinforcements from India on 3 September and the failure of the <i>Konigsberg</i> + to co-operate prevented the fall of Mombasa, and only the inadequacy of + the British maps, on which the Germans had for once to rely, frustrated + their attack on the Uganda railway. Karungu was also besieged on Lake + Victoria Nyanza, but relieved by a couple of British vessels; the invaders + of Northern Rhodesia were beaten back; and a naval force bombarded + Dar-es-Salaam and destroyed the wireless installation. The arrival of a + second expeditionary force from India on 1 November was the prelude to a + greater reverse. Landing at Tanga on the 4th, it was met by a German + force, superior in the art of bush fighting if not in numbers which + hurried down from Moschi, and was compelled to re-embark with a loss of + 800 casualties. During the brief span of their colonial experience the + Germans had learnt as much about colonial warfare as we could teach them + after centuries; for traditions are not an unmixed blessing in the art of + war. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter05" id="chapter05"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <h3> + ESTABLISHING THE WESTERN FRONT + </h3> + <p> + <a href="images/map02.png"><img src="images/map02s.png" width="473" + height="315" alt="The Battles Of The Aisne" /></a> + </p> + <p> + Throughout the war there was an undercurrent of criticism against the + dispersion of British forces and dissipation of British energy, and the + briefest history of it cannot avoid a certain amount of discursiveness. + The reason, if not the justification, is the same in both cases; for + happily or unhappily the British Empire is scattered all over the globe, + and unless colonies were to be abandoned to enemy attacks and the natural + forces of native discontents, they had to be defended in part at least by + British troops. Fortunately the task required but a fraction of the + military strength which Germany needed to hold Alsace-Lorraine in time of + peace, and long before the end Great Britain received from her dominions + fourfold the help in Europe that she had to lend them overseas. The rally + to the British flag was to us one of the most inspiring, and to the + Germans one of the most dispiriting, portents in the war; but it took time + to bear its fruits, and meanwhile the cause of civilization had to rely + upon the gallantry of French armies and the numerically weak British + forces fighting on the Marne and on the Aisne. + </p> + <p> + The human eye is ever longing to pierce the veil of the future, but it was + perhaps as well that men could not foresee, as the Allies drove the + Germans across the lower reaches of the Aisne, how long that river would + be reddened with the blood of the contending forces. They thought that the + tide of invasion would recede as fast as it had advanced, and it was only + as the days of German resistance lengthened into weeks, and the weeks into + months of the longest battle in history, that staffs and armies and + peoples began to grasp the awful potentialities of scientific progress in + the art of modern war. The battle without a morrow had long been the ideal + consummation for victorious strategy, but no one had yet foreseen the + battle without an end and armies without flanks. That sooner or later one + or other combatant would be outflanked had been the universal assumption + of the strategist; but in the autumn of 1914 the combatant forces + gradually extended their fronts in the effort until they rested upon the + frontier of Switzerland and the sea, and the deadlock of a deadly embrace + began which was not effectively broken until the wrestling of four years + wore down the strength of the wrestlers and left the final decision in the + hands of new-comers to the European field of battle. + </p> + <p> + The deadlock was no part of the original German plan, but German + forethought during the advance to the Marne had provided entrenchments in + the rear for the event of a retreat, and the natural strength of the + forest of St. Gobain, the Chemin des Dames, and the Argonne as well as a + study of the campaign of 1814 had suggested an obvious line of defence. It + was not, however, expected by the Entente higher command which proceeded + with its frontal attack on the assumption that the Germans were merely + fighting rearguard actions to secure their further retirement; and it was + only when the German front refused to budge that pressure spread out to + the Allied left wing in an attempt to turn the German right flank, which + would have stood more chance of success had it come a fortnight earlier as + a first instead of a second thought. An even better alternative might have + been to revert to Joffre's original plan, which had failed in August on + the Saar, to thrust forward against the Crown Prince and threaten the left + of the Germans and the communications of their forces in Belgium and + northern France. But it is easier on paper after the event than it was in + action at the time to convert an improvised defensive into a considered + offensive strategy; and the Germans themselves had occasion during the + autumn and the rest of the war to regret that their second thoughts had + not come first. + </p> + <p> + The battle of the Aisne began, like that of the Marne, on Sunday, 13 + September. The Germans' retreat had taken them north of the river except + at a few bridgeheads, but the river was deep and its crossings were all + commanded by fire from German batteries concealed on the slopes rising up + from the northern bank. Maunoury's 6th Army attacked on the left from + Compigne and the Fort de l'Aigle to Soissons, and several divisions were + got across. From Soissons eastward for fifteen miles to Pont-Arcy the line + of attack was held by the British Army; the whole of the 4th Division got + across near Venizel, and most of the 5th and 3rd Divisions farther east, + but the Germans succeeded in holding the bridge at Cond. The 2nd Division + was also only partially successful in the region of Chavonne, but the + whole of the 1st got across at Pont-Arcy and Bourg. On Monday, Maunoury + pressed forward up the heights, capturing Autrches and Nouvron, but, like + the British on his right between Vregny and Vailly, he found the German + positions impregnable on the plateau. Haig's First Corps was more + successful farther east; Vendresse and Troyon were captured and the Chemin + des Dames was almost reached. But D'Esperey's 5th French army could make + little impression on the Craonne plateau; Foch's 9th was unable to force + the Suippe to the east of Reims, and Langle's 4th, while it occupied + Souain, was similarly held up in Champagne. + </p> + <p> + On the 15th the Germans counter-attacked. Maunoury was driven out of + Nouvron and Autrches, the British were forced back from Vregny almost to + the river, and the Moroccan troops withdrew on Haig's right flank. There + was a lull on the 16th, and on the 17th Maunoury recovered the quarries of + Autrches; but east of Reims the 9th Army had fallen back from the Suippe, + and the Prussian Guard had captured Nogent l'Abbesse and was threatening + Foch's connexion with Langle in Champagne. The 18th saw little progress on + either side, except along the Oise, where Maunoury had as early as the + 15th begun to outflank the German right. This success, coupled with the + stalemate along the rest of the front, suggested to Joffre a change of + strategy. Numerically the opposing forces were not unequal, but the + Germans had all the advantages of position. To attack up carefully + protected slopes with a river in the rear and its crossings commanded by + the enemy's fire, promised little hope of success, and threatened disaster + in case of failure and retreat. Accordingly, Joffre, taking some risks by + weakening his centre, began on the 16th to lengthen and strengthen his + left by forming two new armies. Castlenau gave up his command of the 2nd + to Dubail in Lorraine and took over the new 7th, and a 10th was entrusted + to Maud'huy, another of the professors of military history to whom the + French and the Russian armies owed so much of their generalship. By the + 20th Maunoury had swung his left round until it stretched at a right angle + from Compigne north to the west of Lassigny. Castelnau's 7th continued + the line north through Roye to the Albert plateau; and on the 30th + Maud'huy's 10th took up the tale through Arras to Lens. + </p> + <p> + But if the impact of equal forces on the Aisne flattened them out towards + the west, it had the same effect in the other direction, though here it + was the Germans who took the offensive in trying to penetrate Sarrail's + flank on the Meuse and thus get behind the whole front of the Allies. + Verdun was the nut to be cracked, but Sarrail had been extending its + defences so as to put the city beyond the reach of the German howitzers + and surrounding it with miles of trenches and wire-entanglements; and the + Germans preferred to attempt another method than frontal attack. About the + 20th four new corps, chiefly of Wrttemburgers, appeared in Lorraine, + bringing their forces up to seven against Sarrail's three; and an attack + was made on Fort Troyon on the Meuse which reduced it to a dust-heap but + failed to carry the Germans across the river. A more serious onslaught was + made on the 23rd against St. Mihiel, which was captured while the + neighbouring forts of Paroches and the Camp des Romains were destroyed. + But again the Germans were prevented from pushing their advantage, and + were left with no more than a wonderful salient which looked on the map + like Germany putting out its tongue at France and resisted all efforts to + repress this insolence until the closing months of the war. + </p> + <p> + Having achieved but a sterile success to the south of Verdun, the Crown + Prince encountered a greater failure to the west. On 3 October he attacked + Sarrail's centre in the forest of the Argonne, seeking to recapture St. + Menehould, the headquarters he had abandoned on 14 September. His troops + were caught in La Grurie wood and so badly mauled that they temporarily + lost Varennes and the main road through the Argonne to Verdun. Foiled in + both these directions, the Germans revenged themselves by bombarding Reims + in the centre and ruining its cathedral; "the commonest, ugliest stone," + wrote a German general, "placed to mark the burial-place of a German + grenadier is a more glorious and perfect monument than all the cathedrals + in Europe put together." The bombardment did not help them much; + Neuvillette, which they had seized two miles north of Reims, was lost + again on 28 September, and the French also recovered Prunay, the German + occupation of which had driven a wedge between Foch's and Langle's armies. + On the other hand, Berry-au-Bac, where the great road crossed the Aisne + and the French often reported progress, remained in German hands for four + years longer. Both sides were now firmly entrenched, and their armies were + learning that new art of trench warfare which was to tax their ingenuity, + test their endurance, and drain their strength, until years later this war + of positions once more gave place to a war of movement. The lines had + become stabilized, and between Reims and the Alps they did not alter by + half a dozen miles at any point from September 1914 until September 1918. + The question of October was whether and where they would be fixed between + the Aisne and the sea. + </p> + <p> + Joffre's outflanking move was promptly countered, if not indeed + anticipated, by the German higher command, and in the first days of + October there was a general drift of German forces towards their right and + the Channel ports. Most and the best of the new levies were sent into + Belgium, and the stoutest troops in the fighting line were shifted from + East to West. Alsace was almost denuded; the Bavarians were moved from + Lorraine towards Lille and Arras, and the Duke of Wrttemberg into Belgian + Flanders. Von Bulow was sent to face Castelnau and Maud'huy between the + Oise and the Somme, and only Von Kluck and the Crown Prince with a new + general, Von Heeringen, from Alsace were left to hold the line of the + Aisne. Von Moltke was superseded by Falkenhayn, and a new phase came over + German strategy. The knock-out blow against France had failed, and the + little British Army threatened to grow. France had been the only foe the + Germans had counted in the West, but a new enemy was developing strength, + and the German front was turned to meet the novel danger. + </p> + <p> + The British Army made a movement which was sympathetic with this change + and symptomatic of the future course of the war. It was clearly out of + place along the Aisne in trenches which could be held by French + territorials and where its long communications crossed those of three + French armies. It was needed in Flanders close to its bases and to the + Channel ports which the Germans had now resolved to seize in the hope of + cutting or straining the Anglo-French liaison and furthering their new + campaign on land and sea against their gathering British foes. The idea + had occurred to Sir John French before the end of September, and on the + 29th he propounded it to Joffre; Joffre concurred, called up an 8th Army + under D'Urbal to support and prolong the extension of the line into + Flanders, and placed Foch in general charge of the operations north of + Noyon. The transport began on 3 October and was admirably carried out, + though some of the ultra-patriotic English newspapers did their best to + help the enemy by their enterprise in evading the Censor and giving news + of the movement to the public; for if business was business to the + profiteer, news was news to its vendors. + </p> + <p> + For a fortnight the British were on the road and out of the fight, which + was left for the most part to Castelnau's 7th and Maud'huy's 10th Armies; + and strenuous fighting it was for all-important objects. There was little + profit in a British out-march round the German flank in Flanders unless + the links between it and the Oise could be maintained, and the Germans + were as speedily reinforcing and extending their right as we were + preparing to turn it. At first Castelnau seemed to be making rapid and + substantial progress; he captured Noyon on 21 September, was pushing on by + Lassigny to Roye, and optimistic maps in the English press depicted the + German right being bent back to St. Quentin and the French outflanking it + as far north-east as Le Catelet. These were not intelligent anticipations. + Von Kluck had been reinforced, and a desperate battle ensued from the 25th + to the 28th, in which Castelnau was driven back from Noyon and Lassigny. + This counter-attack was repulsed with great losses at Quesnoy and Lihons a + little farther north, but Maud'huy was not less heavily engaged north of + the Somme in a several days' struggle for the Albert plateau. The line + established was supposed to run through Combles and Bapaume, and it was + not till long afterwards that the public realized how far it had sagged to + the westwards, or what that sagging meant when the British had to fight + their way up to Bapaume. + </p> + <p> + North of that watershed the fronts were fluid, if the scattered bodies of + French Territorials and German cavalry could be said to constitute a front + at all; and there was a strenuous race and struggle to turn the respective + flanks. Neither side, it was soon apparent, would succeed in that object, + and the practical question was at what point the outflanking contest would + reach the coast. The German ambition was to push their right as far south + as the mouth of the Seine, while the Allies hoped to thrust their left to + the north until it joined the Belgian Army at Antwerp. Maud'huy had + entered Arras on 30 September, and some of his Territorials pushed forward + to Lille and Douai. During the first three days of October he was fighting + hard on the eastern slopes of Vimy Ridge but was compelled to fall back on + Arras, while the Germans occupied Lille and Douai and their cavalry + penetrated as far as Bailleul, Hazebrouck, and Cassel. But the British + from the Aisne were moving up towards their positions on Maud'huy's left, + the Aire-La Basse Canal being fixed as the point of their junction, and + the 7th Division, with a division of cavalry, had landed at Ostend and + Zeebrugge while the Naval Division was sent to assist in the defence of + Antwerp. The Allied dream of a front along the Scheldt to Antwerp, barring + German access to the sea, seemed on the verge of realization; but dramatic + as the moment was, the tension would have been far more acute had men + grasped what a difference possession of the Belgian coast was to make in + the course of the war. + </p> + <p> + Success was missed by the Allies because it had been a more urgent task to + break the German offensive on the Marne than to save the remnants of + Belgian soil and assist the detached Belgian Army; and the whole of our + available force had been sent to the vital spot. Isolation is always + dubious strategy, but there were sound as well as natural motives behind + the decision which led the Belgian Army after the German occupation of + Brussels on 20 August to fall back north-westwards on Antwerp instead of + southwards to join the Allies at Mons and Charleroi. The isolation did not + involve ineffectiveness, and so far away as the Marne the Allies + experienced the benefit of Belgian fighting at Antwerp. Three successive + sorties alarmed the Germans for the safety of their far-flung right and + its communications, and diverted reserves from their front in France to + their rear in Belgium (<i>see</i> Map, p. 34). The first began on 24 + August and drove the Germans from Malines, while 2000 British marines + landed at Ostend. Then the Belgian right stretched out a hand towards the + British and captured Alost, while the left struck at Cortenburg on the + line between Brussels and Louvain. The communications of the capital were + thus threatened on three sides, and the Germans had to recall at least + three of their corps from France. It was this interference with their + vital plans in France, coupled with the panic produced by the Belgian + advance, which provoked the Germans into their barbarities at Louvain, + Malines, and Termonde. <i>Schrecklichkeit</i> was to deter the + contemptible Belgian Army from spoiling a mighty German success. That was + the view of the German staff, and a soldiery prone as ever to pillage and + rapine, needed little encouragement to extend to civilians, women, and + children the violence which their leaders organized against cathedrals and + cities. + </p> + <p> + Panic produces plots in all countries--in the minds of the panic-stricken, + and Germans no doubt believed in the tales of civilian conspiracies which + they used to justify their military crimes. Major Von Manteuffel ordered + the systematic destruction of Louvain, with its ancient university and + magnificent library. The Cathedral and Palais de Justice at Malines were + ruined by bombardment after the Belgian troops had left it; and Termonde + was burnt because a fine was not paid in time. Massacre, looting, and + outrage attained a licence which only the Germans themselves had equalled + during the Thirty Years' War. It and other orgies were a natural + expression of German militarism; for excessive restraint in one direction + provokes relaxation in others, and the tighter the bond of martial law, + the less the respect for civil codes. The proverbial licence of soldiery + is the reaction against their military discipline. + </p> + <p> + The second, called "the great sortie" from Antwerp, nearly coincided with + the battle of the Marne. It began on 9 September: Termonde was reoccupied, + but the main effort was towards Aerschot and Louvain. Aerschot was + recaptured on the 9th, though the fiercest struggle took place at Weerde + between Malines and Brussels. Kessel, just outside Louvain, was taken on + the 10th, but German reinforcements began to arrive on the 11th, and two + days later the Belgians were back in their positions on the Nethe, their + retirement being marked, as before, by a fresh series of German + atrocities. A third sortie induced by representations of the French higher + command and by the impression that the German forces before Antwerp had + been reduced, was planned for 26-27 September, and some fighting occurred + at Alost and Moll. But by this time the new Germany strategy was at work, + and the "side-shows" of the first phase of the war became the main + objectives of the second. The French Army was fairly secure in its + trenches and the way to Paris was barred. But the approach to the Channel + ports was not yet closed, and Antwerp was on the way to the Belgian coast. + It was a fine city to ransom; its loss might convince the Belgians that + there was no hope for their independence; and historical Germans bethought + themselves of Napoleon's description of Antwerp as a pistol pointed at + England's heart. Its fall would be some consolation for the lack of a + second Sedan, and on 28 September the siege began. + </p> + <p> + The Antwerp defences had been, like those of Lige and Namur, designed by + Brialmont, and were begun in 1861. But the rapid growth of the city and + the increasing range of guns made Brialmont's ring of forts, which was + drawn little more than two miles from the walls, useless as a protection + against bombardment, and twenty years later a wider circle of forts, which + was barely completed when war broke out, was begun ten miles farther out, + beyond the Rupel and the Nethe, and extending almost to Malines. One of + the objects of the Belgian sorties had been to keep this ring intact and + prevent the German howitzers from being brought up within range of the + city. But there are only two means by which forts can be made effective + defences; either their artillery must be equal in range and power to that + of the attacking force, or the attacking force must be prevented by + defending troops from bringing its howitzers within range. Neither of + these two conditions was fulfilled. The Belgian trenches, so far as any + had been dug, were close under this outer ring of forts, and the German + 28-cm. howitzers had an effective range of at least a mile and a half + longer than that of any guns the Belgians could mount. These howitzers had + already disposed of the fortifications of Lige, Namur, and Maubeuge, and + it was only a question of days and hours when they would make a breach in + the outer defences of Antwerp. + </p> + <p> + Their fire was concentrated on Forts Waelhem and Wavre, south and east of + Antwerp. Both had been destroyed by 1 October, and the reservoir near the + former, which supplied the city with water, was broken down, flooding the + Belgian trenches north of the Nethe, beyond which they had now taken + refuge. Farther to the left Termonde was seized by German infantry and the + Belgians driven across the Scheldt. On the 2nd the Government resolved to + leave Antwerp, but its departure and the flight of the civilians were + postponed by the arrival of Mr. Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, + and first a brigade of Royal Marines and then two naval brigades of + splendid but raw and ill-armed recruits. They were at once sent out to + help the Belgians to defend their trenches along the north bank of the + Nethe against the German numbers and their more effective shells. On the + 5th and following night both the left and centre of the defence were + pierced, the Germans crossed the Nethe, and began to concentrate their + howitzers on the inner line of ramparts. On the 7th the exodus from the + city began by land and water, and amid heartrending scenes a quarter of a + million people strove to reach the Dutch frontier or safety on the sea. + The Belgian and British troops did their best to hold off the Germans + while the flight proceeded and the city was subject to bombardment. It was + doubtful whether any would get away, for the Germans had at last begun + serious fighting up the Scheldt in order to cut off the retreat towards + Zeebrugge and Ostend. In the narrow gap between the intruding Germans and + the Dutch frontier some were forced across the latter and interned; others + fell into the enemy's hands; and less than a third of the first Naval + Brigade escaped to England. On the 9th the bombardment ceased, and on the + 10th the Germans made their formal entry into a well-nigh deserted city. + They had got their pistol pointed at the heart of England, but like + Napoleon they learnt that it was a pistol which could only be fired by + sea-power. + </p> + <p> + Most of the Belgian Army with the remnants of the British forces got away + to the coast through the gap beyond the Scheldt which Von Beseler had + failed to close in time; and it is impossible to say whether the gallant + efforts of the Royal Marines and naval brigades did more to facilitate + this escape than the postponement of the retreat, caused by their arrival, + did to frustrate it. As an end in itself the expedition for the relief of + Antwerp was a failure; but it was designed to subserve a larger operation, + the scope of which has not yet been revealed. At the time of its dispatch + there may still have been hopes for the success of Joffre's larger + strategical scheme of bending back the German flank in Flanders behind the + Scheldt; and obviously, if the failure of the Germans at the Marne and a + successful defence of Antwerp by the Entente should induce the Dutch to + intervene, the German position in the West would be completely turned. In + either case "other and more powerful considerations," as the Admiralty + expressed it on 17 October, prevented the "large operation" of which the + expedition of the Naval Division had been merely a part, from being + carried out; and the "powerful consideration" may have been the forces + which Germany was massing at Aix and in Belgium to defeat the Entente + strategy in Flanders. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map03.png"><img src="images/map03s.png" width="313" + height="440" alt="The Campaigns In Artois" /></a> + </p> + <p> + The fall of Antwerp was as fatal to our scheme of controlling the Scheldt + as Castlenau's and Maud'huy's successful defence between the Oise and + Arras had been to the German project of reaching the mouth of the Seine; + and it still remained to be seen at what point the expanding pressure upon + the opposing flanks would impinge upon the coast. Neither side had yet + reconciled itself to or perhaps conceived of such a stalemate to their + strategy. Rawlinson's 7th Division of infantry and 3rd of cavalry had not + been landed at Zeebrugge and Ostend on 6 October to defend those ports or + even the Yser, and the fresh German armies advancing through Belgium were + not intended to waste their strength on the ridges in front of Ypres or + floods around Dixmude. The Germans hoped, if not to turn the Entente + flank, at least to seize Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne; and Joffre and + French were planning to make La Basse, Lille, and Menin the pivot of a + turning movement which should liberate Brussels, isolate Von Beseler in + Antwerp, and threaten the rear of the German position along the Aisne. To + render these plans feasible it was necessary that La Basse and Lille + should be held and that the indefinite German flank in Flanders should be + outreached; and thus the country from Arras northwards to the coast became + the ground on which the autumn campaign in the West was doomed to be + decided. + </p> + <p> + Antwerp fell amid a fluid front. On 9 October Maud'huy's 10th Army was + holding up in front of Arras; but his Territorials were falling back on + Lille and its environment as the Belgians retreated to join Rawlinson at + Ostend. French's three corps were on their way to prolong and establish + Maud'huy's left, and an 8th French army under D'Urbal was designed to + fling the line yet farther north. But the Germans were bent on a similar + object, and their masses of cavalry, released from the front on the Aisne + by its settlement into trenches, were keeping open the country and the + issue. The rival armies were like two doors swinging towards one another + on the same hinge; but they were not wooden or rigid, and the banging + together began at the hinge near La Basse and extended northwards to the + coast in a concussion spread over several days. On 11 October + Smith-Dorrien's 2nd Corps reached the La Basse Canal between Aire and + Bthune, while Gough's cavalry was clearing the German patrols out of the + forest of Nieppe. On the 12th he attempted a frontal attack on La Basse, + but found the German position too strong, and determined to try to wheel + round it on the north. This movement had some success; the 3rd Division + drove the Germans from village to village until on the 17th Aubers and + Herlies, north to north-east of La Basse, were taken by assault. But the + Germans were simultaneously and in the same way driving in the French + Territorials; on the 13th they occupied Lille, and on the 19th an Irish + brigade which had advanced beyond Herlies to Le Pilly was cut off and + captured. So far as the 2nd Corps was concerned the doors had banged + together. + </p> + <p> + Pulteney's 3rd was moving towards collision on the left. It detrained from + St. Omer on the 11th, drove the Germans out of Meteren on the 13th, + occupied Bailleul and Armentires and then crossed the Lys, gaining a line + from Le Gheir, north of Armentires, to Bois Grenier by the 17th. An + attempt to clear the right bank farther north failed against the + opposition of the German front from Radinghen to Frelinghien and thence + along the river. Here, too, the way was barred, but north of the Lys there + was as yet no stable control. There were some French and British cavalry + and some weak detachments of infantry; but Haig's 1st Corps had not yet + completed its transport from the Aisne, Rawlinson's 7th Division was being + expanded into a 4th Corps, and the Belgian Army was painfully making its + retreat from Antwerp. On the 13th Von Beseler was in Ghent, on the 14th in + Bruges, and on the 16th in Ostend. The outflanking here was being done by + the Germans with uncomfortable rapidity. On the day that the Germans + entered Ostend, the Belgians were driven out of the forest of Houthulst + and took refuge far behind the Yser. Four French cavalry divisions + recovered the forest on the 17th, but the 7th British Division which had + occupied Roulers on the 13th was driven back to a line south-east of Ypres + running through Zandvoorde, Gheluvelt, and Zonnebeke (<i>see</i> Map, p. + 288). + </p> + <p> + D'Urbal's 8th French army now, however, came up to support the exhausted + Belgians and assist in holding the Yser from Dixmude to the sea, where + British warships were assembled to harass the German flank along the + dunes; and Sir John French thought the moment had come for an offensive + wheel round Menin towards the Scheldt. Haig's 1st Corps was expected + shortly to fill the gap between Rawlinson's 4th and D'Urbal, and Rawlinson + was instructed to advance on the 18th, seize Menin, and then await Haig, + who was to move through Ypres on to Thourout, Bruges, and Ghent. In + England it was confidently expected that the Germans, who had arrived at + Ostend on a Friday, would enjoy but a week-end visit to the seaside + resort, and the newspapers were not more sadly optimistic or ill-informed + than headquarters in France. The orders given on the 18th and 19th could + only have been the outcome of complete ignorance of the strength of the + German Army, which was as much underestimated by the Intelligence + Department on the spot as it was later exaggerated by writers on the + campaign. In reality four new German Corps were already at Brussels or + Courtrai mainly from Wrttemberg and Bavaria, and although the presence in + them of men with grey beards and boys with none gave rise to some + ill-timed satisfaction in the British press, these Landsturm troops were + not to be despised. Rawlinson moved on Menin on the 19th, but was stopped + three miles away by the German masses coming from Courtrai, and had to + entrench on a line running east of Gheluvelt. On the same day the 1st + Corps detrained at St. Omer and marched towards Ypres. Instead of + advancing on Thourout and beyond, it had to dig itself in on a line of + defence from Rawlinson's left at Zonnebeke to Bixschoote, where the French + began their own and the Belgian front along the Yser to Nieuport. + </p> + <p> + The impact of the opposing forces had flattened them out until they + extended to the coast, and the point at which they reached it remained + fixed for four years to a day. Instead of a brilliant strategical run + round the enemy's flanks to a distant goal in his rear, there was fated to + be a strenuous scrimmage all along the line. It was a democratic sort of + war, depending for its decision upon the stoutness of the pack rather than + on the genius of the individual. The pressure was differently distributed + at different periods during those endless years; now it was Ypres, now + Verdun, then the Somme and the Chemin des Dames that was selected for the + special push; and in time as their man-power began to fail the Germans + laid greater stress on the concrete of their lines. But the line was never + really broken, and no flank was ever fully turned. It wavered at places + and times now in favour of one side and now in that of the other; but the + end only came when the whole was pushed back by superior weight of + numbers, advancing at an average rate of less than a mile a day. + </p> + <p> + The first great trial of strength is associated in British minds with the + first battle of Ypres. The French dwell rather on the equally strenuous + struggle farther south round Arras under Foch. For the line of battle + stretched north from the Albert plateau for a hundred miles, and we can + hardly claim that the boys and the middle-aged men, at whom some were + inclined to scoff, in Flanders were the pick of the German troops sent + into the fray. The glory of the defence consisted rather in the resistance + of better troops to superior numbers backed by a vast preponderance of + artillery. The estimates of the German forces are still little more than + conjectures; and the figures of a million and a half Germans to half a + million French, British, and Belgians, or of fifty corps to twelve and a + half, will probably be corrected when the German statistics are known. If + it is further true that at the actual points of fighting the disproportion + was five to one, we need no further illustration of the ills which + inadequate co-ordination imposes on an Alliance, and inadequate staff-work + and intelligence on any fighting force. The Allied tactics were probably + not so clumsy nor the German troops so feeble as these thoughtless + estimates imply. + </p> + <p> + It was not a struggle in which there was much scope for strategy on either + side, because there had been no fixed data on which to base it. Each + combatant had been bent on out-flanking the other before the sea was + reached and success denied; but neither knew from day to day or hour to + hour where his own or the enemy's line would be. It was idle to plan at + headquarters the investment of places which might at the moment be well + behind the lines, or the defence of others which the enemy might already + have passed; and the alleged inexplicable nature of the German strategy + seems to be largely due to an antedating of the establishment of a line of + battle. They might have done better to concentrate on Arras with a view to + breaking the Anglo-French liaison on the La Basse Canal and isolating the + British Army, than to distribute their onslaughts over a front of a + hundred miles. But the problem was to outflank a wing which was still in + the air, and not to break a line which was not yet formed; and even if it + were in existence, subsequent experience would have justified the + conviction that success was to be obtained by pressure along an extended + front rather than by concentration on limited sectors like Verdun, or even + the 18-mile front of the battle of the Somme. The struggle which closed + the autumn campaign in the West was not, in fact, a new battle fought on a + preconceived plan, but the final clash of armies seeking to outmarch each + other's flanks in a battle begun on the Marne; and the popular German + advertisement of a new campaign against the Channel ports and a different + enemy than the French was merely a fresh coat of paint designed to cover a + structure that had gone to pieces. + </p> + <p> + Apart from the effort to outflank, neither side could therefore have any + definite plan, and neither was able to choose the scene of conflict. Two + years later, when they withdrew to the Hindenburg lines, the Germans + admitted freely enough that the earlier line had been none of their + choice, and it was certainly none of ours. It was, in fact, imposed upon + both the combatants by that same balance of forces which eventually also + imposed upon them, against their will, the deadlock in the West. On 19 + October Sir John French was still hoping that Haig could outflank the + Germans at Ghent, and the presence of the Kaiser on the coast a few days + later suggests that his generals still cherished the idea of an outmarch + rather than a break-through. It was the British Navy that put the final + check on that design, and accident played its part. Three Brazilian + monitors of shallow draught but heavy armament had been purchased by the + Admiralty in August: they could work inshore even along the shallow waters + of the Belgian coast which precluded counter-attack by submarines, and + from 18 to 28 October their guns swept the Belgian shore for six miles + inland and repelled the onslaught of the German right on Nieuport. Haig's + outflanking project had been rendered equally impossible by the strength + of the German resistance to Rawlinson's move on Menin, and by the 21st + both sides had been pinned down to a ding-dong soldiers' battle all along + the front. Its chronology is as important as its localities, and it is + hard to follow the course of the struggle if the narrative loses itself in + the different threads of the various corps engaged. For all were fighting + at the same time, and the only generalizations possible are that the + straggle tended to concentrate from both wings towards the apex at Ypres + and to culminate in the combat of the last day of the month. + </p> + <p> + This bird's-eye view and lack of information about the details do less + than justice to the crucial battle, which Maud'huy under Foch's general + direction waged against the Germans round Arras and both they and the + French regard as one of the decisive incidents in the war. Clearly, if Von + Buelow succeeded in breaking through towards Doullens or Bthune there was + little to stop his reaching Boulogne or Abbeville, and the British Army + would be first isolated and then driven into the sea. The struggle for + Arras began on the 20th, after the Germans had secured an initial + advantage by seizing Lens, and Von Buelow was given the Prussian Guard to + achieve its capture. The climax was reached on the 24th in an attempt to + take the important railway junction of Achicourt just south of the city. + Arras itself was reduced almost to ruins by the German bombardment; but + Maud'huy's men held good, and on the 26th were even able to take the + offensive. The Germans were driven out of their most advanced positions, + though they held the Vimy Ridge, and accepting defeat before Arras, + transferred some of their best troops, including the Prussian Guards, + farther north. Possibly this relinquishment was the worst of their + tactical mistakes, but the higher commands on both sides had learnt the + cost of persisting in attempts to break through, and Falkenhayn may well + have thought it best to seek a weaker spot. + </p> + <p> + Maud'huy's successful resistance made it possible for Smith-Dorrien's 2nd + Corps to hold a line north of the La Basse Canal, though not the line on + which he had first come up against the Germans advancing from Lille. That + formed a right angle, stretching north-east from Givenchy to Herlies and + then north-west to Fauquissart; but on the 22nd his right was driven out + of Violaines, and the salient had to be evacuated by withdrawal to a line + in front of Givenchy, Festubert, and Neuve Chapelle. On the 27th Neuve + Chapelle was taken by the Germans. A gallant attack by Indian troops, who + had been brought up from Marseilles to assist Smith-Dorrien's tried and + depleted corps, checked their advance on the 28th and drove them back into + Neuve Chapelle; and another German attack was held before Festubert. Here + Sir James Willcock's Indian Corps had a hard task for the next few days, + and a breach in our lines on 2 November was only repaired by a desperate + charge of the Gurkhas. The winter of northern France was to have more + effect on their physique than German warfare on their <i>moral</i>, and + after a final assault on Givenchy--one of the virgin pivots of the war in + the West--on 7 November, the battle in front of the 2nd Corps subsided + into an artillery duel. The fighting in front of Pulteney's 3rd Corps, + which carried on the line from Smith-Dorrien's left towards Ypres, was + overshadowed by the struggle round that city; but it had enough to do to + maintain the connexion. Its hold on the left bank of the Lys north of + Armentires was strenuously disputed; on the 20th the Germans seized Le + Gheir at the south-east corner of Ploegstreet Wood, but were immediately + driven out. They took it again on the 29th and some trenches in the wood + with no more permanent success, but managed on the 30th to take and retain + St. Yves a little farther north. + </p> + <p> + This was part of the Ypres fighting, and downwards from the coast the + surge of battle was also drawn into that maelstrom. The British naval guns + had destroyed the attraction of the dunes, and the Germans turned towards + the inland marshes along the Yser. On the 23rd they crossed it and + advanced to Ramscapelle, but were driven back by the Belgians, while + fourteen unsuccessful attacks were made the following night on Dixmude, + farther south. A more successful attempt was made on the 24th and 25th on + Schoorbakke, and the Germans advanced towards the railway embankment near + Pervyse. The Belgians now bethought themselves of the expedient their + forbears had found effective in the days of William the Silent and + Alexander Farnese. The Yser was dammed at Nieuport, the sluices were + opened above Dixmude, and slowly the river rose above its banks and spread + over the meadow-flats the Germans were striving to cross. Men were drowned + and guns submerged, and presently an impassable sheet of water protected + the Belgians on the railway from Nieuport to Dixmude. The Germans, + however, made two more efforts to pierce the Belgian line north and south + of the inundation. On the 30th they seized Ramscapelle, but were expelled + by the French on the 31st, and on 7 November a determined attack was made + on Dixmude, now defended by Admiral Ronarc'h and his French marines. It + succeeded after three days' fighting and a heavy bombardment on the 10th. + But Dixmude had, as was natural in a country which had generally feared + attack from France, been built on the eastern bank of the Yser; and the + Germans were never able to debouch across the river (<i>see</i> Map, p. + 288). + </p> + <p> + The capture of Dixmude coincided with the last attack on Ypres. That + famous battle was but an act in the drama played along the Flanders front, + and it may not have been more decisive and was perhaps less dramatic than + the battle of Arras. But the act extended throughout the play, and + gradually attracted more and more attention. It was a natural continuation + of the outflanking struggle, and there was no interval between the British + attempt to get to Ghent and the German effort to reach the Channel ports. + The two ambitions here clashed in front of Ypres. Rawlinson's failure + before Menin left him facing south-east, while the expulsion of the + Belgians and then the French Territorials from the Houthulst forest left + Haig and the French contingents facing north-east from Bixschoote to + Zonnebeke; the apex of this Ypres salient was at Becelaere. D'Urbal's 8th + Army from Bixschoote north to Dixmude played a subsidiary part similar to + that of Pulteney's 3rd Corps farther south; but had it not been for the + supports he was able to send to Haig's assistance, the Germans would + assuredly have broken through. + </p> + <p> + The attack began from the apex to our right at Zillebeke on the 21st, and + its momentum showed that nothing more than stubborn defence was possible. + The 7th Division bore the brunt of the attack, and Haig's 1st Corps was + precluded from a counter-offensive by the need of detaching supports to + the south-east of Ypres, where long stretches of line were only held by + cavalry, and Pulteney was being pressed in front of Ploegstreet. On the + 23rd the Germans made an impetuous onslaught on Langemarck, but the + pressure was relieved by a French advance on the left and their taking + over the line of our 1st Division, which enabled Haig to move in support + of the centre. Nevertheless the Germans drove it from Becelaere and got + into Polygon Wood. At night on the 25th they struck at Kruseik, between + Gheluvelt and Zandvoorde. There followed a suspicious lull, and on the + 29th the reinforced Germans drove against the centre of the 1st Corps at + Gheluvelt; an initial success was reversed later on in the day, but on the + 30th the attack shifted towards the right at Zandvoorde, and the 1st + Division was forced back a mile to Zillebeke, while the 2nd conformed and + the 2nd Cavalry Division was driven from Hollebeke back to St. Eloi. The + Kaiser arrived that day and the crisis on the morrow. Gheluvelt was the + point selected for the blow, and the 1st Division was thrust back into the + woods in front of Hooge, where headquarters were heavily shelled. The + flank of the 7th Division was thus exposed, and the Royal Scots Fusiliers + were wiped out. Fortunately the arrival of Moussy with part of the 9th + French Corps averted further disaster, though he had to collect regimental + cooks and other unarmed men to help in holding the line. Allenby's cavalry + farther south was in equally desperate straits near Hollebeke, and he was + only saved by the transference of Kavanagh's 7th brigade from the north of + Hooge to his assistance. North of the Ypres-Menin road the German attack + had not been seriously pressed, and it was from this direction that help + came between 2 and 3 p.m., the hour which Sir John French once described + as the most critical in the Ypres battle. The main instrument was the 2nd + Worcesters, who fell upon the German advanced and exposed right, and + retook Gheluvelt by a bayonet charge. This relieved the pressure on the + 7th Division, and by nightfall their positions had been regained. + </p> + <p> + But the battle was not yet over. On 1 November the Germans renewed their + attack on Allenby and captured Hollebeke and Messines, and then in the + night Wytschaete. Luckily on that day the French 16th Corps arrived and + recovered Wytschaete. The Germans themselves now needed reinforcements and + time to recover, and for some days there was little fighting except an + unequal artillery duel. On the 6th a German attack on Zillebeke nearly + succeeded, but was eventually repulsed by a charge of the Household + Cavalry. Another pause followed, but the Germans were bent on one more + effort, and the Prussian Guards were brought up from Arras to make it on + the 11th. They charged on the Menin road against Gheluvelt and drove the + 1st Division back into the woods behind; but then they were held, and + counter-attacks recovered most of the lost positions. The Germans by this + time were tired of Ypres, though they continued for four days longer to + struggle for Bixschoote, where Dubois and his Zouaves put up a splendid + and successful defence, and a few spasmodic attempts were made at + Zillebeke and elsewhere between 12 and 17 November. Then, with the arrival + of further French reinforcements, the Germans desisted, and the line of + battle in Flanders sank into an uneasy winter torpor. The second as well + as the first thoughts of the German command for the campaign of 1914 in + the West had come to nought, or to what was nearly as bad, a stalemate; + and the East was calling with an urgent and distracting voice to other + fields of battle. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter06" id="chapter06"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <h3> + THE FIRST WINTER OF THE WAR + </h3> + <p> + The lull which followed the battle of Ypres was not entirely due to the + winter season or to the Flanders mud, for both sides had other reasons for + quiescence in the West. The Germans had definitely failed in their + original plan of destroying the French armies before the Russians could + intervene, and they were now threatened with the ruin of their Austrian + ally and the invasion of their own Silesian borders. The steam-roller, + which had been moving to and fro across the Polish plains, seemed to have + at last secured a solid impetus in the forward direction which might + conceivably carry it to the Brandenburg Gate by Christmas. Wrttemburgers + and Bavarians might afford to keep their eyes fixed on the Channel ports + and their troops in Belgium; but the affections of Prussians were set on + their homes in the East, and Hindenburg was calling for reinforcement more + clamantly than the Western commanders. Defence was for many a month to be + the German strategy in the West, and, in spite of the failure of their + higher ambitions, they had secured a good deal worth defending. Belgium, + with its great mining and other industrial resources, was theirs to + relieve the strain on German labour and raw materials; from the Briey + district in Lorraine they were drawing ores without which they could not + long have continued the war; and the coalfields of northern France were + divided between their owners and the invaders. The strain which the lack + of these resources put upon the industries and shipping of Great Britain + was incalculable, and the inability of the Entente to defend the French + and Belgian frontiers or to expel the invader prolonged the war for at + least a couple of years. + </p> + <p> + There were thus compensations for the Germans if they could merely hold + what they had taken from other people; and the Entente on its side had its + reasons for quiescence. French reserves, which were too late at Charleroi + and Sedan, were in time at Arras and Ypres, but our own were still in the + making. A dreadful toll had been taken of the heroes of Mons, and the + original Expeditionary Force had been sadly depleted. It was a difficulty + which time would remedy, for Great Britain was teeming with recruits in + training from every quarter of the Empire. The response to its need had + been almost overwhelming, and the Government was hard pressed to embody + the hundreds of thousands of volunteers at home and to provide transport + for those overseas. At one moment in September the War Office took the + extraordinary step of checking the rush by refusing all recruits, however + fit, who were less than 5 ft. 6 in. in height; and to arm and equip and + train the accepted was a task which required time and a vast readjustment + of industry. It was not assisted by a business community which took as its + early motto "business as usual," and was mainly alarmed by the fear of + unemployment. But the traditions of peace were potent in other than + Government circles, and history afforded no precedent for the crisis, nor + for the spirit in which it was met by the youth of the Empire, who feared + less for their lives than most of their elders did for their profits. + </p> + <p> + The first source from which the regular forces could be recruited was the + Territorials. They had been formed before the war on the idea that they + were required merely for home defence, and no one had yet thought of the + equivocation that home defence included that of India, Egypt, Belgium, and + France, or offence in Mesopotamia and the Dardanelles. There was no need + for the Government to rely on that quibble, for the Territorials + volunteered almost in mass for foreign service, and the difficulty was to + impress Lord Kitchener with the value of a force with which his absence in + the East had made him unfamiliar. As it was, some of the best of the + regiments, like the London Scottish, put in an appearance at Ypres, while + numbers were sent to Egypt and India to release for service in Europe the + regular forces there. With them came native Indian regiments, Sikhs, + Gurkhas, and Bhopals, whose voluntary service provided the most touching + testimonial to its character that the British Empire has ever received; + for they did not govern themselves, and it is no small thing to govern + others in such a way as to provoke loyalty unto death. No less moving was + the response from Dominions which were thought by the ill-informed to be + straining at the leash of Imperial domination. The Canadians, having the + shortest route, were the first to come, and on 16 October the advance + guard disembarked at Liverpool. They were followed by scores and then + hundreds of thousands from Australia and New Zealand, and finally from + South Africa, where for the moment the task of suppressing rebellion and + dealing with German South-West Africa kept them at more immediate duties + nearer home. They were all volunteers; for although Canada adopted + conscription in the last year of the war, Australia rejected the proposal + twice, and it was never made in South Africa; and the splendid colonial + troops which covered themselves with glory in the war contained no + conscripts among their numbers. + </p> + <p> + During the winter of 1914-15 Great Britain was a vast camp of men from all + quarters of the Empire training for that offensive in the spring on which + men's hopes were set. A saying attributed to Lord Kitchener passed from + mouth to mouth, to the effect that he did not know when the war would end, + but that it would begin in May. Hitherto our forces engaged had been + merely an advance guard of our manpower, and it was a common anticipation + that the Allied offensive would bring the war to a successful conclusion + by the end of 1915. With such hopes President Poincar cheered the French + troops in their trenches at Christmas, and in January a semi-official <i>communiqu</i> + announced that the French had broken the German offensive and could break + the German defensive whenever they chose. This pleasing illusion was + maintained, not so much by a censorship of the truth as by incapacity on + the part of those in authority to discern it, and by a natural tendency of + the wish to be father of the thought. German <i>communiqus</i> afforded + some means of correction, but they were universally disbelieved or + discounted as containing an amount of falsehood of which no ally could be + guilty, although, until the last few months of the war, they were rather + less misleading than our own. Nor was it only official news that was + delusive. "The Times," for instance, in January put the total German + "losses" down to date at two million and a quarter; and an expert + historian debited Germany with a "dead loss, perhaps, of little less than + three million by the beginning of April," whereas the casualties barely + reached half that figure, and of the casualties a vast percentage + consisted of slight wounds which did not prevent a speedy return to the + fighting-line. Medical science prolonged the war by reducing disease and + restoring the sick and wounded; and the military statistician went as far + astray in his prophecies of the exhaustion of Germany's man-power as the + economist in his predictions of its bankruptcy and starvation by blockade. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless the conviction that, whether we or the Germans attacked, they + had double our casualties, comforted the public during the war of + trenches; not merely were we holding our own while our reserves in + training were mounting to millions, but all the time we were thought to be + wearing down the enemy's strength, and his prudent economy in the use of + men and munitions was taken as proof of his poverty in resources. His real + work in those winter months was done behind the lines in factory and in + barracks, and its value was tested and revealed in the coming campaign, + which found the front in the West almost precisely where it was left to + the autumn. Here and there a village or a line of trenches had been taken, + but by different sides, and the balance was hardly worth counting. A + sand-dune was captured near Nieuport, a trench in front of St. Eloi, and + ten days' fighting round La Basse, which severely tried the Indian + troops, nearly led to the loss of Givenchy, but quite to the gain of a + brickfield. Early in December the French took the chteau of Vermelles and + improved their positions at Lihons and Quesnoy, but suffered in January a + reverse north of Vailly. In Champagne they captured Perthes in February + and made some progress in the Argonne; in the Woevre they nibbled at both + sides of the St. Mihiel wedge, while in Alsace they acquired Steinbach but + lost the Hartmannsweilerkopf. But against this balance of gain must be set + a more subtle but comprehensive loss. The contest was not limited to the + occasional bursts of fighting or to the steady endurance required for + holding the trenches amid the discomfort of mud and water, bombs and + shell-fire. It also took the form of incessant competition in the + perfection of surface and underground defences. The Germans excelled in + this art; but even if they had not, the silent development of the strength + of defence would have told in the defenders' favour when the time came for + attack; and it was an advantage which told all along the line and more + than atoned for the local loss of a trench or position. The truth was that + during a seeming stalemate the Germans made ample provision for holding + their lines in the West while they prepared and dealt a staggering blow at + their formidable foe in the East. + </p> + <p> + A week before the Prussian Guard made its final charge at Ypres, Belgians + reported the moving of masses of German troops away to the East. We have + seen that the need was urgent, for Cossacks were already across the + Silesian frontier, and Hindenburg required all the help he could get for + his counter-offensive. He was planning an attack from Thorn up the Vistula + primarily to strike the right flank of the Russian advance through Poland + on Silesia and Cracow, and secondly to menace Warsaw. The command was + entrusted to Mackensen, while Ruszky withstood the Germans with his right + near Plock on the Vistula, his centre behind the Bzura, and his left + stretching out towards Lodz. The Germans attacked all along the line on 18 + November, but Ruszky's left seemed to afford the easiest prey; it had no + natural line of defence, and Hindenburg's devastation during his retreat + in October made the arrival of reinforcements from Ivanov farther south + unlikely. Nevertheless Mackensen's most impetuous drive was against + Ruszky's centre across the causeway at Piontek; it promised a dramatic + success, and nearly ended in resounding disaster. The Russian centre was + broken and the left thrust back upon Lodz, where it was attacked on three + sides and seemed doomed to destruction. But the wedge was not sufficiently + wide; it merely created a pocket in the Russian line. The sides held fast + and Ruszky began to close the mouth. For three days, 24-26 November, the + Germans fought desperately to get out, and at length the remnant + succeeded, owing mainly to the lateness of reinforcements sent by + Rennenkampf at Ruszky's request. Troops, however, were rapidly being + rushed up to Mackensen's help, and on 6 December the Russian left withdrew + from Lodz, the industrial capital of Poland with half a million + inhabitants. The advantage of the retirement was to straighten the Russian + line in face of the determined effort which Hindenburg was bent on making + to secure Warsaw as a Christmas present for the Kaiser (<i>see</i> Map, p. + 146). + </p> + <p> + The line selected for defence ran almost due north to south from the + Vistula up the Bzura and its tributary the Rawka to Rawa and thence across + the Pilitza to Opocznow. The territory abandoned was well worth the + security gained on this line, and for three weeks the Germans stormed + against it in vain. A flank attack from the north of the Vistula was + driven back by the Russians at Mlawa, and no better success attended the + German frontal onslaughts at Sochaczew, where the main road to Warsaw + crosses the Bzura, and at Bolimow, where another crosses the Rawka. The + Germans spent their Christmas in the trenches instead of in the Polish + capital, thirty-five miles away. Somewhat better fortune was experienced + by the Hungarian offensive against the Russians in Galicia, which was part + of Hindenburg's plan. Dmitrieff was almost in the suburbs of Cracow at the + beginning of December, but his left was then threatened by the Hungarian + seizure of the Dukla pass, and he had to retreat to the line of the + Dunajec and the Nida with his flank drawn back to Krosno and Jaslo. + Presently the Hungarians threatened also the Lupkow and Uszok passes + farther east; but reinforcements arrived, Brussilov closed the passes, and + Dmitrieff's left swung forward again. It did not, however, advance beyond + the Biala, and the Russians spent their Christmas as far from Cracow as + the Germans did theirs from Warsaw. + </p> + <p> + Winter, however, brought less respite from war on the frozen plains of + Poland than on the sodden soil of Flanders. The first and second attacks + upon Warsaw were followed by a third in January; there was a winter battle + by the Masurian lakes in February, and a fierce struggle along the Niemen + in March; and the Russian offensive across the Carpathians was only + stopped by the German spring campaign. The Russians, indeed, were doomed + to bear the brunt of the war in 1915, at first with success and afterwards + in adversity; for the Germans had reversed the strategy with which they + had begun the war. Then they had relied on the defensive in the East while + they gathered up all their strength for the crushing of France. That blow + having failed, they were now preparing to drive Russia out of the war, + while they trusted to their line in the West to hold against any efforts + to break it. The change of plan was probably a mistake, though it brought + such success at the moment that volatile critics in England were persuaded + that the original war on the West had been merely a blind for real designs + in the East. At any rate, in the West we had cause to be thankful that the + German attacks were but local, and that the serious offensive against + Verdun did not come until 1916, when we were prepared to counter it on the + Somme. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile there was some excuse for the German choice. There was safety + enough for the moment in France and Flanders, and events justified + Germany's confidence that no Entente attack in 1915 could seriously + disturb the German lines. No such grounds for complacence existed on her + Eastern frontiers. East Prussia was not yet free, and graver danger + threatened the Hungarian ally on which the Prussian relied only less than + he did on himself. Galicia was in Russian hands, and Russian man-power was + thought to be inexhaustible. The menace on both the Carpathian and the + Prussian flanks could only be properly met by destroying the central + position in Poland, and persistence in the attacks on Warsaw was essential + to German strategy in the East. The frontal attack at the end of January + which failed for the third time was followed by a flanking attack on the + Niemen which also failed, and then by a drive on the southern flank in + Galicia which turned the whole Russian front of 900 miles, led to a + wholesale retreat, and precipitated the greatest set-back the Allies + suffered in the war. Germany failed against the democracies of the West, + she succeeded against a government more autocratic than her own. + </p> + <p> + During January the Russian centre in front of Warsaw had been weakened for + the sake of movements against the enemy's extreme flanks, which were + undertaken in response to requests from the Western Powers in order to + divert German reinforcements from France and Flanders. There was a fresh + advance towards the Masurian lakes in East Prussia, and far to the south + Alexeiev captured a Carpathian pass at Kirlibaba. Mackensen took advantage + of this dispersion to organize a strenuous attack on the Russian lines + near the confluence of the Bzura and the Rawka. It began on the night of 1 + February, and the Russians were on the 2nd and 3rd pressed back from their + position on the heights at Borzymow and Gumin. But two railways from + Warsaw ran north and south of the threatened front, and reinforcements + brought up along them stopped the German advance. It would in any case + have been held before the still stronger lines at Blonie which were the + real defences of Warsaw on the west, and Hindenburg now gave up the + frontal attack as hopeless. It was only, however, to turn to the northern + flank and repeat his attempt of October to pierce the great chain of + fortresses which defended Poland along the line of the Niemen and the + Narew from Kovno to Novo Georgievsk. + </p> + <p> + His movement was further provoked by the Russian raid which had already + advanced once more across the border to close on Tilsit, Insterburg, and + Angerburg and well to the west of Lyck. Hindenburg was ever fertile in + surprises on this familiar ground, and on 7 February his left, commanded + by Eichhorn, drove the Russians back along the railway to Kovno, and + within a week had occupied Mariampol. His right was also well across the + frontier, marching on Grodno and Ossowiec. Superior forces and railway + communications accounted for his success, and one Russian corps met with a + disaster. But conditions on the Russian side of the frontier equalized + matters. The Germans occupied Suwalki and Augustowo, and even crossed the + Niemen at Drusskeniki between Olita and Grodno, while farther north they + seized Tauroggen. But they were unable to cut the Kovno-Warsaw railway + which ran but ten miles east of the Niemen, and Ossowiec farther south + successfully stood a siege. By the middle of March Hindenburg had + withdrawn his left and centre to cover the Prussian frontier. He had + suffered considerably, but his right got off even less lightly. + </p> + <p> + It was here that his main strategic objective lay. The thrust against the + Niemen had been simply designed to drive the Russians out of Prussia and + protect the left of the German offensive to the south on the Narew and + Warsaw. Since the German failure in December a Russian army had been + pushing slowly down the right bank of the Vistula in front of Plock. This + movement was checked in February, and the Germans hoped by an advance from + Mlawa to get across the Narew south of Pultusk. The centre of the Russian + defence was at Prasnysz where eight roads meet, but the defending force + was weak, and on 24 February the Germans captured the town. But the + extreme Russian left made a heroic stand on the ridge between Prasnysz and + Ciechanow against Germans in front and on both sides of them. Their + resistance produced a situation somewhat resembling that at Lodz, for a + rapid concentration of Russian reinforcements swept round to the help of + the flank at Ciechanow, while others attacked the German left at + Krasnosielce. The Germans encircling Ciechanow found themselves encircled + at Prasnysz, and as at Lodz they had to fight desperately for three days + to escape. They were assisted by the rudimentary equipment of the Russian + forces; rifles and ammunition were scarce, bayonets and hand-grenades were + none too plentiful, and some of the privates are even said to have fought + with pitchforks. By such hand-to-hand and bloody warfare the Germans were + driven out of Prasnysz back towards Stegna and Chorzele and their flank + attack on Warsaw foiled. Ruszky's strategy and Russian heroism had gained + one of the most singular victories in the war. + </p> + <p> + At the other end of the Russian front, along the Carpathians, politics + were beginning to exert a powerful influence upon strategy. South-Eastern + Europe was reacting to the Serbian successes in December, and Rumania, + like Italy, and with similar Latin feelings, was negotiating with the + Entente about terms of intervention. On 27 January a loan of five million + pounds was arranged by Great Britain, and while we provided financial + inducements Russia dispatched a sympathetic force to overrun the Bukovina, + a country kindred to Rumania which she might acquire by co-operation. + There would be little risk in joining the war if Russian armies could + debouch from the Carpathians; and the intervention of Rumania would link + up the Serbians with the Russians and envelop unfortunate Hungary on three + sides. But the spring was not yet, and Rumania would wait and see. Her + king was a Hohenzollern, and his people were divided in their sympathies. + If there were Rumanes under Magyar rule across the Transylvanian Alps, + there were also Rumanes under Russian rule across the river Pruth; and the + filching of Bessarabia by Russia in 1878 still rankled in the Rumanian + mind. Bratianu, the Prime Minister, was a cautious statesman, quite + capable of seeing that the occupation of the Bukovina by the Russians was + a political demonstration rather than a proof of military capacity to + burst the Carpathian barrier. But another argument was thus adduced to + show the Prussians the need of victory in the East unless they wished the + defence of their two existing fronts to be complicated by another in the + south. Hungary was their chief economic, political, and military bastion + outside their own dominions, and the subtle bond between Magyar and + Prussian notions of government, which gave them a common interest in the + war, was now drawn closer by the appointment of Tisza's henchman, Count + Burian, as Foreign Secretary to the Hapsburg Empire. For Tisza, the + Hungarian Premier, was in all but nationality a Prussian Junker, and his + domination depended as much upon a Teutonic victory over the Slavs as a + Teutonic victory did upon the retention of the Hungarian granary and a + bulwark in the south. + </p> + <p> + The Carpathians were therefore the key to the future of the war and + history of south-eastern Europe. The Russians had in the autumn + established a solid control of the Galician outlets from the mountain + passes, but had made no serious attempt to achieve the far more difficult + task of securing command of the foothills south of the range, which alone + would enable them to conquer the plains of Hungary. For a mountain pass is + like a river bridge-head; one may often possess it without being able to + debouch. The Austrians experienced that difficulty in their winter + offensive against the Russian flank in Galicia. They made little progress + against Brussilov at the Dukla and Lupkow passes, but farther east they + seized most of the mountain routes, and Alexeiev was pressed back in + Bukovina. Their centre under Linsingen was, however, held up by the + Russians at Hill 992 near Kosziowa, and all efforts to dislodge the + defenders failed. This defence saved Galicia for the time and prevented + the relief of Przemysl, which otherwise would have been certain. For the + Austrian right succeeded late in February in recovering Czernowitz, + Kolomea, and on 3 March, Stanislau. Reinforcements, however, now reached + the Russians; Stanislau was recaptured, the Austrians lost much of what + they had gained, and on the 22nd Przemysl weakly surrendered. Its fame as + a fortress had been enhanced by its five months' siege since October, but + it did not redound to the credit of its defenders. They were superior in + numbers to the besiegers, were amply provisioned, and well supplied with + heavy artillery and all the munitions of war. Every sort of blunder seems + to have been committed by the commander, who apparently regarded the siege + as a relief from more arduous work in the field, and capitulated because + the repulse of the rescuing expedition foreboded an increase of + inconvenience. + </p> + <p> + The surrender liberated the besieging force for operations elsewhere, and + the Russians began a serious effort to surmount the Carpathian rampart. + They got well to the south of the Dukla, made substantial progress in the + centre through the Rostoki pass, and by the middle of April held the + crests for a continuous seventy miles; cavalry penetrated much farther + down the slopes, and the Austrians prepared to evacuate the Ungvar valley. + Reciprocal raids occurred elsewhere on the Eastern front: the Russians + seized and burnt Memel, and the Germans retaliated by the bombardment of + Libau. Despite warnings like that of "The Times" Petrograd correspondent + on 13 April to the effect that the Germans had not only sent enormous + reinforcements to the Carpathians, but had taken charge of the operations, + there was general confidence in the West in a coming triumphant Russian + offensive. Dmitrieff himself had no suspicion of what was in store until a + few days before the storm broke; and a Panslav society in Petrograd passed + and published abroad a resolution that in view of the victorious progress + of the Russian armies across the Carpathians, the contemplated + intervention of Italy in the war was belated and undesirable. + </p> + <p> + The Russian Government cannot have been ignorant of the weakness of + Russian armies, not in man-power, still less in skill or courage, but in + artillery and equipment; but it had no conception of the material and + mechanical force which Germany was prepared to bring to the urgent task of + relieving the pressure on her ally. Nor was it for nothing that Turkey had + been cajoled and bribed into making war. Turkish generalship and + organization were negligible quantities, but Germany could supply those + defects, and Turkish bravery and man-power could be used as a valuable + means of distracting Russia's attention and diverting forces from the + Polish and Galician fronts. This had been the main purpose of the campaign + in the Caucasus which Turkey waged in the winter. They began by seizing + Tabriz in the province of Azerbaijan, which though nominally Persian had + been for some time occupied partly by Russian and partly by Turkish + troops; but the Russians were first across the Russo-Turkish frontier and + captured Bayazid, Khorasan, and Kuprikeui. These advance-guards were, + however, pushed back by the Turks, whose leader and evil genius, the + half-Polish and German-educated adventurer, Enver, had conceived an + ambitious design of encircling the Russian armies between Sarikamysh and + Ardahan. In December the Turks succeeded in making their arduous way + across the snow-clad mountains, and on 1 January they were in Ardahan. But + the task would have tried the German Army itself in summer, and Enver had + attempted more than he could achieve. His army corps were successively + isolated and defeated in a series of engagements collectively known as the + battle of Sarikamysh, and driven back across the frontier with heavy + losses. Tabriz was reoccupied by the Russians, though they were not able + to follow up their victory by the capture of Erzerum (<i>see</i> Map, p. + 182). + </p> + <p> + The other diversion, which the Turks were used to create against the + Entente, was in Egypt. British rule, in spite of the vast benefits it + conferred, was not universally acceptable to the Egyptian people and still + less to Egyptian officials; and chief among those who resented their + restriction to the straight and narrow path of honest administration was + the Khedive Abbas II. He threw in his lot with the Turks, and was deposed + in his absence, while the shadowy Turkish suzerainty over Egypt was + converted into a substantial British protectorate. Cyprus, which had been + in British occupation since 1878, was annexed at the same time to the + British Crown. The Turks had been deluded by the Germans with hopes of + recovering their ancient control of Egypt, and they at once began their + feeble efforts to realize their ambitions. In November an expedition + started from Palestine to cut the Suez Canal, a main artery of the British + Empire, and stir the embers of Moslem fanaticism in Egypt. It disappeared + in the sands of the intervening desert. Another, better prepared with + German assistance, reached the east bank of the Canal at various points on + 2 February, but miserably failed to effect a crossing; its only success + was its escape, which was partly explained by a sandstorm, and Egypt had + rest until the winter brought the campaigning season round again (<i>see</i> + Map, p. 352). + </p> + <p> + The British retort to Egypt and the Caucasus lay in the Persian Gulf and + the Dardanelles. The Persian Gulf had long been a scene of British trade + and political enterprise to which the inertia of its rulers rendered + Persia susceptible; and its position as a possible Russian outlet to the + sea on the flank of our communications with India had produced some + rivalry for Persian favours. The advent of a third comer in the shape of + the Germans, with their plans for a Germanized Turkish Empire controlling + the Berlin-Baghdad route, changed the rivalry into co-operation; and an + attack on the Turks at the head of the Persian Gulf was an obvious reply + to the Turkish campaign in the Caucasus. It afforded an easy means of + employing the native Indian army in the common cause without the long sea + journey to France or the risks inflicted by northern winters upon + sub-tropical races. During the first half of November detachments of the + Indian army sailed up the Shat-el-Arab, the joint estuary of the Tigris + and the Euphrates, defeated the Turks at Sahil on the 17th, occupied Basra + on the 22nd, and cut off Kurna, which surrendered on 9 December. The local + Turks were weak in numbers and equipment, and distance removed them from + the stimulus of Enver's energy and German organization. It was not until + April 1915 that an effective reaction to the British advance was + attempted. Then the Turks and Arabs concerted a movement against the whole + line stretching round from Ahwaz within the Persian frontier to Shaiba + south-west of Basra. The real attack was on Shaiba, and the battle lasted + from 12 to 15 April. The Turks were completely defeated, with some 6000 + casualties; but the most important effect was to convert the Arabs into + our allies. The advantage was pressed in June, and on the 3rd Amara was + captured seventy-five miles to the north of Kurna. The way was open for an + advance on Baghdad as soon as autumn made exertion possible in that torrid + zone (<i>see</i> Map, p. 177). + </p> + <p> + Sir John Nixon's success in the Mesopotamian delta was, however, but a + pin-prick in a distant part compared with the blow that was aimed at the + heart of the Turkish Empire in the Dardanelles; and the merits of that + famous but ill-starred enterprise, and of the strategy which inspired it, + have been one of the most debated questions of the war. Soldiers and + civilians, writers and talkers, and even thinkers were divided into two + camps, Westerners and Easterners, those who believed that the war could + only be won by frontal attack in the West, and those who discerned a way + round to victory in the Near or the Farther East. Volumes might be, and no + doubt will be, written on this controversy, and its implications have + infinite variety. It involved questions of policy as well as strategy, and + therefore raised the delicate problem of the relations between civil and + military authority. The soldier only deals with armies, and in the field + his voice is properly supreme; but policy may be as far above strategy as + strategy is above tactics; and policy may dictate a strategy which would + not commend itself on military principles. The soldier has nothing to do + with the policy, but policy and diplomacy may or may not bring fresh + allies into the war and fresh armies into the field; and a strategy which + may be unsound on purely military grounds may be completely justified by + political reasons. The diversion of a force from the main field of + operations where it is needed to a more distant objective, seems suicidal + to the general in command; but if, without provoking disaster on the field + it has left, it has the effect of turning the enemy's flank, detaching his + actual or deterring his potential allies, and inducing neutrals to + intervene, it may win a war although it postpones or risks the success of + a campaign. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, it was urged that the fundamental principle of strategy + is to concentrate all available forces where the enemy has concentrated + his, beat him there, and thus win a victory which will carry with it the + desired results in all the subsidiary spheres. Germany once beaten in the + West, it was argued, there would be no need to trouble about the Balkans + or the amateur strategy which looked to Laibach or Aleppo as the vital + spot in the situation. This principle was erected into a dogma, and dogma + is a dangerous impediment to the art of war. War is an art, and therefore + consists in the adaptation of varying means to conditions which are not + constant. Strategy is not, apart from its mechanical adjuncts, a science + in which properties are fixed, axioms can be assumed, and the results of + experiments foretold; the combination of two armies and a + commander-in-chief does not produce the same uniform result as the + combination of two parts of hydrogen and one of oxygen; and formulae are + as irrational in war as in any other human art. Dogmas deduced from the + experience of some wars are inapplicable to others; and the science of + wars between France and Germany becomes mere imposture when it seeks to + dictate dogma to wars in which the British Empire is involved. The + particular dogma about concentration had three defects: it left the + initiative to the enemy, thus surrendering the advantage, secured by the + command of the sea, of being able to strike in other directions; it + assumed that the enemy could be beaten on that front without disturbance + on his flanks or in his rear; and it abandoned the Near and the Farther + East to any schemes on which the Germans might choose to employ their own + or their allies' subsidiary forces. + </p> + <p> + No one, on the other hand, imagined that the Western front could be + denuded of the armies required to maintain it. The question was really how + to use the considerable margin of force between what was essential for + defence and what was needed for a successful offensive. Should it be + employed for frontal attack in the West, or flank attack in the East? + Caution counselled one course, adventure suggested the other. Surplus + force intended for an offensive on the West would be available, if need + arose, for defence; it would not, if it were a thousand miles away, and + our needs in the spring of 1918 seemed to supply an effective answer to + arguments drawn from our later successes in the Balkans and in Syria. The + antithesis is, however, largely a false one, due to the exigencies of + popular debate and the habit of treating war as an abstract science + independent of changing but actual conditions. No one denies that a + diversion of our main effort from France to Laibach in the winter of 1917 + would have been fatal to us in the spring of 1918, but it is not clear + that the thousands of troops we lost at Loos and the French in Champagne + in the autumn of 1915 might not better have been employed in saving Serbia + or forcing the Dardanelles. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map04.png"><img src="images/map04s.png" width="310" + height="401" alt="The Dardanelles" /></a> + </p> + <p> + There was much to be said for the policy, and even the strategy, which led + to the Dardanelles expedition. Flanks had disappeared on the Western + front; the lines extended from the Alps to the sea, and it was natural + that, commanding the sea, we should seek to turn them farther afield. We + had asked Russia to relieve the pressure on our Western front by using her + military force in Prussia and Galicia; and it was reasonable enough for + Russia to ask us to reciprocate and relieve the Turkish pressure on her + flank in the Caucasus by a naval attack on Turkey. The German Fleet lay + snug in port beyond the reach of naval power: could not our supremacy on + the sea find an offensive function somewhere else? There was, moreover, + our own position in Egypt to be defended; no one proposed evacuation, and + the best defence of Egypt was a blow at the Dardanelles in the direction + of Turkey's capital. It was, in fact, no more a dissipation of forces to + send troops to force the Dardanelles than to send them to hold the Suez + Canal, and from the point of view of policy, which was even more + important, the effect of the expedition might be a concentration of power + or Powers against the Central Empires. Serbia had successfully held the + gate of the Balkans against Austria: Rumania's intervention would extend + the lines of possible attack, Greece inclined in the same direction, and + the forcing of the Dardanelles would assuredly have deterred Bulgaria from + hostile intervention, and almost certainly have decided her to join a + common Balkan move against the Teutons and the Turks. To the war on the + Eastern and Western fronts, which was already a German nightmare, would be + added one on an almost undefended Southern frontier. Austria could not + long resist if Italy also intervened, and the collapse of the Hapsburg + Empire would open up an advance against Germany from the south which would + circumvent the Rhine and the Oder and turn the gigantic bastion she had + constructed in France and Belgium into a house of cards. Well might the + Dardanelles expedition be hailed in the press as a stroke of strategical + genius and associated with Mr. Churchill's imagination. Easy also is it to + understand the concentrated fear and force which the Germans put into + Mackensen's coming drive in Galicia. + </p> + <p> + There is, indeed, less material for censure in the policy of the + Dardanelles expedition than in the Allies' decision to couple with it a + military offensive on the Western front and to divorce the naval and + military efforts in the Aegean. Divided counsels produced divided efforts. + Mr. Churchill, backed up, we are led to infer, by Mr. Lloyd George, + secured his naval expedition; but he failed, until it was too late, to + secure its military complement because the troops were earmarked for + costly and premature attacks on the German lines in France. Deprived of + this assistance, the naval expedition seems to have relied on the hope of + Greek co-operation to the extent of two army corps, which Venizelos was + only prevented from dispatching by the vigour of the Prussian Queen of + Greece and by the veto of the King. Possibly there was precipitation, for + the naval attack did not await the arrival of the military forces, which + were before long on the way, extorted, it would seem, by impetuous + pressure from a reluctant and unconvinced authority. + </p> + <p> + For this purely naval attack on the defences of the Dardanelles there is + little to be said; for no argument of advantage from success can justify + an attempt which is fore-doomed to failure, and history demonstrated + beyond a doubt the strength of modern forts against the modern battleship. + Nor was it in the Dardanelles a test between an ordinary sea attack and a + normal land defence. The strength of the position attacked was trebled by + the forts on both sides of the channel and by its twist at the Narrows, + which enabled the land batteries to concentrate fire on the attacking + fleet from in front as well as on both flanks. There was no room to + manoeuvre in a channel less than a mile in width, and even when the + mine-fields had been swept, the Turks could send fresh mines down the + constant stream, and discharge torpedoes from hidden tubes along both + shores. Against such formidable defences even the guns of the <i>Queen + Elizabeth</i> were an inadequate attack, and forts that were said to be + silenced repeatedly renewed their bombardment. + </p> + <p> + The first stage of the attack began on 19 February; it consisted in + demolishing by concentric fire the outpost fortifications at Kum Kale and + Cape Helles. This proved comparatively simple, and after a week of bad + weather the mine-sweepers were able to clear the channel for four miles. + It was a different matter when the real defences in the Narrows were + attacked early in March. The chief bombardment was from outside in the + Gulf of Saros, where it was hoped that the guns of the <i>Queen Elizabeth</i> + and her consorts would by indirect fire dispose of Chanak and the other + forts. None of them were, however, silenced with the possible exception of + Dardanos, and Turkish howitzers, cunningly concealed in the scrub along + the shore, provided an unpleasant surrise by hitting the <i>Queen + Elizabeth</i>. Nevertheless, it was thought that enough had been effected + to justify an attempt to force the Narrows on the 18th. Three successive + squadrons of British and French ships were sent up the Straits, but the + Turks had only waited till the channel was full of vessels to release + their floating mines and land-torpedoes. First the French <i>Bouvet</i>, + then the <i>Irresistible</i>, and thirdly the <i>Ocean</i> were struck by + mines and sunk, the <i>Bouvet</i> with most of her crew. Three battleships + and 2000 men had been lost in an attack which did not even reach the + entrance to the Narrows; and for six weeks occasional bombardments hardly + concealed the fact that the frustrated naval attack was awaiting the + co-operation of the army to give it some chance of success. + </p> + <p> + More progress was happily made during the winter in still more distant + spheres, although the conquest of German colonies was regarded by the pure + strategist as belonging to the illegitimate and divergent rather than to + the legitimate and subsidiary type of military operation. Policy may, + however, outweigh strategy, and the circumstance that the victor only + retains as the price of peace his conquests, or part of them, made in war, + extenuates if it does not justify divergent operations. They were + divergent enterprises which gave us India, Canada, and the Cape of Good + Hope; and assuredly the defeat of Germany on the Western front would not + alone have brought German colonies under the sceptre of a League of + Nations. Even from the point of view of a strategy limited to Central + Europe these operations had their value; for they enlisted against the + common foe forces which would certainly not have been employed had we + merely stood on the defensive in the overseas Dominions, and when their + work was done in distant parts these forces gravitated towards the centre + with a weight which would have grown more crushing had resistance been + prolonged. Only surrender by the enemy stayed Allenby's and Marshall's + Oriental hosts in Asia and anticipated the arrival on the Western front of + further aid from Africa. A blow at the heart may be the normal strategy, + but it is not the only nor always the best means of dealing with an + antagonist clad in a breastplate of steel. + </p> + <p> + The scene of the least successful of these colonial wars was still East + Africa. The reverse of Tanga in November was followed by another at Jassin + on 19 January, and at the end of the winter the Germans could claim that + their territory was clear of our troops while several German detachments + were in ours; but we had seized the island of Mafia off the mouth of the + Rufigi and declared a blockade of the German East African coast. On the + other side of the continent we made steady progress in reducing the vast + territory of the Cameroons; but the success of the season was Botha's + conquest of German South-West Africa. The last remnants of the rebellion + under Maritz and Kemp were stamped out at Upington on 3 February, and on + 14 January Swakopmund was captured from the sea. Botha selected that as + his base, while Smuts directed three columns farther south. The first + advanced on the capital Windhoek from Luderitz Bay, the second from + Warmbad near the Orange River, and the third from Kimberley. The second, + under Van Deventer, had the heaviest work, but the fighting was not as a + rule severe. The campaign was a triumph of forethought, strategy, and + organization which left the Germans no choice but a series of retirements, + culminating in the surrender of Windhoek on 12 May, and the capitulation + of the entire remaining German forces at Grootfontein on 9 July. + </p> + <p> + On the sea the Germans had abandoned hope of victory. The balance of power + in our favour, which had been insufficient to relieve Jellicoe of + considerable anxiety, began to increase rapidly with the completion of the + <i>Queen Elizabeth</i> class in April; and Germany turned her anticipatory + gaze towards her submarines. Just as Napoleon's efforts by means of the + Berlin and Milan decrees to ruin us by war on commerce came after the + final collapse of his naval ambitions at Trafalgar, so Germany's submarine + campaign followed upon her recognition of the hopelessness of her naval + situation. On 18 February she proclaimed the waters round the British + Isles a war zone in which enemy merchantmen would, and neutrals might, be + sunk by submarines irrespective of the risks to non-combatants and + neutrals. This was a flagrant violation of the rules of international law + which safeguarded the shipping of neutrals, and only sanctioned the + condemnation of contraband goods in prize courts, and the destruction of + enemy vessels when they could not be taken into port and provision had + been made for the safety of their crews and passengers. The German + submarines were not in a position to guarantee any of these conditions; + and trading on the legal maximum that no one can be required to do what is + impossible, the Germans claimed immunity from these obligations. + </p> + <p> + To this the British Government replied on 1 March with a blockade which + was more humane and more effective, but none the less involved an + autocratic extension of belligerent rights. All oversea trade with Germany + was to be as far as possible intercepted; goods, whether contraband or + not, were at least to be detained; and the right of search was to be + rendered more secure by being exercised in British ports, to which neutral + ships were brought, instead of on the high seas amid the danger of + submarine attack. These measures inflicted no loss of life and no loss of + property that was not contraband. But they made havoc with the ideas that + neutrals were entitled to trade with both belligerents, and that neither + belligerent could intercept commerce which did not directly serve for + military purposes. It was not, for instance, a breach of neutrality to + sell munitions to a belligerent, though belligerents were entitled to + seize them if they could; and we ourselves bought vast quantities from the + United States. America was, however, deeply attached to that "freedom of + the seas" which enabled neutrals to sell, without interference, goods + which were not contraband, to either belligerent; and our extension of + contraband to cover food supplies gave deep offence. The difficulty arose + not only from the inevitable tendency of law to disappear amid the clash + of arms, but from the modern absorption of all energies, civilian as well + as military, in the warlike operations of the State. The food of civilians + making munitions became a vital element in the conduct of war, and the + distinction between civil and military purposes was lost in the fusion of + all activities for a common end. + </p> + <p> + Disquieting as was the course of military operations during the spring, + the diplomatic situation caused even more anxiety; and public opinion was + as impervious to the one as to the other. American protests against our + action on the seas were received with ill-concealed resentment, popular + newspapers adjured the Government to "stand no nonsense from the United + States," President Wilson's name was hissed by British audiences, and the + man in the street seemed bent on estranging the neutral on whose + assistance we were in the end to rely for victory in the war. It needed + all the resources of an unpopular wisdom and diplomacy to steer between + the Scylla of alienating friends by our blockade and the Charybdis of + being, in Mr. Asquith's words, "strangled in a network of juridical + niceties." The Germans came to our aid with a colossal crime. On 7 May the + passenger-ship <i>Lusitania</i> was torpedoed off the south coast of + Ireland with the loss of 1100 souls, many of them women and children, and + some of them Americans; and the news was hailed in Germany with transports + of delight from ministers of religion and all but an insignificant section + of the people; medals were officially struck to commemorate the deed. + British lives had been lost through Russian action off the Dogger Bank in + 1904 without provoking war, and the sinking of the <i>Lusitania</i> did + not precipitate war between Germany and the United States. But it eased + the friction over our blockade, and gave for the first time some general + American support to the pro-Entente sentiment which had from the beginning + been strong in the New England States. A moral force was created in + reserve which would in time redress the military disasters which the + Entente had yet to encounter. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter07" id="chapter07"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <h3> + THE FAILURE OF THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE + </h3> + <p> + Effective and timely military co-operation had been denied to the naval + attack on the Dardanelles because our available forces had been mortgaged + since January to an allied offensive in the West; and the gradual + recognition of the fact that the naval enterprise could not succeed + without the diversion of troops to that object committed the Entente to + the simultaneous prosecution of two major operations which could only + converge in case of success. This was but one of the factors in the spring + campaign which exhibited Allied strategy at its worst. Even in the West + there was inadequate co-operation, and the efforts made were both + disjointed and premature. We had yet to learn that alphabet of + annihilation without which the art of breaking German lines could not be + mastered; and there still lingered the idea that isolated attacks on + distant and narrow sectors of the front could rupture the German line and + either roll it up or compel a general retreat. Possibly some such plan + might have had some chance of success had the forces of the Entente been + concentrated upon a single effort, and optimistic critics anticipated a + breach to the north of Verdun which might close or at least threaten the + neck of the German bottle between Metz and Limburg and precipitate a + withdrawal from their carefully prepared positions in northern France and + Belgium. But fear of a German counter-offensive threatening the Channel + ports, difficulties of transport across lines of communication, and + defective unity in ideas and in command condemned the Allied attacks to + separate sectors of the front and spheres of operation; even that general + supervision which Foch had exercised over all the forces engaged in the + October and November battles seems to have disappeared before the spring, + and the French offensive began in the Woevre while the British attacked + the other flank protecting Lille (<i>see</i> Map, p. 79). + </p> + <p> + The point selected was Neuve Chapelle, a village at the foot of the Aubers + ridge which guarded La Basse to the south-west and Lille to the + north-east. The German line there formed a marked salient, and an attack + on the ridge, if completely successful, would shake the security of Lille, + and if but moderately successful would cut off La Basse and straighten + the line as far as Givenchy. The moral indicated by the elaborate defences + constructed by the Germans during the winter had been at any rate + partially learnt, and the infantry attack on the morning of 10 March was + preceded by an artillery preparation which set a new standard of + destruction and was designed to obliterate trenches, barbed wire, and + machine-gun positions. It was effective over the greater part of the front + attacked, and in the centre and on our right the Fourth and Indian Corps + quickly overcame the dazed and decimated Germans and pushed beyond Neuve + Chapelle to the Bois du Biez and slopes of the Aubers ridge beyond. But + our left had no such fortune in the north of the village and at the + neighbouring Moulin de Pitre. There, for some inexplicable reason, the + defences had hardly been touched by the artillery preparation, and the + 23rd Brigade in particular suffered dismally as they tore with their hands + at the barbed wire and were shot down by the German machine guns. The + defences unbroken by artillery were impenetrable by human bodies, and the + defenders were also able to enfilade the troops which had got through + farther south and were now attacking the second German line. The + staff-work, too, was deplorable, and reserves were late or went astray, + though it is doubtful whether anything could have retrieved the initial + error which left the German defences intact, impeded the whole advance, + and enabled the enemy to recover and bring up reserves before the attack + was renewed on the two following days. Possibly our high-explosive had + been exhausted. In any case there was nothing to do but to count and + consolidate our gains. A village and a strip of territory some three miles + by one had been secured, and we estimated the German casualties at 20,000, + and they themselves at 12,000; our own were nearly 13,000. The chief + effect was produced on the German mind by the shock of our artillery: + "this," was the childish complaint of the masters of high-explosive, "is + not war, it is murder." But German annoyance was poor compensation for the + shrinking of our ambitions, and there was cold comfort in the failure of + the German counter-attacks here and at St. Eloi farther north; for the + Germans were merely out for defence in the West and we for a successful + offensive, which had to be tried again. + </p> + <p> + The French with their larger forces and greater experience were perhaps + somewhat more fortunate, but their local successes in the Woevre and + Alsace had no more effect upon the general situation. Early in April a + series of attacks, spread over five days and hampered by snowstorms, gave + them the plateau of Les parges on the northern side of the St. Mihiel + wedge and enabled them to advance towards tain on the road from Verdun to + Metz. The importance they attached to these operations is shown by their + claim on 10 April that at Les parges the Germans in two months had had + losses amounting to 30,000. Progress was also made along the southern side + of the wedge between St. Mihiel and Pont--Mousson; but although ground + was gained as a result of strenuous combat extending over several weeks, + the wedge stood firm; and the effort to drive it out as a preliminary to + the larger operations contemplated in Lorraine was presently abandoned. In + Alsace Sondernach was taken and an advance was made during April down the + Fecht towards Metzeral and Munster, and the summit of the + Hartmannsweilerkopf was recovered. But the progress never really disturbed + the Germans, and indeed they would probably have viewed greater success in + that divergent sphere with comparative equanimity, knowing that it would + waste an unfriendly country and would not threaten their main + communications or position. + </p> + <p> + These operations, combined with the Russian descent of the Carpathians, + were announced in "The Times" of 10 April as "the opening of the Allied + offensive in the summer campaign of 1915." But the disaster which soon + overtook the Russian plans had its effect upon Allied designs in the West, + and induced an attempt to menace the Germans in a quarter more likely to + disturb their concentration on the East than a campaign against the St. + Mihiel wedge or in the mountain frontiers of Alsace. The tender spot on + the West was Lille, with its concentration of railways and importance as + protecting the right flank of the German front along the Aisne and the + left flank of their hold on the Belgian coast. The Germans learnt, + divined, or anticipated the design, and sought to parry or break the force + of the projected blow by a defensive-offensive against Ypres. The attack + was not their real offensive for 1915, but they developed the habit of + distracting attention from their main objectives by decking out their + subsidiary operations with some new devilry of ingenuity; and just as in + 1918 they bombarded Paris with guns having a range of 75 miles when their + real objective was the British front, so in 1915, when their main effort + was against the Russians, they treated the defenders of Ypres to their + first experiments in poison-gas. They had tried the effect on the humbler + creation some time before, and had indicated their intentions by accusing + their enemies of the practice they had themselves in mind; but it came as + a ghastly surprise to the French Territorials and British and Canadian + troops along the Yser on 22 April (<i>see</i> Map, p. 288). + </p> + <p> + The attack had clearly been planned beforehand, because the preparation of + the chlorine gas, arrangement of the gas-tubes along the front, and delay + for the requisite conditions wind and weather required time; and the + absence of any great concentration of troops merely showed that, in view + of their commitments in the East, the Germans only sought at Ypres a local + and tactical success. It was a mere accident that the gas attack + north-east of the city followed upon strenuous fighting for Hill 60 at the + south-east re-entrant, and the choice of locality was due to the German + knowledge of the facts that the French regulars had been removed from the + Yser and our own heavy guns from Ypres in order to take part in offensives + farther south. The attack on Hill 60 was begun by us on 17th April, and + its object was to acquire a gun position which commanded the German + trenches in the Hollebeke district. The struggle lasted for five days and + was one of the fiercest local combats in the war; at the end of it we were + still on what was left of a mound of earth. + </p> + <p> + The German offensive on the north-eastern front of Ypres was heralded by a + bombardment of the city on the 20th which was designed as a barrage to cut + off communications with the front along the roads which all ran through + Ypres. On the evening of the 22nd the gas attack developed, and as the + clouds of green vapour moved down on the French Territorials, unprovided + with any sort of gas-masks and unprepared for the terrifying effects of + poison <i>en masse</i>, they broke and fled, exposing the flank of the + Canadians on their right from Langemarck to Grafenstafel. Never did troops + make a more heroic debut in war under more trying conditions. Less + affected by the gas than the French Territorials, the Canadians + counter-attacked the German left flank, temporarily recaptured guns, and + stayed the advance. The gaping breach on their left was partially filled + by reinforcements from the 28th Division on the 23rd, but the Germans were + across the canal at Het Sas and Lizerne, and the Canadians between St. + Julien and Grafenstafel were fighting on three fronts. A second gas attack + followed on the 24th, and presently St. Julien had to be abandoned. + Reinforcements were, however, coming up; French regulars brilliantly + recaptured Lizerne and Het Sas and secured the west bank of the canal + against a German advance; and by the 29th the Canadians, who had saved the + situation but had suffered heavily in the effort, were replaced by British + troops. There was still desperate fighting to do for many days, and the + curve of the Ypres salient had been reduced to a narrow oblong stretching + from Ypres to Grafenstafel and the Polygon Wood, and little more than half + in breadth what it was in length. A shortening of the line was inevitable, + and it was effected with great skill and little loss on 3-4 May. But heavy + bombardment continued to take a dreadful toll of life until a final gas + attack on the 24th concluded the German effort. Crude respirators had been + hastily supplied to our troops and the gas attack was less effective than + before, but we were left with a line which ran in a curve a bare three + miles from Ypres, and + </p> + <p> + "an acre sown indeed<br />With the richest royallest seed<br />That the + earth did e'er suck in." + </p> + <p> + But if that soil round Ypres was a tomb of British bodies, it became the + grave of German hopes. The shrunken line was enough, and it remained + unbroken till the war had ceased. The military gain, if any, lay with the + Germans, whose casualties were far less than ours. But the moral advantage + lay with us. It was not quite so clear as is commonly thought. The use of + poison-gas as a weapon of war was not a German invention; it was suggested + by a British chemist to Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. But chemists + have nothing to do with international law or morality, and responsibility + rests with Governments for their adoption of methods provided by science. + Nor is there any clear moral distinction between asphyxiating shells and + gas emitted from tubes. All war is torture; and, the morality of torture + once admitted, the moral reasons for discrimination between particular + degrees of suffering and efficiency cease to be very convincing. The moral + advantage to us consisted in the heroism which our troops endured the + torture. If they could unprepared withstand the gas attacks at Ypres, + there was nothing of which their manhood need be afraid; while the Germans + were in the humiliating position of one who, foiled in legitimate combat, + had tried to take an unfair advantage and has failed. Poison-gas was an + ill-bred attempt at revenge for what they called murder at Neuve Chapelle, + just as they found consolation in the sinking of the <i>Lusitania</i> for + the ignominous situation of their High Seas Fleet. + </p> + <p> + The offensive at Ypres slackened to meet the Allied attacks elsewhere, and + our troops in the salient at least were not insensible to the fact that + even the Germans had insufficient artillery or high-explosive to maintain + an intense bombardment all along the line. Both the French and ourselves + began on 9 May, and the object was to threaten the German position in + front of Lens and Lille. Lens was protected by a bulge in the German front + which ran round by Grenay, Aix-Noulette, Notre Dame de Lorette, Ablain, + and Carency to the north-west of Arras, and then south-eastwards by La + Targette, curie, and Roclincourt. Between this line and Lens lay the Vimy + Ridge, and in front of its southwestern slopes the Germans had constructed + elaborate fortifications above and underground known as the White Work and + the Labyrinth. For the attack the French had made careful preparations, + and their concentration of eleven hundred guns and almost limitless shells + exceeded in intensity any previous experiment. They were rewarded by the + comparative ease with which their initial successes were secured. Barbed + wire and earthen parapets were blown to pieces before the infantry + attacked and in an hour and a half coveted two and a half miles. La + Targette and the White Work were captured and an entrance forced into + Neuville St. Vaast. Farther north a second attack was required, and it was + not until the 12th that Carency, Ablain, and the summit of Notre Dame were + mastered. The line had been broken, but the fragments resolved themselves + into almost impregnable strongholds; it took another fortnight before the + Souchez sugar-refinery, half a mile in front of Ablain, fell, and the + Labyrinth held out, while behind these defences rose the Vimy Ridge to + defy for another two years all attacks upon Lens (<i>see</i> Maps, pp. 79, + 302). + </p> + <p> + The lesson was that of Neuve Chapelle on a larger scale, and all the more + impressive because of the careful preparations made for victory. The + breach of narrow front was useless, because lines were no longer made of + men, but of fortifications which held instead of rolling up, when broken, + and seeking safety in retreat. The simultaneous British attacks near Neuve + Chapelle repeated the French experience and our own in March. The first + was north of Neuve Chapelle towards Fromelles, and broke down through + inadequate artillery preparation; the second, made on 16 May in front of + Richebourg l'Avou towards the Bois du Biez and Rue d'Ouvert, was somewhat + more successful, and Sir John French wrote encouragingly about the entire + first line of the enemy's trenches having been captured on a front of 3000 + yards with ten machine guns; but one brigade alone lost 45 officers and + 1179 men, and La Basse and the Aubers ridge were as forbidding as ever. + It was not by victories of that compass that the Germans would be diverted + from their Galician drive; and the other major operation in the + Dardanelles to which the Entente had been committed gave little better + cause for satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + The French had naturally refused to divert a single division from their + troops on the Western front, and their contingent consisted of a + detachment of some colonial troops, <i>fusiliers marins</i>, and the + Foreign Legion. The substantial force took longer to collect, and had to + be provided by Britain. Sir Ian Hamilton was placed in command, and he was + given the 29th Division, the Naval Division, a Territorial Division, and + the Australian and New Zealand Divisions serving in Egypt, which was now + considered safe for the summer. The total amounted to three corps, or + 120,000 men. The Turks were directed by the German general Liman von + Sanders, and he expected the landing to be attempted near Bulair on the + flat and narrow isthmus which joined the Gallipoli Peninsula to the + mainland. His expectation is perhaps the best justification for Sir Ian's + selection of other spots, but there were few that were practicable, and + none that did not involve enormous difficulties, for Liman von Sanders' + anticipation of an attack at Bulair did not preclude some effective + precautions against a landing elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + The attempt began on 25 April at six different points. Some way up the + outer or north-western shore of the peninsula the Australian and New + Zealand Army Corps effected a landing at Gaba Tepe, later called Anzac + from the initials of the force. Farther down another was made in front of + the village of Krithia, and the remaining four attempts were on beaches + stretching round the point of the peninsula from Tekke to Morto Bay. All + prospered fairly well except at Sedd-el-Bahr, where a concentration of + Turkish fire kept most of the troops from disembarking for thirty-two + hours, and near Krithia, where on the 26th a counter-attack drove our + forces back into their boats. Zeal carried the Anzacs nearly to the summit + of the hills overlooking the Straits, and excess of it led to heavy losses + in a Turkish counterattack; nor could the parties of British troops who + got within a few hundred yards of Krithia on the 28th maintain their + position, and the result of this first attempt was to give us possession + of the extremity of the peninsula from a mile above Eski Hissarlik inside + the Straits to three miles above Tekke on the Aegean, and of an exposed + ridge of cliffs at Anzac. A French force had landed at Kum Kale on the + Asiatic mainland, but only to destroy the Turkish batteries there (<i>see</i> + Map, p. 107). + </p> + <p> + The <i>coup de main</i> had obviously failed, and the struggle for + Gallipoli resolved itself into a costly attack by inferior forces on land + against an almost impregnable position. Never were the difficulties of + invasion by sea more strikingly demonstrated, and it was a misfortune that + the generals who continued throughout the war to distract the popular mind + by depicting a German invasion of England, were not all sent to study the + process in the Dardanelles. In front of our narrow footholds the Turks, + amounting to 200,000 men, held positions rising to over 700 feet at Achi + Baba and Pasha Dagh, and defended by masses of artillery and machine and + elaborate systems of trenches upon which the big guns from our ships + appeared to have little effect. Two British submarines did gallant work by + getting up the Straits under the mine-fields and disturbing the Turkish + communications across the Sea of Marmara; but there remained land-routes + on either shore, and reserves arrived more quickly on the Turkish than on + the British front. From 6-8 May a second attack was made up the Saghir + Dere towards Krithia and the Kereves Dere towards Achi Baba, while the + Anzacs created as much diversion as possible from Gaba Tepe. But the + bombardment from ships and shore-batteries failed to destroy the Turkish + trenches, and an advance of a thousand yards, which failed to reach the + enemy's main positions, was only achieved at the cost of casualties + amounting by the end of May to more than the losses in battle during the + whole Boer War. A third attack on 4 June reinforced the lesson that + nothing short of an army large enough for a major operation could master + the Dardanelles, and meanwhile an elusive German submarine was threatening + the naval supports. The <i>Goliath</i> had been sunk by a Turkish torpedo + boat on 12 May, and the submarine disposed of the <i>Triumph</i> on the + 26th and the <i>Majestic</i> on the following day. Silently the <i>Queen + Elizabeth</i> and her more important consorts withdrew to safer waters, + and the naval attempt to force the Dardanelles was gradually transformed + into a military siege of the peninsula. + </p> + <p> + The spring offensive of the Allies had gone to pieces everywhere except in + the distant spheres of South Africa and Mesopotamia, while the German + offensive was carrying all before it in Galicia. The first great + disillusionment of the war was at hand, and its promised beginning in May + looked uncommonly like a repetition of the previous August. Popular + discontent focused itself on the lack of munitions, and especially of + high-explosives, which "The Times" military correspondent declared on 14 + May to have been a fatal bar to our success. "Some truth there was, but + brewed and dashed with lies," as Dryden remarked of Titus Oates' plot. + There were other bars as fatal, the lack of guns, men, and generalship; + and the ultimate responsibility for the shortage rested with those + experts, Allied as well as our own, who thought six Divisions an adequate + British force when the war broke out. For the amount of high-explosive + required depends upon the number of guns and gunners to use it and the + length of line that is held; and experience of South African warfare had + led generals to discount the value of heavy guns and high-explosive and to + magnify that of mobility and mounted men. It was only when trenches + stretching from the Alps to the sea were made impervious by German wire + and concrete to assault that the need for unlimited high-explosive dawned + on the minds of the higher commands. The French were able, thanks to the + protection afforded by the British Navy, to divert labour from naval + construction and repair to the production of munitions and even to send + naval guns to the trenches. But that very fact added to the paramount + claim of the navy in Great Britain for munitions; and a soldier must have + been strangely blind to the debt the Empire and the Entente owed to the + British Navy before he could urge his own Government to follow the French + example. + </p> + <p> + The British Cabinet had begun to appreciate the need in September 1914, + and on 21 April 1915 Mr. Lloyd George gave in the House of Commons the + rate of our increased output as from 20 in September to 90 in November, + 156 in December, 186 in January, 256 in February, and 388 in March, and + added that the production of high-explosives had been placed on a footing + which relieved us of all anxiety. Even an increase of 2000 per cent was + doubtless inadequate to our needs, and Mr. Asquith's frequently misquoted + denial that our operations had been hampered by the deficiency, showed + that both Ministers had been misled by their technical advisers. But the + French, who fired 300,000 shells on 9 May, were, in spite of that fact and + their greater forces, not much more successful in front of Lens than we at + Neuve Chapelle; and unlimited explosives did not bring us far on the road + to victory until more than three years after Mr. Lloyd George had been + appointed Minister of Munitions in May 1915 to revolutionize the situation + which had inspired him with such confidence in April. We had more to learn + in the art of war than the manufacture of munitions, and the dream that a + better supply would have enabled us to beat the Germans in the spring of + 1915--without any American troops at all and with a British Army about a + tenth of the effective strength that was in the end required--was as idle + as the German fancy that their similar superiority should have brought us + to our knees in the autumn of 1914. + </p> + <p> + The delusion served, however, to shake Mr. Asquith's Government to its + foundations. Lord Kitchener himself, the popular idol for whom the press + had clamoured at the beginning of the war, was deposed from his shrine in + ultra-patriotic hearts because he had devoted himself to the raising of + armies more than to the making of munitions. But the first offensive in + the press, as often happened in the field, fell short of its objective: + Lord Kitchener received the Garter amid the plaudits of "Punch," and the + curious spectacle was exhibited of the most excitable journal in the realm + being publicly burnt on the Stock Exchange by the nation's most excitable + body of citizens. Another incident supervened upon the munitions outcry; + Lord Fisher resigned from the Admiralty on 15 May. He had had notorious + differences with Mr. Churchill over the Dardanelles and other questions; + and unable to do without either at the Admiralty, Mr. Asquith dispensed + with both, and covered up the deficiency by a Coalition. The principal + Unionists joined the Cabinet, and the chief Liberal Jonah was Lord + Haldane, who knew a great deal about Germany and was therefore accused of + being pro-German. He also knew something of science, and might conceivably + have been more alive to the need of munitions than Lord Kitchener. But the + nation would not have tolerated his presence at the War Office, and even + resented it on the Woolsack. He left his seat to successors who did not + fill his place. + </p> + <p> + Apart from this concession to popular prejudice, the Coalition was an + advantage from the national though not from the Premier's personal or + party point of view. He would have been wiser in his own interests to have + resigned and left the responsibility to men whose supporters believed that + with a little more energy and foresight the war could be won in a few + months or at most a year. Few had as yet realized that the struggle was + one between mighty nations which only the perseverance of peoples, and not + the merits of Ministers, could decide; and the inevitable deferment of + foolish hopes would sooner or later have produced a reaction in favour of + the retiring Premier and his party. But it would have been accompanied by + a revival of party warfare which would have undoubtedly weakened national + unity and impaired the prospects of success; and all parties to the + Coalition--Liberal, Unionist, and Labour--were patriotically inspired when + they agreed to share a burden which the wiser among their leaders foresaw + would tax their united strength. + </p> + <p> + There was need enough for unity during the summer of 1915 when the Allied + offensive in the West had broken down, little progress was being made in + the Dardanelles, and the Germans were driving the Russians like chaff + before them. The one gleam of light was the intervention of Italy, which + might distract Austrian forces from the Galician front and in any case + meant some accession of strength to the Allied cause. Italy had already + rendered inestimable services to the Entente by proclaiming that Germany's + action was offensive in character, and therefore dispensed Italy from an + obligation to support her partners in the Triple Alliance; and her + neutrality during August and intervention in May disproved the gibe of the + French diplomatist that she would rush to the rescue of the conqueror. The + question throughout the winter was whether she would complete her breach + of the Triple Alliance by attacking her former Allies. The grievance upon + which diplomacy fixed was the reciprocal compensation which Austria and + Italy had promised each other in case either were forced to disturb the <i>status + quo</i> in the Balkans. Austria pleaded that her invasion of Serbia + involved no permanent disturbance, because no permanent annexation was + intended; to which Baron Sonnino retorted that Austria had declared, + during the Turkish-Italian war, that an Italian bombardment of the + Dardanelles or even the use of searchlights against the Turkish coast + would constitute a breach of the agreement. In March Baron Burian accepted + the principle that compensation was due to Italy, and discussion arose as + to its nature and extent. The Italian Government pressed its advantage, + and demanded not only the whole of <i>Italia irredenta</i>, that + unredeemed territory peopled by Italians in the Trentino and across the + Adriatic, which had been left under Hapsburg dominion after the wars of + Italian liberation, but practically the whole north-eastern coasts of the + Adriatic which were inhabited by a predominantly Slav population. + </p> + <p> + Austria, under German pressure, travelled far on the path of concession, + but no conclusion could be reached that way. For concessions at the + expense of the Jugo-Slavs would not be recognized by the Entente if it won + the war; and if the Central Empires were successful, they were not likely + to regard these promises extracted from them in their hour of need as more + binding than other scraps of paper. The negotiations were, indeed, no more + than a diplomatic method of forcing the issue and setting a standard for + the concessions to be demanded from the Entente as the price of Italy's + intervention. We could not afford, it was thought, to offer less than + Austria, and we probably underestimated Italy's fears and difficulties. + She was really bound to intervene, because if she stood out, she would + lose whichever side won. There was a triangular duel for the control of + the Adriatic; if the Central Empires were victorious the Adriatic would + become a Teutonic lake; if the Entente succeeded, its north-eastern shores + would become Jugo-Slav. Italy could only avoid that dilemma by + intervention in favour of the winning side, and thus establishing a claim + to share in the fruits of victory. Her ambitions were considerable: not + only did she insist that control of the eastern shores of the Adriatic was + essential to the safety of her own exposed and harbourless coasts, but she + regarded herself as the heir of Venice, which "once did hold the gorgeous + East in fee"; and she hoped to retain the Greek islands of the Dodecanese + which she had seized during the Turkish War, and to acquire a foothold in + Asia Minor and on the Illyrian coast along the Straits of Otranto. It + would not be easy to harmonize her claims with those of Serbia who was + already our ally, nor those of Greece whose adhesion was expected. But + Italy's sword seemed worth the risk and the price in the spring of 1915, + and the Treaty of London was concluded on 26 April which promised her most + of what she desired, and produced some of the hardest tasks for the + ultimate Congress of Peace. + </p> + <p> + The compact was from the first more honoured in the breach than the + observance. Italy undertook to wage war by all means at her disposal in + union with France, Great Britain, and Russia against the Powers at war + with them. But for another year she remained at peace with Germany. War + was, indeed, declared upon Austria on 22 May, but the union with the + Allies was limited almost exclusively to the prosecution of Italy's + territorial ambitions, and the forces employed hardly produced effects to + correspond with the facts that the population of Italy was almost equal to + that of France and that the bulk of the Austrian armies were involved in + the struggle with Russia. Italy had, indeed, peculiar disadvantages; she + was more divided in mind about the war than any of the great protagonists, + and the splendid qualities of her Bersaglieri and Alpini were not shared + by all her troops. Her war strength was put at a million men, and she + still had to cope with Turkish forces in Tripoli which only surrendered at + the end of the war as a condition of the armistice concluded between Great + Britain and Turkey. She was further hampered by lack of coal and + inadequate industrial equipment, and her northern frontier had been so + drawn in the Alps as to give Austria every advantage of the passes both + for offence and defence. To these drawbacks were added a defective + strategy dictated by political idiosyncrasies. The capture of Trieste + rather than the defeat of the enemy was made the great objective of the + campaign. It had the advantage that it might not involve German troops in + its defence, and the defect that it was a divergent operation which even + if successful would have no material influence on the general course of + the war. Soon, too, it became evident that Trieste was not likely to fall + until Austria was defeated on other fields or fell into impotence through + domestic disruption (<i>see</i> Map, p. 298). + </p> + <p> + The campaign began with scattered Italian offensives all along the + northern frontier, designed to wrest from the Austrians their control of + the Alpine heights and passes, and to secure the flank of the main attack + across the Isonzo towards Trieste. Slight successes were gained at various + points, and the enemy was pressed back almost to the head of Lake Garda. + But no serious impression was made on his positions except along the lower + reaches of the Isonzo. Here the west bank from Tolmino down to Monfalcone + and the sea fell into Italian hands. Gradisca was captured on 10 June and + the river was crossed at different points. On the 20th the Italians + announced their firm establishment on the slopes of Monte Nero above + Tolmino and Caporetto, and on 26 July a similar success on Monte San + Michele and Monte dei Sei Busi farther south near Gorizia. On 4 August + they were even said to be making progress on the Carso to the south-east. + But all these gains were illusory. Gorizia itself remained in Austrian + hands for another year, the heights east of it were not mastered until + 1917, and neither Tolmino nor the Carso fell to the Italians until the war + had been lost and won. There was nothing here to disturb the Austrian + concentration of effort against their Russian foes or to call for German + assistance to their Austrian allies. Italy did, however, on 20 August + declare war upon Turkey, with which she had not yet made a definitive + peace since the outbreak of hostilities in 1911; and it was even announced + that she would send an expedition to the Eastern Mediterranean. This was + taken to mean a descent upon Adalia in Asia Minor, where Italy desired to + stake out her claims in the expectation of an early dissolution of the + Turkish Empire. But the Turks showed unexpected signs of animation under + German stimulants, and the "eastern Mediterranean" expedition was reduced + to the nearer and more practical exploit of seizing Avlona which there + were not even Turkish troops to defend. Italy was not alone to blame, for + the first use the Serbs made of Italy's committal to the Entente cause was + to dash across to the Adriatic coast where their rival claims conflicted. + </p> + <p> + The Gallipoli campaign therefore dragged its weary length along throughout + the torrid heat of summer without an Italian diversion, serving mainly as + a demonstration of practical though ineffective sympathy with our Russian + allies. Another attack on Krithia, launched on 28 June, gave us control of + the Saghir Dere and led to considerable Turkish losses in the + counter-attacks which Enver, defying Liman's wiser advice, had ordered; + and the French under Gouraud made a corresponding advance on the eastern + shore of the peninsula. Gouraud received a wound which required the + amputation of his leg and his retirement to France, where he later + rendered more brilliant and far more effective service. On 12 July yet + another effort was made to capture Krithia without substantial success; + and the much-tried armies on that forbidding and barren field then sat + down to await the reinforcements demanded and the new plan which was + maturing for the solution of the problem. + </p> + <p> + Stagnation also set in along the Western front, and the summer campaign + was marked by as little movement as the winter. An attack was made in the + Argonne on 20 June more in the interests of the Crown Prince's reputation + than in those of strategy; and the advance which attained the depth of a + mile was reduced by counter-attacks on 14 July to 400 yards. Another at + Hooge in front of Ypres on 30 July was marked by the first employment in + battle of one of our new divisions recruited since the war began, and on + the German side by the use of liquid fire. It was successful in making an + awkward dent in our line, but again a counterattack on 9 August restored + the situation. That, however, was one which suited the Germans, for they + were simply out to hold their lines in the West, while behind those lines + they commandeered French and Belgian labour and worked French and Belgian + mines to eke out their own munitions of war and supply the needs of their + campaign on the other side of Europe. Towards stopping that our checks to + their local attacks in the West and offensive operations of our own did + nothing. Important and sweeping French successes continued to be announced + from time to time in the press, and occasionally positions were captured + and retained, as at Buval near Souchez, Hbuterne, and Quennevires. The + Germans, too, failed in their attacks on Les parges, while the French + succeeded in capturing Metzeral in Alsace. But the great offensive in + Artois had subsided into stubborn hand-to-hand fighting in the Labyrinth, + which was as costly as a first-class battle without producing its results. + </p> + <p> + So spring passed into summer and the days began to wane, with the Germans + reaping the fruits of their foresight and preparations in the East, while + we pinned our faith to the silver lining of the clouds and looked day by + day for that offensive which was to relieve our hard-pressed Allies but + did not come. The truth was hidden from the public eye, and possibly with + prudence; for there are times in which without illusions the weight of + gloom would be intolerable. The difficulty is that illusion also dims the + sense of danger and of duty; our belated provision for war was still + retarded by strikes, profiteering, and perversity, and the King's example + of total abstinence failed to prevent the nation from spending more on + drink in war than in peace. An imperfectly educated people is slow to + grasp a novel situation; and it was only by stealth and caution that it + could be led along the path of preparation for the part we had to play by + national service, national thrift, and national control. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter08" id="chapter08"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <h3> + THE DEFEAT OF RUSSIA + </h3> + <p> + THE winter, spring, and summer which had passed with so little change on + the other fronts, owed their lack of decisive movement not to the + comforting delusion of the French official <i>communiqu</i> that + Germany's offensive had been broken and her defensive could be broken + whenever it was thought desirable, but to the fact that she had reversed + her strategy, and reached the conclusion that Russia could be defeated + more easily than France. Russia, indeed, had almost limitless man-power, + but the war had already shown the importance of munitions, and Germany + quickly learnt the lesson. Russia was ill-equipped with munitions and the + industrial facilities for their manufacture; nor could the want be + supplied by her allies, since, apart from their own needs, their + communications with Russia were circuitous, uncertain, and inadequate. The + Murmansk railway was not complete, the route to Archangel was icebound + from November to May, and the single rail across Siberia was further + hampered by indolence and corruption on the part of the railway workers + and their staff. Russia was the most isolated of the Allies, and the + attempt to open a shorter connexion by a naval attack on the Dardanelles + had been frustrated. Without assistance from the West, Russia would be + beaten, and without it she could not recover. There were good reasons for + the policy which led Germany, during the winter and behind an unpenetrated + veil of secrecy, to concentrate her energies upon the production of guns + and munitions for the Eastern front. + </p> + <p> + The strategical position of Russia was no more sound than the state of her + armaments. She occupied a vast salient, the southern flank of which was + the Carpathians. They formed a substantial protection, since the passes + afforded poor facilities for transporting the mass of artillery on which + Germany relied for success in her attack. But the safety of the flank + depended upon the integrity of the front, and a successful German drive in + Galicia would expose the entire position of the Russian armies in Poland. + The two reasons subsequently given for the dismissal of the Grand Duke + Nicholas from the supreme command were, firstly, that he had in the autumn + advanced too precipitately into Silesia, and secondly, that in the spring + he exhausted his strength in trying to pierce the Carpathians and thus + left his front on the Dunajec too weak to resist Mackensen's furious + onslaught. But it is doubtful whether any strategic correctitude could + have saved the Russian armies from the effects of German superior + armaments. The Germans were playing for high stakes, nothing less than the + destruction of Russia's offensive capacity; but they were justified in + their game by the cards they held in their hand. + </p> + <p> + The attack began on 28 April with a forward move on Dmitrieff's left at + Gorlice. The pressure compelled him to weaken his centre along the Biala + in front of Ciezkowice. Then on 1 May Mackensen's vast volume of fire + burst forth; over 700,000 shells are said to have fallen upon the Russian + position, and their defences were blown out of existence. Under cover of + this fire, to which the Russians could make little reply, the Biala was + crossed, Ciezkowice and Gorlice were captured, and Dmitrieff's line was + broken; on the 2nd his army was in full retreat to the Wisloka, twenty + miles back in his rear, where no trenches had been dug, and there was + little hope of checking the Germans. Nevertheless a heroic stand was here + made for five days by Caucasian and other reinforcements. On the 7th + Mackensen forced a crossing at Jaslo, and next day he pursued his + advantage by seizing two bridgeheads across the Wistok farther on, one at + Fryslak to the north and the other at Rymanow to the south. Brussilov's + army along the Carpathian foothills at Dukla had to beat a precipitate + retreat and lost heavily; it was nearly severed from Dmitrieff's centre. + But a counterattack from Sanok in the south and a stand by the Russians at + Dembica towards the north procured a slight respite, and by the 14th the + bulk of the Russian armies were across the San with their right at + Jaroslav, their left at Kosziowa, their centre at Przemysl, and their + forces in Poland conforming to the retirement. + </p> + <p> + The latter part of the retreat had been of a more orderly character and + began to follow a plan, but the plan involved a great deal more than the + surrender of Galicia between the San and the Dunajec. Mackensen's force + was overpowering, and the German design was not to lengthen the line by + compelling a Russian retreat to the San; it only fell short of complete + success because the Russian armies had not so far been isolated and + destroyed, but there was still the likelihood of their being driven back + until the whole of Galicia was recovered and Poland lost. For the rest of + the month Mackensen's huge machine of destruction was moving forward to + the second stage of its journey on the San. Its progress was delayed by + Russian counter-attacks on the Austrians under Von Woyrsch in Poland and + on Mackensen's other wing which was advancing from the Carpathians on to + the Dniester. But by the 18th Kosziowa had fallen and the Germans had + seized the line of the San from Sieniawa to Jaroslav. Przemysl had not + been further fortified by the Russians since its capture; it would clearly + meet the same fate as Antwerp from the German howitzers unless the Russian + armies in the field could keep the German artillery at a distance. They + could only delay matters until the stores and material were removed from + the fortress. It was now a salient threatened with encirclement on the + north and south. Russian counter-attacks at Sieniawa and Mosciska relieved + the pressure for some days, but before the end of May Mackensen's + howitzers were at work, and Przemysl was evacuated by the Russians on 1 + June. + </p> + <p> + On the same day Stryj fell to Von Linsingen and on 7 June he forced the + Dniester at Zurawno. But he had advanced too far ahead of his + communications and reserves, and on the 8th Brussilov drove him back over + the Dniester with severe losses. The Dniester was indeed the scene of + stubborn fighting for many days, and on the 18th the Russian Government + announced that the enemy had lost between 120,000 and 150,000 men in their + efforts to cross it on a front of forty miles. But the Russian stand on + the Dniester only left it to Mackensen's centre and left to turn the + Grodek position and ensure the fall of Lemberg. By 20 June the Russian + communications north of the Galician capital were severed by a battle at + Rawa Ruska, and on the 22nd, after nine months' Russian occupation, it + once more fell into Austrian hands. The Russians had not done much to + commend their cause to the inhabitants during their stay; the opportunity + was seized for proselytizing in the interests of the Orthodox Church, and + Sczeptycki the Archbishop of Lemberg, a member of the Uniate Church which + had made terms with Roman Catholicism, was treated with a harshness + compared with which the indignities inflicted by the Germans upon Cardinal + Mercier of Malines were trivial; he was interned in a Russian monastery + and deprived of all religious rites save those which were to him + heretical. + </p> + <p> + The fall of Lemberg was followed by the loss of the Dniester line as far + as Halicz, and all beyond it including the Bukovina, and the Russians fell + back behind the Gnilia Lipa, where Ivanov prolonged a stubborn resistance. + But the aims of the Germans in Galicia had been achieved with the capture + of Lemberg except in so far as the remnants of the Russian armies remained + intact. The city formed a formidable bastion for defence because of its + ample lines of communication with the south and west, and inadequate lines + to the north and east. A farther German advance across the Russian + frontier in that direction would be an eccentric movement, and the front + of attack was accordingly swung round from east to north, where the + Russian position in Poland had been outflanked. The reconquest of Galicia + produced fruits enough in the restoration of Austrian and Hungarian + confidence and the repression of pro-Entente tendencies in the Balkans. + But it was only a part of the most ambitious and successful campaign the + Germans fought in the war. May and June were but the prelude to greater + successes in July, August, and September. + </p> + <p> + The heaviest blows were to be struck in the Polish centre, but diversions + had already been made on the extreme German left in the north. Libau had + fallen on 9 May, and during that and the following month the German armies + under Von Buelow overran the duchy of Courland as far as Windau on the + coast and Shavli half-way to Riga. This movement was regarded with + comparative indifference as being a divergent operation calculated at + worst to do no more than distract Russian forces from more critical + points. But it was in keeping with a German design considered grandiose + until it nearly succeeded. The bulk of Russia's forces were concentrated + in the Polish triangle of which the apex was at Warsaw, the base ran from + Kovno by Brest-Litovsk to the Galician frontier, the north-western side in + front of the railway from Kovno to Warsaw, and the southern in front of + that from Warsaw to Lublin, Cholm, Kovel, Rovno, and Kiev. The German plan + was not merely to squeeze the Russians out of the triangle by pressure on + the sides and intercept as much of their forces as possible, but also to + outflank the whole position by striking behind the base from the north at + Vilna; and a naval attack on Riga was part of the projected operations. + </p> + <p> + The Galician drive had furnished the territorial means for the attack on + the southern side of the Polish triangle; and although Ivanov was farther + pushed back from the Gnilia Lipa to the Strypa and thence almost to the + Sereth, this Eastern advance became irrelevant to the main strategic + design, and German reinforcements were collecting mostly under Gallwitz, + Scholtz, and Von Eichhorn along the Narew and the Niemen for an onslaught + on the north-western side of the triangle. The Austrian Prince Leopold's + forces which fronted Warsaw on the Bzura at the apex were comparatively + weak, and were only intended to gather the fruits of the real fighting + done by the Germans on the flanks. The Germans rode roughshod enough over + Austrian susceptibilities when efficiency required it; but they atoned for + the brusqueness by conceding a large share in the spectacular aspects of + triumph; and just as the Austrians entered Lemberg first and not its real + conqueror Mackensen, so Prince Leopold was cast for the part of the victor + of Warsaw. But first of all the Galician armies had to face north to take + their allotted share in the scheme by driving the Russians back across the + railway between Lublin and Kovel. + </p> + <p> + Within a few days of the fall of Lemberg they had crossed the Russian + frontier, turning the Vistula and advancing in two columns, one under the + Archduke Joseph towards Krasnik on the road to Lublin, and the other + farther east under Mackensen towards Krasnostav on the way to Cholm. The + Russian army in Poland west of the Vistula had gradually to conform to the + retreating line and fall back in a north-easterly direction towards the + river. By 2 July the Archduke was in Krasnik, but here he was checked by + the Russian position defending the railway line; on the 5th the Russians, + who had been reinforced, counter-attacked, and in a battle lasting till + the 9th drove the Austrians back. Similarly Mackensen found himself held + up between Zamosc and Krasnostav, and for a week the struggle for the + Lublin-Cholm railway resolved itself into an artillery duel. The attack + was resumed on the 16th simultaneously with Von Gallwitz's movement + against the other side of the triangle. The Archduke failed after ten + assaults to carry the Russian position in front of him at Wilkolaz, but + Mackensen was more successful at Krasnostav. He enveloped the Russian + right, drove it beyond Krasnostav, and was soon within striking distance + of the railway. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, to the north Gallwitz had forced the Russians from Prasnysz + towards the Narew on the 14th, and crossed it himself on the 23rd between + Pultusk and Rozhan as well as between Ostrolenka and Lomza; and by the + 25th he was on the banks of the Bug, within twenty miles of the railway + connecting Warsaw with Petrograd. The great line of fortresses along the + Narew were now exposed to bombardment by German howitzers; the Russians in + front of Warsaw withdrew from their winter defences along the Rawka and + Bzura to the inner lines of Blonie; and south of Warsaw they retired from + Opatow, then from Radom, and then to the great fortress of Ivangorod on + the Vistula. Even that was now threatened by Mackensen's advance to the + Lublin line in its rear. It was broken on the 29th, and on the 30th the + Germans were in Lublin and Cholm. Warsaw was doomed, and, indeed, the + Grand Duke Nicholas had as early as the 15th decided upon its evacuation. + The fighting along the Lublin-Cholm line, and the strenuous resistance the + Russians offered on the 26th to Gallwitz's renewed attacks on the Narew, + were intended not to save Warsaw, but the armies defending and the stores + within it. On 4 August the troops abandoned the Blonie lines and marched + through the city, blowing up the bridges across the Vistula. Next day + Prince Leopold made his triumphal entry, and the first year of the war + closed on the Eastern front with an event of greater significance even + than that which the Kaiser attached to it. To him the capture of Warsaw + was a resounding tribute to the success of German arms: to future + generations the import of the Russian departure will doubtless be the term + it set to Russian rule in Poland, and it may be deemed one of the ironies + of history that Hohenzollern autocracy should have been made the + instrument to wreck the Russian domination. In spite of themselves the + Germans assisted to achieve the common purposes of the great war of + liberation. + </p> + <p> + Russian autocracy was indeed stricken to death by its own inherent + maladies nearer home than Poland. Shallow democrats in the West were + deploring the lack of prevision and provision exhibited by their + democratic Governments, but no democracy endured a tithe of the sufferings + inflicted upon Russian soldiers by the blindness, incompetence, and + corruption of the bureaucratic Tsardom. Confident in the successes which + the heroism of its troops had won over the discordant forces of the + Hapsburg Empire and those which Germany could spare from the Western + front, it had neglected to perform any of the promises it had made to + conciliate the inhabitants of Poland and Galicia, and had even failed to + take the commonest military precautions to safeguard its victories. + Nothing had been done in Galicia to put the captured Przemysl into a state + of defence, and even the bridge across the San had not been repaired to + provide a direct line of supply to the front on the Dunajec. Offers of + skilled labour from other countries to improve the inefficient service of + Russian railways and the inept direction of industries and munition + factories were ignored. The business organization of Russia had been + managed mainly by Germans before the war; too much of it was left in their + hands after war began, with the result that the Putilov munition works, + for instance, were reduced to half-time by German control; and there was + no one to take the place of those who departed. Russian generals were + among the most skilful of strategists, and men like Ruszky, Alexeiev, + Brussilov, and others would have been invincible had Russia's man-power + been competently equipped. As it was, every sort of provision was + neglected; the artillery of one army was limited to two shells a day; a + whole division had on one occasion to face an attack without a rifle among + them, and troops were put into trenches relying for weapons on those which + fell from the hands of their dead or wounded comrades. These were the + organized atrocities of autocratic bureaucracy, and it was little wonder + that in time they bred in the breasts of Russian soldiers a fiercer + resentment against their rulers who betrayed them than against the enemy + whom they fought. + </p> + <p> + The retreat which followed the fall of Warsaw was sympathetically + represented as a masterly operation, and the failure of the Germans to + envelop and isolate the Russian armies as proof of the breakdown of their + strategy. But all retreats in the war, with the exception of the Turks' + before Allenby, were similarly described in the appropriate quarters. It + was the common characteristic of the victors that they could not win + decisive battles in the sense of earlier wars, and of the vanquished that + they evaded the expected Sedans and Waterloos. Even the Germans with all + their initial advantages of preparation and surprise could not break the + Allied armies in their first offensive on the West, and the same inability + dogged their still more rapid footsteps in the East. It is a consequence + of the reliance of modern armies on the mechanical force of artillery to + which the Germans were especially addicted; for while 16-inch howitzers + could pulverise any position, they could not pursue with the speed + required to encircle and capture armies in the field. Hence salients, + which when viewed in the light of older conditions seemed traps which + could not be eluded, were in practice evaded because, with Allenby's one + exception, cavalry failed to atone for the slower movement of the more + powerful arm of artillery. There was nothing therefore miraculous in the + Russian escape, and the strategy of the Grand Duke was hardly so brilliant + as it was represented. At the beginning of the war Alexeiev, then Ivanov's + chief of staff, is said to have counselled a Russian retreat like those + which lured Charles XII and Napoleon to their doom; but the temptations of + Austrian weakness and German concentration on the West and the plight of + France and Belgium led to the adoption of other advice and the premature + invasion of Prussia, Galicia, and Hungary; and in August 1915 it was too + late for a voluntary and innocuous retreat. The safety of the majority had + to be bought at a heavy price in casualties, in loss of guns and material, + in suffering for the troops and civilians, and in national dejection. What + might have been cheerfully done by choice was despondently done by + compulsion. + </p> + <p> + The evacuation of Warsaw was the first step in the withdrawal from the + apex of the Polish triangle which it was hoped the resistance of the sides + would enable the Russians to complete without disaster; and a large + garrison with adequate guns and ammunition was left at Novo Georgievsk to + impede the German advance and hamper communications with their front. The + greatest menace was on the north-west along the Narew and beyond in + Courland where Von Buelow was preparing to strike behind the base of the + triangle. On 10 August Von Scholtz breached the line of fortresses by + storming Lomza, but Kovno was a much more critical point. It was the angle + of the base, and its fall would not only threaten the base running south + to Brest-Litovsk and all the Russian armies west of that line, but would + greatly facilitate Von Buelow's sweep round beyond it and Vilna. The + bombardment began on the day that Warsaw fell. Kovno was expected to hold + out at least to the end of the month, but it fell on the 17th, and the + general in command was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years' hard + labour for his inadequate defence and absence from his post of duty. On + the following day Von Gallwitz cut the line between Kovno and Brest at + Bielsk, and on the 19th Novo Georgievsk fell to the howitzers of Von + Beseler, the expert of Antwerp. Ossowiec, which had stood so well against + the earlier German invasions, followed on the 23rd, and Von Beseler was + brought up to give the <i>coup de grce</i> to Brest. Its loss was perhaps + inevitable after the fall of Kovno, but it completed the destruction of + the base of the triangle and involved the withdrawal of the whole Russian + line beyond the Pripet marshes which would break its continuity; and there + was cold comfort in the fact that Ewarts got away with most of his troops + and stores and that a Russian mine, exploded two days after their + departure, destroyed a thousand Germans and set a precedent for similar + machinations on their part when they retreated in the West. + </p> + <p> + Fortresses now toppled down like ninepins. On the 26th Augustowo was + evacuated and Bialystok captured. On the 27th Olita was abandoned and on 2 + September Grodno. The Germans thus gained the whole line from Kovno to + Brest, and things were going no better in the south. The fall of Lemberg + had given the German right a position far to the east of their left, and + Mackensen advancing from Lublin and Cholm had driven the Russians across + the Bug at Wlodawa before Brest-Litovsk was taken. The marshes of Pripet + were at their driest in August, and Mackensen encountered few obstacles as + he pressed on from Brest to Kobrin and thence to Pinsk along the rail to + Moscow. In Galicia Ivanov was pushed back to the Strypa and then the + Sereth, and on the upper reaches of those rivers Brody was captured and + two of the Volhynian fortresses, Dubno and Lutsk. Rovno itself was + threatened, and with it the southern stretch of that lateral railway from + Riga to Lemberg on which the Germans had set their hearts. + </p> + <p> + But the most ominous German advance was far to the north, where Von Buelow + was profiting by the fall of Kovno, marching on Mitau and Riga, and + threatening both to cut the railway between Vilna and Petrograd and + confine the Russian retreat to congested and narrow lines of communication + along which they could not escape. This northern advance was accompanied + by a naval offensive in the Baltic, designed to seize Riga and turn the + line of the Dvina on which the Russians hoped to stand in the last resort. + Fortunately this part of the campaign broke down before matters had + reached their worst on land. It looked like a naval operation planned, or + at least attempted, by soldiers professionally incapable of grasping the + elementary principles of naval or amphibious warfare. After an + unsuccessful attack on the southern inlet to the Gulf of Riga on 10 + August, the Germans during a thick fog on the 17th sought to land troops + at Pernau in large flat-bottomed barges without having secured command of + the sea; and the entire landing-force was captured or destroyed. + Simultaneously the Russian Fleet engaged the Germans, who had eight + destroyers and two cruisers sunk or put out of action; the only Russian + vessel lost was an old gunboat. The Dvina lines were not to be turned by + strategy like this, and Russia was henceforth free from naval interference + until her sailors played her false. + </p> + <p> + Von Buelow was still, however, to be reckoned with, and he was the + substantial danger. On 28 August he began his movement against the Dvina, + which would, if successful, cut off all the Russian armies from direct + communication with Petrograd. The blow was struck at Friedrichstadt, where + the river is crossed by the only practicable road between Riga and + Jacobstadt, but the design was to turn the whole front as far as Dvinsk; + and Von Buelow held out to his troops the alluring prospect of winter + quarters in Riga and a march on Petrograd in the spring. On 3 September + the left bank was cleared for some miles, but all attempts to cross were + frustrated. The out-march on the extreme German left had failed, and the + critical point moved south towards Vilna. The danger here was serious + enough, for the depletion of the Russian forces and length of their line + had left a gap between Dvinsk and Vilna, and into this gap the Germans + thrust a huge cavalry force which more nearly turned the Russian line than + any other movement in the campaign. + </p> + <p> + The way was prepared by the great ten-days' battle of Meiszagola. The + unexpectedly rapid fall of Kovno and Grodno had enabled the Germans to + threaten the envelopment of Ewarts' army both on the south and the north, + on the Niemen towards Mosty and Lida and farther north towards Vilna. The + struggle for Vilna was decided at Meiszagola, a village about fifteen + miles north-west of the old Lithuanian capital. It was captured on 12 + September, and masses of German cavalry swept round from Vilkomir towards + Sventsiany and crossed the Petrograd railway to outflank the retreating + Russian troops. The evacuation of Vilna began on the 13th, and two days + later the menace from the German cavalry became more apparent. Fresh + divisions were apparently brought up from Courland with 140 guns; on the + 16th they were at Vidzy and on the 17th at Vileika, nearly seventy miles + due east of Vilna and in the rear of the Russians escaping thence. They + were thus also close to Molodetchno on the railway along which Ewarts was + falling back from Skidel, Mosty, and Lida; and control of that junction + would have put two Russian armies at their mercy. + </p> + <p> + Just in time Ruszky was restored to the command of the northern group of + Russian armies, and the victor of Rawa Ruska and Prasnysz was not doomed + now to break his uniform record of success. The situation was not unlike + that at Prasnysz, and it was relieved in a similar way by a Russian + counter-offensive from Dvinsk against the flank of the German cavalry. + Vidzy was recaptured on the 20th, and farther south the pressure slackened + along the Vilna-Vileika railway; Smorgon was retaken by a brilliant + bayonet charge on the 21st. The door had been kept from closing on Russian + armies seeking to escape from the salient between Lida and Molodetchno, + while the Germans were squeezed out of that which they had made to the + north. They were driven out of Vileika, and gradually the lines were + straightened and stabilized so as to run almost due south from Dvinsk by + Postavy, Lake Narotch, and Smorgon. Other factors than Ruszky's brilliant + strategy contributed to this dramatic defeat of the final German effort of + the campaign to annihilate the Russian forces. The Germans had lost in men + and impetus during their long advance. Superb though their organization + was, lengthening lines of communication across a country ill-supplied with + roads and railways, and the necessity of guarding against a hostile + population told upon their armies in the fighting-line. The heaviest blow + will spend itself in time against an elusive foe, and the longest arm will + find the limit of its reach. The Germans had not planned a march on + Moscow, but they had hoped to overrun the Russian armies and occupy the + winter quarters of their choice. These were denied them on the Dvina, and + they had not secured the coveted Riga-Rovno line. + </p> + <p> + They were indeed left farther from it in the south than in the north. + Their defeat east of Vilna enabled Ewarts to escape from the encirclement + threatened by the advance from Kovno and Grodno; and although he had to + leave Lida and was subsequently pushed behind the junction of + Baranowitchi, thus surrendering to the Germans the control of the railway + from Vilna to that point, it remained in Russian hands to Rovno. Mackensen + was unable to advance from Pinsk, which he occupied on 16 September, to + the railway at Luninetz, while Ivanov reacted successfully against the + German attacks along the Kovel-Sarny line and recovered a good deal of the + ground lost in the Volhynian triangle and eastern extremity of Galicia. + Mackensen's army may have been weakened by calls from the north and from + the south for a campaign which was already planned but not yet suspected; + at any rate it was too weak to achieve its objectives, the capture of + Sarny, Rovno, and Tarnopol, which would have completed the hold of the + Germans on the Vilna-Kovno line and given them a base for a farther + advance in the spring on Odessa and for the isolation of Rumania. On 7 + September, as Mackensen's forces were moving on Rovno and the Sereth at + Tarnopol and Trembowla, Ivanov counter-attacked from Rovno and Brussilov + and Lechitzky on the Sereth. By the 9th the two latter had captured 17,000 + prisoners and a considerable number of guns; and Ivanov followed up this + success by retaking Lutsk and Dubno by the 23rd. Kovel was even + threatened, but the pressure was not maintained. Sarny, Rovno, and + Tarnopol were saved, but Lutsk and Dubno reverted to the Germans, and the + line in the east was stabilized with the Volhynian triangle and the + railway from Vilna to Rovno divided between the antagonists. + </p> + <p> + The success of Ruszky in the north and of Ivanov in the south in setting a + term to the terrifying sweep of the German advance produced a temporary + optimism in Russia comparable with that which followed the victory on the + Marne; and in neither case did the Allies realize the extent of the + advantage gained by the Germans or foresee the years that would pass + before the loss could be recovered. The Grand Duke Nicholas was relieved + of his command and sent to take over that in the Caucasus. He was + succeeded by the Tsar himself, who was unlikely to interfere with the + military measures of Alexeiev, his chief of staff; and the Duma seconded + the Tsar's attempt to express the determination of the Russian peoples to + withstand the Germans until victory was secured. Nevertheless, the + profound effects of the Russian defeat could not be removed by any + laudable efforts at keeping up appearances. It was a resounding disaster + which condemned Europe to three more years of war, and Russia to a + convulsion which would permanently alter the whole course of her history + and position in the world. Miliukov raised in the Duma the question of + responsible government, and if the debacle of 1915 was slower than Sedan + in producing the downfall of the system to which it was due, it was not + because the disaster was less, but because Russia was a less organized + country than France, and her illiterate population reacted more slowly + than the French. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map05.png"><img src="images/map05s.png" width="452" + height="664" alt="The Russian Front" /></a> + </p> + <p> + At the moment the best face was put on affairs; and although one + correspondent was allowed to report that the heart of the Russian people + had grown cold to the Allies who had watched their misfortunes without + raising a finger in the shape of a serious offensive to help, public + opinion was fed on the comfort in which a facile optimism is so fertile. + German casualties were multiplied at will, despondent diaries of + individual German officers killed or captured were given unlimited + publicity, and roseate pictures were painted of the colossal drain of + man-power involved in winter trench-warfare in Russia and in holding vast + tracts of hostile country. It was assumed that the Germans would suffer + more than the Russians, although again and again whole Russian battalions + in those trenches were wiped out by German artillery and machine guns to + which the Russians had not the wherewithal to reply except with fresh + masses of human flesh; and little was said of the millions of Russian + prisoners and civilians who were put to far more effective use in making + munitions and producing food for their enemies than they ever had been for + Russia or themselves, and without whose labour Germany's man-power would + have been exhausted one or two years before the end of the war. It was + considered a triumph that the Germans had not reached Petrograd or Moscow, + but it might have been well if they had. They had, however, no such + ambitions. Just as the reconquest of Galicia had been mainly designed as + providing the base for a flank attack upon Russia, so the conquest of + Poland was to be used as providing protection for Germany against Russian + interference with her plans in the Balkans. Sofia and Constantinople + opened up more alluring prospects and a path that led farther than Moscow + or Petrograd; and while public opinion in England and France was dreaming + of a repetition of 1812, public opinion in Germany was feasting on visions + of Cairo, Baghdad, and Teheran, and the possibility of evading the British + blockade through outlets to the Indian Ocean. + </p> + <p> + All eyes that could see were turned to the Dardanelles. There British + troops were making the one serious counter-offensive to the German attack + on Russia, and success would redeem the Russian failure and foil the hopes + the Germans were building upon their victory. The immediate future of the + Balkans, the Black Sea, and Asia Minor, and it might be the more distant + future of Egypt and the East, hung upon the issue at Gallipoli. During + July the reinforcements for which Sir Ian Hamilton had asked were + gathering in Egypt and in Gallipoli; and on 6 August the new plan of + attack was begun. There were to be four distinct items; a feint was to be + made of landing north of Bulair, the attack on Krithia was to be renewed + in order to hold the Turkish troops there and draw others in that + direction, and a similar advance was planned for the Anzacs with a similar + motive, but also to co-operate with the real and fresh offensive. This + took the form of a landing at Suvla Bay, the extreme north-westerly point + of the peninsula between Anzac and Bulair. The diversions were reasonably + successful, as successful, indeed, as previous attacks had been in those + localities when they were the principal efforts. The chief of them was a + threefold advance north-east, east, and south-east from Anzac Cove on Sari + Bair with its highest point at Koja-Chemen. Conspicuous gallantry was + shown in the three days' fighting; and while, as earlier at Krithia, the + summits defied the greatest valour, enough progress was made in these + subsidiary attacks to justify the hope of general success if the principal + effort at Suvla Bay went well (<i>see</i> Map, p. 107). + </p> + <p> + It began without any great mishap, and General Stopford's 9th Corps was + successfully landed on the shores of Suvla Bay during the night of 6-7 + August and deployed next morning in the plain without serious resistance. + The surprise had been effected, but it would be useless unless the attack + was pressed with energy and without delay. Yet torpor crept over the + enterprise during that torrid afternoon; many of the troops were in action + for the first time in their lives, and, understanding that water was + obtainable from the lake close by, they had drained their water-bottles by + eight o'clock in the morning. A thunderstorm mended matters a little, and + Chocolate Hill was carried on the right. But all next day an inferior + Turkish force, assisted by a planned or accidental conflagration of the + scrub, managed by skilful use of a screen of sharpshooters to hold up our + advance all along the line. Sir Ian Hamilton himself arrived that night + and strove by persuasion to infuse some energy into the attack. But by the + 9th it was already too late, for the Turks had had time to bring up + reinforcements, and an attack on the Anafarta ridge on the 10th was + repulsed. Five days later General Stopford relinquished the command of the + 9th Corps, to which he had been somewhat reluctantly appointed by Lord + Kitchener, and the 29th Division was brought up from Cape Helles to renew + the attack on 21 August. It might have succeeded had it been originally + employed in place of the inexperienced troops; but by this time there + could be nothing but a frontal attack on a watchful foe, and it ended like + the similar efforts in May and June. Some ground was gained, contact was + established with the Anzacs, and a continuous line of six miles was + secured from the north of Suvla Bay to the south of Anzac Cove. But before + the Turks could be expelled from the peninsula and a passage cleared + through the Dardanelles there would be a long and weary struggle, in which + progress would be as slow and beset by as many obstacles as it was on the + Western front. Russia was to obtain no relief that way; as a + counter-offensive to the German campaign of 1915, the attack on the + Dardanelles had failed; and the failure produced a deeper impression upon + the Balkans than if the attempt had never been made. The way was clear for + the next move of German diplomacy and war. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter09" id="chapter09"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <h3> + THE CLIMAX OF GERMAN SUCCESS + </h3> + <p> + No one's eyes had been more keenly trained on the Dardanelles operations + during the spring and summer than those of Ferdinand, King and Tsar of + Bulgaria. Descended from Orleanist Bourbons on the mother's side and from + the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the father's, he was purely Prussian in + his <i>realpolitik</i>, and observed no principle in his conduct save that + of aggrandizement for his adopted country and himself. The treaty of + Bukarest in 1913 had given them both a common and a legitimate grievance, + and the great war was welcomed in Bulgaria as an opportunity for revenge. + The means would be the assistance Bulgaria might render to the victor, and + who that might be was a matter of indifference if he possessed the + essential qualifications of victory and insensibility to the feelings of + Bulgaria's neighbours and to the sanctity of scraps of paper. This was a + defect in the Entente from Ferdinand's point of view. Bulgaria could with + difficulty be satisfied except by Serbian sacrifices which the Entente was + loath to make. The Central Empires had no scruples on that point; but + Bulgaria also wanted something from Rumania, Turkey, and Greece, and + Turkey was an ally, Rumania a neutral whom it was not wise to offend, and + Greece had as its queen a sister of the Kaiser who was distinctly her + husband's better half. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map06.png"><img src="images/map06s.png" width="436" + height="562" alt="The Balkans" /></a> + </p> + <p> + Serbia alone, however, had received by the Treaty of Bukarest enough + territory claimed by Bulgaria to provide a sufficient inducement for + Bulgaria's intervention in the war, once she was persuaded that a victory + of the Central Empires would place it at their disposal. Efforts were made + by the Entente during the summer to counteract this attraction by inducing + Serbia to reconsider her annexations in Macedonia. But her successes in + the autumn of 1914 had stiffened her attitude, and in any case she could + not be expected to make that comprehensive surrender of Macedonia which + the Central Empires were quite prepared to promise Bulgaria. The decisive + factor in the diplomatic situation was, however, the progress of German + arms and prospects of German victory; for it was only the victor who would + have any favours to bestow, and the course of the war in the summer + convinced the Bulgarian Government that Germany was the horse on which + prudent people should put their money. On 17 July a secret treaty was + concluded guaranteeing Bulgaria in return for intervention the whole of + Macedonia possessed by Serbia as well as an extension of Bulgaria's + frontiers at Serbia's expense farther north. Bulgaria was also allowed to + extort a separate price from Turkey in the shape of a strip of land along + the Maritza controlling that river and Adrianople. An even more sinister + concession to Bulgarian exorbitance was that of Epirus, a district + assigned to Albania in 1913 but populated by Greeks who had revolted and + claimed incorporation in Greece. This Prussian complaisance was doubtless + due to the fact that Venizelos, who had resigned owing to Constantine's + opposition to his policy, had at the Greek general election in June + secured nearly a two to one majority in the Greek Chamber. Greece could + not be allowed the benefit of a Prussian queen when it chose Venizelos as + Prime Minister. + </p> + <p> + The bond had been signed between the Central Empires and their Bulgarian + taskmaster; but the doctrine of <i>rebus sic stantibus</i> was as well + understood in Bulgaria as in Prussia, and the treaty would have remained a + scrap of paper had Russia expelled the German invaders or Britain broken + the barrier at the Dardanlles. As it was, nothing occurred in August or + September to weaken Bulgaria's fidelity to the secret compact. The failure + of the attack at Suvla Bay was followed by the futile routine of trench + warfare; an equally barren result threatened the long-prepared attacks in + Artois and Champagne; and, Russia having more than enough to do in + reorganizing her shaken armies, the Central Empires were free to turn + their attention southwards. Success in the Balkans was not this time to be + staked on Austrian control, and Mackensen, whose armies in Galicia were + nearest to the scene, was naturally selected to repeat in Serbia the + triumphs of his Galician drive. The task would be all the easier because + Serbia was a country small compared with Russia, and would, moreover, be + distracted by the coming Bulgarian stab in the back. Her Government, + conscious of this danger, had, indeed, wished to anticipate it by a + frontal attack on Bulgaria; but her offensive was vetoed by the Entente. + Possibly it was a case in which moral scruples unduly weighted the scales + against military advantage. There was no real doubt about Bulgaria's + intentions, and she would have had no grounds for complaint had Serbia + attacked before Mackensen was prepared for his part in the joint + assassination. The real doubt concerned the attitude of Greece. She was + bound by treaty to assist Serbia in that case, and Venizelos would + assuredly do his best to fulfil the bond. But the obligation would not + arise if Serbia were the aggressor, and Venizelos would be powerless. The + fault of the Entente, if it was a fault, lay in the failure to act on the + presumption that Constantine would prove as false to international + obligation as his imperial brother-in-law when he invaded Belgium, and in + the assumption that the difference between Serbian aggression and defence + would involve the difference between Greece being an ally and a neutral. + </p> + <p> + The diplomatic crisis grew to a climax as Mackensen's forces reached the + northern bank of the Danube, for the arrest of the German offensive in + Russia was not entirely due to German difficulties or Russian valour and + strategy, and by the middle of August German divisions were already being + diverted from the Russian front. In the middle of September Bulgaria + concluded her compact with Turkey, and on the 19th Mackensen's batteries + opened their bombardment of Belgrade. On the 21st Venizelos asked the + Western Allies for 150,000 troops, which were promised on the 24th, and on + the 23rd Bulgaria ordered a general mobilization and Greece retorted in + kind. Bulgaria proclaimed her intention to observe neutrality, and when on + the 27th Serbia requested the consent of the Allies to an offensive, it + was refused. Entente diplomatists at Sofia were still under the impression + that Bulgarian intervention could be avoided, and a vigorous protest by + the leaders of all the Opposition parties in the Sobranje against the + Government's policy gave some colour to their views. But by 10 October it + became known that many German officers were busy in consultation with the + Bulgarian Staff; on the 3rd Russia required Bulgaria to break with the + Teutonic Powers, and on the 5th herself broke off diplomatic relations. A + week later the Bulgarian Army invaded Serbia and the Bulgarian Government + declared war. Mackensen had crossed the Danube on the 7th and taken + Belgrade on the 9th. On the 19th an imperial manifesto was issued from + Petrograd denouncing Bulgaria's treason to the Slav cause and leaving the + fate of the traitor to the "just punishment of God." It was assuredly not + to be inflicted by the Government whose designs on Constantinople had been + the principal obstacle to the success of Entente diplomacy in the Balkans. + Bulgaria did, indeed, betray the Slav to the Teuton, but no Balkan State + could view with equanimity the prospect of being ground to powder between + the upper and nether millstone of Russia on the Danube and on the + Dardanelles. + </p> + <p> + Nor was Bulgaria the only traitor responsible for the Serbian tragedy. On + 5 October Venizelos announced to the Greek Chamber in no uncertain terms + the intention of his ministry to draw the sword on Serbia's side if + Bulgaria attacked. The following day he was summoned to the palace and + told that Constantine disapproved; he resigned in the afternoon, and the + Chamber compromised its future and its country's by supporting an + alternative ministry under Zaimis, which proclaimed its neutrality and + refused on 11 October the assistance for which Serbia asked under the + terms of their alliance. Russia was willing but unable to help, and large + threats and insignificant demonstrations against the Bulgarian coast were + all she could contribute to the protection of the little State in whose + interests she had entered the war. The burden fell on the Western Powers + who had never contemplated it, and they were divided in mind. British + ships wrought effective destruction upon the Bulgarian depots and + communications along the Aegean coast; but bombardment there was of little + use to Serbia, and the British General Staff pronounced against an + expedition to Salonika. Sir Edward Carson resigned as a protest against + this inaction, while Delcass resigned in France because Briand was more + adventurous. Briand carried his point, succeeded Viviani as Premier, and + committed both Powers to the Salonika policy. Italy stood aloof; her + antagonism to Serbia and Greece made her ever averse from an offensive + against Bulgaria. + </p> + <p> + The Salonika expedition, which consisted at first of troops transferred + from Gallipoli, came too late and was too weak to effect more than a part + of its purpose. It would have been more effective had the Allies consented + to the Serbian proposal for an attack on Bulgaria; for in that case the + Serbian armies would have been aligned along the Bulgarian frontier with + their right within reach from Salonika. As it was, they faced north + towards Mackensen, and the Bulgarian offensive towards Uskub took the + Serbians in the rear, cut their communications with Salonika down the + Vardar, and eventually forced a retreat into the Albanian mountains. + Serbia would in any case have been overrun, and Mackensen's conquest of + its northern half would have been more rapid than it was. But the Serbian + armies might have remained intact and given a good account of themselves + against both their enemies in the mountain fastnesses of the south with + their retreat secured to Salonika, instead of being split into two and + most of them driven, to escape as best they could with frightful mortality + along impossible tracks towards the Adriatic. + </p> + <p> + War and disease had reduced the Serbian armies before the campaign began + to some 200,000 men, and their enemies brought at least double that number + against them. The Serbians were, moreover, constrained by the counsels of + the Allies to preserve what they could of their forces as a nucleus for + future resistance, and thus to stand only so long as retreat remained + open. Threatened on three sides by superior numbers, they were in an + untenable position and had a well-nigh impossible task; and only skill, + endurance, and courage brought the remnants out of the death-trap laid by + collusion between the Central Empires and Bulgaria. The campaign was for + the Serbians simply a series of rearguard actions encouraged at first by + the delusive hope that the Allies might yet be in time. They might have + been, had they been numerous enough. The French from Cape Helles came + first, landed at Salonika on 5-7 October, and by the 27th had occupied the + valley of the Vardar as far north as Krivolak. They also seized the + commanding heights of Kara Hodjali north-east of the river, and repulsed + the Bulgarian attempts to drive them off in the first week of November; + while to the west they stretched out a hand towards the Serbians defending + the Babuna Pass. With adequate forces they could have pushed beyond Veles + to Uskub, broken the wedge which the Bulgarians had driven in between them + and the Serbians, restored the line of the Vardar, and secured the Serbian + retreat. + </p> + <p> + It was this Bulgarian stab in the back which made havoc of the Serbian + defence. Mackensen made slow progress at first, partly because he had no + wish to drive the Serbians south until the Bulgars had cut off their + retreat down the Vardar. Belgrade did not fall until three weeks after the + bombardment had opened; but with the intervention of the Bulgarian armies + all along the bare Serbian flank, events moved with tragic rapidity. On 17 + October the Salonika line was pierced at Vrania, Veles fell on the 20th, + and Uskub on the 21st. By the 26th Mackensen and the Bulgarians had + effected a junction in the north and cleared the Danube route into the + Balkans. Nish fell on 5 November after three days' fierce fighting, and + the Constantinople railway thus passed into enemy hands. In the north-west + the Austrians were pressing on from Ushitza down by the Montenegrin + frontier towards Mitrovitza, threatening to crush the Serbians on the + Kossovo plateau between them and the Bulgars. To save the main Serbian + force and keep open a retreat through Albania, a stand had to be made at + Katchanik against the Bulgars advancing north from Uskub. It was + successful to that extent, and when at one moment the Serbs temporarily + broke the Bulgarian front, a junction seemed possible with the French + advance from Veles. But both Allies were too weak for the solid Bulgarian + wedge. The Serbs had to fall back from Kossovo and the French to their + entrenched camp at Kavadar. A still narrower chance intervened between the + French and the Serbs who were fighting at the Babuna Pass to bar the way + to Prilep and Monastir, and at one time the French flung out their left to + within ten miles of the Serbian position. But their own communications + were threatened all down the narrow line of the Vardar, and they were + hopelessly outnumbered by the Bulgarian forces. Retreat was the common + misfortune and necessity. Prilep fell on 16 November; and farther north, + as the Serbians retreated into Montenegro and Albania, the Austrians + occupied Novi Bazar on 20 November, and Mitrovitza and Prishtina on the + 23rd. On the 28th the Germans announced that "with the flight of the + scanty remnants of the Serbian army into the Albanian mountains our main + operations are closed." + </p> + <p> + There was something still for the Bulgars to do. Pursuing the Serbians in + retreat from the Babuna Pass they reached the Greek frontier and cut the + railway between Salonika and Monastir at Kenali on 29 November, and on 5 + December occupied Monastir itself. The Greek frontier was a feeble + protection, and the French at Kavadar were threatened with encirclement on + their left. Kavadar had to be evacuated and a retreat secured by hard + fighting at Demir Kapu. Simultaneously the British holding the front + towards Lake Doiran were severely attacked, and on 6-7 December had 1300 + casualties and lost 8 guns. But the enemy failed to cut off the retreat, + and by the 12th both the French and British forces were on Greek territory + fortifying a magnificent position which stretched from the mouth of the + Vardar round to the Gulf of Orphano and enclosed the Chalchidice + peninsula. Strong measures had to be taken to ensure the safety of + Salonika with its cosmopolitan population, and the enemy hoped for its + fall in January. But there was great reluctance to attack lines which were + daily growing more formidable and were held by troops that were being + gradually reinforced. Bulgarian ambition was also restrained by German + counsels, for even Constantine and his new and pusillanimous premier, + Skouloudis, might resent the occupation of Salonika by their hereditary + rivals, and the Kaiser trusted more to family and diplomatic influence at + Athens than to Bulgarian valour. The Germans themselves were more intent + on consolidating the Berlin-Constantinople corridor and their hold upon + the Turks than on Salonika, which fell within the Austrian sphere of + influence, and might thus, if taken, become an apple of discord between + its captors. + </p> + <p> + Austria had to content herself with dominion along the eastern shores of + the Adriatic. The conquest of Serbia had left Montenegro an unprotected + oasis surrounded by enemy territory; and Italy, which alone might have + defended the Black Mountain, was unable or disinclined to make the effort. + Lovtchen fell on 10 January, and the Austrians occupied Cettinje three + days later. The Germans announced the unconditional surrender of the + country, and some sort of capitulation was made by some sort of + Montenegrins. But King Nicholas escaped to Italy and thence to France, + while the greater part of his army made their way south to Scutari to join + the Serbians who had retreated to the Adriatic coast. An Italian force + marched up from Avlona to Durazzo to protect them, and Essad Pasha, a + pro-Entente Albanian who had established a principality of his own on the + fall of the Prince of Wied, rendered useful assistance. Eventually about + 130,000 Serbian troops were transported to safety across the Adriatic, + while the Serbian Government was provided with a home at Corfu in spite of + the protests of the Greek administration. Save for neutral Greece and + Rumania, the Italian foothold at Avlona and ours at Gallipoli, the whole + of the Balkans had passed into the enemy's hands; for Essad's rule was as + brief as it was circumscribed, and the Italians withdrew from Durazzo as + the Austrians advanced to the southern frontier of Albania, and menaced + Greek territory far beyond the reach of protection from Salonika. + </p> + <p> + While Greece and Rumania seemed to depend for their existence upon the + forbearance of the Central Empires, our foothold in Gallipoli was even + more precarious, and the first use the Germans made of their corridor to + Constantinople was to furnish the Turks with howitzers designed to blow + our forces off the peninsula. In October Sir Charles Monro had been sent + out to take over the command from Sir lan Hamilton and report on the + situation. His report, which, owing to the singular relations then + existing between someone in the Government and the press, was known to + selected journalists within a few hours of its reception in London, was in + favour of evacuation. The Cabinet was not prepared to accept that decision + without further advice, and dispatched Lord Kitchener to make a survey of + the political and military situation in the gean on the spot. He + confirmed Monro's opinion; and in spite of the damage to our reputation + and the losses which it was thought such an operation would inevitably + involve, orders were given for a complete withdrawal from the Gallipoli + Peninsula. + </p> + <p> + Some of the forces had already been transferred to Salonika, and the + evacuation was to be completed in two stages, the first at Suvla Bay and + Anzac and the last at Cape Helles. Success depended upon weather suitable + for embarkation and skill in organizing transport and concealing our + intentions from the enemy. No one dared to hope for so complete a + co-operation of these factors as that which characterized the enterprise + on 18-19 December. The weather was ideal in spite of the season, an attack + from Cape Helles diverted the attention of the Turks, and the whole force + at Suvla Bay and Anzac was embarked during two successive nights with only + a single casualty. Marvellous as this success appeared, its repetition at + Cape Helles on 7-8 January was even more extraordinary, although a Turkish + attack on the 7th threatened to develop into that rearguard action which + had been considered almost inevitable. But it was a mere incident in + trench warfare, and they were as blind to our real intentions at Cape + Helles as they had been three weeks before at Suvla Bay and Anzac--unless, + indeed, with true Oriental passivity, they were content to see us leave + their land in peace and had no mind to seek a triumph of destruction which + would inure to the benefit of their uncongenial allies. + </p> + <p> + The brilliant success of the withdrawal from the Dardanelles provided some + solace for the failure of the campaign, but did nothing to relieve from + responsibility those who had designed its inception and directed its + earlier course; and a Commission, which was appointed in the following + summer, produced on 8th March 1917 an interim report which threw a vivid + but partial and biased light not only on the Dardanelles campaign, but on + the governmental organization which was responsible for the failures as + well as the successes of the British Empire during the greater part of the + war. Both were largely the outcome of that autocracy in war with which + popular sentiment and the popular press had invested Lord Kitchener. It + swallowed up everything else: the Cabinet left the war to the War Council + and the War Council to a triumvirate consisting of Mr. Asquith, Lord + Kitchener, and Mr. Churchill; but of these the greatest was Lord + Kitchener. "All-powerful, imperturbable, and reserved," said Mr. + Churchill, "he dominated absolutely our counsels at this time.... He was + the sole mouthpiece of War Office opinion in the War Council.... When he + gave a decision it was invariably accepted as final." He occupied, in the + words of the Report, "a position such as has probably never been held by + any previous Secretary of State for War," though it cannot compare with + the elder Pitt's in 1757-61. Oriental experience had not improved his + qualifications for the post; secretiveness, testified the Secretary of the + War Council, made him reluctant to communicate military information even + to his colleagues on the Council; the General Staff sank into + insignificance, and the regulations prescribing the duties of its Chief + were treated as non-existent. Mr. Churchill was debarred from a similar + dictatorship at the Admiralty mainly because he was not a seaman and had + Lord Fisher as his professional mentor; while Mr. Asquith busied himself + with keeping the peace between his two obtrusive colleagues, neither of + whom expressed the considered views of the Services they represented. + </p> + <p> + Thus the Dardanelles campaign was less an active expression of policy or + strategy than the passive result of conflicting influences and opinions. + As early as November 1914 Mr. Churchill had suggested an attack there or + elsewhere on the Turkish coast as a means of protecting Egypt, but the + idea was not seriously considered until on 2 January 1915 an urgent + request was received from Russia for some diversion to relieve the Turkish + pressure in the Caucasus. There was a corresponding need to deter Bulgaria + from casting in her lot with the Central Empires, and on 13 January the + War Council resolved upon the "preparation" of a naval attack on the + Dardanelles. Its members were in some doubt as to what was meant by their + resolution. Lord Fisher was averse from the scheme because he preferred + another sphere of action, possibly the Baltic or Zeebrugge, with which + Jellicoe's mind was also occupied; and he hoped that preparation did not + involve execution. Lord Kitchener warmly supported the idea of a naval + attack, but most of his colleagues assumed that the operation would + automatically become amphibious and involve the army as well; at any rate + this impression was clearly stamped on their' minds after the purely naval + attack had failed. Lord Kitchener, however, was strongly opposed to + military cooperation; a great advantage of a purely naval attack was, he + thought, that it could be abandoned at any moment, and he maintained that + he had no troops to spare. Meanwhile Russia enthusiastically welcomed the + notion, France concurred, and Mr. Churchill had secured an uncertain + amount of naval backing for an expedition, the nature of which was not + defined. But Lord Fisher grew more pronounced in his opposition, and when + on 28 January the War Council proceeded from preparation to execution, he + accepted the decision with a reluctance that nearly drove him to resign. + </p> + <p> + No sooner, however, had the War Council decided on a purely naval + expedition than it found itself involved in an amphibious enterprise. "We + drifted," said the Director of Military Operations, "into the big military + attack"; and on 16 February it was resolved to send out the 29th Division + and to reinforce it with troops from Egypt. The naval bombardment did not + begin till three days later, and therefore it was no naval failure that + produced this resolution; it was rather an unconscious reversion to the + Council's original idea which had been dropped out of deference to Lord + Kitchener. The same influence delayed the execution of the plan of 16 + February: the 29th Division was to have started on the 22nd, but on the + 20th it was countermanded by Lord Kitchener. Animated discussions ensued + at the War Council on the 24th and 26th, but Lord Kitchener could not + overcome his anxieties on the score of home defence and the Western front, + and the Council yielded to his pressure. It was not till 10 March that the + ill-success of the naval attack, advices from officers on the spot, and + reassurances about the situation nearer home overcame the reluctance to + dispatch the 29th division and other forces under Sir Ian Hamilton. Lord + Kitchener now desired haste, and complained that 14 April, the date + suggested by Hamilton, would be too late for the military attack. It was + not found practicable until the 25th, and according to Enver Pasha the + delay enabled the Turks thoroughly to fortify the Peninsula and to equip + it with over 200 Austrian Skoda guns. Enver's further statement that the + navy could have got through unaided, although it agreed with Mr. + Churchill's opinion, is more doubtful. Out of the sixteen vessels employed + to force the Dardanelles by 23 March, seven had been sunk or otherwise put + out of action. + </p> + <p> + The same hesitation that characterized the inception of the military + attack marked its prosecution, and forces which might have been adequate + at an earlier stage were insufficient to break down the defences which + delay enabled the Turks to organize. Nevertheless the enterprise might + have succeeded but for errors of judgment in its execution, notably at + Suvla Bay; and success would have buried in oblivion the mistakes of the + campaign and its initiation just as it has done similar miscalculations in + scores of precedents in history. There were, moreover, vital causes of + failure which could not be canvassed at the time or even alleged in + mitigation by the Commission of Inquiry; and the publication of its report + on 8 March 1917, without the evidence on which it was based or reference + to these other causes, was a masterpiece of political strategy designed to + concentrate the odium of failure on those who were only responsible in + part and to preclude their return to political power. Of these hidden + causes there were two in particular: one the possibly justifiable refusal + of Greece to lend her army to the scheme when a comparatively small + military force might have been sufficient, and the other the far more + culpable failure of Russia to co-operate with the 100,000 troops which + were to have been landed at Midia and would have either found the northern + approaches to Constantinople almost undefended or have diverted enough + Turkish forces from the Dardanelles to give the southern attack a + reasonable prospect of success. As it was, the British Empire had to + content itself with the idea that 120,000 military casualties, apart from + the French and the naval losses--which might have bought the downfall of + Turkey, shortened the war by a year at least, and saved a greater number + of lives--had the minor effect of immobilizing 300,000 Turks and + facilitating the defence of Egypt and the conquest of Mesopotamia and + Syria. + </p> + <p> + The failure of the larger hope was a blow to the "Easterners" who + discerned in the Dardanelles the strategic key to victory in the war and + expected to turn the argument against divergent operations by pointing to + a converging advance from the Balkans upon the Central Empires. But the + "Westerners," who maintained that the war could be won and could only be + won in France and Belgium, were not much happier at the end of 1915. The + British and French commands alike had subordinated the Dardanelles and + Salonika expeditions to the needs of an autumn offensive on the West; and + the argument between the two schools of thought is narrowed down, so far + as the autumn of 1915 is concerned, to the question whether the troops we + lost in September and October at Loos and in Champagne might not have been + more effectively employed at the Dardanelles or Salonika. That they were + not needed for defence in the West is obvious, since the line was held in + spite of their loss. They were, in fact, mortgaged to an offensive which + produced less strategical effect than the casualties in the East; for + without the Salonika expedition, at least, Greece would have fallen + completely under German dominion, and our control of the gean and our + communications with Egypt would have been seriously imperilled. The + controversy was an idle one so far as it was conducted on abstract + principles, because war is an art in which success depends upon changing + conditions which dictate one sort of strategy at one time and another at + another. There were times when neglect of the West would have been fatal; + there were others at which neglect of the East was almost as disastrous, + and the autumn of 1915 belonged to the latter rather than to the former + category. Neglect of the East would, indeed, have been not merely + excusable but an imperative duty, had the situation in the West been what + it was in the autumn of 1914 or spring of 1918. But there was no such + necessity in September 1915: troops were not then withheld from the East + to defend our lines in the West against a German offensive, but to take + the offensive ourselves; and illusory hopes of success were based upon the + known inferiority of German numbers in France due to their concentration + in Russia. + </p> + <p> + The Entente advantage in bayonets on the Western front was between three + and four to two, and it also had the ampler reserves. Sir John French + commanded nearly a million men and General Joffre more than double that + number, while our advantage in guns and munitions was not less marked; an + almost unlimited supply of shells had been accumulated during the summer, + and the new Creusot howitzers outdid the monsters from Essen and Skoda. + Thirty fresh miles of French front had been taken over by the British, but + it was not continuous. Plumer's Second and Haig's First armies still held + the line from Ypres to south of La Basse, but D'Urbal's Tenth French army + intervened between Haig and the new Third British army which stretched + from Arras to the Somme. It was not, however, along the British front but + in Champagne that the main attack was planned. The objective was Vouziers, + and the design was to break the German communications from east to west + along the Aisne and thus compel an extensive retreat from the angle of the + German front on the Oise and the Somme. If the subsidiary attack on the + British front also succeeded, the Germans would suffer disaster and be + compelled to evacuate much of the ground they held in France (<i>see</i> + Map, p. 67). + </p> + <p> + A desultory bombardment of the whole front had begun early in the month, + and on the 23rd a more intense fire, designed to obliterate the first line + of German defences, opened from La Basse to Arras and in Champagne. On + the 25th the infantry attacked in high hopes and high spirits: for months, + declared Joffre in his order of the day, we had been increasing our + strength and our resources while the enemy had been consuming his, and the + hour had come for victory. The striking force was Langle de Cary's Fourth + Army, and the front of attack ran for fifteen miles from Auberive to + Massiges. The bombardment had been effective and the <i>lan</i> of + French, and particularly Marchand's colonial troops, carried most of the + German first and parts of their second line of defence, and thousands of + prisoners and scores of guns fell into their hands. But victory was not in + this Western warfare of the twentieth century won in a day, and the morrow + of a successful attack, which used to be fatal to the defeated, was now + more trying to the victors. Instead of their well-protected lines they had + to lie in the open or in the blasted trenches of the enemy, and from + thence to attack a second and a third line of defences not less strong + than the first, but less battered by bombardment. The second French + effort, made on the 29th, was less successful than the first; some more + prisoners and guns were taken, and a breach was made in the second line, + but it was too narrow for the cavalry to penetrate. A third French attack + on 6 October secured the village and Butte de Tahure which commanded the + Bazancourt-Challerange railway, the first of the lateral lines of + communication which it had been the object of the campaign to break; and + later in the month the French made some local progress in other parts of + the front. But on 30 October German counter-attacks, which had failed + elsewhere, succeeded in recapturing the Butte de Tahure and recovering the + use of the railway; and while the French had advanced on a front of + fifteen miles to a depth of two and a half in places, the net result of + the great attack was to leave them without appreciable advantage save in + the disputable respect of greater German losses and the withdrawal of some + divisions from the Russian front. + </p> + <p> + The subsidiary attacks between Ypres to Arras produced the same general + kind of result. They extended almost continuously all along the line, but + except to the north and south of Lens do not appear to have been designed + to do more than prevent the opposing troops from being sent to reinforce + the defence against the main offensive. For this purpose they were perhaps + needlessly aggressive, for each resulted in the capture of ground which + could not be held, and the forces engaged in these local enterprises were + badly needed to clinch the nearly successful major operation. Later on in + the war it was found that enemy troops could be contained along the line + without such numerous and expensive precautionary attacks, and possibly + these were really intended not so much to contain the enemy as to test his + line with the idea of finding some weak spot which might be pierced. None + of them succeeded to that extent, though Bellewarde was temporarily taken + in front of Ypres, Le Bridoux redoubt in front of Bois Grenier, the slopes + of the Aubers ridge, and some trenches near La Basse. The last operation, + if more force had been put into it, might have secured La Basse and done + more to convert the battle of Loos into a substantial victory than could + ever have been achieved by a series of local successes farther north. + </p> + <p> + That battle was the principal British effort, and it only fell short of a + real victory because the reserves were not on the spot to follow up the + initial success which might almost seem to have surprised the higher + command. The front extended from the La Basse Canal to the outskirts of + Lens, and as in Champagne the attack on 25 September was preceded by an + intense bombardment which destroyed the first German trenches and + wire-entanglements. Nearly everywhere the advance was at first successful. + The Hohenzollern redoubt was captured, the Lens-La Basse road was + crossed, and even Haisnes and Hulluch reached. But the greatest success + was farthest south, where the village of Loos was rushed by the 15th + Division and then Hill 70. Even there the Highlanders would not stop, but + went on impetuously as far as the Cit St. Auguste, well outflanking Lens + and past the hindmost of the German lines. This was all by 9.30 a.m., + within four hours of the first attack. But there were no reserves at hand + to consolidate the victory and hold up the German counter-attacks. There + were plenty miles away in the rear, retained by Sir John French because + along the extended line of attack from Ypres to Lens it was not known + where they would most be needed; and even when the need was clear, + interrupted telephones and defective staff-work caused confusion and + delay. Eventually the 11th Corps fresh from England and to fighting was + marched eight miles and put into the battle line without sufficient food + or water. Gradually our troops were pushed back from Hill 70, across the + Lens-La Basse road, and out of the Hohenzollern redoubt. The line was + restored to some extent by the Guards on the 27th, and Loos remained + firmly in our hands; but a great opportunity had been lost, and the great + stroke of the 15th Division had not been turned into a great advance. Lens + had been almost in our grasp, and with it a lever to loosen the German + hold on Lille (<i>see</i> Map, p. 79). + </p> + <p> + The fault was partly due to the fact that D'Urbal's simultaneous offensive + south of Lens had fallen short of the Vimy Ridge and left our right flank + almost in the air in front of Grenay where the two lines joined. D'Urbal's + army was, like our own, greatly superior in numbers to the Germans + opposite, seventeen to nine Divisions, and the French artillery + preparation for the attack on 25 September was equally elaborate. + Unhappily the French offensive did not begin till one o'clock, three hours + after the Highlanders had swarmed over Hill 70 and into Cit St. Auguste; + and when it did begin, its left, where it joined the British right, was + held up in front of Souchez till the following day, and the Germans used + the interval to recover from the staggering blow they had received at + Loos. On the 26th the French were more successful. Souchez, most of the + Givenchy Wood, La Folie farm, and Thelus were captured, and on the 28th + they made some progress up the Vimy slopes. The impression of success + exceeded the reality, and a historian writing some months afterwards + declared that by the 29th "the Vimy Heights had been won": it required a + considerable Canadian victory a year and a half later to give much + substance to this claim, and most of the ground secured in September 1915, + including the Givenchy Wood, La Folie, and Thelus, was found to be in + German hands when the line from Lens to Arras was taken over by British + troops. + </p> + <p> + Attacks and counter-attacks, particularly round the Hohenzollern redoubt, + during October led to little but slaughter, and the line in the West + relapsed into winter stability and stagnation where they had been a year + before with changes which only a large-scale map revealed. There had been + at least 120,000 French casualties and more than 50,000 British; each side + claimed that the enemy's losses far exceeded its own, and there was + probably little to choose. A fortnight's battle in the West cost the + Allies as much as nine months in the Dardanelles, though in the former it + was the French and in the latter the British who bore the brunt. The + optimism of the civilians with regard to the Dardanelles was capped by the + optimism of the soldiers on the Western front; and neither was in a + position to throw stones at the strategy of the other. Mr. Churchill + disappeared from the Admiralty in May and from the Cabinet in October, and + Sir John French lost his command of the British forces in December. His + ostensible cheerfulness had been useful in the early days of shock and + stress; but the part had been somewhat overdone in public and underdone in + private, and it was becoming clearer, though not yet sufficiently clear, + that brilliant cavalry generalship was not the quality most required to + control the gigantic machinery of a modern army. Nevertheless, the + criticisms that were levelled against the ineptitude and mental + inelasticity of the generals and the staff of the old army overshot the + mark. No one ventured to bring such a charge against the staff-work of the + French, and yet the French had been no more successful in Champagne than + we had been in Artois. The truth was that no generalship could have given + the Entente victory over the Germans in 1915. The war was constantly and + correctly described as a soldiers' war or a war of nations, but the + meaning of the description was not fully realized. The Entente had to deal + with a mighty people, splendidly organized and equipped for war, and + against that colossal force mere generalship was like a sort of + legerdemain pitted against an avalanche. The only power that could cope + with the Germans was that of people similarly determined and equally + trained and organized, and the only way in which they could be defeated + was by exhaustion. Individual skill in modern politics and war tells + mainly in matters of personal rivalry; it is our aristocratic quality + which breaks its head in vain against the stolid mass of democratic + forces. The single people in the long run beats the single man, and the + community of nations overcomes the rebel State. + </p> + <p> + So far the rebel had succeeded because he took the world by storm and by + surprise. The Germans in 1915 had played a skilful game and won. They had + calculated that their line in the West could be held by inferior forces + against any attacks the Entente could launch against it, while they broke + the strength of Russia and overran the Balkans; and their calculations + proved correct. It is conceivable that they might have done better to + concentrate in 1915 as in 1914 against the Western Powers, but it is more + probable that here, too, they were wise in their military conceit. The + offensive that had failed in 1914 when British forces were a hundred + thousand without munitions to correspond, would hardly have succeeded when + they had grown to a million; and neglect of the East might well have meant + invasion by Russia, the collapse of Austria, Czecho-Slovak and Jugo-Slav + revolts, the defeat of Turkey, and the intervention of Rumania and + Bulgaria on the Entente side. More could hardly have been achieved by + Germany with the resources at her disposal; but she had not won the war. + She had won a respite from defeat, as she was to do again in 1916 and in + 1917, and her successes enabled her to postpone the reckoning from 1916 to + 1918. But it was a fatal reprieve which she only used to weave her + winding-sheet; and her efforts to snatch a German peace out of the + transient balance of power, which her victories had set up, involved her + in that fight to a finish with civilization which made her an outcast in + disgrace as well as in defeat. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter10" id="chapter10"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <h3> + THE SECOND WINTER OF THE WAR + </h3> + <p> + The failure of the Entente offensives in the Dardanelles and in France had + at last convinced the public of the truth of Lord Kitchener's prophecy, + that the war would be long if it was to result in a German defeat. + Obstinate optimists had in 1914 believed in a victory before the first + Christmas, while more reasonable critics hoped for one by the end of the + following year. When the second Christmas came round the date of triumph + had been postponed for another year or two, and few expected that it would + arrive much before the end of the three years' term Lord Kitchener had + suggested, or come at all unless greater efforts were made than had + hitherto been the case. The magnificent response to the call for voluntary + enlistment in 1914 had confirmed the traditional English view in favour of + volunteers; between two and three million men had been raised by this + method, either as members of the new army or as Territorials who freely + surrendered their privilege of being called upon to serve for home defence + alone; and it was but slowly that the nation was constrained to abandon + the voluntary principle for that system of conscription which savoured so + strongly of the militarism we were out to fight. But the Russian disasters + and the failure of our offensives in the spring warned the Government of + the advisability of at least preparing for other measures, and an Act had + been passed for a national registration on 15 August of all males between + the ages of 15 and 65. The autumn confirmed the foreboding of spring, and + on 5 October Lord Derby undertook on behalf of the Government a recruiting + campaign by which those who had not enlisted were induced to do so on the + condition that they would not be compelled to serve before those who had + feebler claims to exemption. + </p> + <p> + This campaign failed to produce the comprehensive results required, and at + Christmas the Government took the plunge of proposing conscription for all + unmarried men under the age of forty-two who were physically fit, and + whose enlistment was not precluded by the national importance of their + occupation or the onerous nature of their domestic liabilities. Even this + measure of conscription was found inadequate by the following spring, and + in May 1916 the exemption of married men was cancelled, and a general + system of conscription on the continental model was introduced. Both + measures were passed by large majorities, and encountered no organized + opposition in the country. A few hundreds of conscientious objectors + preferred to be treated as criminals rather than contribute in any way to + the shedding of blood even in the defence of their country and themselves; + and only the baser among their fellow-men attributed to them any worse + motive than impractical idealism. The example of the mother-country was + subsequently followed, with more liberal exemptions, by New Zealand and + the Dominion of Canada; but Australia, which had long enjoyed compulsory + military service for home defence, and was the only country in which the + issue had to be submitted to a referendum, twice rejected the extension of + the principle of compulsion to service outside the borders of the + Commonwealth. The Channel Islands, which also had compulsion for their own + insular defence, were equally loath to expand the idea, and Ireland was + for political and some logical reasons exempted from the scope of the + British Act; the Home Rule Bill had been placed on the statute-book, + though its operation had been suspended, and it was thought as politic to + allow her as it was to allow the Dominions to make her own decision. + </p> + <p> + In other matters than conscription Great Britain was slowly and + reluctantly constrained to follow the German lead until the whole country + became a controlled establishment; and a series of Defence of the Realm + Acts deprived Englishmen of nearly all those liberties which they had + regarded for centuries as proofs of their superior wisdom, but were now + found to be merely the accidents of their past insular security. Freedom + of the press, of speech, and even of private correspondence was subjected + to censorship, and there was not in the whole range of our indictments + against foreign autocracy one charge which might not with some colour be + brought against ourselves. Fear entered once more into the English mind, + and fear produced its invariable results, until precedents for what was + done in the twentieth century had to be sought in the worst days of the + Star Chamber, Titus Oates, and Judge Jeffreys. Once more, when the panic + reached its height during the spring of 1918, British subjects were + deprived of liberty without due process of law and by arbitrary tribunals + sitting behind closed doors; once more we reverted to the old maxim of + Roman law and the everlasting plea of despots, <i>salus populi suprema lex</i>, + and learnt to practise ourselves the precepts we scorned in others. + Liberty and even law were found to be luxuries in which war made us too + poor to indulge. Truth itself was made tongue-tied to authority and became + the handmaid of the State. To save ourselves and the world from barbarism + we had to descend to the barbarous level of our foes, and poison-gas and + the killing and starvation of women and children were developed into + effective methods of warfare. It was all done in the name of humanity; for + to shorten the war was the humanest course, and the shortest way was that + of the greatest destruction. The means of destruction were developed at a + prodigious rate, and England became a vast laboratory of death. War for + the time was our only industry, and all who could be spared from the + actual work of killing were pressed into the task of providing the + weapons, the food, and the education for those on more active service. + </p> + <p> + Germany set the pace both in efficiency and in cruelty, and her success in + 1915 convinced her that she could defy the moral scruples of mankind with + impunity. Nothing save verbal protests had followed the sinking of the <i>Lusitania</i>, + and even those had led Mr. Bryan, President Wilson's Secretary of State, + to resign for fear lest they might prove too strong. That crime was + accordingly succeeded by others, and further American lives were lost by + the torpedoing of the <i>Arabic</i> on 19 August, the <i>Ancona</i> on 7 + November, and the <i>Persia</i> on 30 December. The unneutral conduct of + Dr. Dumba, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in the United States, did, + however, precipitate a demand for his recall; and American relations grew + far more strained with Austria than with her more powerful and pernicious + partner. For the moment President Wilson seemed more concerned with Great + Britain's disrespect for American trade than with Germany's disrespect for + American lives, and put forward a claim to be regarded as the champion of + neutrality which contrasted oddly with his inaction a year before when + Belgian neutrality was at stake. No one, however, could boast of + consistency during the war, and President Wilson atoned for his earlier + tenderness towards neutral rights by fathering in the end a league of + nations which would abolish neutrality altogether. No doubt, his somewhat + censorious protests against the British blockade and the methods of its + enforcement were primarily intended for domestic consumption, and even + then their effect was severely discounted by the growing tale of German + outrage; the world at large was in no mood to listen to the laments of + profiteers when its ears were tingling with the story of Edith Cavell's + execution. She was an English nurse in Belgium who had tended with + impartiality German and Belgian wounded; but she had facilitated the + escape of some of the latter, and the Germans allowed no feeling of + chivalry or humanity to interfere with the barbarous logic of their + martial law. On 12 October, in spite of the efforts of American diplomacy + and the horror of the civilized world, she was shot by order of a German + court martial confirmed by the German military governor of Belgium. There + were many heroines in the war, but none achieved a surer fame, because no + one's fate exhibited in a clearer light the spirit with which humanity was + at grips. + </p> + <p> + It was to the credit of humanity that this single outrage produced a + greater horror than the German Zeppelin campaign, which reached its height + in the winter and affected a large proportion of the civilian population. + It was an extension of the policy of the Scarborough raids, and while it + could be justified on the ambiguous and contradictory provisions of The + Hague Convention, which exposed to the risk of bombardment any locality + containing soldiers, munitions, or material for war, or means for military + transport, its object was mainly to terrorize the civilian population; and + the Zeppelin, in particular, was an engine of war which could not + discriminate between legitimate and other objects of attack. This + disability also applied to the aeroplane, and there was something very + childish in the persistent assumptions that Entente air-raids were not + only exclusively aimed at, but invariably successful in achieving military + damage--even when the French boasted of having on 22 September dropped + thirty bombs on the King of Wrttemburg's palace at Stuttgart--and that + the Germans always projected civilian destruction and never succeeded in + effecting anything else. It was part of that delirium of wartime + psychology, which induces all belligerents to believe that no one but an + enemy ever commits atrocities, and no one but an ally is capable of + virtue. + </p> + <p> + The possibility of air-raids had long been foreseen, and as early as the + first October of the war the lights of London had been dimmed. The first + attempt by Zeppelins was made on Norfolk on 19 January 1915 without any + loss of life or appreciable loss of property. More damage was done to + property by a second raid on 14 April directed against the Tyne, and four + more were made in April on various parts along the East Coast. On 10 May a + woman was killed and some houses demolished at Southend, and on the 31st + the Zeppelins first reached London to the great delight of the German + people. The East and North-east coasts were repeatedly raided in June, and + by the end of the first year of war, 89 civilians had been killed and 220 + injured, while possibly half a dozen Zeppelins had suffered destruction in + the various theatres of war. One was destroyed by Lieutenant Warneford's + monoplane in Belgium on 7 June, but none fell victims to anti-aircraft + defences in England. The raids became more serious as the nights grew + darker: on 7 September 20 were killed and 86 injured in London, and on 13 + October 56 were killed and 114 injured. Bad weather produced a respite in + November and December, but on 31 January 1916 the north Midlands had 67 + killed and 117 injured, and in March and April similar casualties attended + raids on the Lowlands of Scotland and the East Coast from Yorkshire to + Kent. France suffered as well as England, but the Germans took a peculiar + pleasure in the English raids, because they thought Zeppelins were the + only means of bringing home to the English people the realities of war. + </p> + <p> + Air-raids were, however, one of the horrors of war rather than a means of + achieving victory, and the military importance of aircraft never attained + proportions corresponding to the space the subject occupied in the public + press and the popular mind. They did not affect the duration of the war by + a single day, and throughout the winter of 1915-16 it seemed to increase + in horror without any other sort of progression on land or water. There + was no naval action because Germany kept her fleet in harbour, and relied + upon mines and submarines to wear down not so much the naval strength as + the economic resources of the Allies. Occasionally a cruiser or smaller + vessel was lost, and one pre-Dreadnought battleship, the <i>Edward VII</i>. + But German successes were mostly scored against merchant vessels and + similar craft; and our activities in the Balkans, coupled with the + facilities afforded by the Aegean to submarines, made the Eastern + Mediterranean a favourite scene for their operations. By the end of 1915 + over a thousand vessels, Allied and neutral, of one sort or another, had + been put out of action by mines and submarines; but the fact that few of + them had any fighting value concealed the importance of their economic + loss from the eyes of the public if not of the Government itself. A more + legitimate and romantic form of depredation was the cruise of the <i>Moewe</i>, + a disguised auxiliary cruiser, which succeeded in January and February + 1916 in capturing fifteen British merchantmen in the Atlantic, and + returned safe to Kiel with prisoners and booty. The absence of German + commerce made British retaliation impossible except in the Baltic, where + our submarines had some remarkable successes until Sweden closed the + entrance by mining her territorial waters. She was within her rights in + doing so, but the effect of her action was to give German commerce in the + Baltic a security which was lacking to the commerce of the world outside, + because Holland and Denmark shrank from following Sweden's example. Mr. + Balfour pointed out the unfriendly nature of Sweden's action, but Russia + was particularly averse from adding Sweden to her enemies at that + juncture, and remonstrances were in vain. + </p> + <p> + On land the most active spheres of operation were in winter naturally in + the tropical or sub-tropical regions. The East African campaign still hung + fire owing to various causes, principally perhaps because of doubts and + possibly disputes whether it belonged primarily to the sphere of purely + British, Indian, or South African activity, and could best be fought with + the different kinds of troops those various Governments had at their + disposal. The earlier operations had been undertaken mainly by troops from + India, and for a year longer there was little but border fighting until in + March 1916 General Smuts arrived with South African forces to begin the + serious work of conquest. The principal work of the winter was the + reduction of the Cameroons. Considerable progress had been made by June in + overrunning this vast territory, half as large again as the German Empire + in Europe: the French had occupied Lome from the south, while the British, + after some checks on the Nigerian frontier, had advanced to Ngaundere. The + rainy season then set in, and operations were suspended until October. The + Germans had transferred their capital to Yaunde, which was made the + objective of converging attacks by British, French, and Belgian columns + from north, east, and south. The British reached it on 1 January 1916, but + the movements had been admirably timed, and the French came three days + later. Only isolated posts in distant localities remained, and the last of + them fell on 18 February. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map07.png"><img src="images/map07s.png" width="467" + height="302" alt="Mesopotamia" /></a> + </p> + <p> + From Egypt the Turks had been diverted, since their defeat in February + 1915, by the attack on the Dardanelles; but the German advance in the + Balkans had synchronized with attempts to disturb us on the western + borders of Egypt by German and Turkish intrigues with the Senussi + federation of Moslem tribes, and in Tripoli, which the Italians had never + succeeded in completely subjugating. Trouble began to threaten in November + 1915, and the frontier post at Sollum was withdrawn to Mersa Matruh, the + terminus of a railway line from Alexandria. The Arab attacks began on 13 + December and increased in strength until the middle of January 1916; but + with their inferior equipment and means of communication they had little + chance of success and were easily beaten off with considerable losses, + which led to dissension among the Arab forces and then to their + dissipation. They were finally defeated at Agagia on 26 February, and + Sollum was regained on 14 March. There was no further trouble on the + western frontier of Egypt, and a repercussion of the Senussi discontent + far south in Darfur was satisfactorily suppressed by a detachment of the + Egyptian Army which occupied El Fasher on 22 May. East of the Suez Canal + there were only raids in which we were generally successful, except for + the loss of Katia on 23 April; in retaliation El Arish was destroyed by + bombardment from British monitors on 18 May. + </p> + <p> + In Egypt we stood and were still to stand for another year upon the + defensive; but farther east in Mesopotamia we were slipping into an + adventurous and chequered offensive which grew insensibly after the manner + of the Dardanelles campaign. Our original operations at the head of the + Persian Gulf had, indeed, unlike the attack on Gallipoli, been defensive + in their purpose; but the distinction between the two easily disappears in + military operations, and the Germans were only more logical militarists + than other people when they openly avowed that offence was the best means + of defence. British dominion in India and in Egypt had grown upon that + principle, and it grew in much the same way in Mesopotamia. The security + of our control of the Persian Gulf required, we discovered, the occupation + of Basra; the defence of Basra demanded an advance to Kurna, and from + Kurna we had proceeded in June to Amara. There we realized that our left + flank might be turned at Nasiriyeh, and having got both Amara and + Nasiriyeh, one on the Tigris and the other at the junction of the + Euphrates with the Shatt-el-Hai (which links the Euphrates with the Tigris + at Kut), we concluded that our position would be improved if, by seizing + Kut, we could bar a Turkish advance down either the Tigris or the + Shatt-el-Hai. The logic was sound enough for those who had the means to + enforce it; and in spite of the torrid heat, the river route and our + gun-boats enabled us to master Nasiriyeh on 25 July. Early in August began + the advance up the Tigris from Amara to Kut, whither the Turks had + retired. They had been well taught by their German instructors, and their + position astride the river was well entrenched. But Townshend's attack was + skilfully planned; feinting on the Turkish right on 27 September, he + outflanked and drove in their left on the 28th, and at the end of a long + day disposed of the Turkish reinforcements and entered Kut on the 29th. + </p> + <p> + The campaigning season was only about to begin; the Turks had decamped in + disorganization towards Baghdad; and the temptation to follow proved + irresistible. When so much had been done with such ease, it seemed to be + flying in the face of Providence not to make a dash for Baghdad and seize + the end of that railway-route on which the Germans were beginning to work + with such energy from the other direction in the Balkans. If it led from + Berlin to Baghdad, might it not also lead from Baghdad to Berlin? There + was assuredly a touch of fantastic imagination in the transformation which + first came over and then overcame our strategy in the East, and we found + that the transition from defence to offence was slight compared with the + change from a sound to a speculative offensive. Kut might be essential to + the defence of the delta, but if Baghdad was needed for the protection of + Kut, there was no limit east of the Bosporus to which the line and the + logic of defence might not be pushed. The argument might have been sound, + had it reposed on a firmer foundation of force. But the impetus and the + organization which had carried us to Kut would be spent before we reached + Baghdad; and arrangements for transport, commissariat, and medical aid, + which might have served for the lesser needs and the shorter lines of + communication, broke down in utter confusion under the demands of the + larger ambition which they had not been planned to fulfil. We had but + 13,000 bayonets, two-thirds of whom were Indian troops, while the Turks + could call up reserves many times that number; and our men were worn with + ten months' incessant campaigning under a tropical sun. General Townshend + protested against the adventure, but was overruled by Sir John Nixon and + the Commander-in-chief in India. + </p> + <p> + Within a week from the fall of Kut the advance on Baghdad began, and at + Azizie half-way between the two, the Turks were routed again as they had + been at Kut. By 12 November, Townshend was in front of Ctesiphon, about + twenty-four miles from Baghdad. Here the Turks were strongly entrenched. + Their right was protected by the Mahmudiyeh Canal which ran from the + Tigris to the Euphrates, and their main position consisted of two strongly + fortified lines on the eastern bank of the Tigris. Townshend's attack on + the 22nd resembled his attack on Kut, and after hard fighting the first + line was carried. But the second was the real Turkish defence, and our + wearied and smaller forces could not cope with the continuous stream of + Turkish reinforcements. The Turks lost heavily in their counterattacks on + the 23rd, but they could afford to do so, while we could only succeed by a + speedy and inexpensive victory which the strength of the Turkish position + and reinforcements forbade. The gamble had failed, and the only thing to + do was to cut the loss and retreat as well as we could. No proper + provision had been made for such an eventuality, and the horrors of that + retirement reflected grave discredit on those responsible for the + campaign. Hard pressed by the pursuing Turks, our diminished force was + back at Kut on 3 December, where in a few days it was surrounded by the + enemy now under the command of the German Marshal von der Goltz. + </p> + <p> + The Germans had not been idle on the flanks of this bid for Baghdad, and + their intrigues in Persia led to a revolt of the gendarmerie, which was + officered by Swedes, and to the seizure by the pro-German insurgents of + Kum, Hamadan, and other towns in central Persia. Fortunately this move was + countered by prompt action on the part of Russia. Teheran was occupied by + Russian forces by the end of November, Kum and Hamadan by 11 December, and + a pro-Entente Government was established. The German route through Persia + towards Afghanistan was blocked for the time; but pro-German forces at + Kermanshah impeded a Russian march to the relief of Kut, where a fresh + Turkish division from Gallipoli arrived on 23 December and a vigorous + effort was made to carry the place by assault. It failed, and the Turks + sat down to a blockade, while farther south they constructed formidable + obstacles to the advance of the relieving forces coming up the river. + Their position was selected with considerable skill at Sanna-i-Yat on a + narrow strip of land between the Suweicha marshes and the river, while + between it and Kut there was established the strongly-fortified Es Sinn + line. The depth of these defences was nearly twenty-five miles, and the + task of carrying the successive lines would tax anything but a relieving + force far greater than that which was attempting it. + </p> + <p> + Sir John Nixon had been succeeded by Sir Percy Lake, but the advancing + force was under the immediate command of General Aylmer. On 21 January he + failed to carry the first of the lines at Umm-el-Hanna, although it was + announced in Parliament that British forces had reached the last position + at Es Sinn; and it was not till 7-8 March that Aylmer made a bold attempt + at once to turn the Sanna-i-Yat defences and relieve Kut by a surprise + attack on the right bank of the river. Everything depended once more upon + initial success, for length of communications and lack of supplies made + continuous pressure impossible; and the Turks were ready and their + defences strong. Aylmer was no more fortunate at Es Sinn than Townshend at + Ctesiphon, and the command was taken by General Gorringe. He reverted on 5 + April to the lines on the left bank at Umm-el-Hanna. They were carried, + and twelve hours later the further line at Felahiyeh. Keary's Lahore + division had been equally successful on the right bank; but a flood caused + by the melting snows on the Armenian hills interposed to bar the way to + the relief of Kut. A final attempt was made on the 23rd across the + water-logged land in front of Sanna-i-Yat; but advance was impossible + along the narrow causeway which alone gave foothold for the troops, and on + the 29th Townshend's force in Kut, consisting of 2000 British and 6000 + Indian troops, surrendered after a siege of nearly five months. + </p> + <p> + After Gallipoli, Mesopotamia. Until March 1918 our reverses in these two + "side-shows" were counted our worst disasters in the war, and to the + electorally-heated imagination of Mr. Lloyd George they appeared even + later as the sum and substance of British achievement before he became + Prime Minister. In the case of Kut the responsibility rested mainly with + the Indian Government, to which also was due our brilliant recovery in the + East when Lord Chelmsford, Sir Charles Monro, and Sir Stanley Maude--all + appointed in 1916--had time to retrieve the mistakes of their predecessors + in the Viceroyalty, Command-in-chief of the Indian Army, and command of + the Mesopotamian forces. Meanwhile, it was fortunate for the prestige of + the Entente in the East that Russia's collapse in Europe appeared to have + no effect upon the vigour of her action in the middle East. The Grand Duke + Nicholas, who had been transferred to the command in the Caucasus, found + an admirable chief of staff in General Yudenitch, and between them they + brought off a stroke against Turkey which was more sensational than the + Turks' success at Kut and Gallipoli. + </p> + <p> + Erzerum was reckoned the strongest fortress in the Turkish Empire, but + amid the distractions of the Dardanelles and Mesopotamian campaigns it had + escaped proper attention from the Turks and their German experts, and the + Grand Duke profited by the fact that Turkish troops, relieved from the + pressure at Gallipoli, were sent to Kut and not to the Caucasus. Moreover, + the ordinary line of communication with Erzerum by the sea and Trebizond + had been cut by the Russian destruction of Turkish shipping, and transport + by land was almost as difficult as it was between the head of the Persian + Gulf and Kut. The Russian communications were better, but theirs was an + adventurous enterprise across mountain passes under the arctic conditions + of midwinter; and few people had any inkling of its inception when + Yudenitch began to move on 11 January. By the 16th he was at Kuprikeui + where the road crosses the Araxes, and in a two days' battle he broke the + Turkish army, driving its remnants south towards Mush and clearing the way + to Erzerum. Time was required to bring up the heavy guns, but early in + February the forts on Deve Boyun were under bombardment, and another + Russian army advancing from the north down the valley of the Kara Su + defeated a Turkish division and captured Kara Gubek on the 12th and Tafta + on the 14th. From the south the Russians were also crossing the Palantuken + Dagh, and the fate of Erzerum was sealed. Its evacuation was completed + early on the 16th, and a few hours later the Cossacks rode into the city. + To the south the Russian left entered Mush and Bitlis, gaining the + northern shores of Lake Van, while their right slowly pushed along the + Black Sea coast in the direction of Trebizond. In Persia, too, the + Russians occupied Kermanshah and descended the pass to Khanikin and the + Mesopotamian plain; but it was an adventurous body of cavalry rather than + a substantial military force which joined hands with the British on the + Tigris some weeks after the fall of Kut. The Russians had to some extent + redeemed their failure in Europe, but others they had not been able to + save. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map08.png"><img src="images/map08s.png" width="306" + height="288" alt="The Caucasus" /></a> + </p> + <p> + In Europe their defence was materially assisted by the British and French + attacks in Artois and Champagne and by the needs of Mackensen's offensive + in the Balkans. To both areas troops were diverted from the German front + in Russia, and the centre was especially denuded. No advantage was, + however, taken of this weakness, partly because of Russia's general + debility and partly because what efforts she could afford were required + for the defence of the Dvina and for the sympathetic activity of Ivanov in + Galicia, which was the nearest approach Russia could make to intervention + in the Balkans. The German attack on the line of the Dvina was not merely + intended to fend off a Russian attack in the centre; it had also the + positive aim of securing Riga and comfortable winter quarters for the + German army in the north. Riga, however, was not an easy nut to crack; its + flank was defended by the sea, immediately south of it were marshes across + which only causeways ran, and to the east stretched the formidable + obstacle of the Dvina. Roads and rails for the most part crossed it at + Dvinsk, and the southern approaches to Dvinsk itself lay through land and + water as intricately mixed as in the Masurian mazes of East Prussia. But + on Dvinsk the German attack was concentrated, and after a preliminary + failure on 25 September a week's bombardment and assault began on 3 + October. The siege guns which had been so fatal at Kovno and elsewhere + were brought up against a minor fortress and failed. Ruszky was in + command, and he took care to keep the howitzers out of range of the city + by an arc of far-flung trenches which the numerous scattered lakes saved + from outflanking. Illukst was at one time taken by the Germans but found + of little value for the larger purpose; and German prisoners complained + that Dvinsk, which they failed to take, had cost them more than all the + greater fortresses they had captured. In the third week of October + Hindenburg transferred his efforts back to Riga, where he met with little + better success. He got as far as Olai on the direct route from Mitau, and + even secured a foothold on Dahlen Island in the river south-east of Riga; + but these successes profited him no more than the capture of Illukst. On 7 + November the Russians recaptured Olai, and on the 10th, with the help of + their fleet, drove back the Germans, who had advanced along the coast, + beyond Shlock and Kemmern and Kish, extending their lines to Ragassem and + Kalnzem. In the same month a similar Russian counter-offensive recaptured + Illutsk and pushed the Germans farther away from Dvinsk (<i>see</i> Map, + p. 274). + </p> + <p> + Far to the south below the Pripet marshes which divided the Russian front + into two, the Germans and the Russians under Brussilov engaged in thrust + and counter-thrust along the Styr which caused Czartorysk to change hands + again and again, and earned for these operations the nickname of "the + Poliesian quadrille"; and the fluctuations on the Strypa were equally + indecisive. But the situation in the Balkans suggested the need for + something less ambiguous nearer the Rumanian frontier if Rumanian + neutrality was to be preserved; and the objective selected for Ivanov's + new offensive was Czernowitz the capital of the Bukovina. The attack began + on 24 December, and the struggle lasted for over three weeks. Containing + battles were fought along the Strypa and the Styr, and Czartorysk passed + once more into Russian hands and Kolki was added to their gains. But the + main object was not attained. The Russians seized the heights between + Toporoutz and Rarancze and threw some shells into Czernowitz, but they + failed to capture the crucial point at Uscieczko on the Dniester. + Mackensen and five divisions had, however, to be diverted from the + Balkans, and Russia's offensive in the Bukovina helped to conceal her + designs on Erzerum. Rumania was saved from descending on the wrong side of + the fence; but her natural reluctance to abandon her perch prohibited that + Russian attack on Bulgaria through Rumanian territory which might + otherwise have been made, but would probably have failed and would in any + case have come too late to relieve the Serbian disaster. + </p> + <p> + The winter of 1915-16 thus passed with little to relieve the gloom. + Erzerum had balanced Kut, and the Cameroons had ceased to be a German + land. But these were trifles compared to the gigantic clash of arms in + Europe, and here the Germans had done more than in their first year's + fighting. Russia had been dealt a far more staggering blow than France in + 1914, and Serbia and Montenegro had fared worse than Belgium, while in + both East and West our counter-offensives had been ineffectual. The + Germans naturally thought they had won the war; they had merely reached + the climax of their success, and that climax did not constitute a victory. + The Allies' heads were "bloody but unbowed," and they were still the + masters of their fate. The sea was theirs and all that therein lay; some + of them were only in process of mobilizing their resources; and the moral + factor in war which, like the mills of God grinds slowly but grinds + exceeding small, required patience for its full development. Meanwhile the + German military machine had done no more than establish a balance of power + which was to be tilted in one direction by the Russian Revolution and then + in the other by American intervention. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter11" id="chapter11"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <h3> + THE SECOND GERMAN OFFENSIVE IN THE WEST + </h3> + <p> + It was a commonplace of the old diplomacy that the most effective way to + deceive a rival diplomatist was to tell him the truth, and similar + conditions enabled the Germans to delude the British public if not the + British Government, so general was the conviction that the Germans would + not or could not say anything that was not false. This simple-minded + attitude towards our enemies made it easy for them to combine virtue with + efficiency, and German statesmen were at times singularly candid in the + estimates they published of the situation. One of these truthful pictures + was drawn by the German Chancellor in December 1915 when he pointed out + that it was not in Germany's thoughts or interests to seek further + conquests for her arms: the more territory they conquered, the thinner + would be their lines and the greater the difficulty of maintaining them. + But patriotic imagination detected behind this apparent frankness a design + to conquer Egypt and India, or at least to dominate the Persian Gulf, and + averted attention from the probability that it implied a desire to + substitute a solid decision in the West for territorial speculation in the + East. Nothing, indeed, was more certain than that Germany, having + temporarily freed herself and her allies from danger in the East, would + recall her attention to these enemies in the West by whose defeat alone + could she hope to win the war; and before the end of 1915 there were + rumours of the transport of German guns and troops from the East to the + Western front. + </p> + <p> + It was also reasonably certain that the new offensive would not follow the + lines of the old, and that, whatever form it took, it would not be a + repetition of the attempt to outmarch the Allied left and crush a British + force which had grown from a hundred thousand to over a million bayonets. + Time was also to show that no subsequent German offensive could hope to + achieve the kind of success that had been missed on the Marne. The German + ambition had in 1914 been to annihilate the French and British armies and + dictate a victorious peace. In 1916 such a triumph was out of the + question. In spite of her victories, Germany had been reduced to the + defensive, and her future offensives were merely means to prolong her + defence, to anticipate and frustrate the attacks of her enemies, and wring + an advantageous peace out of the defeat of their attempts to drive her + from the territorial conquests she had made. The height of her + expectations was to show that her fronts were impregnable East and West, + and that the Allies could not compel, but could only purchase German + evacuation of the occupied ground by accepting the surrender of such + tracts and other terms as Germany chose to concede. She was really in the + position she pretended to have been before the war broke out of having to + attack in order to maintain what she held; and if she began, it would not + be for the purpose of breaking and enveloping the Allied armies, but to + preclude their offensive and improve and strengthen her own position. She + was, in fact, beleaguered, her attacks were really sallies, and her hope + was to keep the besiegers at such a distance that they could make no + impression upon the heart of her economic and military situation. + </p> + <p> + The battles of Verdun therefore bear no resemblance to the Western + campaign of 1914 or the Eastern campaign of 1915. They were limited to a + narrow area, and involved but a fraction of the German forces, while the + bulk even of those in the West was distributed along the other sectors of + the front. They were fought partly to deprive the French of what the + Germans regarded as a "sally-port" into Germany, and partly to anticipate + in detail that general pressure on all fronts which the Germans dreaded as + the Allied strategy for 1916. At last, they feared, there was really + co-ordination in the Entente, and there might be such a synchronizing of + its offensives that Germany, in spite of her interior lines, would be + unable to transfer the weight of her forces from one threatened point to + another. Her strategy in the spring was to forestall this comprehensive + danger. By an attack on Verdun in February the French and the British + might be provoked into a premature movement before their allies were + ready; Italy's threatened advance might be paralysed by a thrust at its + flank in May; and both Western dangers might thus be parried before Russia + was ready to move once more in the summer. The excellence of Germany's + transport organization would enable her, in spite of her numerical + inferiority, to bring adequate if not superior forces to repel attacks + which depended for success upon their being simultaneous. + </p> + <p> + It was, however, incumbent on Germany to prevent her defensive offensives + from combining the major costs of an offensive with the minor advantages + produced by a defence; and economy in the waste of man-power was becoming + urgent. Hence her attacks must be on a more limited front than those of + the Allies in September, and resistance must be overcome rather by + artillery than by infantry charges. The guns were to do at Verdun what + they had achieved on the Dunajec, but there is little to show that the + Germans expected to repeat in France their drives of the year before in + Galicia and in Poland. The Entente lines in France were stronger and less + thinly held than the longer lines in the East, and while they might be + pushed back from a salient like Verdun, it was not imagined that they + could be broken and rolled up as they might have been in 1914. Eighteen + months of war had set limits to German ambition which were admitted in + counsel and conversation though not allowed to appear in print; and the + strategy of 1916 was not one which the Germans would have chosen had their + choice been free, but the best they could devise under the conditions + imposed upon them by their situation. It was not until Russia had + completely collapsed that they recovered for the moment in the spring of + 1918 that freedom from fear on the Eastern front which enabled them to + resume the action with which they started the war and put all their + strength into a final and real offensive in the West. + </p> + <p> + While throughout the winter the Allies were congratulating themselves upon + the inferiority of German shelling in the West and innocently vaunting a + superior expenditure of ammunition, which made no more impression on the + German lines than the enemy's shelling did on ours, the Germans were + reserving their fire and accumulating shells for more effective use; and + in addition to their artillery, they had recovered the advantage in + respect of aircraft. Hitherto we had done better than the Germans in the + fighting, as distinguished from the raiding, in the air, not so much + because our machines were better and certainly not because they were more + numerous, but because in the air youthful ingenuity and daring had its + chance unfettered by the restraining and depressing hand of regimental + mediocrity; and where machine-made discipline was at a discount, youth and + enterprise were at a premium. This general rule was subject to exceptions + caused by the ding-dong race of scientific invention, and for the moment + the Germans had in their Fokker an aeroplane of decisive superiority. They + began to appear in increasing numbers above and behind our lines, and to + secure some of those advantages in reconnaisance which transferred to + aircraft in this war the functions performed in earlier wars by cavalry. + The Germans were able to concentrate at Verdun with their minds easier + about the rest of their front when their aircraft could detect any signs + of an approaching offensive elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + They also succeeded in concealing their own intentions; for while there + were premonitory symptoms which had given some French officers an inkling + of what was coming, adequate preparations had not been made for the storm + at Verdun, and attention had been distracted by German feints at other + points of the line. These attacks were made on both the British and French + sectors. The taking and retaking of Hartmannsweilerkopf went on with a + frequency that was all the more confusing because each side only published + its successes. On 28 January the Germans made a successful attack on the + French near Frise on the Somme and pushed back their lines towards Braye + on a two-mile front; but they were less fortunate in their simultaneous + effort against Carnoy, where the British had just taken over that part of + the front previously held by the 10th French Army and extending thence to + the north of Arras. Probably the Germans imagined that this extension had + weakened our lines at Ypres; and on 8 February they began a bombardment + which developed into a fierce struggle for Hooge and The Bluff on the + Ypres-Commines Canal. The ground lost was mostly recovered by + counter-attacks on 2 and 27 March and 3 April, but it could not all be + held against further German attacks later in the month. Similarly some + gains on the Vimy Ridge in the middle of May were lost again on the 21st, + and early in June the Germans thrust us back behind Hooge. But these + attacks and others along the front were merely feints designed to conceal + the German preparations against Verdun, and to prevent the Allied forces + from concentrating on its defence after the plan had been revealed. + </p> + <p> + Verdun was selected for attack because its proximity to the German + frontier made it dangerous in the hands of the enemy, and also made it + easier for the Germans to concentrate on its attack the masses of + artillery with which they proposed to do the fighting, while its salience + hampered the French lines of communication. There were three lines of + defence. The outermost ran in an arc nine miles from Verdun round in front + of Malancourt, Bthincourt, Forges, Brabant, Ornes, Fromezey, and Fresnes; + the second was some three miles nearer in, and the third ran by Bras, + Douaumont, Vaux, and Eix. The danger consisted in the facts that the outer + lines were thinly held by Territorials and the inner lines had not been + properly fortified; for the French, unequalled in the <i>lan</i> of + attack, never developed that patient and meticulous preparation for + defence which stood the Germans in good stead, and always found it easier + to visualize attacks than to materialize defences. Verdun, having survived + the epidemic so fatal to fortresses in 1914, was treated as immune from + serious danger in 1916. If, therefore, the Germans could batter to pieces + the first position, the rest might easily fall, and they came dangerously + near to fulfilling their hopes of reaching Verdun in four days. + </p> + <p> + At seven o'clock on the morning of Monday, 21 February, there burst forth + on the centre of the front a heavier bombardment than any before + experienced. The French defences were obliterated, and five hours later + the Germans walked into possession. A counter-attack checked their + progress in the afternoon, and the flanks of the French centre held out at + Brabant and Herbebois throughout that day and the next. But the depression + in the centre created a salient on either side, and the French could only + fight desperate rearguard actions while the line was straightened out; by + Wednesday morning they were back on a line running due east from + Samogneux. But the German pressure on the centre was renewed and the + French were pressed back to Beaumont and the Bois des Fosses. Ornes on the + east and Samogneux on the west had to be abandoned, and on the 24th the + Germans were threatening the centre of the last of the French lines of + defence at Louvemont and Hill 347. Only a desperate rally enabled the + French to keep their front intact while their left was withdrawn from + Champneuville and Talou hill to Vacherauville and the Poivre hill, and + their right from Bezonvaux and the Bois des Caurires to the Douaumont + plateau. On the 25th the Germans launched what they thought was their + final attack in the battle for Verdun, and before nightfall the news was + telegraphed to Berlin that Fort Douaumont, the key of the last line of + defence, had fallen. + </p> + <p> + It was a natural but unrealized anticipation. Eighteen German divisions + were pitted against the worn and weary remnants of the original French + defenders, and the Brandenburgers had captured the fort. But its ruins + were merely a detail in the Douaumont position. To the east the French + held the redoubt and to the west the village of Douaumont; and instead of + carrying the plateau the Germans had been checked on its summit. Their + other main attack had fared even worse on the Poivre hill to the west; and + although Louvemont and Hill 347 had been carried in the centre, the fifth + day of the battle closed with the Germans behind instead of beyond the + real defences of the city they had hoped to reach in four. On that day, + too, Ptain arrived to take over the command, and he was followed by + reinforcements. On the morrow a furious counter-attack drove the Germans + out of the greater part of Fort Douaumont and back to the northern edge of + the plateau, and the crisis of the first surprise had passed. The battle + continued, but the fact that it spread eastwards round to Eix and + Manheulles showed that the concentrated thrust at the centre had failed; + and the shortening of the French curve round by Fromezey, tain, Buzy, and + Fresnes to a straight line running from Vaux to Les parges strengthened + rather than weakened the defence. + </p> + <p> + The Germans now shifted their ground of attack from the east to the west + of the Meuse, and on 2 March a four days' bombardment began of the + Malancourt-Forges line. They sought to conceal their change of plan by + renewing the struggle for Douaumont, but on 6 March they drove the French + from Forges and Regnville back to their real defences on the ridge + behind, of which the Mort Homme (Hill 295) was the crest, and Hills 304 + and 265 its western and eastern supports. Their first attack was on the + eastern sector of this front, and by nightfall they had gained Hill 265 + and penetrated into the Bois des Corbeaux which stretched between it and + Mort Homme. The struggle continued throughout the 7th and 8th, but on the + 9th-11th the Germans varied it by reverting to the east bank of the Meuse + and making a costly but unsuccessful attempt to outflank Douaumont by + capturing Vaux, Damloup, Eix, and Manheulles. This diversion did not + slacken the pressure on the west bank of the Meuse, and the French were + forced back from the Bois des Corbeaux to the Bois de Cumires; on 14 + March the Germans made a great bid for Mort Homme, and Berlin announced + its capture. But they had only taken its north-eastern slopes, and on the + 17th they sought a fresh approach from the west by means of a converging + attack from Avocourt and Malancourt on Hill 304. The bombardment lasted + until the 20th, when the Germans forced their way through Avocourt wood. + They were driven back by a counter-attack on the 29th, but Malancourt fell + on the 31st, and the French further withdrew from Haucourt. On 2 April the + Germans also succeeded in driving an awkward wedge into the Bois de la + Caillette between Vaux and Douaumont, but Mangin thrust it back on the + following day. + </p> + <p> + There was yet another struggle for Mort Homme. On 7 April the French had + evacuated their salient at Bthincourt and re-formed their front on a + straight line running just north of Mort Homme. On the 9th the Germans, + having failed in their local attacks, attempted a general movement against + the whole front west of the Meuse. The battle raged for three days, and at + one time the Germans penetrated into Cumires; but they were driven back + by the French artillery, and the general assault, in spite of its carnage, + produced no greater gain for the Germans than a ravine on the edge of the + Poivre hill. From that date the first battle of Verdun died away amid + local efforts along the lines east and west of the Meuse. But the Germans + were still obstinately wedded to their scheme of exhausting France before + the time came for a general Allied offensive; and they felt that they + could not cut their losses and acquiesce in the blow to their prestige and + to the credit of the Crown Prince. A respite, however was needed for the + reorganization of the command and the re-formation of the armies shattered + in the fruitless attacks and it was not until 3 May that the Germans were + ready to begin the second battle of Verdun. + </p> + <p> + This time it opened on the west bank of the Meuse, and Mort Homme was as + before the obstacle and the objective. After two days' bombardment the + Germans gained some trenches north of Hill 304, and on the 7th they + attacked it on three sides and compelled the French to abandon the crest. + This reduced Mort Homme to a difficult salient, and after a few days' lull + the Germans gained the summit on 21 May by an expenditure of man-power out + of all proportion to the value of the result. By the 24th they had secured + what was left of Cumires at a similar cost, and the French line ran + straight from Avocourt in front of Esnes and Chattancourt to the Meuse. On + the east bank the onslaught was no less furious, and on 7 May the Germans + drove the French out of Douaumont fort and down the road towards Fleury. + Mangin recovered the greater part of Douaumont on the 22nd, but German + reinforcements took it again on the 24th, and on the 25th pushed on by + Haudromont wood and Thiaumont farm, outflanking Vaux on the west. Further + progress was made in the following days, and on 1 June the fall of Damloup + uncovered the eastern flank of the Vaux position. The fort itself made a + marvellous resistance under Major Raynal, and held out till the 6th. + </p> + <p> + There was a lull for four days, but on the 11th the struggle recommenced + with the Germans only four miles from Verdun. It raged chiefly on the + slopes of Froideterre and round the village of Fleury close by, and the + climax came on the 23rd. On that day the Germans got into Fleury and were + driven out; on the 24th they were in again, but on the 30th the French + recovered Thiaumont and neutralized the German advantage. On the morrow + the Western front was aflame with the battle of the Somme. Verdun had done + its work and taken its wages. The struggle flickered on; Fleury changed + hands again in July and August, and so did Thiaumont. But the attack had + lost its vital importance and the decisive scene had shifted to the west + where the Germans and not the French were on the defensive. Ptain and + then Nivelle, who succeeded him in April, had held the fort till the + appointed time; and their heroic troops had made their name and that of + Verdun a possession for ever. Falkenhayn, who had taken Moltke's place as + chief of the German Staff and was responsible for the German strategy at + Verdun, was removed to another sphere of activity; but the Germans + themselves were right when they attributed failure less to their own + defects than to the valour of their foes. These, they exclaimed, were not + the French they had met at Sedan in 1870. They were not. Then, they were + the soldiers of an Emperor who went to war with the cry "to Berlin" on + their lips. Now, they were the soldiers of a democratic Republic fighting + for home and freedom, a fragment of the eternal soul of France. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map09.png"><img src="images/map09s.png" width="437" + height="287" alt="The Attack On Verdun" /></a> + </p> + <p> + The central act of the German offensive thus closed with defeat at Verdun; + there were two others, one fought in the Alps and the other on the sea. + The Italian campaigns were never more than subsidiary operations in the + war, for it was not until 27 August 1916 that Italy declared war on + Germany, and the number of German divisions on the Italian front was never + more than six. Even to Austria Russia was the dangerous foe, and Italian + strategy threatened at worst no more than the temporary loss of Trieste, a + trifle compared with that of Galicia. For the difficulties of the terrain, + jealousy between Italians and Jugo-Slavs, and Italy's lack of the + industrial means for equipping a sufficiently formidable army, put it + beyond her power to threaten any vital spot in the Hapsburg dominions. + Italy, moreover, had not entered the war with the same motives or same + unanimity as the other Powers, and her army at the front was not the same + embodiment of national strength and spirit. The Austrian offensive in May + was therefore due rather to the temptations held out by the weakness of + the Italian flank than to any urgent necessity of defence against the + projected Italian advance. Nevertheless the Italian plains were always + seductive, and it would obviously be convenient to dispose of the Italian + threat before Austria had again to face the serious menace of Russian + invasion; and an attack on the Asiago plateau was Austria's natural + contribution to the general German plan of anticipating in detail the + combined Entente offensive (<i>see</i> Map, p. 298). + </p> + <p> + The first year of the Austro-Italian war had seen no real impression made + on Austria's mountain defences, and even in the valley of the Isonzo + Gorizia still forbade an Italian advance on Trieste. The Italian line was + the worst possible for defence, and it depended for its security upon the + fact that the bulk of the Austrian forces were involved in Russia and in + the Balkans. The front was on the Isonzo, but a flank of over 200 miles + invited a thrust down one of the various passes towards Venice which, if + successful, would cause the whole front to collapse like a pack of cards; + and marvellous though the feats of Italian valour and mechanical ingenuity + had been in the mountain fighting throughout the winter, they had not + wrested the passes from Austria's hands. The attack was preceded by a + bombardment which began on 14 May, and the scene selected lay on a line + drawn from Trent to Venice through the Sette Communi, Posina, and Pasubio. + The flanks held fairly firm, but the centre gave way, and on the 20th-24th + the line was withdrawn on the left to Posina and Pasubio. Things were no + better in the Sette Communi on the right, but west of Pasubio the Italians + stopped the Austrian advance in the pass of Buole on 30 May. On the same + day, however, they had to evacuate Arsiero and Asiago, south of the Sette + Communi. But by now Cadorna had got his reinforcements, and on 3 June he + announced that the Austrian offensive was checked. The attack was, + however, renewed on the 13th, and the Austrians advanced to within four + miles of Valstagna and the railway running down the Brenta valley to + Padua. They got no farther, and before the end of June Cadorna began his + counter-offensive. By that time the thoughts of the Austrians and most of + their troops were elsewhere; and just as the German campaign at Verdun was + ruined by the Entente offensive on the Somme, the Austrian advance from + the Trentino was stopped by the Russian attack in the East. In the first + week of June Brussilov had gone through the Austrian lines like brown + paper at Lutsk and Dubno. + </p> + <p> + The third German offensive was on the sea, but no operation in the war + remains more obscure with regard to its motives, conduct, and importance + than the battle of Jutland; a century passed before Nelson's tactics at + Trafalgar were made clear, and a long period may have to elapse before + there is any solution of the problems surrounding the great naval battle + of modern times. The British admiral in command has expressed his + considered opinion that the meeting of the German and British fleets on 30 + May was an accident; but assuredly it was not by accident that the whole + naval forces of Germany were on that day outside their accustomed + harbours, and they could not have been brought into action against their + own consent. There was some motive in that unusual appearance, and the + motives of strategy are to be found in the conditions of policy. That + Germany needed a victory in 1916 is obvious from her persistence, despite + the gravest losses, in the Verdun campaign; but if she needed one over + France, she needed one yet more sorely over Britain; and if it was worth + while losing one or two hundred thousand men at Verdun, it was worth while + taking considerable risks at sea on the chance of frustrating British + participation in the coming offensive on the Somme. + </p> + <p> + Deliverance from the nightmare of a combined Entente offensive was but a + part of the fruits which would follow from a German victory at sea. It + would probably decide the issue of the war at a single blow. Germany had, + of course, known all along that the Entente depended absolutely for + success upon Great Britain's command of the sea; but it was not easy to + shake that command, and so long as there seemed a prospect of winning the + war by other means, the frightful risks of a naval battle would be + avoided. By the spring of 1916 those other means were receding beyond the + region of hope or possibility. Russia was repairing her arms; Great + Britain was making stupendous preparations; France had withstood the shock + of Verdun; and the hopes which Germany built on discontent in Ireland, her + intrigues with Irish prisoners of war, and the escapades of Sir Roger + Casement, crumbled after the insurrection which broke out in Dublin in + April. The autumn promised a sere and yellow leaf to the German High + Command. Nor did this darkened European vista exhaust the clouds on the + horizon. After the torpedoing of the <i>Sussex</i> on 24 March President + Wilson had extorted from the German Government a pledge not to sink + without warning merchant vessels found inside or outside the war zone + which the Germans had proclaimed in February, and had refused to accept + the condition they sought to attach to the pledge, that he would require + corresponding pledges from Great Britain to observe the "freedom of the + seas." Tirpitz had been dismissed to give verisimilitude to Germany's new + virtue; but she had no intention of keeping her pledge any longer than was + convenient, or abandoning any reasonable prospect of bringing us to our + knees by a submarine campaign, and she knew that its effective extension + would provoke American intervention. Such intervention would, however, be + negligible if in the meantime Britain's Fleet had been crippled and her + control of the sea undermined. + </p> + <p> + A successful naval battle might therefore not only impair British + participation but preclude that of the United States. Otherwise the two + together would dissipate any lingering German hopes of victory; and the + imminence of the danger counselled the taking of risks which had hitherto + been eschewed. But the results of a naval defeat are not risked if they + are likely to prove fatal, unless there is some chance of success; and + Germany had some grounds for hope under both these heads. A fleet which + flees is little better than no fleet at all, and for two years Germany had + put up with British command of the seas. The destruction of her + battle-fleet would no doubt depress her people, but it would not seriously + interfere with her submarine campaign, and on land the war would go on as + it had done. Still, the existence of the German Fleet was a factor in the + <i>moral</i> of the German people; and the Government would not have + risked it without some hopes of at least a partial success. The hopes + depended partly on the skill of the new commander, Von Scheer, and partly + on his too-well justified belief that the Germans possessed better shells, + better armour, better searchlights, and more accurate range-tests than the + British Navy. The guns were also ranged for elevation up to 30 deg., + whereas the British elevation was only 15 or 20; and the difference was + fatal to some of our battle-cruisers. The conclusion seems to have been + that an adventure was worth while, and that if the weather conditions were + wisely selected, it was feasible to fight a naval battle on the principle + of limited liability, breaking it off if and when the losses incurred + exceeded the value of the results obtained. Clearly, for instance, if the + German battle-fleet could engage the British battle-cruisers without + itself being engaged by the British battle-fleet, the event might justify + moderate expectations. + </p> + <p> + On the morning of 31 May the German High Seas Fleet set out on its + "northern enterprise." What the German Government meant by that phrase has + never been revealed. It has been inferred that a concentration of naval + and military force against Russia was planned to anticipate Brussilov's + coming offensive, but there were no signs of that movement on land, and + the Germans had enough to do with Verdun and their lines elsewhere in + France without committing themselves to another adventure in Russia; while + the idea of a raid on the shipping between England and Norway seems an + inadequate explanation of the force sent out. On the other hand, if the + design was to cripple the British Navy, the opportune moment had been + lost, for the adverse balance against the German Fleet had been enormously + increased since the war broke out. In the autumn of 1914 occasional + breakdowns in the machinery of British super-Dreadnoughts, accidents like + the torpedoing of the <i>Audacious</i>, and the inadequacy of + dock-accommodation had made uneasy the minds of men who dwelt upon these + contingencies and made no allowance for similar mishaps to the enemy. But + even they were reassured when in April 1915 British construction far + outstripped any German possibilities; and as time went on the race grew + ever more unequal. It is true that France ceased to partake in the + competition, leaving this silent struggle of the workshop and the dockyard + to Great Britain; and the chance of a battle in the Baltic had to be + abandoned because no Allied battleships could be relied upon to reinforce + the North Sea Fleet. But Britain's margin was ample enough, and at the + battle of Jutland her weight of metal was as two to one. The Germans, + however, had advantages of their own, particularly in a delaying fuse + which caused their shells to explode after penetrating the enemy's armour + instead of before. Their capital ships were also better armoured, and + rarely sank when struck by shells or torpedoes. This was also true of the + British battleships, and none were sunk on either side except the old + German <i>Pommern</i>; but the British battle-cruisers fared badly. The + German marksmanship was also better during the earlier stages of the + battle, though inferior later on; and they had in Von Scheer an admiral of + conspicuous ability. + </p> + <p> + The accident of the battle arose from the fact that the British Fleet was + simultaneously on 31 May engaged in one of its periodical sweeps through + the North Sea. It had already turned back towards its northern bases when + at 2.20 p.m. enemy vessels were signalled to the east. Beatty, who had + under his orders the four "Cats," <i>Queen Mary</i>, <i>Princess Royal</i>, + <i>Lion</i>, and <i>Tiger</i>, together with two other battle-cruisers, + the <i>Indefatigable</i> and <i>New Zealand</i>, and the four biggest and + newest battleships, <i>Barham</i>, <i>Warspite</i>, <i>Valiant</i>, and <i>Malaya</i> + (the <i>Queen Elizabeth</i> herself was undergoing repairs at Rosyth), at + once turned back south-eastwards to cut off the enemy from his retreat + along the Jutland coast. The enemy vessels were Hipper's cruisers, and + they also turned south to fall back on their battle-fleet, at whose + proximity Beatty can only have guessed. At 3.48 the action began with + Hipper's battle-cruisers, <i>Derfflinger, Lutzow, Moltke, Seydlitz</i>, + and <i>Van der Thann</i>; none of them carried heavier than l2-in. guns, + while Beatty's "Cats" had 13.5-inch and his <i>Queen Elizabeths</i> + l5-inch guns. A light-cruiser attack against our line was crumpled up by + corresponding vessels, but the bigger German ships escaped fatal damage + from our heavier fire (it took hours to dispose of the enemy at the + Falklands), and by 4.42 they were in sight of their battle-fleet. + </p> + <p> + Beatty's business was now to turn and draw the Germans northwards into + Jellicoe's jaws, but the turning in face of the German battle-fleet was a + critical manoeuvre. Beatty's battleships were north-west on his starboard + quarter, and as his battle-cruisers turned they masked the <i>Queen + Elizabeths'</i> fire while exposing themselves to the concentrated + attention of the German Fleet. A high-angle shell fell on the thinly + protected deck of the <i>Queen Mary</i>; she blew up and sank in a few + seconds. Another fell down the ammunition shaft of the <i>Indefatigable</i> + with the same appalling result. Beatty was not deflected from his course; + possibly no other could have been taken. The rest of his cruisers got + round without mishap, and the brunt of the fighting now passed to + Evan-Thomas's <i>Queen Elizabeths</i>, who stalled off the whole German + Fleet as both forces steamed north in Jellicoe's direction. It was + probably during this stage that most of the damage was done to the German + Fleet. The <i>Lutzow</i> and the <i>Pommern</i> were sunk; the battleship + <i>Konig</i> was so battered that her forecastle was only 61/2 feet above + water when she struggled into port; and the <i>Seydlitz</i> and the <i>Derfflinger</i> + were in little better case. + </p> + <p> + At 5.56 Beatty sighted Jellicoe's battleships at five miles' distance on + his port bow. His task was now to cross the front of the German line, head + it off east and southwards, and afford Jellicoe room for deployment + between Beatty himself and Evan-Thomas. For reasons of tactics and + prudence Jellicoe deployed on his port wing, <i>i.e.</i>, towards the + east, This took him away from the Germans, but tended to cut them off from + their base. The deployment was skilfully executed, though Admiral Hood and + his battle-cruiser the <i>Invincible</i>, while taking position in front + of Beatty, suffered the fate of the <i>Queen Mary</i> and <i>Indefatigable</i>; + and the British Fleet soon formed a single line curving round east and + south-eastwards like a net into which the Germans were being drawn. The + crisis had arrived, and German naval power seemed on the verge of + extinction. But the weather came to assist Von Scheer's tactical skill. He + turned with less misfortune than had attended Beatty's similar manoeuvre + two hours earlier, and set himself to fight a magnificent rearguard action + and extricate his fleet as best he could. Fortunately for him the + visibility grew steadily worse, and with it the range of fire diminished. + This deprived Jellicoe of the advantage of his heavier guns, and indeed + reduced the range of gun-fire to that of torpedoes. Here Von Scheer + discovered his chance, and it was upon torpedo attacks that he relied for + the defence of his fleet. Jellicoe, with his superior speed, could have + closed had he deemed it wise. But he thought of what hung on the fate of + the fleet he commanded, and shrank from exposing his battleships to the + risk of torpedo destruction. His dilemma was acute: gun-fire was very + effective at 18,000 yards, the torpedo began to be so at 10,000. Our cue + was to fight between the two; but low visibility hid the German ships + outside torpedo range, while within it fifty lucky German torpedoes might + have sent every British Dreadnought to the bottom and decided the war in + Germany's favour. On the other hand, we might have sunk every German ship + and conceivably ended the war in 1917. War is an experimental science; but + this experiment was never made, and no one can say what the result would + have been if it had. Beatty wished to make it, Jellicoe refrained. + </p> + <p> + So the fight went on, the mist hiding the Germans at longer range and + their torpedo attacks deterring us from a closer encounter. At 7.5 + Jellicoe attempted to close on the Germans by turning three points to + starboard. Von Scheer replied with a torpedo attack, and to avoid it some + of our ships turned four, and some of them six, points to port. Seizing + the opportunity, Von Scheer made off to the west, helped by the mist and + by his own smoke screen; and shortly the Germans were lost to sight. Night + closed in with the British Fleet between the Germans and their base at + Wilhelmshaven hoping to complete their work on a glorious First of June. + Jellicoe and Beatty agreed that to continue the battle in darkness amid + torpedo-craft and submarines was impossible, and Von Scheer had other + designs in view. It was a night of excursions and alarms with many + destroyer actions. When dawn broke the Germans were not to be seen. Cut + off from direct access to Wilhelmshaven, Von Scheer had turned from + south-west round to north and then east, and had got his ships one by one + past the rear of the British line into harbour. His escape is the mystery + of the battle: throughout the night his starboard ships were continually + barging into vessels on our port, but no news of these encounters reached + the commander-in-chief. Till nearly noon Jellicoe watched for a fleet that + never appeared, and then made his way back to his base, a victor baulked + of the ostensible fruits of his victory. The disappointment was made worse + by the ineptitude of the Admiralty and the ignorance of the press, which + emphasized our losses without explaining the significance of our success. + Besides the three battle-cruisers we lost three armoured cruisers, <i>Defence</i>, + <i>Black Prince</i>, and <i>Warrior</i> of 13,000 or more tons apiece, and + eight destroyers, while the super-Dreadnought <i>Marlborough</i> was badly + holed and the <i>Warspite</i> was put out of action. The German looses in + destroyers may have been equal or greater, but in cruisers they were + considerably less. The Government was foolish enough to deny the loss of + the <i>Lutzow</i> and admit it a few days later. But our own estimates + were not conspicuous for their accuracy; and the German official account + published on 16 June and long regarded as "a tissue of careful + falsifications," was admitted after the armistice to have been + substantially correct. + </p> + <p> + The public in both countries were indeed egregiously wrong in their + judgment because they were completely ignorant of naval warfare, and + measured success at sea by mathematical equations just as they measured + progress on land by miles. It was only the navies engaged that knew the + truth, and they had inadequate means of making their knowledge known. + British sailors were loath to admit even among themselves the defects in + their vessels, gunnery, and leadership which the battle revealed; but they + made less a secret of Von Scheer's skill. He had with a smaller force + inflicted greater damage on his enemy, and he had snatched his fleet from + the jaws of destruction. He was no doubt favoured by the weather, and he + turned to the best advantage his facilities of defence; for the enemy in + retreat can use his torpedoes with greater effect than his pursuer, can + tempt him into minefields and submarine traps, and conceal himself by + smoke-screens. German Dreadnoughts had, moreover, been built for defence + in home waters and not for keeping the seas. Space, which was used to + strengthen their armour, had in our capital ships to serve the needs of + offence, speed, and comfort; and subsequent inspection at Scapa Flow + showed that the German High Seas Fleet was not designed to provide its + crews with living room for more than seventy-two hours without recourse to + port. + </p> + <p> + But all these advantages and Von Scheer's skill could not reverse the + verdict in that trial of strength, and our qualms about the battle of + Jutland were a just nemesis on our inveterate habit of judging by material + tests. The decisive factor in war is not the material but the moral + effect; and while the German Fleet was not destroyed at the battle of + Jutland, its <i>moral</i> was hopelessly shattered. Few of the German + sailors who had been in a naval battle had hitherto returned to tell the + tale, and those who went out in the High Seas Fleet on 31 May had been + taught to believe in its invincibility. But, said a German officer, "the + way we were utterly crushed from the moment your battle fleet came into + action took the heart out of them. Another hour of daylight would have + finished it," while only three men in Jellicoe's main battle fleet were + wounded. <i>Der Tag</i> had come with a vengeance, and from that day every + attempt to take out the German Fleet to battle produced a mutiny or the + threat of one. + </p> + <p> + The third enemy offensive had come to greater grief than the other two; + and the battle of Jutland had justified the earlier German strategy which + kept the German Fleet safe in harbour while it kept our own in British + waters and faint hearts on tenterhooks. Germany's naval power had now gone + with the <i>moral</i> of its crews, though the ghost of it haunted for two + and a half years longer the timid minds of our materialists on shore, and + retained on this side of the Channel hundreds of thousands of troops + needed for offence or defence in France and Flanders. The German Fleet had + never, however, been a predominant factor in the war, and it was with a + different proposition that the Entente had to deal when at last its turn + came to take the offensive and make a real attempt to break the German + lines. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter12" id="chapter12"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <h3> + THE ALLIED COUNTER-OFFENSIVE + </h3> + <p> + In spite of the disasters she had suffered in 1915 and of her winter + campaigns in Galicia and the Caucasus, Russia was the first of the Allies + to take the offensive in 1916. She was, indeed, engaged in attacking at + some point or other along her vast and various fronts from December till + April. In February she again attempted to seize the important bridgehead + across the Dniester at Usciesko and carried it on 22 March. Four days + before that she had initiated another offensive on the shores of Lake + Narotch, and in April she was pressing on Trebizond. The Lake Narotch + operation was possibly designed to frustrate a German attack on Riga, and + it was only that preventive success that was achieved. It is true that the + first and second German lines were carried after artillery preparation by + the Russian infantry. But the scanty Russian artillery behaved like a + travelling circus; having done its business, it packed up and removed to + seek another opening. The Germans discovered the move, blasted the Russian + trenches, and on 28-29 April recovered more than they had lost. The + campaign in Armenia was more successful, and on 18 April Trebizond passed + securely into Russian hands, giving her a shorter route across the Black + Sea and a better base for future operations in Asia Minor (<i>see</i> + Maps, pp. 146, 182). + </p> + <p> + These, however, were minor operations compared with the offensive for + which Brussilov was preparing in May as the Russian contribution to the + combined attack on the Central Empires. It was not timed to take place + until the end of June. But the Austrian pressure on Italy from the + Trentino seems to have forced an acceleration which the German attack on + Verdun failed to extort from the Western Allies; and on 3 June a + bombardment began on the whole of the Russian front from the Pripet + marshes southwards to the Rumanian border. Ivanov had been recalled to + headquarters and the line was under Brussilov, with four + generals--Kaledin, Sakharoff, Scherbachev, and Lechitsky--to command his + various army-groups. Opposed to them were four Austrian generals and the + German Bothmer, who held the front from Zalocze on the upper Sereth to the + Dniester. From Kolki northwards the Pripet swamps made progress difficult, + and Bothmer offered a stubborn resistance on the Strypa. But in the + Volhynian triangle and the Bukovina the attack achieved a surprising + success. The infantry advance began on the 4th and by noon the Austrian + front was completely broken. In two days the Russians advanced more than + twenty miles, and on the 6th they entered Lutsk, the Archduke Joseph + Ferdinand's headquarters, capturing enormous booty and many thousands of + prisoners. On both sides the breach was widened; to the north Rojitche and + to the south Dubno both fell on the 8th, and the Volhynian triangle passed + completely into Russian hands. Their triumph continued for another week: + their salient was deepened by a further advance to Zaturtsky and Svidniki, + within twenty-five miles of Kovel, and broadened by the fall of Kolki to + the north and Demidovka and Kozin to the south. In less than a fortnight + Kaledin and Sakharoff had covered fifty miles and taken 70,000 prisoners. + </p> + <p> + Scherbachev was less successful against Bothmer in front of Tarnopol; but + his left wing carried Buczacz, farther south, and crossed the Strypa, + while beyond the Dniester Lechitsky outdid Kaledin's success at Lutsk. + Forcing the passage of the Dniester near Okna on that same 4th of June, he + broke the Austrian front and drove one half of it west to Horodenka and + the other half south-east towards Czernowitz. The latter portion was now + an isolated and disorganized fragment of the Austrian army which could do + nothing but escape across the Pruth and the Carpathians leaving Lechitsky + to overrun the Bukovina. On the 17th the Russians entered Czernowitz, its + capital, and six days later they reached Kimpolung, its most southerly + town. Other columns swept west to Sniatyn and Kuty, and by the 23rd the + whole of the province had been conquered. The Austrians were in no + position to impose a pause upon the frontier of Galicia, and Kolomea fell + on the 29th. Tlumacz followed on the 30th and Bothmer's right was + seriously threatened. Gathering some German reinforcements he + counter-attacked on 2 July, recovered Tlumacz, and checked Lechitsky's + right, though his left continued its advance along the Carpathian + foothills and captured Delatyn on 8 July, thus cutting the railway to + Marmaros Sziget. The Dniester and the Pruth were now flooded with July + rains, and a month elapsed before Lechitsky could resume his march. + </p> + <p> + Other causes had checked the Russians farther north. Brussilov's offensive + may have been merely a vast reconnaissance in force, but its astonishing + success had stirred the Germans to prompt action. Ewarts was beginning an + attack on the important junction of Baranovitchi north of the Pripet + marshes, and presently the line of battle spread down the Shchara and + along the Oginski canal. If he succeeded like Brussilov, Brest-Litovsk + might be caught between two fires with dire results to the whole German + front in Russia and future in the Balkans. It was a peril to which the + German prospects at Verdun and forebodings on the Somme were secondary + considerations; and both the Western allies profited from Brussilov's + campaign. One German corps was hurried from Verdun to Kovel in six days, + and others followed at a less exhausting speed. Austrians also came from + the Tyrol and the Balkans, and Ludendorff was sent to restore confidence + in the command. Kovel was the southern key to Brest-Litovsk; the northern + flank could look after itself since Ewarts was making little progress, and + Bothmer had barred the way for the time to the other essential points at + Lemberg and Stanislau. But Kovel was in serious danger, for the Russians + had penetrated to Lokatchi due south of that fortress; and it was for its + defence that Ludendorff organized the Austrian counter-offensive in the + latter half of June. + </p> + <p> + Kovel was saved. The Russian line was pressed back from Lokatchi to + Zaturtsky, from Svidniki to Rojitche, and behind the Stokhod. But the + counter-offensive was spent by the end of the month, and early in July the + Russians resumed their advance. North of the Pripet Ewarts was no more + successful than he had been in June; German divisions were made of sterner + stuff than the Austrian, and Hindenburg knew well enough what was at + stake. After heavy losses the Russian attack died away without appreciable + gain of ground, and north of the Pripet at least the enemy line was + secure. Nor, even south of it, was Brussilov able to do much more than + straighten his own, bringing it forward to the point reached by his + salient in front of Lutsk. This, however, involved some danger to Lemberg + and effected the fall of Stanislau farther south. The chief obstacle was + Bothmer in the centre, on whose stubborn resistance the Germans prided + themselves although most of his troops were Austrian; and he occupied most + of the Russian attention for the rest of the campaign. But the most + striking advance was made in the north of Brussilov's command, where + summer had dried the low-lying ground south of the Pripet marshes. Here + General Lesch, whose Third Russian Army had been brought down from north + of the Pripet, broke the Austrian line on the Styr between Kolki and + Rafalovka on 4-5 July, and in four days reached the Stokhod. He even + crossed it at points, but failed to carry it in its entirety so as to + threaten the northern defences of Kovel. + </p> + <p> + The main offensive was launched in Galicia, doubtless with a view to its + reaction upon the attitude of Rumania; and here Bothmer was menaced by + Sakharoff in the north and Lechitsky in the south. To disconcert the + northern attack the Germans had planned a counter-offensive on the 18th, + but Sakharoff got his blow in first three days before. Forcing the + Austrians across the Styr in front of Dubno, he advanced along its + tributary the Lipa, captured Mikhailovka and Bludov, and then swinging + south occupied Berestechko and threatened Brody on the 20th. It was + entered after a week's fighting on the 28th. Thence he struck south + towards the railway from Krasne to Tarnopol which supplied Bothmer's left, + while Bothmer's right was being simultaneously threatened by Lechitsky now + that the floods on the Dniester had subsided. On 7 August he recaptured + Tlumacz and reached the Dniester near Nijniow; on the 10th he forced his + way into Stanislau, while Scherbachev attacked on the north bank of the + Dniester. Almost outflanked on the north by Sakharoff and on the south by + Scherbachev and Lechitsky, Bothmer had at length to retreat to the Zlota + Lipa with his right in front of Halicz, his centre at Brzezany, and his + left at Zborov. He was vigorously attacked by Scherbachev, and his right + was pushed back on both banks of the Dniester as far as Halicz until it + stood upon the Narajovka. But the centre stood firm against Scherbachev's + great effort of the 29th, though Potutory was taken and Brzezany reduced + to a salient; and the fighting of September and October failed to modify + the position anywhere except far south in the Carpathians, where Lechitsky + secured Mount Kapul and the Jablonitza and Kirlibaba passes, and advanced + as far west as Huta. + </p> + <p> + This movement was in sympathy with the Rumanian declaration of war on 27 + August, and spoilt the Russian chances of a successful concentration + against Bothmer. Russia was not sufficiently furnished with munitions or + trained men to provide for two great efforts on that front, and her summer + campaign had failed of complete success largely because of the services it + rendered to her allies. No fewer than sixteen divisions were withdrawn, + between June and September, by the Germans from the Western front and one + from the Balkans to meet Brussilov's offensive, and they included some of + the best of the Prussian Guards. Austria diverted seven divisions from + Italy, and even the Turks sent two. The offensive had cost the Central + Empires something like a million casualties, many of them Czecho-Slovak + and Jugo-Slav prisoners, who deserted willingly enough and in time did + valiant service in strange lands to the cause of the Entente and of their + own national independence. But the value of Russia's last great effort in + the war was not limited to the front on which it was made. It was an + excellent, though almost solitary, example of the advantages of + co-ordinated strategy between the Allies, and what progress was made on + the Somme, in Italy, and in Macedonia in 1916 was partly due to Russian + valour on other fronts. + </p> + <p> + The British Empire, however, had eyes in the summer of that year for + little except its own offensive in the West. It was mainly a British + affair, for the German attack on Verdun had succeeded to the extent of + making impossible both an independent French offensive and an equivalent + French contribution to the joint campaign on the Somme. Like other + realities of the war, this fact was hidden from the public, and hopes ran + high. The failures of the autumn were recognized as due to their being + premature and made on narrow fronts. We had learnt our lesson; there was a + new general in command; in guns and munitions we had outstripped the + Germans; our men were no longer raw recruits, and we had millions of them; + and, unlike Germany, we had no alternative front to exact its toll like + the Russian. The one doubt that was harboured rather than expressed + related to leadership. Lord Kitchener had lost his life in the <i>Hampshire</i>, + sunk by a mine off the west coast of the Orkneys, on 6 June. But Sir + William Robertson, his chief of Staff, had acquired a great repute as an + organizer, and the question was whether the officers in the field would + exhibit qualities of intellect comparable with his administrative capacity + or with the valour of their men. + </p> + <p> + Apart from the urgent need of relieving the pressure on Verdun, a British + offensive was due as a contribution to the common task; and the front on + which it would be made did not offer a great variety of choice. Whatever + attractions other localities may have held out yielded to the Somme, where + the French and British lines met by Maricourt, and an advance side by side + was the nearest approach the Allies had yet made to unity of command or + even of design. The combined effort was to be concentrated on a single + front of twenty-five miles from Gommecourt, half-way between Albert and + Arras, to Fay, five miles above Chaulnes. If it achieved the success that + was hoped, it would roll up the German line north towards the Belgian + coast and render untenable in the south and east the great salient of the + German front. The retreat which the Germans effected to the Hindenburg + lines in the spring of 1917 was the least that was expected from the + summer offensive of the year before. But Germans are seldom idle, and for + months they had been silently and unobserved preparing to counter the vast + storm of explosives about to break on their trenches. That + wire-entanglements however extensive, and trenches however intricate, + could be obliterated had been proved, and the Germans were ready with + their prophylactic on the ground that was chosen for attack. The rolling + downs of the Bapaume ridge offered natural attractions to an army sick of + the water-logged flats of Flanders, but they also afforded the Germans + depth and scope for their vast underground chambers which no artillery + could destroy; and these defences more than any other single cause + defeated the British thrust at Gommecourt and Serre. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map10.png"><img src="images/map10s.png" width="381" + height="588" alt="The Battle Of The Somme" /></a> + </p> + <p> + This was officially described as a subsidiary operation, yet upon the + assistance it rendered to the main attack farther south depended the whole + nature and course of the campaign. Had that thrust eastward towards + Bapaume been successful, the Germans facing the Somme would have been + taken in the rear, and the painful and costly climb up the slopes to + Bapaume, which lasted throughout the summer and autumn, would have been + achieved in a couple of days. Places like Pozires, well towards the goal, + were indeed given as our objectives for the first day of the battle of the + Somme. It began on 1 July. Since the middle of June there had been an + intermittent bombardment of the German lines which grew in intensity and + extent from the 24th. The attack had been entrusted to the British Fourth + Army, under Sir Henry Rawlinson and the French Sixth under Fayolle. It was + expected by the Germans between Albert and Arras, though not along the + Somme, and their artillery preparation took off some of the edge of our + attack. The troops advanced with the utmost dash and determination, and + detachments got far ahead of the line into Pendant copse, Thiepval, the + Schwaben redoubt, and even the outskirts of Grandcourt. But few of them + got back when they found that the line as a whole had held, and the losses + of these troops in the fire to the left and the right and in front of them + made up the bulk of the British casualties on that day. + </p> + <p> + Farther south they fared better. The outskirts of La Boisselle and + Fricourt were reached; Mametz was taken, and also Montauban by the most + striking advance of the day. On our right the French, whose attack had + been planned by Foch, had the advantage of a surprise. North of the Somme + they reached the edge of Hardecourt and Curlu; south of it they captured + Dompierre, Becquincourt, Bussu, and Fay, and with these villages 6000 + prisoners. The advance was greatest the farthest it was removed from where + the Germans had prepared their resistance; complete success south of the + Somme dwindled away to complete failure at Serre. That northern attack was + not renewed, but from Ovillers south and eastwards the advantage was + stubbornly pressed on the 2nd. Fricourt fell and its surrounding defences, + while the French took Frise, Curlu, and Herbecourt. It was clear, however, + that the German line had not, and could not be broken in the sense which + the public at least attached to the word. A first or even a second and + third line of trenches might be taken, but there was an indefinite series + behind, and the progress was so slow that anything like a thrust right + through the German defences and rout of the German forces was out of the + question. It was not until the 5th that La Boiselle in the first German + line was mastered, and farther east the initial success of the British was + checked by a line of woods which required weeks to clear. On the 7th we + took Contalmaison, but were driven out of most of it by a counter-attack. + It finally fell on the 10th, but Ovillers held out till the 16th. The + woods to the right offered a no less stubborn resistance. Bernafay wood + was, indeed, gained on the 4th, but the German flanks in Mametz wood to + the west and Trnes wood to the east were only driven in at the cost of + five days' ferocious fighting from the 8th to the 13th. The French + encountered similar opposition north of the Somme, but south of it they + were more fortunate. On the 4th and 5th they extended their gains on their + right by the capture of most of Estres and Belloy, and after disposing of + German counter-attacks leapt forward on the 9th past Flaucourt to Biaches, + a mile from Pronne. + </p> + <p> + On 14 July the second stage of the battle of the Somme began with an + attack before dawn. It was the national fte-day of France, but the attack + was made on the British front from Contalmaison to Trnes wood. The + objectives were the wood and two villages of Bazentin, High wood (the Bois + des Foureaux), Longueval, and Delville wood, while Trnes wood still + remained to be completely cleared. The day was one of the most successful + in the four and a half months' battle, and the dash of the British troops + carried them as far as all their objectives. Bazentin-le-Grand and le + Petit and the wood were taken; aided by an unwonted cavalry charge which + raised delusive hopes of breaking through, a great advance was made to + High wood; and the Germans were driven out of most of Longueval and the + Delville wood. But it was more difficult to retain these conquests; the + advanced positions were exposed to enfilading German fire, and + counter-attacks drove us back at various points and made the retention of + others a matter of desperate conflict for weeks. High wood had to be + completely evacuated; for Delville wood the South Africans, and the troops + which relieved them on the 20th, had to struggle for thirteen days, and it + was not wholly cleared for another month. Much of what was credited to the + 14th of July had to be retaken in detailed fighting spread over many days. + </p> + <p> + On the 16th, however, the fall of Ovillers prepared the way for an attack + on Pozires, which was finally captured with the help of the Australians + on the 26th, and the taking of Waterlot farm on our right opened up an + advance on Guillemont. Much of High wood was recovered on the 20th. On + that day the French pushed east of Hardecourt and seized a section of the + Combles-Clery railway, while farther south they secured the German + defences from Barleux to Vermandovillers. On the 27th the last German + outpost in Longueval was taken, and on 4 August the Australians began + their advance from Pozires to Mouquet farm and the windmill which + commanded the summit of the Bapaume ridge. The ground was contested inch + by inch, and it took many weary days to win. Villages and woods all along + the front were only captured by fragments, and most of the fragments were + lost again more than once before they finally passed into our hands. Well + into September there were bits of Delville wood and High wood still in + German possession, and a concerted attack of 18 August was a failure + except for the seizure of Leipzig redoubt. On the 12th, however, and again + on the 16th, the French improved their position north of the Somme and got + close to Maurepas, of which they completed the capture on the 24th. + </p> + <p> + September was a better month for both the Allies. There was a general + attack on the 3rd, when Guillemont, which had been disputed for six weeks, + was carried at length, and the French rushed Le Forest, Clry, and the + German lines up to the outskirts of Combles. Two days later the British + got into Leuze wood between Guillemont and Combles, and captured Falfemont + farm to the south, while a new French army extended the line of battle + below Chaulnes and took Chilly and Soycourt; on the 6th they pushed their + advance both north and south of the Somme, taking above the river + L'Hpital farm and Anderlu and Marrires woods, and below it parts of + Vermandovillers and Berny. The German counter-attacks were unusually + unsuccessful, and on 9 September Ginchy was carried by the Irish regiments + which had helped to take Guillemont. It looked as though the Allies were + at least getting into their stride, or the wasting struggle was beginning + to tell on the German reserves and resistance. Over two months had been + spent in securing objectives marked down for the first day or two of the + battle; but with the fall of Guillemont the last fragment of the German + second position had fallen into our hands, their third was more or less + improvised, we had a new weapon in reserve, and were half-way from our + original lines to Bapaume. Farther afield Rumania had declared war, and + Brussilov was still drawing German troops from West to East. + </p> + <p> + The third stage of the battle therefore opened with hopes which even the + experience of the second had not been able to quench. Gough's Fifth Army + had since early in July been formed as an independent command to the left + of Rawlinson's Fourth, and its right comprised the 1st Canadian Corps + which was to attack Courcelette. The other points of the German third line + of defence were Martinpuich, Flers, Lesboeufs, and Morval. Martinpuich was + the objective of a Scottish division of the New Army, Flers that of the + New Zealanders, Lesboeufs and Morval those of the Guards and another + division of the old Regulars. Behind the British lines were collected + twenty-four "Tanks," which were to precede them in the attack and prove by + this first experiment their value as a weapon of war. On the 14th a + brigade of Gough's army stormed the Hohenzollern trench and a redoubt + called by the Germans a <i>wunderwerk</i>; apart from this success, the + attack diverted German attention from the real offensive, which began on + the 15th with an intense bombardment. The Tanks spread terror and + devastation among the German lines and the results of the day for once + exceeded all expectations. Courcelette fell to the Canadians, Martinpuich + to the Scots, Flers to the New Zealanders. High wood was at last enveloped + in this advance, and Delville wood passed by the division of the New Army + which pushed from Ginchy towards Lesboeufs. That effort on our right was, + however, hampered by the Germans in the Quadrilateral and Bouleaux wood to + the east of Ginchy, and the Guards were unable to carry out the most + important tactical part of the day's work by carrying Lesboeufs and + Morval. + </p> + <p> + The French had no such accumulation of gains on the 15th, but they + conquered a larger area between the 13th and 18th. They began on the 13th + with the bold capture of Bouchavesnes right across the great road from + Pronne to Bapaume, and supplemented it by taking Le Priez farm on the + flank of Combles. On the 17th they completed their work in Berny and + Vermandovillers south of the Somme, and on the 18th added Denicourt. On + that day the British at last mastered the Quadrilateral east of Ginchy, + and thus prepared for the great success which attended the next general + attack on the 25th. It was the best day of the whole campaign. Lesboeufs + and Morval fell on the north of Combles, while the French took Rancourt on + the south-east, and away to the west Gough's army made the surprising + seizure of Thiepval. Further fruits were gathered on the morrow; + Gueudecourt, which had been taken but abandoned on the 25th, was + recovered; the French who had then failed against Frgicourt now took it; + and Combles was the prize of their joint success. Then the weather broke; + and the Germans, who had already begun to prepare their Hindenburg lines + far away in their rear, were enabled to cling to the Bapaume salient until + they had taken all the precautions for an orderly and inexpensive retreat. + </p> + <p> + The rest of the Somme campaign was an affair of local details until + Gough's Fifth Army intervened on a larger scale. Eaucourt l'Abbaye was + taken on 1 October, lost on the 2nd, and retaken on the 3rd. Le Sars was + captured on the 7th, the Stuff and Regina redoubts, between it and + Thiepval, on the 21st; and progress was made north towards the Butte de + Warlencourt and north-east towards Le Transloy. The French captured Sailly + and Saillisel to the east of Morval and pushed far into the St. Pierre + Vaast wood and towards Moislains, while south of the Somme they took + Ablaincourt, Le Pressoir, Fresnes, Villers-Carbonnel, and Barleux, and + seized the west bank of the river opposite Eterpigny above Pronne. On 9 + November the weather improved, and though the October rains had made + transport almost impossible across the mangled soil of the battlefield on + the Somme, the conditions were not so bad north of Thiepval, where our + advance had been stayed on 1 July. The situation at Beaumont-Hamel was + also changed for the better by the fact that the German stronghold was now + a pronounced salient enfiladed by our fire from the captured Hohenzollern, + Schwaben, Stuff, and Regina redoubts. But that advantage was less felt + farther north at Serre, and there the left wing of our attack on 13 + November was no more successful than it had been on 1 July. Better fortune + attended our effort between Serre and Beaumont-Hamel, but the farthest + advance of the day was that of a New Army division on the extreme right of + the attacking line. St. Pierre Divion fell almost at once, and our troops + advanced on the southern heights of the Ancre to the Hansa trench half-way + to Grandcourt. + </p> + <p> + The task of the centre was to take the fortress of Beaumont-Hamel, + including the forked ravine to the south which required a prolonged and + desperate struggle. The work was done by Highland Territorials before the + early November sunset; and meanwhile the Naval Division on their right + drove the Germans out of their first two lines on the northern bank of the + Ancre towards Beaucourt. One battalion penetrated almost to the village, + but was held up in a perilous position owing to the resistance of a strong + German redoubt on its flank and almost in its rear. It stood its ground + throughout the day, and at night the surrender of the German redoubt to a + couple of tanks opened the way for a general attack on Beaucourt on the + 14th. It was stormed by the battalion which had been waiting outside it + since the previous morning. German counter-attacks on the 15th were + repulsed, and on the 17th a further advance was made to the Bois + d'Hollande north of Grandcourt, while Canadians from the Regina trench + established themselves near its western outskirts. Another avenue towards + Bapaume had been opened up, but winter postponed any further advance, and + the Somme campaign had come to an end. + </p> + <p> + It had proved a sort of inverted Verdun, and the comfort we had derived + from that successful defence was now extracted by the Germans from their + defence of Bapaume. The parallel was not exact, because while the German + gains at Verdun narrowed down to a point, ours on the Somme expanded in a + circle. Yet the arguments were substantially the same: the French at + Verdun were willing to sell any number of acres for armies, and the + Germans professed an equal content on the Somme. Each side contended in + turn that the offensive was the more costly form of warfare, and then + repudiated the contention when it came to attack itself; and there was not + a great deal to choose between them so far as logic was concerned. It is + also clear that the Germans would have been at least as successful at + Verdun as we were on the Somme but for the relief afforded by + counter-offensives elsewhere, and that we should have profited no more + from the Somme than the Germans did from Verdun had our Somme campaign + been interrupted by German offensives on other fronts. Nor was there much + to choose in the way of casualties: our estimate of the German losses as + approximating 600,000 was a reasonable guess, but our own casualties were + well over 400,000. The French losses were lighter, but the two together + cannot have been less than the German. The Germans on the Somme, like the + French at Verdun, withdrew divisions to refit before they were hopelessly + broken; but what was considered wisdom in the French was reckoned weakness + in the Germans and the Prussian Guards, whose return to Berlin, concealed + in furniture-vans to hide their pitiable plight, was graphically described + in the English press by an imaginative American journalist, were really + sent as a contribution to that immense effort in the East by which, in + spite of the Somme campaign, Germany first closed the gaps in the + crumbling Austrian front and then overran Rumania. + </p> + <p> + There was thus a good deal of justice in the German comparison between + Verdun and the Somme. The fallacy lay in the facts that our offensive was + not brought to a stand by a German counter-attack but by the advent of + winter, that the moves elsewhere in the West were the French ripostes at + Verdun in October and December and not German counter-offensives, and that + their campaign in Rumania, in spite of its painful success, had no effect + upon the vital situation in the West. That episode was against us, but the + tendencies were in our favour; our losses might equal the German, but + equal attrition would leave us paramount in the end, barring collapse on + the part of a principal ally. It was the fundamental situation which led + to the German proposals for peace at Christmas, and the superficial + impression which provoked the simultaneous fall of the Asquith Government. + </p> + <p> + So, too, there was something superficial and unjust in the lay criticism + of Sir Douglas Haig's generalship. "Tactics of the Stone Age," was Mr. + Lloyd George's later comment, which should not have been made in public at + the expense of a general for whose retention in the command he was himself + responsible. Even Foch controlled the group of French armies which + co-operated with us on the Somme without producing results of a different + character; and it is idle to compare the achievements of the generalissimo + of 1918 with those of the British commander on the Somme in 1916. Haig + controlled the British forces in France and Flanders, but he had no + jurisdiction beyond a mere fragment of the thousands of miles of front on + which the war was waged. Neither he nor any other Entente general + therefore enjoyed the strategical opportunities of a Falkenhayn, + Hindenburg, or Ludendorff, who could direct their blows east or west as + they pleased; and responsibility for the strategical conduct of the war + rested not with the Entente generals but with the heterogeneous + Governments which employed them. Each commander had to work in his own + compartment and could not escape its limitations. Nor was the diversity + merely one of military commands; there was also the Navy, upon which the + whole Allied strategy hung, to be considered; and not only in the Entente, + but in each of its several Governments there was, and there could be, no + such unity of direction as was possible in the militarist Central Empires. + </p> + <p> + There was also something naive in the popular clamour for a general as a + <i>Deus ex machina</i>. For, in spite of apparent exceptions, the tendency + of the transition from heroic to democratic ages is to transfer both in + war and in politics the decisive influence from the individual to the + mass, from the protagonist to the private; and modern warfare, with its + complexity and its science, has become mainly a matter of mechanics. Its + hero is the mob, and its generals fight far away in the rear of the line + of battle; even the telescope has given place to the telephone. Individual + valour counts for little compared with accurate range-tests and spotting + by waves of sound. Man has mastered nature only to become more dependent + upon his servants, and the vast machinery which the modern general + controls envelops him in its toils. He reaches his goal in a motor, and + the race is won by the best machine. Generalship was but one of a vast + number of factors which gave us control of the Bapaume Ridge but also + prevented the Somme campaign from saving Rumania or spoiling the German + defence against Russia. + </p> + <p> + The battle of the Somme did not, however, quite exhaust the Entente + offensive for 1916. As it died down amid the autumn rains, the French + struck back at Verdun on 24 October. Here Nivelle, who had taken over the + command from Ptain in April, entrusted the attack to Mangin. The Germans + were not taken by surprise, but they were unprepared for the strength of + the blow, and from Fleury to Fort Douaumont positions which had taken the + Germans months to win were recovered within a few hours. On the right the + struggle was more protracted, but on 2 November Fort Vaux and on the 3rd + the villages of Vaux and Damloup were regained. A greater success followed + on 15 December. The attack extended from Vacherauville on the Meuse to + Bezonvaux on the east, and all along the line the French won their + objectives. Besides Vacherauville they retook Poivre hill, Haudromont + wood, and Louvemont on the left, captured Chambrettes farm and Caurires + wood in the centre, and seized Hardaumont wood and Bezonvaux on their + right. Towards the north-east the Germans had almost been thrust back to + the line from which they started in February, though to the north they + still retained some ground, and the French counter-offensive did not + extend to the west of the Meuse. It was a characteristic exaggeration of + the press to represent these gains as a complete reconquest of all that + the Germans had won in the spring; but enough had been done to give the + Germans unpleasant anticipations for 1917 and to counsel them to draw in + their horns in the material sense of retreat from their threatened + position on the Somme and in the metaphorical sense of seeking peace (<i>see</i> + Map, p. 194). + </p> + <p> + Italy, too, had been making her contribution to the Allied offensive + during these months. Brussilov's onslaught in June had trod on the tail + on* the Austrian invasion from the Trentino, and it was patriotic pride + which led an Italian journal to describe Cadorna's recovery as the + quickest and greatest reaction of the war. Italy's allies at least were + not surprised when during the latter half of June her armies regained the + ground evacuated by the Austrians in a skilful retreat, including Posina, + Monte Cimone, Arsiero, Asiago, and the whole of the Sette Communi. Having + thus protected his flank, Cadorna reverted to his frontal attack along the + Isonzo and on the Carso. The Austrians still held nearly the whole of the + east bank of the river and Oslavia and Podgora on the west bank in front + of Gorizia. Gorizia itself was protected by two mountain strongholds, + Sabatino to the north and San Michele to the south. Early in August + Cadorna had completed his transfer of guns and troops from the Trentino + front, and on the 4th he feinted an attack across the Isonzo at + Monfalcone. On the 6th a heavy bombardment battered the whole front from + Mount Sabatino to Mount San Michele; both the key-positions were taken by + assault in a battle which lasted two days, and on the 9th Gorizia fell. + During the next few days the advance was pushed across the Doberdo + plateau, south of Gorizia, and beyond the Vallone on to the western end of + the forbidding and formidable Carso. By the 15th the Italian line ran from + Tivoli, north-east of Gorizia, down the river Vertoibizza, across the + Vippacco and along the Carso east of Nad Logem, Opacchiasella, and + Villanova. No such victory had yet been won by unaided Italian troops + against their hereditary foes, and it did much to stimulate Italian + confidence and enthusiasm for the war. Some further progress on the Carso + was made during the autumn, and great Italian victories were announced in + September, October, and November; but the Italians were never within + measurable distance of capturing the key of the Carso at the Hermada, and + Trieste was a very distant prospect until other causes had brought about + the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire. When at the end of August Italy at + last declared war on Germany, the course of the war remained unaffected, + and greater store was set on the simultaneous intervention of the kindred + Latin people of Rumanias (<i>see</i> Map, p. 298). + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter13" id="chapter13"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <h3> + THE BALKANS AND POLITICAL REACTIONS + </h3> + <p> + The combined offensive of the Allies in 1916 was not limited to the + Russian, French, and Italian fronts, and there is a diplomatic story that + when the battle of the Somme seemed unlikely to produce the fruits + expected from it, pressure was put by one or more Western Powers upon + Rumania to intervene. The story was denied in the interests of those + Powers, and an alternative tale was told of a sinister plot, engineered by + the Russian Prime Minister, Stuermer, by which Rumania was lured into the + war in order that her defeat might pave the way for her partition between + the Hapsburg and Russian Empires, Wallachia going to the one and Moldavia + to the other. Both explanations were relics of the suspicion engendered by + the diplomacy of the old regime rather than serious contributions to + historical truth; and, while the conduct of the masters and tyros of + political strategy was not calculated to render these fables incredible, + there were other circumstances more intimately connected with Rumania to + account for her action. After all, neither side was in August 1916 in a + position to dictate to neutrals; and the Rumanian Army counted for too + much in the delicate balance for any belligerent Power to invite its + hostility by undue pressure. The decision was Rumania's own, and it was + not unnatural. She had been on the eve of intervention more than a year + before, but German successes in 1915 had constrained her to caution. By + August 1916 it was clear that the Central Empires could hope for no more + than a negotiated peace, and Rumania had claims which would only enter + into the negotiation if she took part in the war. + </p> + <p> + Natural affinities left no doubt as to the side she would choose. Her old + king Carol, who had died on 10 October 1914, was a Hohenzollern, though of + the elder and Catholic line; but his successor was bred a Rumanian and a + constitutional monarch. There was also a pro-German and anti-democratic + party, led by Carp and Marghiloman and supported by the landlords, which + harped upon Rumania's grievances against Russia and placed Bessarabia in + the scales against Transylvania. But the Rumanes across the Pruth were few + compared with the four millions across the Carpathians, and the hardships + they shared with the Russians at the hands of the Tsardom irked them less + than those injuries which the Magyars knew so well how to inflict on + subject nationalities under the cloak of equal rights and liberties. The + claims which Rumania might hope to enforce against a defeated Hapsburg + Empire would increase her population by more than 50 per cent and make her + territorially compact, while the gains she could get from Russia would be + less extensive and less homogeneous, and would leave her with still more + straggling frontiers. The cause was fairly clear; the occasion was + provided by the failure of the Germans at Verdun, the success of + Brussilov, the apparent likelihood of Turkey's collapse before the Russian + advance in Asia Minor, and the promise of an Entente offensive from + Salonika. + </p> + <p> + Turkey, indeed, had exhausted the credit she had won at Gallipoli and Kut. + She had not been able to convert the capture of Kut into an advance down + the Tigris; and on 19-20 May Gorringe had taken the key to the Es Sinn + position and cleared the south bank by an advance towards the Shatt-el-Hai + which would a month earlier have effected Townshend's relief. Summer, + indeed, procured a respite from British attacks, but not from Russian + progress in Asia Minor. On 15 July Yudenitch captured Baiburt, and + Erzinghian on the 25th (<i>see</i> Map, p. 182). A counter-offensive, + which led to the temporary loss of Bitlis and Mush, was nullified by a + Russian thrust at Rayat on 25 August, and Bitlis and Mush were recovered. + Asia Minor seemed to be slipping from Turkey's grasp, and her hold on + Arabia was still more precarious. The Arabs had never been patient + subjects of the Sultan, and the progressive vagaries of Young Turk + infidels shocked the fidelity of the orthodox people of Mecca. On 9 June + its Grand Sherif proclaimed Arab independence, occupied Jeddah, took + Yambo, laid siege to Medina, cut the Hedjaz railway, and was joined by + tribes farther south who captured Kandifah. An ineffectual Turkish effort + to cope with this rebellion postponed another projected attack on Egypt, + and when it was made in August it was crushed at Romani on the 3rd and 4th + and the Turkish retreat was turned into a rout. + </p> + <p> + Greece remained the most dubious factor in the Balkan situation. There was + no doubt where her interests lay, for the only two allies of the Central + Empires were Turkey and Bulgaria, one the ancient tyrant, and the other + the modern rival, of the Greeks. But Greece was divided in mind between + her faith in a brilliant future and her fear of German success. Her king, + with his Prussian queen and marshal's baton, was interested in the success + of the German Army and of the principle of royal autocracy; and his wishes + made him doubt the prospects of her foes. Apart from the Court and + official influence, he was given a hold on his people by the fame which + had been fathered on him in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 and the fable that + he was another Constantine the Great. So far his doubts seemed to have + more justification than the faith of Venizelos; and Greece had in return + for her security put up with an unconstitutional government and the shame + of her broken Serbian treaty. But the strain which Constantine put upon + the patience of his people reached the breaking-point in 1916. In May, + acting under his orders, Greek troops admitted the Bulgars into Forts + Rupel and Dragotin, the keys of the Struma Valley. Popular protests were + made at Salonika, where Constantine's writ did not run; and the Entente + retorted with a pacific blockade in June. But in spite of a shuffle of + ministers, the Court held on its pro-German way and did whatever it could, + by secret communications with Berlin and facilities for German submarines, + to hamper the Entente preparations for an offensive from Salonika. + </p> + <p> + Early in August Sarrail, who was now commander-in-chief, ordered a French + attack on Doiran, and Doldjeli was taken. Probably this was no more than a + feint, for the real design was farther west, where the Serbians under + Prince Alexander were looking forward to Monastir. Their offensive was + anticipated by the Bulgars, who after some <i>pourparlers</i> with + Rumania, were induced or constrained by their German masters to attack on + the 17th. In the west Florina and Banitza were seized on Greek territory, + and on the east the whole of new Greece, including Seres, Kavalla, and + Demirhissar, as far as the Struma; the Greek garrisons surrendered and + were sent to Germany as the Kaiser's guests (<i>see</i> Map, p. 151). + </p> + <p> + This was the last straw for the better part of Greece. Venizelos addressed + a mass meeting of protest at Athens on the 27th, and on the 30th a + revolution broke out at Salonika under Colonel Zimbrakakis, the Venizelist + deputy for Seres. Regiments were enrolled for service against Bulgaria, + and one of them set out for the front on 22 September. On the 24th a + similar movement swept over Crete; Mytilene, Samos, and Chios and smaller + Greek islands followed suit; and Venizelos left Athens to form with + Admiral Condouriotes and General Danglis a provisional government of + insurgent Greece at Salonika. It was grudgingly recognized by the Entente + and at once declared war on Bulgaria. The mainland, south-west of + Salonika, however, remained under Constantine's control, and added to its + hostility to the Entente a murderous vendetta against the Venizelists. The + militarist party engaged in the curious campaign of forming leagues of + reservists to oppose a war which would involve their call to the colours, + and a succession of embarrassed phantoms was established in office to + enable the king to evade the demands of the Allies. They increased in + severity from the surrender of the fleet to that of the army's batteries + and then to its disbandment; but they were backed by inadequate force and + bungling diplomacy. On 1 December detachments of Allied troops, landed at + the Piraeus, were driven back with bloodshed, and well into the new year + the King continued to defy the Entente and push Greece deeper into + anarchy. On its side the Entente wished to avoid a civil war, which would + be almost worse than united enmity, because it would preclude a naval + blockade; but the principal cause of its blunders was its own divided + counsels. France and Great Britain were stoutly Venizelist; but the Tsar + had personal reasons for dreading revolutions, particularly one against + his cousin, and Italy had no liking for that greater Greece which was + represented by Venizelos, might become a rival in the eastern + Mediterranean, and would certainly reclaim the Dodecanese from its Italian + masters. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map11.png"><img src="images/map11s.png" width="311" + height="362" alt="The Rumanian Campaign" /></a> + </p> + <p> + Amid these scenes of Hellenic turmoil Sarrail strove to prosecute his + offensive in aid of Rumania. The die had been cast by the northern kingdom + on 27 August, and on the 28th Rumanian troops poured over the Carpathian + passes into Transylvania. This direction of Rumanian strategy was severely + criticized because it did not suit our Balkan plans. Bulgaria was the foe + we had in view, and Rumania, it was said, should have launched her armies + across the Danube in an effort to cut the corridor and join hands with + Sarrail. The criticism was unjust for other reasons than the fact that in + the treaty signed on 16 August it was stipulated that the principal aim of + Rumanian action should be in the direction of Buda-Pesth. Sarrail's + objective was Monastir, an eccentric route to Sofia or the Danube, and the + British troops along the Struma were not cast for the part of an advance + towards Rumania. Bulgaria, moreover, was not yet Rumania's enemy, and had + shown signs of remaining neutral. Nor is a strategical motive ever an + adequate reason for making war; there must be a political justification, + and the grounds for Rumania's intervention was the injury suffered by the + Rumanian population in Hungary and Transylvania. She had no quarrel with + Bulgaria on the score of national rights; indeed, it was rather she who + ruled over Bulgars in the Dobrudja, and a Rumanian war could only be + defended in principle as a crusade to redeem the <i>Rumania irredenta</i> + north of the Carpathians. Even had it been her business to pull the + chestnuts out of the fire for the Entente, it might be urged that she did + her part in opening the door for a Russian attack on Bulgaria. In 1915 the + Russian reason for non-fulfilment of the threats of punishment for + Bulgarian treason to the Slav cause had been the obstacle of Rumanian + territory. That was now removed; and a Russian advance through the + Dobrudja would not only have saved Rumania from Mackensen's envelopment, + but have given effect to Russia's menace against Bulgaria, facilitated + Sarrail's operations, cut the corridor, and isolated Turkey. Of all the + strategic failures in the war none was more tragic than this which was + imposed upon Russia, partly by her internal weakness and partly by her + divergent ambitions in Asia Minor. The Rumanian advance across the + Carpathians would have been sound enough strategically as well as + politically, had it been properly supported by her huge but unreliable + neighbour. + </p> + <p> + The Central Empires were preparing but unprepared, and the Rumanian attack + prospered brilliantly at first. Apart from the political object, there was + the strategic purpose of improving Rumania's defences. Her own + frontier--over 700 miles in length--was even worse than Italy's because of + its circular configuration; the enemy, with the interior lines, military + railways, and easier approaches to the passes, could strike from the + centre at any one or more of a dozen alternative points and could shift + his attack from one to another flank in a fraction of the time it would + take Rumania to transport her forces to meet it. She had no lateral lines + for her northern frontier, and of the vertical lines only two went up to + the passes. If, however, she could reach the Maros, she would not only + straighten her line and shorten it by half, but deprive her enemies of + their railway and other strategic advantages. On that line she might hope + to resist the Teutonic counter-offensive and protect her territory, which + would have been left defenceless if her armies had gone south to invade + Bulgaria. For a fortnight all went well; the enemy troops in Transylvania + were few, inferior, and unreliable, and one Czech battalion went over to + the invaders. By 10 September Kronstadt and Orsova had been taken, + Hermannstadt evacuated, and Hatszeg was in danger; at points the Rumanians + had advanced some fifty miles, and the Maros line seemed almost in their + grasp. + </p> + <p> + The appearance was delusive. Germany declared war on 28 August, Turkey on + the 30th, and Bulgaria on 1 September. But the real danger did not come + from Bulgaria, and it would have been at least as serious if Rumania had + invited attack by declaring war on Bulgaria herself, and thus exceeding + the requirements of the treaty of 16 August. It came from Germany, and was + as little foreseen by Rumania's critics as by her Government. That Germany + should have divisions to spare for another Balkan campaign after Verdun, + and while the battle of the Somme and Brussilov's offensive were at their + height, amazed the Entente Powers, and was, indeed, quite inconsistent + with the versions of those campaigns to which they had given currency. Yet + it was true: besides an Alpine corps of Bavarians, Germany sent no fewer + than eight divisions to the Carpathians, and put Von Falkenhayn at their + head. She also sent a lavish supply of guns, munitions, and aeroplanes to + which Rumania had not the wherewithal to reply. The promised Russian + supplies fell short, eaten up perhaps by Brussilov's requirements, and + partly, it was said, surreptitiously withheld in the interest of + Stuermer's treacherous design of a separate peace with Germany at + Rumania's expense. The first blow was struck by Mackensen, whose rapid + concentration of the German forces south of the Danube had not been + disturbed by the promised offensive from Salonika. The treaty had fixed it + for 20 August, but Sarrail's plans were betrayed by two of his officers + and conveyed through a Spanish diplomatist to the enemy; possibly this was + the cause of the Bulgar attack on the 17th, and Sarrail did not move until + 7 September. He did, however, detain the three Bulgarian armies on the + Salonika front, and Mackensen only had the help of the fourth, which had + all along watched the Rumanian frontier. + </p> + <p> + On 1 September his forces invaded the Dobrudja and seized Dobritch, + Balchik, and Kavarna on the coast. On the 5th they captured Turtukai on + the Danube with an infantry division and a hundred guns. Silistria farther + down the river was thereupon evacuated, and on the 16th Mackensen stood on + the line Rasova-Kobadinu-Tuzla, a dozen miles from the important railway + running from Bukarest across the Tchernavoda bridge to Constanza; + Tchernavoda was the only bridge across the Danube in the Balkans, and + Constanza was Rumania's only Black Sea port. Here the stipulated Russian + three divisions, composed partly of Serbs who had escaped into Rumania in + 1915 and of Jugo-Slavs taken prisoners by the Russians from the Austrian + forces, came to Rumania's assistance; and Mackensen was not only held, but + driven back some fifteen miles. Falkenhayn, north of the Carpathians, + disposed of greater strength, and during the latter half of September the + Rumanians were steadily driven out of their conquests. A great feat of the + Bavarian Alpine Corps was the capture on the 26th of the Roterturm Pass in + the rear of the First Rumanian Army; elsewhere the retreat was carried out + with skill, valour, and comparatively slight losses, and Falkenhayn found + it no easy task to break the Carpathian barrier despite the advantages he + possessed in every kind of equipment and in the experience of his men. But + for the paralysis which overcame the Russian effort in the Carpathians he + would have had the tables turned upon him, for no advance would have been + possible against the Rumanian frontier had his flank been seriously + threatened by the Russians from Jablonitza to the Borgo. Indeed, with a + little more energy on the part of the Russian Government the Central + Empires might have encountered in Transylvania a greater disaster than had + yet befallen them. The Russian excuse was that their liabilities to + Rumania involved an awkward extension of their front, yet it was Russia + which had put most pressure on Rumania to intervene; and no account was + taken of the huge extension of the Teutonic front achieved by that + intervention, nor of the fate which Russia might have suffered if + Falkenhayn and Mackensen had concentrated in the north the forces they led + against Rumania. The relief which Russia secured thereby almost seems to + support the sinister view of Stuermer's policy. + </p> + <p> + It was not until 10 October that the northern Rumanian armies were forced + back to the Moldavian border; and all Falkenhayn's efforts to debouch from + the central passes towards Bukarest were defeated by Rumanian valour. Nor + was he more successful against Moldavia, and November arrived with its + promise of snow to block the mountain-routes before he had advanced more + than four miles into Rumanian territory. Mackensen, too, was held up in + the Dobrudja, and a month's inactivity was only relieved by rival raids + across the Danube. But by 20 October he had received reinforcements in the + shape of two Turkish divisions and one German. The Russo-Rumanian line was + broken, and on the 21st the railway between Constanza and Tchernavoda. + Constanza was abandoned on the 22nd, its stores of oil and wheat being + burned, and on the 25th a span of the great bridge at Tchernavoda was + blown up by the retreating Rumanians, while the Russians hastily withdrew + thirty-five miles to Babadagh. Here on 1 November Sakharov arrived to take + the command with several new divisions, for Alexeiev did his best to + redeem the failings of his Government, and a counter-offensive was begun. + On the 9th Sakharov recaptured Hirsova, and by the 15th he had advanced to + within seven miles of Mackensen's lines defending the Constanza railway. + But he was too late, for the Rumanian defence which had held north and + south in the central zone was crumbling fast in the western salient. + </p> + <p> + Having failed along the direct route to Bukarest, Falkenhayn now + concentrated his efforts on the passes west of the Trzburg; but he had + little success in October. Two columns which crossed the mountains east of + the Roterturm Pass and made for Salatrucul were flung back with heavy + losses on the 18th, and Falkenhayn transferred his main attack to the + Vulcan Pass still farther west. But he kept up his pressure from the + Roterturm down the Aluta valley in order to detain there the Rumanian + reinforcements which the extension of Lechitsky's line into Moldavia had + released for service in the West; and in the first week of November his + troops were threatening Rymnik. But south of the Vulcan they had come to + grief at Targul Jiu, where on 27 October General Dragalina, with inferior + numbers and artillery, won the most brilliant success of the campaign. + Unfortunately he died of his wounds on 9 November, and with fresh + reinforcements and guns the Germans under Falkenhayn's eyes resumed their + advance on the 10th. Their progress was stubbornly contested, but on the + 21st they entered Craiova on the main Rumanian railway, thus cutting off + the western part of Rumania from the capital and isolating the army + defending Orsova and Turnu Severin. Presently it was surrounded, but for + nearly three weeks of gallant effort and romantic adventure it eluded its + fate and only surrendered at Caracalu on 7 December after the fall of + Bukarest. + </p> + <p> + Craiova was bad enough, but almost worse was to follow; for on 23 November + Mackensen succeeded in forcing the passage of the Danube beween Samovit + and Sistovo, and by the 27th he effected a junction with Falkenhayn's + armies which had swung east and were now across the Aluta advancing on + Bukarest. The Rumanians' flanks were thus both turned by the crossing of + the mountain passes and of the Danube, and they had no option but a rapid + retreat to a line where those flanks held firm. That line did not cover + the capital, and its elaborate forts would have been merely a trap for the + Rumanian army. Nevertheless, a brave and skilful attempt was made to save + it by a manoeuvre battle, and hopes were entertained in allied countries + that Rumania was about to repeat the success of the Marne. The success + could only come later when Averescu had flanks as secure as Joffre's. + Still a wedge was for the moment driven between Mackensen and Falkenhayn's + centre, and the movement might have succeeded had the reserves been up to + time. Bukarest fell on the 5th, and for the rest of the year the Germans + continued their progress eastwards until the Russo-Rumanian forces were + able to stand on a line formed by the Danube, the Sereth, and the Putna + ascending to the Oitos Pass. Sakharov had been forced to withdraw from the + Dobrudja, and all that was left of Rumania was its Moldavian province, + less than one-third of the kingdom, with its capital near the Russian + frontier at Jassy. + </p> + <p> + Sarrail's campaign in the south provided inadequate compensation. The part + assigned to the British contingents under General Milne, which had taken + over the front from the Vardar eastwards past Doiran and down the Struma + to the sea, was the somewhat thankless one of pinning the Bulgars to that + sector and preventing them from reinforcing the threatened line in the + west. The various British attacks on villages east of the Struma, such as + Nevolien, Jenikoi, Prosenik, and Barakli-Djuma, were thus merely raids, + and the ground gained was soon evacuated for tactical or sanitary reasons. + The serious offensive was towards Monastir, and the lion's part was played + by the Serbian army with assistance from the French and a moderate Russian + contingent; Italians from Avlona also fought occasionally. The Bulgarian + offensive from Monastir in August had penetrated far into Greek territory, + patrols even reaching Kailar, and it threatened, indeed, to turn Sarrail's + left wing by an advance to the shores of the Gulf of Salonika when Sarrail + began his attack on 7 September. The first serious fighting took place to + the west of Lake Ostrovo, where on the 14th the Serbians captured Ekshisu. + On the 20th they stormed Mount Kaymakchalan and recovered a footing on + Serbian territory, while the French and Russians drove the Bulgars out of + Florina. On the 29th, after furious Bulgarian counter-attacks, the Serbian + general Mishitch descended the mountains towards the bend of the Tcherna + river, and turning the left flank of the Bulgar-Germanic army forced it + back to the lines at Kenali beyond the Greek frontier. These had been + selected by Mackensen and strongly fortified, and a frontal attack by the + French and Russians on 14 October broke down (<i>see</i> Map, p. 151). + </p> + <p> + Better success attended the Serbian efforts to turn the enemy flank. By 5 + October they had secured the crossing of the Tcherna at Brod, and slowly + they pushed across it. Bad weather delayed them for a month, but by 15 + November Mishitch had mastered the river bend from Iven to Bukri; and, + thus outflanked on their left, the enemy yielded to the Franco-Russian + attacks on Kenali and retreated to the Bistritza, four miles from + Monastir. On the 16th and 17th the Serbians again attacked on the + mountains in the Tcherna bend, carried the Bulgar positions, and by the + 19th had reached Dobromir and Makovo whence they threatened the line of + retreat from Monastir to Prilep. On that day the Germans and Bulgars moved + out of and the Allies into Monastir. Their position was further improved + before the end of the year, and it is said that had Mishitch been allowed + the use of reserves, Prilep would also have fallen and Monastir been + spared the annoying bombardment which it suffered at intervals for nearly + two years. For its capture marked the limit of Entente success in that + sphere until the closing months of the war. The campaign had not been + fruitless, for Greece had been saved as a brand from the burning, and + presently did her part in the Allied cause. But the Balkan corridor had + been expanded by the Rumanian disaster into a solid block, and revolution + in Russia soon put an end to all threats from the north. The hopes that + were built on Salonika were destined to remain in abeyance until events in + September 1918 justified the faith of those who refused to abandon the + Balkans. + </p> + <p> + The Rumanian disaster was, however, a severe trial to the confidence and + the patience of public opinion. Some critics held that the war had been + lost in that campaign; but it was a worthier sentiment than pessimism that + gave edge to popular feeling against the Government. Official optimism had + not concealed the indecisiveness of the Somme, and few had the vision to + discern the deferred dividends which accrued as a bonus to other ministers + in the spring. But disappointment with the achievements on the Somme was + not so bitter as resentment at the failure in Rumania. Was friendship with + the Entente doomed always to be fatal to little peoples? One more trusting + nation had gone the way of Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro, and the blow + to our self-respect was keenly felt. The public had little knowledge of + the real responsibility, but where knowledge is rare suspicion is rife; + and a vicarious victim is always required when the actual culprit is out + of reach. Englishmen could exact no responsibility for whatever befell in + the war except from their own responsible Government; and few paused to + reflect that if Russia could not protect her immediate neighbour, England + and France could not save a State from which they were completely cut off + both by land and sea. Nor was it open for those who knew the facts to make + public comment on the conduct of an ally, and compulsory silence on the + part of truth made all the more audible the malicious tongue of slander. + Belgium may have been our affair, but the Balkans were that of Russia; and + not the wildest of Jingoes before the war had dreamt of British forces + protecting Rumania. It was indeed the very distance of the danger that + induced and enabled us to indulge in recrimination against the Government; + for when eighteen months later a greater and far more preventable disaster + threatened us nearer home, public sense rose superior to the temptation + and temper of 1916, and instead of attacking ministers the nation bent its + undivided and uncomplaining energies to the task of supporting and helping + them out of their dilemma. + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of the Rumanian reverse there was no peril so imminent in + the West as to impose unity upon public opinion, the press, or aspiring + politicians. The advance on the Somme had been slow, but it was the + Germans who were in retreat; the German Navy had been demoralized at + Jutland; and Germany's only retaliation had been the judicial murder of + Captain Fryatt on 27 July on a charge of having defended himself against a + submarine. Nine-tenths of Germany's last and greatest colony had been + overrun, and German forces oversea reduced to hiding in unhealthy swamps + in a corner of East Africa; while across the Sinai desert and up the banks + of the Tigris were creeping those railways which were to lead to the + conquest of Syria and Mesopotamia. Two German raids in the dark on the + Channel flotilla and the recrudescence of German submarine activity had, + indeed, provoked some criticism of the Admiralty, and the substitution of + Jellicoe for Sir Henry Jackson as First Sea Lord had been already decided. + But the menace of the Zeppelins, which had earlier stirred indignation in + breasts unmoved by dangers at the front, had been met when on 2 and 23 + September, 1 October, and 27 November successive raiders were destroyed + with all their crews by incendiary bullets from aeroplanes; and the + Zeppelin had ceased to worry the public mind. The aircraft policy of the + Government had been vindicated by a judicial committee in the summer, and + the German mechanical superiority in the air which was foreshadowed by the + advent of the Fokker had not survived the subsequent improvements in + British construction; while the exploits of Captain Ball put those of + every German airman into the shade. + </p> + <p> + Impatience and pinpricks were, indeed, the causes of popular irritation, + rather than any such crisis as those of the autumn of 1914 or the spring + of 1918. Such irritants are, however, apt to provoke more resentment and + provide more scope for recrimination than the stunning blows of national + disaster; and in the autumn of 1916 the people felt less need of restraint + than in the more perilous moments of the war. The discontent was not due + to any particular causes, nor was it confined to any particular country. + It was a malaise produced by the fact that the war was lasting longer and + costing more than people had expected, and by popular reluctance to + believe that Britons could not have beaten the Germans sooner but for the + feebleness of their leaders. The public needed a stimulant other than that + which mere prudence could provide; and catch-penny journals, having hunted + in vain for a dictator, found at least a victim in the Cabinet of + twenty-three. It was not an ideal body for prompt decision, and its chief + seemed almost as slow at times to take action that was necessary as he was + to commit the irretrievable blunders urged on him by his journalistic + mentors, who thought the wisdom of a step immaterial provided it was taken + at once. He had other qualities which disqualified him for popular favour + in a time of popular passion. He was not emotional, and did not respond to + the varying moods of the hour with the versatility demanded by the experts + in daily sensation. He belonged to an older school of politicians who + suffered, like our armies in the field, from the newer and possibly more + scientific methods of their foes. He was scrupulous in his observance of + accepted rules of conduct, and the charge which was pressed against him + most was that of excessive loyalty. He did not intrigue against his + colleagues for newspaper support, nor publicly criticize his Government's + commanders in the field. He put what success his Cabinet achieved to its + common credit, and took the chief responsibility for its failures himself. + He was staid in adversity but slow in advertisement, and he did not figure + in the cinema. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lloyd George was the antithesis of his former leader, a Celt of the + Celts, with all their amazing emotion, versatility, and intuition. There + is a true story, which has even found its way into French literature, of + how the Welshmen were stirred to defeat an all-conquering New Zealand + football team by the strains of the "Land of my Fathers." That was the + sort of tonic the British public found in Mr. Lloyd George, and it would + not have been so much to their taste at a less emotional time. He was the + very embodiment of an emotion that was not overburdened with scruples, and + of an impulse which hardly troubled to think. He imported the temperament + and the methods of the religious revivalist into the practice of politics, + and he enlisted strange allies when he found a vehicle for his patriotic + fervour in the language of the prize-ring. He prided himself on his + aptitude for political strategy, and professed a sympathy with the mind of + the man in the street which was keener even than that of Lord Northcliffe. + His views were always short-sighted, and he had the most superficial + knowledge of the deeper problems of war and politics. Before the war broke + out he had complained that we were building Dreadnoughts against a + phantom; in August 1914 he estimated our daily expenditure of + three-quarters of a million as a diminishing figure; in the following + April he was as much in the dark as Mr. Asquith himself about munitions, + and denied that conscription would assist our success in the war. + According to one of his colleagues, he was the only member of his Cabinet + who favoured British participation in the Pacifist Conference of + Stockholm; in the November before the great German offensive in the West + he quoted with approval a plea for concentration at Laibach; and the views + he expressed on the Salonika expedition varied with the fortunes of war + and the fluctuations of popular favour. His remark after the armistice + that we had achieved nothing in the time of his predecessor except two + defeats at the hands of the Turks, was an epitome of his own intellectual + limitations; and the intensity of his convictions was discounted by the + infirmity of his principles. + </p> + <p> + There were, however, substantial reasons for the supplanting of Mr. + Asquith by Mr. Lloyd George. Political failings like these and lapses like + the Marconi scandal might well be forgiven the man who could get on with + the war, or at least persuade the people of its progress. The man in the + street really believed that after the change of government the war would + soon be won, and subscribed with enthusiasm to a "victory" loan calculated + to finance a triumph in eight months. Cooler observers discerned a solid + advantage in a Prime Minister who could minister at once to the public + demands in the rival spheres of speech and action, who could appease with + words the popular clamour for the moon and yet be guided by others into + the mundane paths of practical common sense. There was at the moment an + abnormal dislocation between public opinion and actual possibilities. The + harsh amalgam of democratic politics and war seemed to demand an adaptable + Premier; he was <i>ex-officio</i> and <i>par excellence</i> the pivotal + man, and circumstances required a liberal amount of lubrication and + elasticity to ease the friction and avert a fracture. + </p> + <p> + The genesis of the movement which led to the Cabinet crisis of the first + week in December remains obscure, and the transference of power was + effected within the camarilla itself without so much as a reference to the + House of Commons and still less to the electorate. The old system of + Cabinet Government and collective responsibility disappeared, and while + ministers multiplied until they numbered ninety, there was little + connexion or cohesion between the endless departments. They were all + subject, however, to the control of the new War Cabinet, which soon + consisted, like the old War Committee, of seven members. The old body of + twenty-three was reduced to less than a third its size for the purposes of + supreme direction and deliberation, and increased to twice its numbers for + those of departmental execution. The higher functions were still reserved + for the much-abused politicians; three of them had been members of the old + War Committee, and all of them, with the exception of General Smuts who + was recruited in June, had been members of the old Cabinet. So-called + business men were, however, admitted to departmental duties, though the + most striking successes were achieved by two ministers of academic + training, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, President of the Board of Education, and + Mr. R. E. Prothero, President of the Board of Agriculture. Both Navy and + Army were entrusted to civilians for political reasons, though one retired + in July 1917, when the submarine campaign had reached its zenith, and the + other as a result of the German offensive in March 1918. Deliberation had + been the foible of the Asquith regime; the characteristic of his + successor's was the speed of its versatility. The War Cabinet's agenda + resembled nothing so much as a railway time-table with ten minutes allowed + on an average for the decision of each supremely important question + reserved for its discussion; and departmental changes recurred with a + rapidity which was reminiscent of French governments in times of peace. + </p> + <p> + These bureaucratic revolutions were, however, faithful reflections of the + restlessness which overcame peoples in all belligerent countries as the + war lengthened and produced its logical trend towards anarchy; for + civilization cannot resist an unlimited strain put on it by its negation, + and there were symptoms of social dissolution throughout the world in the + later stages of the war. In Germany they were suppressed for the time by a + powerful government and delusions fostered by the success of the Rumanian + campaign; and the nation was stirred to a <i>leve-en-masse</i> for + national service, supplemented by labour or slave raids in the occupied + territories. But even in Germany the Chancellor spoke of the need of + peace, and was tottering to his fall. A greater ruin was creeping towards + the Russian Government, and in France a series of stormy secret sessions + in the Chamber left M. Briand with the task of reconstructing his + Government and reorganizing the high command. Joffre was succeeded by + Nivelle, and Briand himself was driven from office four months later. In + Austria a more violent fate overtook the Premier, Count Sturgkh, who was + murdered on 27 October, and his successor Koerber was compelled to resign + on 13 December. Three weeks earlier the old Emperor Francis Joseph, who + had ascended the throne in the midst of the revolutions of 1848, passed + away in time to escape the greater desolation which threatened his empire. + His successor and great-nephew Charles could give no better security to + his ministries. Koerber was followed by Spitzmueller, and he, after a few + days by Clam-Martinitz, a Bohemian noble. Tisza's henchman Count Burian + gave way as Foreign Minister to the anti-Magyar Czernin, though Tisza + himself maintained his despotic sway in Hungary until his murder in 1918. + </p> + <p> + This holocaust of European reputations did not extend across the Atlantic + to the neutral United States, where President Wilson, who had only been + chosen by a minority vote owing to the split between Taft and Roosevelt in + 1912, secured re-election by a narrow majority in a straight fight with + Mr. Hughes, the Republican candidate. Discerning critics rejoiced at the + issue of the contest; for apart from the merits of the candidates, nothing + could have been worse than a practical interregnum during the coming + crisis in the history of the United States and of the world. Yet an + interregnum there would have been, if Mr. Wilson had been defeated; for he + would still by the American Constitution have remained in office till + March, and as the head of a vanquished party he would have had no moral + authority to deal with the German pleas for peace or their unrestricted + campaign of submarine war. The peace manoeuvre began with a letter which + the Kaiser wrote to his Chancellor at the end of October; it was made + public by the latter's speech in the Reichstag on 12 December. The Allies + were simply invited in the interests of humanity to discuss terms at a + conference with their conquering but magnanimous foe. On the 18th + President Wilson addressed an independent inquiry about their aims to both + groups of belligerents. The Allies replied to Germany on the 30th and to + President Wilson on 10 January, intimating that there could be no peace + without the reparation, restitution, and guarantees which Germany was as + yet determined to refuse. + </p> + <p> + The attitude of the Allies astonished no one but the Germans. On 11 + January their Government issued a note to neutrals, and on the 12th the + Kaiser a proclamation to his people. Mr. Balfour also discussed the + situation in a persuasive dispatch to the United States. But the most + illuminating comment was made in private and came from humbler quarters. A + party of interned German officers in the Engadine were eagerly awaiting + the news of the Allied reply to the German offer. When it arrived they + could not conceal their amazement and chagrin; some of them even burst + into tears, and one remarked <i>jetzt ist alles verloren</i>. While the + Government of Great Britain was being dismissed for having accomplished + nothing in the war, intelligent Germans were bemoaning that all was lost. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter14" id="chapter14"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <h3> + THE TURN OF THE TIDE + </h3> + <p> + The German presentiment of disaster was justified by events in the spring + of 1917, and the new British Government seemed to have come in on a + flowing tide. In spite of the gloomy picture of the situation which Mr. + Lloyd George had drawn for his chief in December, confidence in a speedy + victory animated the appeal of his ministry for further financial support; + and in most of the spheres of war the first quarter of 1917 saw the + reaping of harvests sown by other hands. The deferred dividends on the + Somme campaign were paid, and the Germans fell back from hundreds of + square miles of French territory. Mesopotamia was conquered as the result + of the patient labours of Sir Charles Monro and the brilliant strategy of + Sir Stanley Maude, who had been appointed in August 1916. The meagre + German holding in East Africa was further reduced; and even distressful + Rumania put a stop to the German advance. + </p> + <p> + Security for the Rumanian forces could not, however, be found short of the + Sereth, which would give them a straight line with the Russian frontier + protected by the impassable delta of the Danube on their left, and a flank + in the Carpathians on their right; and from the fall of Bukarest to the + end of December Averescu the Rumanian commander, and Presan his chief of + staff, retreated to this line fighting rearguard battles on the way. The + most stubborn of these was a four days' conflict at Rimnic Sarat in the + centre on 22-26 December, after which Mackensen entered the town on the + 27th. Sakharov conformed to this retreat in the Dobrudja; on 4 January + Macin, the last place east and south of the Danube, was evacuated, and on + the 5th Braila on the opposite bank south of the Sereth and Danube + confluence. On the 23rd the Bulgarians, taking advantage of the + unprecedented frost, crossed the marshes at Tulcea, but were annihilated + by the Rumanians on the northern bank, and remained content for the rest + with the defensive. The same wintry conditions put an end to fighting at + the other extremity of the line in the Carpathian passes, but in the + centre Mackensen seized Focsani on the 8th and occupied the bank of the + Sereth. That line had originally been fortified against the Russians, and + it faced in the wrong direction; but the position was strong, and when on + the 19th Mackensen sought to force it he was repulsed in a costly + encounter. Russian reinforcements which might have saved Wallachia came in + time to protect Moldavia; and the war-worn Rumanian army was retired to + refit, the defence of the Sereth being left to the Russians. The Germans + made the most of their booty in Wallachia, which suffered the fate of + Belgium and of Serbia; though the stores of grain had been burnt and the + Rumanian oil-wells put out of action for many months. In one respect + Rumania was less fortunate than the other little nations: in his fanatical + hatred of Russia, Carp rejoiced in her ally's defeat--albeit that country + was his own--and Marghiloman remained in Bukarest to curry favour with its + conquerors, and ultimately to become for a brief and discreditable period + the Premier whom the Germans imposed on Rumania after the Treaty of + Bukarest. Meanwhile the patriotic parties rallied round the ministry at + Jassy and formed a Coalition Government. + </p> + <p> + The defence of Rumania now seemed to occupy all the energy Russia could + spare from her domestic preoccupations. In January there was a sound + strategical effort to divert German attention from the south by a + counter-offensive from Riga, and an advance of some four miles was made to + Kalnzem. But the Germans soon recovered most of the ground; and elsewhere + the front was quiescent. There was no repetition of the great blow at + Erzerum of January 1916, and in Persia Baratov's small but adventurous + force was driven back by the Turks from Khanikin to Hamadan, and the + resistance to Turco-Teutonic invasion and intrigue was left more and more + to British effort. Co-operation seemed impossible to synchronize in the + East; one partner retreated whenever the other advanced. While therefore + the Russians halted in Asia Minor and withdrew in Persia, Sir Stanley + Maude was gathering his forces for a spring on Baghdad. Gorringe had + already in May 1916 advanced some way up the right bank of the Tigris + towards Kut; but summer forbade active operations, and Maude had been duly + impressed by the force which previous experiences in Mesopotamia had given + to the adage about more haste and less speed. The autumn was spent in + careful study and preparation, which would preclude a repetition of the + retreat from Ctesiphon and the fall of Kut (<i>see</i> Map, p. 177). + </p> + <p> + By 12 December he was ready to attack. The Turks still held the + Sanna-i-Yat positions on the left bank of the Tigris, but on the right + they had been pushed back to a line running across the angle from the + Tigris at Magasis towards its southern tributary the Shatt-el-Hai. The + Turks under their German taskmasters had not been idle, and this angle, as + well as the extension of the Turkish line along the Shatt-el-Hai and their + secondary defences on the right bank of the Tigris above Kut, had been + well protected by trenches and wire entanglements. The breaking down of + these obstacles required stubborn fighting as well as skilful tactics, but + the only alternative was to penetrate the Sanna-i-Yat positions and they + had proved impregnable in the spring. A serious attempt had, however, to + be made at Sanna-i-Yat in order to detain there a serious Turkish force; + and while Marshall pushed his way through on the right bank, Cobbe was + kept hammering on the left. On the 13th crossings of the Shatt-el-Hai were + effected at Atab and Basrugiyeh some eight miles from Kut, and Marshall + advanced on both banks to Kalah-Hadji-Fahan. On the 18th he reached a + point on the Tigris just below Kut in the Khadairi bend. Rain and floods + then impeded our advance for a month, but the Khadairi bend was gradually + cleared of the Turks, and most of their positions in the angle of the + Tigris and Shatt-el-Hai were taken. On 10 February Marshall pushed on + beyond the Shatt-el-Hai, reached the right bank of the Tigris above the + Shumran bend, and by the 16th forced the Turks in the Dahra bend across + the river. + </p> + <p> + The Turks had now been driven off the right bank below, in front of, and + far above Kut, but they held the left bank as far down as Sanna-i-Yat, and + Maude's task was to find a way across. He chose the Shumran bend, but + diverted the attention of the Turks by thrusting at Sanna-i-Yat from 17 to + 22 February. On the 22nd he also made feints to cross at Magasis and Kut, + but on the 23rd the real attack was made at Shumran. Troops were ferried + across and a bridge built before evening, and on the 24th the Turks were + driven back on to their lines of communication between Baghdad and Kut. + Meanwhile Cobbe had forced six enemy lines at Sanna-i-Yat and then found + the remainder deserted. The Turks were in full retreat towards Baghdad, + and Cobbe entered Kut unopposed. The pursuit was taken up by Marshall, who + reached Azizieh in four days. There he halted till 5 March to prepare for + his final advance. On the 6th he passed deserted trenches at Ctesiphon, + and on the 7th reached the Diala. For two days the Turks disputed the + passage, but a force, transported to the right bank of the Tigris, + enfiladed their position on the Diala and captured their trenches at Shawa + Khan on the 9th. Our forces on both sides of the river entered Baghdad on + the 11th, thus concluding a model campaign which reflected glory alike on + the British and Indian troops engaged and on their commanders, and raised + British prestige in the East higher than it had been before the fall of + Kut. + </p> + <p> + The work of our armies in Egypt was less sensational, but it was making + solid progress and laying firm foundations during the autumn of 1916. The + Grand Sherif of Mecca was proclaimed king of the Hedjaz, and he was a + thorn in the side of the Turks. Their defeat at Romani had been followed + by the steady construction of a railway eastward across the desert from + Kantara, and on 20 December El Arish was captured, while on the 23rd the + Turks who had fled south-east to Magdhaba were there surrounded and forced + to surrender. The success was repeated at Rafa on the Palestine frontier a + fortnight later, and presently the whole Sinai peninsula was cleared of + the enemy forces (<i>see</i> Map, p. 352). Early in February a final blow + was struck on the western frontiers of Egypt at the Senussi, and Egypt was + converted from an enemy objective into a fruitful basis of operations + against the Turkish Empire. Whatever might be said for frontal attacks in + the west of Europe, ways round were proved to be the shortest in the East, + and the failure of the direct blow at Turkey's heart in the Dardanelles + was redeemed by success along the circuitous routes through Egypt and + Mesopotamia. + </p> + <p> + Among the other forgotten achievements of the first two and a half years + of the war was the completion, chiefly by British arms, of the + establishment in the African continent of Entente and mainly British + supremacy. For even before the Turks had been driven from the frontiers of + Egypt the Germans had been expelled from all the important parts of East + Africa. The progress had been slow and not very creditable to our earlier + efforts, which failed through an underestimate of the German strength, and + particularly of the skill and resource of the German commander Von + Lettow-Vorbeck. But it was sound as well as inevitable strategy to make + sure of what we had by suppressing rebellion in the South African Union + and then securing its frontiers by the conquest of its German neighbour + before proceeding to concentrate forces for an offensive against an + isolated German stronghold which could not threaten any essential interest + nor affect the main struggle for victory in the war. The case against + divergent operations was strongest of all against the East African + campaign; and it would have been criminal folly for the sake of <i>amour + propre</i> or imperial expansion to diminish our safeguards against a + German victory in the West, or weaken the defence of our threatened + communications with Egypt and India. Von Lettow-Vorbeck had forces enough + to hold his own, but he never even attempted the conquest of British East + Africa or the Belgian Congo, and the most nervous anticipation could not + picture him as a serious danger to other dominions. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map12.png"><img src="images/map12s.png" width="308" + height="360" alt="The Conquest Of East Africa" /></a> + </p> + <p> + He was therefore left very much to himself until the South African Union, + having set its own house in order and secured its frontiers by expelling + German rule from the southern part of the continent, was able to lend its + military power and its generalship to the task of reducing the Germans in + East Africa. It was formidable enough, not so much from the opposition of + man as because of the obstacles nature placed in the way. A tropical + climate, torrential rains which played havoc with transport, the + tzetze-fly which slew beasts of burden in hundreds of thousands, + impenetrable forests, impassable swamps, immense mountain masses, and an + area almost as large as Central Europe, provided a problem as vast as that + of the great Boer War, and more difficult of solution but for the fact + that Von Lettow-Vorbeck's forces could not be compared with those of our + past antagonists and present allies. Still they were far more dangerous + than any we had encountered in our normal wars against native races; for + they had been trained by German officers, experts with machine guns and + the other scientific equipment of civilized conflict; and three ships at + least had eluded the blockade and relieved Von Lettow-Vorbeck's most + pressing need of munitions; and he had selected his coloured troops from + the hardiest and most bellicose of the native tribes. With their help he + had kept the German colony intact until 1916, and even held at Taveta an + angle of British East Africa. + </p> + <p> + Smith-Dorrien had been selected for the command in the autumn of 1915, but + ill-health prevented him from taking it up, and in February 1916 General + Smuts arrived at Mombasa to conduct the campaign. Experience had made us + shy of enforced landings from the sea; and rejecting the idea of seizing + as bases Tanga or Dar-es-Salaam, which would have given him shorter lines + of communication with the Cape, Smuts adopted the more circuitous route by + the railway from Mombasa, with the design of forcing the gap below + Kilimanjaro and driving the Germans southwards, while British and Belgian + subsidiary forces impinged upon the enemy's flank from the Lakes, the + Congo State, and Nyasa in the west. His advance began on 5 March and + Taveta was occupied on the 10th. A frontal attack on the pass between + Kilimanjaro and the Pare mountains savoured rather of British than Boer + methods, and Smuts preferred to send Van Deventer round the north of + Kilimanjaro to turn the German position from Longido and cut off their + escape. Van Deventer was successful, and at Moschi blocked the Germans' + retreat westwards; they managed, however, to slip away south-eastwards by + Lake Jipe, but the Kilimanjaro massif had been cleared, and Smuts + established his headquarters at Moschi. His force was now arranged in + three divisions, the first under Hoskins, the second under Van Deventer, + and the third under Brits; the first consisted of British and Indian + troops, the two others of South African. The plan was to strike with the + second division from Moschi towards Kondoa Irangi and thence at the German + central railway, while the first and third cleared the Pare and Usambara + mountains and the coast, and then marched on Handeni and threatened the + central railway on a parallel line to Van Deventer's attack. Van + Deventer's second division marched with almost incredible speed. He + started from Aruscha on 1 April, and by the 19th had driven the Germans + from Kondoa Irangi, more than a hundred miles away. In May and June the + other divisions cleared the Pave and Usambara mountains, reached Handeni + and Kangata, and with naval assistance occupied Tanga, Pangani, Sadani + Bay, and Bagamoyo in July and August almost without opposition. Von + Lettow-Vorbeck had transferred the bulk of his troops south and then + westwards up the central railway to bar Van Deventer's progress; and in + the process he had been forced to abandon the north-eastern quarter of the + colony. No small part of the north-western province of Ruanda had been + lost as well: the Belgians had occupied Kigali and the British had driven + the Germans from their shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza. + </p> + <p> + The rapidity and divergence of these attacks, which were admirably timed, + distracted Von Lettow-Vorbeck's strategy, and in spite of his interior + lines he was unable to offer successful resistance. No sooner did he send + troops to bar Smuts' advance from Kangata into the Nguru hills than Van + Deventer struck west, south, and south-east from Kondoa Irangi. To the + west he took Singida, thus getting behind the Germans on Lake Tanganyika; + to the south and south-east he got astride the central railway by 14 July + and pushed down it eastwards to Kilossa, which he reached on 22 August. He + was now almost due south the Nguru hills, whence Smuts, attacking from the + north, had driven the Germans before the middle of August. This converging + advance made Mrogoro the only line of retreat, and Smuts planned a + complicated outflanking movement to intercept it. They escaped by a track + unknown to our forces on the 26th, and prepared to stand south of the + central railway in the Ulunguru hills. Smuts was too quick for them, but + they repelled a badly-timed attack at Kissaki on 6 September. Their + retreat had, however, made the coast untenable: on 3 September the capital + Dar-es-Salaam surrendered, and all the remaining ports before the end of + the month. Van Deventer, too, had pressed south to the Ruaha on the 10th, + the Belgians occupied Tabora on the 19th, and General Northey, advancing + from Nyasa in the south-west, had reached Iringa before the end of August, + while some Portuguese troops crossed the Rovuma river, the frontier + between German East Africa and Mozambique, and made a pretence of marching + north. By the end of September the great German colony had been conquered + save for the unhealthy south-eastern corner, where only the Mahenge + plateau provided a decent habitation for white troops. + </p> + <p> + The campaign had, however, tried the health and endurance of our forces, + and three months' respite was now taken for recuperation and reinforcement + before the final task of eradicating the Germans from the remnants of + their territory. The great difficulty was that, apart from the Mahenge + plateau, they were not rooted to any spot, and their elusiveness was + illustrated by the fact that the Tabora garrison evaded the encircling + forces and joined Von Lettow-Vorbeck at Mahenge. The campaign reopened on + 1 January 1917, and consisted of a converging attack on Mahenge by Hoskins + from Kilwa on the coast, by Northey from Lupembe, by Van Deventer from + Iringa, and by Beves and subsidiary forces from north of the Rufigi. Smuts + was summoned on the 29th to England to take part in the imperial + conference, and Hoskins succeeded to the chief command. Unprecedented + rains impeded our operations; progress became slow, and remained so after + Van Deventer replaced Hoskins at the end of May. Not till October was + Mahenge occupied by the Belgians. On 26 November half of the German forces + under Von Lettow-Vorbeck's lieutenant Tafel were forced to surrender + between Mahenge and the Rovuma; but Von Lettow himself escaped across the + frontier with sufficient troops to terrorize the Portuguese and maintain + himself in their territory until the end of the war. + </p> + <p> + The victor in the East African campaign came in 1917 to a Europe where + victory seemed also on the way, for the early spring saw the only German + retreat of moment until the war was near its end. The battles of the + previous September had convinced the Germans that their line upon the + Somme was barely tenable, and they had employed the winter pause to + perfect the shorter and better line upon which they had begun to work at + Michaelmas. Possibly it was to frustrate these preparations that Haig + reopened his campaign so early as he did. On 11 January, the day on which + the Allies answered President Wilson's note, British troops began to + nibble at the point of the salient on the Ancre which had been created by + the battle of the Somme. It was a modest sort of offensive; for it was no + part of the Allies' combined plan of operations, which had been settled in + conference during November, to launch a first-class attack across the + devastated battlefield of the Somme. That wasted area was as effective a + barrier as a chain of Alps to military pressure, and the Germans were thus + left free to withdraw from their salient without much risk of disaster. + They did not contemplate any serious stand, and until the Allies were + ready to strike at the flanks of their position the Germans could afford + to retreat at a pace which was not seriously hustled by our advance. They + showed as much promptitude, foresight, and skill in retirement as they had + done in their advance; they suffered few casualties and had no appreciable + loss in guns or prisoners. + </p> + <p> + The details of the movement were therefore of little moment, and owed the + attention they attracted to the habit of measuring progress in war by + miles marked on a map. It was the end of January before the preliminary + operation of clearing the Beaumont-Hamel spur was completed, and the + apparently substantial advance began with the fall of Grandcourt on 7 + February. A more ambitious attack on Miraumont from the south of the Ancre + was somewhat disconcerted on the 17th by a German bombardment of our + troops as they assembled, although the night was dark and misty; for even + in France the Germans found spies to work for them, and a number of + executions for treachery failed to prevent knowledge of our plans from + occasionally reaching the enemy. A week later the German retreat extended, + and Warlencourt, Pys, Miraumont, and Serre were evacuated. Again the + Germans stopped for a time to breathe, and it was not till 10 March that + Irles, a bare mile from Miraumont, was abandoned. By that time the Germans + had only rearguards and patrols left either north or south of the Somme, + and when on the 17th a general Allied advance was ordered it encountered + little resistance. The area of the German withdrawal had spread over a + front of a hundred miles from Arras in the north to Soissons in the south. + On that day British troops occupied Bapaume, while the French, whose line + we had taken over as far as the river Avre, proceeded to liberate scores + of villages between it and the Aisne. On that day, too, by one of the + apparent illogicalities of French politics, M. Briand's Cabinet, which had + held office for the unusual period of eighteen months, resigned. + </p> + <p> + The German tide rolled sullenly and slowly back for another fortnight. + Pronne, Nesle, and Chaulnes fell on the 18th, Chauny and Ham on the 19th, + and on the 20th French cavalry were within five miles of St. Quentin. By + the end of March the British line ran from a mile in front of Arras to the + Havrincourt wood, some seven miles from Cambrai, and thence southwards to + Savy, less than two miles from St. Quentin. Thence the French line ran to + Moy on the Sambre canal, behind La Fre, which the Germans had flooded, + and through the lower forest of St. Gobain to the plateau north-east of + Soissons. The German resistance had gradually stiffened, and there was a + good deal of local fighting in the first week of April while the Allies + were testing the strength of the positions behind which the Germans had + taken shelter. We called them the Hindenburg lines, and believed that the + Germans had so named them to give them a nominal invincibility which they + did not possess in fact. In Germany they were known as the Siegfried + lines, a name which properly only applied to the sector between Cambrai + and La Fre which was also protected by the St. Quentin canal. That was + the front of the new German position; its flanks rested on the Vimy Ridge + to the north, and on the St. Gobain forest and the Chemin des Dames to the + south. It was a better and shorter line than that which the battles of + 1914 had left to the combatants without much choice on either side, and + the Germans were right enough in claiming that the Hindenburg lines were + selected by themselves. Their retreat thereto was not, however, a matter + of choice except in so far as they preferred it to the disaster which + would otherwise have overtaken them in their more exposed positions. As a + retreat the movement could hardly have been more successfully carried out; + but the military distinction was marred by moral disgrace. For destruction + was pushed to the venomous length of maiming for years the orchards of the + peasantry in the abandoned territory. The crime may have been no more than + a characteristic expression of militarist malevolence and stupidity; but + it may also have been calculated to bar the path to peace by agreement and + to force on the German people the choice, as a Junker expressed it later, + between victory and hell. + </p> + <p> + The success of the German withdrawal discounted our spring offensive, not + because any attack was designed on the Somme, but because the Hindenburg + lines and the desert before them gave that part of the German front a + security which enabled the German higher command to divert reserves from + its defence to that of the threatened wings. Here preparations had been + begun by both the French and the British before the German retreat, and it + had barely reached its limit when on Easter Monday, 9 April, Haig attacked + along the Vimy Ridge and in front of Arras. Since 21 March a steady + bombardment had been destroying the German wire defences and harassing + their back areas, and in the first days of April it rose to the pitch + which portended an attack in force. Since the battle of Loos in September + 1915 our front had sagged a little, and points like the Double Crassier + had been recovered by the Germans. So, too, the French capture of the Vimy + heights, which had been announced in May that year, proved something of a + fairy tale, and in April 1917 our line ran barely east of Souchez, + Neuville, and the Labyrinth. It was held by Allenby's Third Army, which + joined Gough's Fifth just south of Arras, and by Horne's First, which + extended Allenby's left from Lens northwards to La Bassee. The Germans had + three lines of defences for their advanced positions, and then behind them + the famous switch line which hinged upon the Siegfried line at Quant and + ran northwards to Drocourt, whence quarries and slag-heaps linked it on to + Lens (<i>see</i> Maps, pp. 79, 302). This line had not been finished at + the beginning of April, and hopes were no doubt entertained that complete + success in the battle of Arras, reinforced by Nivelle's contemplated + offensive on the Chemin des Dames, would break these incomplete defences + and thus turn the whole of the Hindenburg lines. + </p> + <p> + At dawn on Easter Monday the British guns broke out with a bombardment + which marked another stage in the growing intensity of artillery fire, and + obliterated the first and then the second German line of trenches along a + front of some twelve miles. To the north the Canadians under Sir Julian + Byng carried the crest of the Vimy Ridge, and by nine o'clock had mastered + it all except at a couple of points. Farther south troops that were mainly + Scottish captured Le Folie farm, Blangy, and Tilloy-lez-Mofflaines, while + a fortress known as the Harp, and more formidable than any on the Somme, + was seized by a number of Tanks. The greatest advance of the day was made + due east of Arras, where the second and third German lines were taken and + Feuchy, Athies, and Fampoux were captured. On the morrow the Canadians + completed their hold on the Vimy Ridge, and Farbus was taken just below + it. On the 11th the important position of Monchy, which outflanked the end + of the Siegfried line, was carried after a fierce struggle; and on the + 12th and the following days the salient we had created was widened north + and south of Monchy. The capture of Wancourt and Heninel broke off another + fragment of the Siegfried line, while to the north our advance spread up + to the gates of Lens; the villages of Bailleul, Willerval, Vimy, + Givenchy-en-Gohelle, Angres, and Lievin, with the Double Crassier and + several of the suburbs of Lens, fell into our hands. The Germans appeared + to have nothing left but the unfinished Drocourt-Quant switch line + between them and a real disaster. + </p> + <p> + The battle of Arras was the most successful the British had fought on the + Western front since the Germans had stabilized their defences. Our + bombardment was heavier than the enemy's, and was far more effective + against his wire entanglements and trenches than it had ever been before; + and the new method of locating hostile batteries by tests of sound enabled + our gunners to put many of them out of action. Nor throughout the war was + there a finer achievement than the Canadian capture of the Vimy Ridge or + the British five-mile advance in a few hours to Fampoux. The German losses + in men and guns also exceeded any that the British had yet inflicted in a + similar period; in the first three days of the battle some 12,000 + prisoners and 150 guns were taken. The battle did not succeed in + converting the war from one of positions into one of movement; but if the + Vimy position could be so completely demolished in two or three days, + there seemed little prospect of permanence for any German stronghold in + France, and a few repetitions of the battle of Arras bade fair to make an + end of the Hindenburg lines and of the German occupation of French + territory. April along the Western front in 1917 wore a fair promise of + spring. + </p> + <p> + Nor was it without its hopes in other spheres. Maude's conquest of Baghdad + produced other fruits in the East, including a welcome change in the + situation in Persia. The fall of Kut in the April before had enabled the + Turks to turn against the Russians and drive Baratov's adventurous force + back from Khanikin into the mountains and even east of Hamadan; but + Maude's advance cut the Turks off from their base at Baghdad and + threatened their line of retreat to Mosul. The Turks were in a trap: + Baratov resumed his advance from the north-east, while Maude pushed up + from the south-west: Khanikin was the trap-door, and Halil, the Turkish + commander, made skilful efforts to keep it open. A strong screen of + rearguards held up the Russians at the Piatak pass, while other troops + reinforced from Mosul barred Maude's advance at Deli Abbas and on the + Jebel Hamrin range. By the end of March the bulk of Halil's forces were + through, and Maude had to content himself with linking up with the + Russians at Kizil Robat and driving the Turks from the Diala after their + troops in Persia had escaped. Their junction with those from Mosul enabled + Halil to resume the offensive, but his counter-attack was repulsed on + 11-12 April, and Maude proceeded to extend his defences far to the north + and west of Baghdad. Feluja on the Euphrates had already been occupied in + March, and the Turks driven up the river to Ramadie; and on 23 April Maude + completed his advance up the Tigris by the capture of Samara, where the + section of the railway running north from Baghdad came to an end. Hundreds + of miles separated it from the other railhead at Nisibin, and with his + front pushed out on the rivers to eighty miles from Baghdad, and with the + Russians in touch with his right and holding the route into Persia, Maude + might well rest for the summer content with the security of his conquests. + He had done single-handed what had been planned for a joint Anglo-Russian + campaign, with Russia taking the lion's share (<i>see</i> Map, p. 177*). + </p> + <p> + In the spring of that year it looked, indeed, as though the British Empire + alone was making any headway against the enemy Powers. Even on the + cosmopolitan Salonika front offensive action was left to British troops, + and at no time during the war did any but troops of the British Empire + partake in the defence of its dominions and protectorates. These were all + safe enough by the middle of April 1917, and those that were within reach + of the enemy were being used as bases for attack upon his forces. Maude, + with his army based upon India had now blocked the southern route into + Persia, and Sir Archibald Murray was advancing into Palestine. The capture + of Rafa on the frontier was followed on 28 February by that of Khan Yunus, + five miles within the Turkish border, and the Turks under their German general + Kressenstein withdrew to Gaza. There, on 26 March, they were attacked by + Sir Charles Dobell, of Cameroon fame, with three infantry and two mounted + divisions, including a number of Anzacs. The design was to surround and + capture the Turkish forces in Gaza, and the only chance of success lay in + the suddenness of the blow and its surprise. For Dobell's base was + distant, his men had to drink water brought from Egypt, and in spite of + the railway he had not at the front stores, equipment, or troops for a + lengthy struggle, while the Turks could bring up superior reinforcements. + A sea fog robbed him of two hours' precious time; and although the Wady + Ghuzze and other defences of Gaza were taken and a force of Anzacs + actually got behind Gaza and were fighting in its northern outskirts at + sunset, night fell with the task unfinished and the British divisions out + of touch on their various fronts. A retirement was accordingly ordered, + and on the morrow Kressenstein counter-attacked. He was driven back with + considerable losses, and although Dobell had failed to take Gaza he had + reached the Wady Ghuzze and secured the means of bringing his railhead + right up to the front of battle. With a few weeks' respite for + reinforcement and reorganization, April might yet see the British well on + the way to Jerusalem; for Arras was not intended to stand alone, and in + every sphere of war the Allies had planned a simultaneous offensive (*<i>see</i> + Map, p. 352*). + </p> + <p> + But if hope was bright in the East, it was pallid compared with the + certainty of ultimate triumph which blazed from the West across the + Atlantic; for on the 5th of that April of promise the great Republic, with + a man-power, wealth, and potential force far exceeding those of any other + of Germany's foes, entered the war against her and made her defeat + unavoidable save by the suicide of her European antagonists. It was not a + sudden decision, for a people with such varied spiritual homes as the + American, spread over so vast a territory, and looking some eastward + across the Atlantic and others westward across the Pacific, but all far + removed from European politics and cherishing an inherited aloofness from + the Old World and a rooted antipathy to imperialisms of every sort, could + not easily see with one eye or achieve unanimity in favour of a vast + adventure to break with their past and unite their fortunes with those of + the Old World they had left behind. We were accustomed to fighting in + Europe against overweening power; the United States had taken their stand + on a splendid isolation. Their first president had warned them against + entangling alliances, and their fifth had erected into the Monroe Doctrine + the principle of abstention from European quarrels. For a century that + principle had been the pole-star of American foreign policy; no other + people had such a wrench to make from their moorings before they could + enter the war, and no other people can understand what it cost the + Americans to cut themselves adrift from their haven of democratic pacifism + in order to fight for the freedom of another world. + </p> + <p> + But Fate was too strong for schismatic tradition, and the two worlds had + merged into one. The shrinking of space and expansion of mind was + abolishing East and West, and the two hemispheres had become one exchange + and mart of commodities and ideas. They could not continue to revolve on + diverse political axes, and neither was safe without the other's + concurrence. To the German cry of <i>weltmacht</i> must sooner or later + respond the American cry of <i>weltrecht</i>; for the war was a civil war + of mankind, and upon its issue would hang the future of human government. + Intervention was inevitable, not so much because the Kaiser had said he + would stand no nonsense from America as because, if America was to stand + no nonsense from him after victory, she would have to turn the New World + into an armed camp like the Old and run the same race to ruin. The old + peace and isolation were in any case gone, and the choice was between war + for the time, with the prospect of permanent peace on the one hand, and + peace for the time, with the permanent prospect of war on the other. There + was no other way, and Germany forced the American people to realize their + dilemma. + </p> + <p> + President Wilson had seen it earlier than the majority of his + fellow-countrymen; but for a statesman a vision of the truth is an + insufficient ground for acting upon it. He is bound, indeed, not to act + upon it until he can carry with him the State he governs; otherwise he + ceases to be a statesman and sinks or rises into the missionary. The + zealot is ever ready to break his weapon upon the obstacle he wishes to + remove, but the statesman who destroys national unity in his zeal for war + does not help to win it; and American intervention was both useless and + impossible until the President could act with his people behind him. Nor, + as official head of the State, could he play the irresponsible part of an + advocate; if he believed war to be inevitable in his country's interests, + it was for him to convince the people not by argument, but by his conduct + of American affairs. Idealism entered more largely into his policy than + that of most statesmen, but it was bound to American mentality and + national interests; for ideals which do not affect national interests do + not appeal to the majority in any nation, and the lawlessness which + trampled on Belgian neutrality made less impression across the Atlantic + than that which destroyed American lives and property. + </p> + <p> + A subsidiary cause of delay in American intervention was the absorption of + the United States in the presidential contest of 1916, but President + Wilson's re-election in November gave him a freer hand than was possessed + by any other democratic statesman. No American president is ever elected + for a third term of office, and Mr. Wilson had no need to keep his eye on + his prospects for 1920. He must, indeed, secure the assent of Congress + before war could be declared, but in both Houses his party had secured a + majority in November. The decisive step was not, however, taken by + President Wilson, but by the German Government, and America was as much + forced into war in 1917 as we were in 1914; and in both cases it was their + view of military necessity which drove the Germans into political suicide. + They could not, they thought in 1914, cope with Russia until they had + first beaten France, and they could not beat France in time unless they + trampled a way through Belgium. So in the early days of 1917, not + foreseeing the fortune which the Russian revolution was to bring them, + they saw no prospect of victory save through the ruin of England by means + of their submarines. The Eastern and Western fronts were too strong for a + successful offensive against either, the military situation was growing + desperate, and their offers of peace had been scorned; the war went on in + their despite, and their real offensive for 1917 was the submarine + campaign. It was adopted because there was no opening on land and no hope + of success in a naval battle; and its adoption justified those who held + that the remedy was worse than the disease and that unrestricted submarine + warfare would bring the United States into the war before it drove Great + Britain out. + </p> + <p> + As late as 22 January, President Wilson, while depicting the sort of peace + which would commend itself to the American people, disavowed any intention + of helping to secure it by force of arms. But on the 31st Germany revoked + her promise given on 4 May 1916 that vessels other than warships would not + be sunk without warning, and announced her resolve forthwith to wage + submarine war without any restriction. Later on Herr Bethmann-Hollweg + stated that the promise had only been given because Germany's preparations + were incomplete, and was revoked as soon as they were ready. The + President's answer was prompt: on 3 February the German ambassador was + given his passports and Mr. Gerard was recalled from Berlin. But the + invitation to other neutrals to follow the President's lead was declined + on this side of the Atlantic. Switzerland, without any seaboard, was not + concerned with submarine warfare, and other neutrals were too much under + the influence of German blandishments or terror to risk war in defence of + their rights; they preferred to abandon their sailings to British ports. + </p> + <p> + At first the President contemplated no more than an armed neutrality, and + proposed to equip all American mercantile vessels for self-defence. But + the sinking of American ships and loss of American lives began to rouse + popular anger; sailings stopped at the ports, the railways became + congested with goods seeking outlet, and the remotest inland districts + felt the effects of the German campaign. In March, too, the Russian + revolution removed a stumbling-block to co-operation with the Entente, for + American public opinion had always been sensitive to the iniquity of the + old regime in Russia. At length the President summoned a special session + of Congress, and on 2 April recommended a declaration of war. It was + adopted in the Senate on the 4th by 82 votes to 6, and by the House of + Representatives on the 5th by 373 to 50. Of the ultimate issue of the war + there could now be no doubt. Time would be needed for the United States to + mobilize its resources and train its armies, and the extent to which they + might be required would depend upon the course of events in Europe. But + the Americans were not a people to turn back having put their hand to the + plough, and with their forces fully deployed they would alone be more than + a match for the German Empire. Victory might be delayed, but its advent + was assured, and the first fortnight of April saw the hopes of the Allies + rise higher than since the war began. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter15" id="chapter15"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + HOPE DEFERRED + </h3> + <p> + Among the events which gave so brilliant a promise to the spring of 1917, + not the least was the revolution in Russia. From the first, indeed, there + was anxiety about the effect which so great a change in the midst of war + would have upon the military efficiency of our ally. But that had suffered + under the old regime, and the failure to capture Lemberg in the summer of + 1916, distracted as the Central Empires were by the Somme and Italian + campaigns, followed by the more discreditable failure to protect Rumania + in the autumn, raised serious doubts of the competence of the imperial + bureaucracy. Its honesty also fell under grave suspicion. Sazonov, the + Foreign Minister, had been dismissed in August, and Stuermer became Prime + Minister. A fierce indictment of his conduct by Miliukov in the Duma led + to his retirement in November, and an honest Conservative, Trepov, + succeeded. But Stuermer retained his power at Court as Imperial + Chamberlain, and a renegade from the Liberal party, Protopopov, was + introduced into the Ministry and exercised therein a growing and sinister + influence. Winter saw the Russian Government turning its back on its + Liberal professions, proroguing the Duma, prohibiting the meetings of town + councils and Zemstvos, provoking a revolution in order to suppress it and + re-establish the old despotism on its ruins, and apparently casting + wistful glances back at its old alliance with the German champions of + autocracy. The Tsar himself was a firm friend of the Entente, but the same + could not be said of the Tsaritsa nor of the reactionary and disreputable + influences to which she extended her patronage. If therefore there were + risks to the Entente cause in a Russian revolution, there were also perils + in its postponement; and it might well be thought that a Liberal Russia + would be bound more closely and logically to the Western Powers than + autocracy ever could be. A revolution would at least clarify the issue + between the combatants and give a more solid basis of political principle + to the Entente. + </p> + <p> + The overture was a strange and squalid tragedy. Noxious weeds grew in the + shadow of the Oriental despotism of the Russian Court, and for years the + Government had been at the mercy of a religious impostor and libertine + called Rasputin. The trouble, remarked a Russian General, was not that + Rasputin was a wizard, but that the Court laboured under the superstitions + of a Russian peasant; and Rasputin, who had some mesmeric power, used it + to gratify his avarice, immorality, and taste for intrigue at the expense + of Russian politics and society. At last, on 29 December, he was doomed by + a conclave of Grand Dukes, Princes, and politicians who informed the + police of what had been done. The deed was enthusiastically celebrated + next evening by the audience at the Imperial Theatre singing the national + anthem; but the body was buried at Tsarkoe Selo in a silver coffin, while + the Metropolitan said mass, the Tsar and Protopopov acted as pall-bearers, + and the Tsaritsa as one of the chief mourners. The last days of the old + regime in France, with their Cagliostro and the Diamond Necklace, produced + nothing so redolent of corruption or so suggestive of impending + dissolution. + </p> + <p> + Rasputin was a symptom, not a cause, and the dark forces in Russia were + not eradicated by his removal. Rather they were roused to further action, + and on 8 January Trepov gave place to Prince Golitzin, a mere agent of + obstruction, while Protopopov proceeded with his measures to provoke + disorder. The Duma was prorogued and machine guns made in England were + diverted from the front to dominate the capital. The Russian revolution + was, in fact, as much forced upon the Russian people as war was forced + upon ourselves and America. <i>Le peuple</i>, wrote Sully three centuries + ago, <i>ne se soulve jamais par envie d'attaquer, mais par impatience de + souffrir</i>; and in Russia even hunger and Protopopov barely provoked the + people to action. The revolution occurred not so much because they rose, + as because the bureaucracy fell, and it was not so much a change from one + government to another as a general cessation of all government through + comprehensive inaction. The Petrograd mob did not storm a Bastille like + that of Paris in 1789; it merely paraded the streets and declined to + disperse or work, and the act of revolution was simply the refusal of the + soldiers to fire. It was not the new wine of liberty, but the opium of + lethargy that possessed the popular mind, and relaxation loosened all the + fibres of the Russian State. Action came later with the Bolshevik + reconstruction, but for the time dissolution was the order of the day--a + dissolution that was due less to the activity of destroyers than to the + decay of the body politic; and the over-government of Russia by + bureaucracy and police precipitated a violent reaction towards no + government at all. + </p> + <p> + The Russian revolution was not therefore planned, and its origin and + progress can hardly be seen in acts. The Rasputin affair was a vendetta of + society which revealed its moral disintegration, but more than two months + passed before the Government collapsed. The first disorder took the form + of the looting of bakers' shops on 8 March by disappointed food-queues, + but a more ominous and comprehensive symptom was the abstention from work. + Characteristically it was not an organized strike; the idle throng seemed + to have no definite objects, and the question was not whether it would + achieve them, but whether the soldiers would obey orders and fire upon the + mob. On the 9th the chief newspapers ceased to appear; on the 10th the + trams stopped running; on the 11th a company of the Pavlovsk regiment + mutinied when told to fire, and the President of the Duma, Rodzianko, + telegraphed to the Tsar that anarchy reigned in the capital, the + Government was paralysed, and the transport, food, and fuel supplies were + utterly disorganized. Golitzin thereupon again prorogued the Duma; but, + like the French National Assembly in 1789, it refused to disperse, and + declared itself the sole repository of constitutional authority. On the + 12th Household troops improved upon the example of the Pavlovsk regiment, + and shot their more unpopular officers when ordered to fire on the people. + Other regiments sent to suppress the mutiny joined it and seized the + arsenal. Then the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul surrendered, and the + police were hunted down. The Duma now appointed an executive committee of + its members to act as a provisional government, while, outside, an + unauthorized committee of soldiers and workmen was created, for the + original Duma had been purged by imperial rescript and represented chiefly + the upper and middle classes. On the 13th news came that Moscow had + accepted the revolution, and it was clear that the Army would offer no + resistance, although the Tsar had appointed Ivanov commander-in-chief in + order to suppress the insurrection. Ruszky and Brussilov signified their + adhesion to the popular cause, and Ivanov failed to reach the capital. The + Tsar followed him, but was stopped at Pskov on the 14th. There on the + 15th--the modern Ides of March--the modern Russian Tsar or Caesar was + constrained to abdicate. + </p> + <p> + On that day the Duma Coalition Ministry was announced; the Premier was + Prince Lvov, Miliukov took charge of Foreign Affairs, Gutchkov of War and + the Marine, and Kerensky, a Socialist, of Justice. Ministers were in + favour of a regency, but the Soviet--a Russian word which originally meant + no more than Council--of Soldiers' and Workmen's Delegates demanded a + republic. Kerensky, however, persuaded it to support the Provisional + Government by an enormous majority and the revolution appeared to have + produced a government. But even in orderly countries enormous majorities + secured in moments of emotion are apt to be evanescent, and the + Provisional Government had an uneasy lease of life for just two months. + The Duma had not made the revolution, and the middle classes for which it + stood were weak in numbers and prestige. The vast mass of the Russian + people consisted of peasants who were illiterate and unorganized, and + cared for little but the land. The urban proletariat, not having been + educated by the Government, had partially educated itself in the abstract + socialism of Karl Marx, Lavrov, and Tolstoy. The Extremists followed Marx + and were called Social Democrats; but they had themselves split into two + sections, the Bolsheviks or Maximalists and the Mensheviks or Minimalists; + the former wanted a dictatorship of the proletariat, a complete inversion + of the Tsardom consisting in the substitution of the tyranny of the bottom + for the tyranny of the top, while the Mensheviks were willing to recognize + the claims of other classes than the proletariat. More moderate, though + still socialists, were the followers of Lavrov, who called themselves + Social Revolutionaries and found a leader in Kerensky. The middle classes + and <i>intelligentsia</i> formed the bulk of the Cadet party led by + Miliukov and were predominant in the Duma and the Provisional Government. + In the Soviet power gradually passed farther and farther to the left, from + Social Revolutionaries to Mensheviks and from Mensheviks to Bolsheviks + under the leadership of Lenin, whose return from exile in Switzerland was + facilitated for its own purposes by the German Government. + </p> + <p> + All parties in the Soviet were, however, agreed in their anxiety for + peace, the destruction of imperialism and bureaucracy, and the + reconstruction of Russia on a socialistic basis; and they concurred with + the peasants in their demand for the extirpation of landlordism. The + emancipation of the serfs by Alexander II in 1861 had done little more + than substitute economic for legal slavery; for the emancipated peasants + were only given as proprietors the refuse of the land they had tilled as + serfs, and for it they had to pay tribute calculated upon the value of + their labour when applied to the richer soil of their lords. Freedom + therefore meant unavoidable penury, but the demand of the peasants was not + so much to evade their dues to the State as to secure the richer land + which would enable them to meet their obligations. It was here that they + sought their indemnities and their annexations, not in the acquisition of + foreign territory hundreds of miles beyond their ken. Of Belgium and + Serbia they knew nothing, and all they knew of the war was that it meant + ghastly losses, fighting with pitchforks against poison gas and machine + guns for them, and for their masters the fruits of victory. What domestic + progress Russia had made in the past had been the outcome of her defeats; + success in war had always been followed by reaction. + Constantinople--Tsargrad as it was called by the Russians--had no charms + for the proletariat. They wanted peace, some of them because national wars + divided the forces of international Socialism and postponed the war of + classes, but most in order that they might consolidate their revolution + and garner its ripe and refreshing fruit. They did not, however, desire a + separate peace with the enemy, and Austria's offer of 15 April was + declined, because a separate peace would be disadvantageous to them. What + they wanted was a general peace which would give each nation what it + possessed before and each proletariat a good deal more; and the design + took form in the Congress of Stockholm in June. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile discipline disappeared in Russia, and even in her armies the + Soviet insisted that there should be no death-penalty, and that military + orders, except on the field of battle, should proceed from a democratic + committee. They knew that Russian autocracy had rested on bayonets and + only fell with the failure of that support: whosoever controlled the Army + would be master of Russia, and with a correct instinct the Bolsheviks set + to work to convert the soldiers and seamen. It was easy work preaching + peace, plenty, and indolence to the peasants at the front; and the + relaxation which reduced the production of Russian industries by 40 per + cent diminished still more the efficiency of the Russian Army. The + Provisional Government struggled in vain against the disintegration, but + its efforts were frustrated by the Congress of Soviets which began to sit + in April, fell more and more under Lenin's influence, and resisted on + principle all measures to retain or re-establish authority. On 13 May, + Gutchkov, the Minister for War, resigned, and Miliukov followed. On the + 16th the Provisional Government was succeeded by another Coalition more + socialist in its complexion. Lvov remained its nominal head, but Tchernov, + a social revolutionary, and two Mensheviks became Ministers, and Kerensky + took Gutchkov's place at the Ministry of War. He did his best by his + fervour and eloquence to reanimate the army, for he believed that only the + success of Russian arms could guarantee the orderly progress of the + revolution. But Alexeiev retired in June, the Congress of Soviets resolved + that the Duma should be disbanded, and the view was sedulously propagated + that it was wrong to fight fellow Socialists in the German Army and that + the approaching Stockholm Conference would compel the bourgeois and + imperialist governments to make peace without any further bloodshed. + </p> + <p> + Still Kerensky achieved some success with his impassioned appeals, and + Brussilov, who had become commander-in-chief, reported that the army was + recovering its <i>moral</i>. The Government determined to gamble on the + chance of a successful offensive. It had, indeed, no other means of + checking the growth of disorder, and an attack on the front was not + entirely hopeless. Both the Germans and Austrians had depleted their + Eastern forces to provide against dangers elsewhere, and there were still + sound elements like the Cossacks in the Russian Army. It was skimmed for + the purpose of all the cream of its regiments, and the scene of action was + laid where Brussilov's advance had pressed farthest forward in 1916. + Lemberg was to be outflanked on the south by a movement from a line + reaching from Zborow across the Dniester to the foothills of the + Carpathians. Three armies were employed, Erdelli's Eleventh to the north, + then Tcheremisov's Seventh reaching to the Dniester, and south of it + Kornilov's Eighth. Kerensky orated in khaki, and Gutchkov served as an + officer in the field. The artillery preparation began on 29 June, and on 1 + July the troops advanced from their trenches. For a time they carried all + before them, and revolutionary Russia bade fair to repeat the success of + Brussilov's offensive in 1916. Tcheremisov's Seventh Army took Koniuchy on + the 1st and Potutory on the 2nd, and captured 18,000 prisoners. Erdelli's + Eleventh was more successful in attracting the bulk of the enemy reserves + than in making progress; but the diversion gave Kornilov's Eighth a chance + of which it made brilliant use. It attacked on the 8th and took half a + dozen villages south of the Dniester, driving the Austrians back across + its tributaries, the Lukwa and the Lomnica. On the 10th Halicz fell before + a combined advance of Tcheremisov north and Kornilov south of the + Dniester, and on the morrow Kalusz was captured well on the way to + Lemberg's vital connexions at Stryj. Then the weather broke and the + strength of the Russian armies turned into water. There were no reserves + with the spirit of those who fell in this rapid advance, and Erdelli had + failed to inspire the Eleventh Army with Kornilov's dash. On the 16th + Lenin brought off his Bolshevik insurrection at Petrograd, but more fatal + was the infection which spread through Erdelli's troops. It was on them + that the weight of the German counter-attack fell on the 19th, and they + simply wilted before it. There was no great force in the German blow, + which was merely designed to relieve the pressure of Kornilov's advance; + but Russian troops refused to fight, and ran away trampling underfoot and + killing officers who strove to stem the rout. By the 20th German patrols + were in Tarnopol, which the Russians had held since August 1914, and in a + fortnight they were across the Russian frontier as far south as the + borders of Bukovina (<i>see</i> Map, p. 146). The Seventh and Eighth + Armies had to conform to this retreat, but they offered some stubborn + resistance and were brought off in good order. Czernowitz fell on 3 + August, and the only solid obstacle to the enemy advance in the East was + the little Rumanian Army which had looked to this summer for its revenge + on the invader and the recovery of its capital and Wallachia. + </p> + <p> + The Rumanian Army had during the winter been refitted and equipped with a + considerable store of munitions, and its offensive was planned to follow + closely on the heels of the Russian in Galicia, But the Russians were out + of Tarnopol before, in the last week of July, Averescu began his advance + from south of the Oitoz Pass towards Kezdi Vasarhely; and the Russian + Fourth Army under Scherbachev, which was to co-operate on Averescu's + right, was deeply infected with revolutionary disorder. Nevertheless + Averescu broke the enemy front, took 2000 prisoners on the first day, and + on 28 July was ten miles ahead of his original line. Then Mackensen + counter-attacked farther south at Focsani, while Scherbachev's regiments + began to desert and the Russians in the Bukovina were being steadily + driven back. On 6 and 7 August Mackensen forced the Russo-Rumanian line + back from the Putna to the Susitza, taking over 3000 prisoners in three + days and also pushing on towards Okna and Marasesti. In three days more + the number of prisoners increased to 7000, the key to the defence of the + Moldavian mountains was threatened at Adjudul, and the Court prepared to + leave Jassy and take refuge in Russian territory. On the 14th Rumanian + troops replaced the Russians in front of Okna in the Trotus valley and + counterattacked with vigour. But the decisive battle was fought farther + south, where Mackensen, advancing from Focsani, was seeking to cross the + Sereth in the direction of Marasesti and Tecuciu. It was the most heroic + of Rumania's struggles. Deprived of all but a fragment of her territory + and her manhood, and abandoned by the only ally within reach, she had to + face perhaps the ablest of German generals and over a dozen fresh + divisions thrown into the battle; and almost hourly during the three days' + fighting a fresh detachment of Russians deserted. Yet Rumania triumphed at + the battle of Marasesti, and by the 19th the crisis had passed. The attack + then shifted to Okna, where the Second Rumanian Army emulated the + achievements of the First at Marasesti. Sporadic fighting went on into + September, but Rumania had defended herself and saved South Russia for the + time. On the 18th the Germans even withdrew from Husiatyn, an Austrian + town on the Galician frontier: they had already abandoned the south for a + safer adventure against the unaided Russians at Riga (<i>see</i> Map, p. + 229). + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map13.png"><img src="images/map13s.png" width="312" + height="355" alt="The Baltic Campaigns" /></a> + </p> + <p> + This northern campaign resembled autumn manoeuvres, and was mainly + intended to test the value of the new tactics which Germany proposed to + use next spring against a more serious foe. It was more realistic to + experiment upon Russians than among themselves, and Von Hutier was + selected to make the demonstration. The advance began in the last days of + August, and on 1 September Von Hutier forced the passage of the Dvina at + Uexkll, eighteen miles above Riga, which the Russians abandoned on the + following day. Friedrichstadt fell next, and the Russians retired from + Jacobstadt on the 21st. The Germans were now across the Dvina on a front + of seventy miles, and pushed on towards Wenden, meeting with occasional + resistance. But their next experiment was at the expense of the Russian + Navy, which was even more demoralized than the Army, and had murdered its + officers wholesale. On 12 October the Germans landed a force on the island + of Oesel, and within a week had overrun that and the other islands at the + mouth of the Gulf of Riga. On the 21st they crossed to the mainland, + disembarking a force at Verder opposite Moen Island. There was little to + hinder a march on Petrograd, had there been any sufficient inducement. But + Petrograd in the hands of the Bolsheviks was worth more to the Germans + than in their own; for a German occupation of the capital would have + sterilized its miasmic influence over the rest of Russia, and the Germans + had only advanced so far in order to get into touch with Finland and + establish pro-German governments among the little nationalities of the + Baltic littoral. They had, moreover, to economize their shrinking + manpower, and their reserves were being called off from all the Eastern + fronts to more urgent tasks elsewhere, leaving Russia to stew in its own + disintegration. + </p> + <p> + Disaster had done nothing to check the distraction of Russian domestic + politics. The Cadets had most of them resigned in July owing to the + Government's complaisance towards the Ukrainian demand for independence; + and Kerensky succeeded Lvov as Premier on the 22nd, while Kornilov took + Brussilov's place as commander-in-chief on 1 August. But while Kerensky + shed his right wing, he gained no support from the left. The Bolsheviks + would not forgive him his offensive in July, nor the success with which he + had suppressed the Leninite rising; and a great conference at Moscow on 25 + August representing every shade of Russian disorganization produced some + agreement on formulas but none on action. Early in September Kerensky came + to the conclusion that a dictatorship was the only cure, and gave Kornilov + the impression that the latter should fill the part. Another Bolshevik + insurrection was brewing in Petrograd, and on the 7th Kornilov prepared to + crush it, sending Krymov forward to Gatchina within twenty miles of the + capital. Kerensky now took fright at the bugbear of a military + restoration, denounced Kornilov as a traitor, and threw himself on the + support of the Soviets. The cry that the revolution was in danger ruined + Kornilov's chances; his surrender was arranged by Alexeiev's mediation, + while Krymov committed suicide. + </p> + <p> + Such were Russian politics during the week in which the Germans overran + the Dvina. A republic was proclaimed on the 15th, and the government + entrusted to a council of five with Kerensky at its head. It lived no + longer than its numerous predecessors in the revolution. Kerensky was rash + enough to renew his breach with the Bolsheviks who had helped him to ruin + Kornilov, and in November they rent the man of words. Trotzky organized + the blow. There was little that was Russian about this Jew, whose real + name was Leo Braunstein, although he was born in Odessa; but he possessed + some practical capacity. Having secured election as president of the + Petrograd Soviet, he had created a military revolutionary committee and a + body of Red Guards, and on 5 November summoned the Petrograd garrison to + place itself under its direction. Kerensky sought to defend his + Government, but most of his forces went over to the Bolsheviks, and on the + 7th he fled from the city. He attempted to return at the head of some + dubious troops, but they were scattered by the Red Guards at Tsarskoe Selo + on the 13th and Kerensky disappeared. What there was left of government in + Russia passed into the hands of a self-constituted council of People's + Commissioners with Lenin as its president and Trotzky its Foreign + Minister; and on the 21st the council found a commander-in-chief in one + Ensign Krilenko. His business was to offer an armistice to the Germans as + a preliminary to suing for peace. + </p> + <p> + Russia had gone out of the war much faster than America came in. Early in + May a flotilla of destroyers joined the British Fleet, and on 26 June the + first division landed in France. But it needed six months' training, and a + year would pass before the weight of American reinforcements would make + much material difference to the Western front. That year was bound to try + the Western Allies to the utmost, and the interval between the + disappearance of Russia and the arrival of the United States as an + effective combatant, gave the Germans the chance of reversing the decision + which they felt had gone against them before the end of 1916. They + regarded the Russian revolution as a miracle wrought in their favour; but + it was only by degrees that they realized the extent of their apparent + good fortune and proceeded both to use and to abuse it. From the first, + however, the revolution changed for the worse the situation on every + front, and enemy troops, released from fear of Russia, began to appear in + the West, on the Isonzo, in Mesopotamia, in Palestine, and in the Balkans. + The middle of treacherous April saw the tide checked that had been flowing + so strongly since the year began. + </p> + <p> + The disappointment was not, however, entirely due to the gradual + elimination of Russia, for that misfortune did not fall with much weight + on the Western front until many months had passed, and depression there + had its causes nearer home. Commenting on the British success at the + battle of Arras, an Italian journal optimistically asked its readers what + would be the plight of the Central Empires when real military Powers got + to work, since so much had been achieved by the semi-civilians of the + British Empire. Hopes also ran high in France. Nivelle, the new + commander-in-chief, had conceived an ambitious plan of crushing the + Germans on a front of fifty miles between the plateau north-east of + Soissons and the river Suippe in Champagne; and this offensive, coupled + with the British pressure in front of Arras, was to clear the Germans out + of the greater part of occupied France. Nivelle proposed to repeat on a + vastly extended scale his triumphs of the previous autumn at Verdun, and + he made no secret to his Government of his confidence that Laon would fall + as a result of the first day's fighting. Neither Haig nor Ptain had much + faith in the possibility of the plan, but Nivelle had persuaded Ribot's + Ministry, which had succeeded Briand's in March, and French expectations + were raised to a giddy height. There were three main objectives: to clear + the Chemin des Dames, to master the Moronvillers massif and other heights + north and east of Reims, and to thrust between these two great bastions + along the road to Laon. Each was an objective greater than that achieved + in the battle of Arras, and all were attempted at once (*<i>see</i> Map, + p. 67*). + </p> + <p> + The artillery preparation began on 6 April and the infantry attack on + Monday the 16th, a week after that on the Vimy Ridge. The battle was not + easy to follow, because the French were very reserved about their + reverses, and the maps gave an erroneous impression of the line from which + the attack started and that on which it ended. The French were commonly + thought to be holding both banks of the Aisne all the way from Soissons to + Berry-au-Bac, whereas in reality they had never recovered from their + retreat in January 1915 to the south bank between Missy and Chavotine. + Nor, except at Troyon, were they near the Chemin des Dames; and not only + had the river to be crossed, but the formidable slopes, which the Germans + had beeen meticulously fortifying for two and a half years, to be + surmounted. The results of the first day's onslaught fell lamentably short + of the extravagant anticipations. The banks of the Aisne were cleared, + some progress was made up the slopes, and from Troyon, where the original + line was nearly on the ridge, an advance was made along it. But on the + whole the Germans maintained their grip on the Chemin des Dames. Nor was + fortune much kinder in the gap between it and the heights east of Reims. + The French Tanks, here first employed, were disappointing, and Loivre was + the only gain. The 17th was spent in beating off counter-attacks west of + Reims, while the French offensive spread east to Moronvillers. Here the + same tale had to be told; gallantry carried various points of importance, + but a month's fighting failed to give the French complete control of their + first day's objectives. West of Reims on the 18th and following days + Nanteuil, Vailly, Laffaux, Aizy, Jouy, Ostel, and Bray were captured by + Mangin, but they were all below the Chemin des Dames, and April came to an + end with the road to Laon as impassable as ever. Fresh attempts were made + in May; Craonne was taken on the 4th, and the California plateau to the + north of it and Chevreux in the plain to the east were seized on the 6th + and held against counter-attacks, while east of Reims Auberive had fallen, + and by the 20th the whole summit of the Moronvillers massif was said to + have been secured. + </p> + <p> + The impression that the Chemin des Dames had been conquered was not + removed until it really was gained by Ptain five months later; but there + was contrast enough between the promises and the achievement to produce + the deepest depression in France. On 28 April Ptain was appointed chief + of staff and on 15 May commander-in-chief in succession to Nivelle, while + Foch became chief of staff. Little was wisely revealed abroad of French + despondency or the effect of the disappointment on the <i>moral</i> of the + army. But French journals began to clamour for unity of command of all the + forces in France under a French generalissimo, <i>pour pargner du sang + Franais</i>, as one of them expressed it; and prudence constrained the + higher command to revert to those limited objectives which Nivelle had + abandoned. Joffre was sent to the United States to place the situation + before the sister-republic; and but for American intervention France would + have been nearer a peace of compromise in May 1917 than at any previous + date in the war. The second battle of the Aisne gave rise to that miasma + of <i>dfaitisme</i>, associated with the names of Bolo and Caillaux, + which enfeebled the spirit and effort of France until they were revived by + Clmenceau's vigorous stimulants. + </p> + <p> + Haig was also laid under an obligation to relieve the pressure and gloom + by prolonging his Arras offensive and seeking to extract more from his + victory than it would yield; and the second phase of that battle was + fought under a shadow and under constraint. But if it resulted in serious + losses, it brought some additions to our gains of ground. On 23 April + Gavrelle and Gumappe were captured after desperate fighting; and on the + 28th an advance was made at Arleux and Oppy. On 3 May the Canadians took + Fresnoy, and the Australians trenches at Bullecourt, but the Germans kept + up a series of stubborn counter-attacks, especially at Fresnoy, Roeulx, + and Bullecourt, and Fresnoy was lost on the 8th. On the 14th we completed + our capture of Roeulx, and on the 17th that of Bullecourt. The fighting + died down, towards the end of May, and the scene was shifted farther north + in June to the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge. During the month of the battle + of Arras we had taken over 20,000 prisoners, and the French claimed more + on the Aisne. We had also bitten into the Hindenburg "line." But that line + had not been broken, mainly because it was not a line, having instead of + none a breadth of several miles; and, apart from the important Vimy Ridge, + the German position had not been greatly shaken. The warfare was one of + attrition, and the true test was that of wastage, which can only be used + when the losses on both sides are exactly known. There was evidence that + the Germans were feeling the strain, but so was the Entente, and the + influx of troops from the Eastern front, which began in April and was felt + in the Arras battle, would more than compensate for the excess (if any) in + German losses. It was also clear by this time that the Germans had gained + another great advantage. They might lose the war, but they would lose it + in France, and the Fatherland would not suffer the destruction and + desolation which it had inflicted on all its foes except the British + Empire and the United States. The Germans were wisely bent on fighting to + a finish where Hindenburg had fixed his lines; they were beaten there, but + snatched immunity from ruin for German soil out of their defeat. Nivelle's + failure in April 1917 combined with the Russian collapse to preclude an + Entente repetition of the German invasion of August 1914; and Lord + Curzon's mental vision of Gurkhas encamping in Berlin was destined to + remain a dream. + </p> + <p> + The breakdown of Russia and of the French campaign paralysed other + offensives than those on the Western front, and a sympathetic inertia + spread to the Balkans. At the end of February Sarrail had told his + commanders that he intended attacking all along the line at Salonika in + the first week of April as his contribution to the comprehensive Allied + advance. But local operations in March, which succeeded in linking up the + Italians east of Avlona with Sarrail's left, did not lead up to the + expected climax. The offensive was postponed until 24 April, and then it + was only British troops that were sent into serious action. The desired + economy of French blood was effected by a French commander-in-chief at the + cost of general failure. A frontal attack by General Milne's forces was + ordered on the central position at Doiran; considerable losses were + incurred, and gains were secured that made no essential difference to the + situation. West of the Vardar and in front of Monastir no advance was + attempted; but on 8 May Milne was told to repeat his effort, which had + similar results to those of his first; and Sarrail was presently + superseded by Franchet d'Esperey. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless the Russian revolution had one beneficial effect upon the + Balkan situation. It removed one of the two influences which had protected + Constantine and enabled him to counterwork Entente policy and strategy in + the Near East. The other was neutralized by connivance in Italy's + proclamation of a protectorate over Albania on 3 June; and with this + compensation she was induced to remove her ban on Venizelos and to risk + that greater Greece, which with a free hand that statesman bade fair to + achieve. France was whole-hearted in supporting him. The chief islands had + one by one rallied to his cause in the spring, and by the end of May he + had 60,000 troops at his disposal. On 11 June M. Jonnart arrived at Athens + as plenipotentiary for the Entente to insist on Constantine's abdication. + Troops were moved down into Thessaly; the Isthmus of Corinth was seized, + and warships anchored off the Piraeus. Constantine had no choice, and + under compulsion nominated his second son Alexander as his successor. On + the 13th he left Athens for Lugano, and on the 21st Venizelos arrived from + Salonika and formed a government. The German agents were expelled, and the + Greek people were reconciled to the violence of the proceedings by the + substantial consolation of the raising of the blockade. Less happy was the + effect of the Russian revolution in Asia Minor. All idea of an advance + from Trebizond and Erzingian came to an end, and the projected campaign + which was to have given the Russians Mosul while Maude advanced to Baghdad + was abandoned. On 30 April the Turks announced that the enemy had + evacuated Mush. In May they left the Dialah, and in July retreated from + Khanikin into Persia, leaving the British right wing in the air. Gradually + they abandoned Persia to the principle of self-determination and to the + Turks, and Armenia to fresh experiments in massacre. Even on the Salonika + front Sarrail suffered from the retiring habits of his Russian troops, and + at Gaza Murray felt the force of Turkish divisions released from Russian + fronts. There were at least six divisions to oppose him when he renewed + his attack after three weeks' interval on 17th April. His communications + had been greatly improved and the railway brought up to Deir-el-Belah, but + so too had the Turkish defences, and there was little to say for a frontal + attack by inferior forces without the chance of surprise. The political + demand for an Egyptian contribution to the combined Allied offensive + seems, however, to have been inexorable, and Sir Charles Dobell was + committed to an enterprise not unlike our attacks in Gallipoli. Some + initial success was won on the 17th, and the ground gained was prepared on + the 18th for a final effort on the following day. Samson Ridge near the + coast was taken, but Ali Muntar defied all our efforts, and + counter-attacks deprived us of much of the ground that was won. Seven + thousand men had been lost, and Turkish reinforcements were still + arriving. Gaza could not be taken by frontal attack without greatly + superior forces; and the British had to look for success to another + general and a different strategy, and to postpone from Easter to Christmas + their Christian celebrations in Jerusalem. The brightness of dawn in the + East was clouded, and the flowers of hope that bloomed in the spring + drooped in the Syrian summer and in the furnace of war in the West. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter16" id="chapter16"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <h3> + THE BALANCE OF POWER + </h3> + <p> + THE breakdown of the strategical offensive of the Entente in the spring of + 1917 was almost complete. Russia had gone her own way to military + insignificance, France had failed in her far-reaching design of crushing + the German front on the Aisne, Haig's victory at the battle of Arras + secured merely a tactical advantage, the offensive from Salonika never + started, and that from Egypt was held up at the gates of Palestine. In the + absence of a combined General Staff for the Entente, it required months of + individual thought and interchange of views to elaborate any alternative + scheme and to readjust national forces for its execution; and the + campaigning season would assuredly close before effect could be given to a + fresh plan of campaign. The new Governments in England and France showed + no greater foresight than the old, and had made no further progress + towards a single strategical mind. Indeed, for the rest of 1917 divergence + seemed to grow, and there was no such combined operation as the Somme + campaign of 1916. Activity travelled away from the point of liaison, and + each ally concentrated its attention more and more on its own particular + front. Italy as usual had eyes only for Trieste and Albania, France turned + from the Somme and the Oise to the Aisne and Verdun, and England's effort + came north towards the Belgian coast. This divergence resulted from the + changed view of the military situation imposed upon the Entente by + Nivelle's failure. He had believed that the time had come for ambitious + objectives; Haig had demurred and clung to the idea of operations limited + in their scope like that of the Somme; and Ptain accepted that view when + he succeeded Nivelle. There might, of course, have been limited offensives + on the upper Somme and the Oise where the two armies joined; but it was + here that the Siegfried line most firmly barred the way, and when towards + the end of the year a new tactic had been evolved to surmount that + barrier, it was applied prematurely and without French co-operation. The + unity of the Entente did not extend to community of ideas or simultaneous + experiment; and novelties which might have been overwhelming if tried in + unison all along the line only achieved a partial success when adopted by + one of the Allies on a limited front. + </p> + <p> + Given, however, the impossibility of another combined strategical plan for + 1917, there were urgent motives and sound reasons for the extension of + Haig's offensive northwards from Arras to the coast. If it were successful + beyond expectation, it would achieve all that Nivelle had hoped to do by a + frontal attack, and would compel a general German retreat by turning the + enemy's flank as Joffre had tried to turn it in October 1914. But short of + such extravagant anticipations it might materially help to win the war by + defeating the real German offensive for 1917. That was not a campaign on + land at all, but on sea by means of the submarine, and the chief basis of + operations was the Belgian coast. Submarines emerged from other lairs, but + the German command of the Belgian coast shortened their distance from + their objectives by hundreds of miles and correspondingly lengthened their + range of operations. Bruges was their headquarters; situated inland, but + connected by canal with Zeebrugge and Ostend, it afforded a base immune + from any attack save those of aircraft, and Bruges was the real objective + of our Flanders campaign. Incidentally, too, the Belgian coast provided + harbours whence light German surface craft made occasional raids on + British coasts, commerce, and communications, and also for those aeroplane + attacks which became a serious nuisance as the year wore on. Apart from + these considerations the German hold on Flanders was the bastion of their + whole position west of the Meuse; and, but for the natural feelings of + Paris, a more strenuous attempt might well have been made earlier in the + war to deprive the enemy of its advantages. Obviously in the summer of + 1917, if the two Allies were to be left to their own devices, there was + none which suited us better than the Flanders campaign, and the official + American commentator opined that it held out more fruitful prospects than + the battle of the Somme. The drawback was that campaigning in Flanders + depended upon the weather: a rainy season turned its flats into seas of + mud, and the third quarter of 1917 was one of the wettest on record. + </p> + <p> + A preliminary obstacle to be overcome was the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge + which dominated Ypres and the whole of the line from which an offensive in + Flanders could start. Preparations to deal with it had been in progress + since early in the year, and heavy guns had also been mounted on our + positions near Nieuport. The plan indeed had been in Haig's mind since + November 1916, and even earlier than that Sir Herbert Plumer had been + training the Second Army for its task; it had had no serious fighting + since the second battle of Ypres in April 1916, the battle of the Somme + having been fought by the Fourth and Fifth, and that of Arras by the First + and Third. The victory, however, was to be largely a triumph of + engineering science. For nearly a year and a half tunnelling had been in + progress under the ridge, and at dawn on 7 June nineteen huge mines were + exploded beneath the enemy's lines in the greatest artificial eruption + that had ever shattered the earth's crust. Ten days' surface bombardment + had already obliterated much of the German defences, and it says something + for the German <i>moral</i> that any resistance was offered at all when + our troops advanced over the ruins of the soil. Messines was cleared by + New Zealanders by 7 a.m., Wytschaete fell by noon before Ulstermen and + Irish Nationalists fighting side by side, and Welshmen captured + Oosttaverne a few hours later. The battle could not have have been better + staged to exhibit the co-operation of the British Empire and of mechanical + science and human valour. A few days later Australians pushed on to + Gapaard and La Potterie in the direction of Warneton, and the Germans + withdrew from all their positions in the salient. The danger to Ypres + which had threatened for over two years and a half and had cost so much in + British blood, had at last been exorcised, and from being an almost + forlorn hope of defence the Ypres salient became the base of a promising + advance (<i>see</i> Map, p. 288). + </p> + <p> + Yet the operation hardly equalled in positive achievement its spectacular + advertisement. Months, if not years, of meticulous preparation in a sector + that had not been seriously disturbed by fighting since 1915 had produced + an advance of from two to three miles on a front of less than ten. It was + a tactical victory of the most limited character; and the strategical + value of the ridge was greatly exaggerated. It had never enabled the + Germans to master the Ypres salient, and as the autumn showed, its + conquest made no serious gap in the strength of the German defences. + Neither on the Belgian coast nor on the Lys which protected Lille did the + German line budge one inch in three months' strenuous fighting; and the + salient created by that campaign between the coast and the Lys melted like + wax in the furnace of the German offensive ten months later. Plumer's + success might, however, have led to better things but for the untoward + circumstances which hampered the Flanders campaign from the start. One of + these was its initial delay; seven weeks elapsed before the conquest of + the ridge was followed up, and the causes are still obscure. Probably they + were political. Belgium, notwithstanding her passion for liberation, + cannot have desired the rest of her soil to be restored in the condition + of the Wytschaete ridge--a horror of desolation unfit for man or even for + nature's growths; and there seemed little prospect of driving the Germans + out except by a succession of ruinous tactical victories. Germany, + moreover, was playing up to the Stockholm Conference and suggesting + restoration without the accompaniment of ruin; and it was clear that if + the Entente was to liberate Belgium, it must be done by other methods and + at a lesser cost than the total destruction of her soil. + </p> + <p> + Preparations for other than limited tactical gains were made during June + and July. The Third Army under Byng, who had succeeded Allenby, was put in + charge of the whole British line from Arras southwards, and Rawlinson's + Fourth and Gough's Fifth Armies were brought up to the coast and Ypres + respectively, while a French army under Anthoine was located between + Gough's and the Belgians on the Yser. The Germans were alarmed by + Rawlinson's appearance on the coast, and anticipated a possible attack in + that sector by delivering a defensive blow on 10 July against the + bridgehead we held north-east of the Yser between Nieuport and the coast. + We were apparently not prepared: two battalions were wiped out, part of + the bridgehead was lost, and Rawlinson's Fourth Army remained a more or + less passive spectator of the subsequent campaign. Its own chance of + making a thrust had gone, and it waited in vain for the thrust elsewhere + to turn the gate the Germans had barred between the Yser floods and the + sea. + </p> + <p> + This reverse did not tend to expedite the campaign, and when it was + finally launched on 31 July the weather interposed a third and fatal + impediment. The first attack was successful enough. The French under + Anthoine took Het Saas, Steenstrat, and Bixschoote; on their right Gough's + Fifth seized Pilckem, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Verlorenhoek, Westhoek, and + Hooge, the banks of the Steenbeck and the woods on the Menin road; and + below that blood-stained highway Plumer's Second took Klein Zillebeke, + Hollebeke, and Basse Ville on the Lys. It was, however, Von Arnim's plan + to hold his front lines lightly and rely upon counter-attacks, and before + the end of the day we had lost St. Julien, the north-east bank of the + Steenbeck, and Westhoek. The key of the German position on the Menin road + also remained in Von Arnim's hands, and no means had been found of dealing + with his new and effective "pill-boxes." These were concrete huts with + walls three feet thick, so sunk in the ground that their existence, or at + least their importance, had escaped observation. They were too solid for + Tanks to charge or for field guns to batter, and too small for accurate + shelling by heavy artillery. Yet, crammed with machine guns and skilfully + cheloned in the fighting zone, they presented a fatal bar to the rapid + advance on which the success of our plan of campaign depended. Even so, it + was not Von Arnim's skill and resource that finally ruined our prospects. + Before night fell on the 31st the rain descended in torrents. For four + days it continued, and even when it ceased it was followed by darkness + worthier of November than of August. The field of battle was turned into a + maze of lakes and bogs with endless shell-holes filled and hidden by the + muddy water. The bombardment had broken the banks and dammed the streams, + and rivers, instead of flowing, overflowed. Tanks became useless, and for + men and animals there was as much risk of being drowned as shot. + </p> + <p> + The Germans were not immune from the weather; their counter-attacks were + impeded, and their low-lying pillboxes were often traps for death by + drowning. But enforced stagnation inevitably helps the defence, especially + when time is the essence of success for the attack. Troops were pouring + back from the Russian front; winter was coming to postpone until the + spring any hopes of a drier soil, and the land lay low in Belgium all the + way beyond the puny ridge of Passchendaele. It would have been wiser to + accept the facts of the situation; but bull-dog tenacity has its defects, + and that national totem is more remarkable for its persistence than for + its discernment. On 3 August we regained St. Julien, on the 10th Westhoek, + and on the 16th resumed the general movement. It made little appreciable + progress on the right or in the centre, but on the left the French + advanced from the Yser canal towards the Martjevaart, and our men took + Wijdendrift and Langemarck. For the rest of the month it rained, and it + was not till 20 September that the conditions were considered good enough + for an attempt on the limited objectives to which our ambition was now + reduced. It achieved better success than on 16 August, and the advance + made along both sides of the Menin road was through difficult woods; but + it nowhere exceeded a mile, the fighting was fearfully costly, and + Veldhoek and Zevencote were the only two hamlets gained. On the 26th Haig + struck again with similar results: Zonnebeke was captured, the woods + cleared up to the outskirts of Reutel, and another advance made on the + Menin road. + </p> + <p> + Fierce German counter-attacks were repulsed during the next few days, and + on 4 October our offensive was resumed. Once more the weather played us + false, but without the usual effect, and substantial progress was made all + along the front. Part of Poelcapelle was taken, Grafenstafel fell into our + hands, at Broodeseinde the Australians got a footing on the Passchendaele + ridge, Reutel was captured, and Polderhoek chteau, the hinge of the + German position, was stormed--only to be lost and retaken more than once + before it was finally left in German possession. The next attack was + designed to broaden our salient to the north between the Yser and the + Houthulst Forest. It was fixed for 9 October, and rain fell as usual on + the 7th and 8th. But once more it failed to stop our advance. The French + and the British left between them captured St. Janshoek, Mangelaare, + Veldhoek, Koekuit, and the remains ol Poelcapelle, and the Canadians made + a further advance on the Passchendaele ridge by way of Nieuemolen and + Keerselaarhoek. Another attack on 12 October was countermanded because of + the rain, but the painful progress was resumed on 22-26 October. On the + 27th the Belgians and French pushed on as far as the Blankaart Lake and + the Houthulst Forest, taking Luyghem, Merckem, Kippe, and Aschoop, and on + the 30th the Canadians forced their way into the outskirts of + Passchendaele. Its capture was completed on 6 November and supplemented in + the following days by an advance a few hundred yards along the road + towards Staden. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map14.png"><img src="images/map14s.png" width="309" + height="426" alt="The Battles In Flanders" /></a> + </p> + <p> + At last the agony came to an end. The campaign was a monument of endurance + on the part of the troops engaged, and of obstinacy on the part of their + commanders. The misrepresentation of the results achieved in the published + <i>communiqus</i> provoked remonstrances from officers in the field, and + apparent indifference to the losses involved roused the anger of the + Australians--and other troops--against their generals. Among his own men + Sir Hubert Gough lost more repute in the Flanders campaign than he did in + his later retreat from St. Quentin. It was the costliest of all British + advances, and cut the sorriest figure in respect of its strategical + results. We had advanced somewhat less than five miles in over three + months, and had gained a ridge about fifty feet higher than our original + line at Ypres. The strategical gains were negligible, and as an incident + in the war of attrition, the campaign cost us far more than it did the + Germans. They could hardly have desired a better prelude to their coming + offensive on the West than this wastage of first-class British troops. + Aided by the weather, Von Arnim had succeeded in his design of yielding + the minimum of ground for the maximum of British losses, and the Flanders + campaign was to us what Verdun had been to the Germans. + </p> + <p> + There was a more satisfactory proportion of gains to losses in the more + limited operations which characterized Ptain's substitution for Nivelle + as French commander-in-chief. After Nivelle's comprehensive disappointment + on the Chemin des Dames and Moronvillers heights in April, Ptain + restricted the field of his attacks and took ample time to prepare them. + It was not until August that the first was launched, and for a sphere of + action Ptain reverted once more to Verdun. The victories of October and + December 1916 were commonly represented as having recovered all that the + Germans had won in the spring of that year; in fact they were confined to + the right bank of the Meuse. No attempt had been made to wrest from the + enemy his gains to the left of the river; and his line ran in August 1917 + precisely where it had run twelve months before, a German gain at the Col + de Pommerieux on 28 June having been recovered by the French on 17 July. + Ptain was, however, a past-master in the art of limited offensives; his + aims were less ambitious than those which Nivelle or even Haig had set + before themselves, but he achieved them with scientific precision and + without the devastating losses which had attended the larger and less + successful projects. The terrain he selected was less affected by the + vagaries of the weather, and either he was better served by his + meteorological experts or was singularly favoured by fortune. His main + object was not the tactical gains he secured, but the restoration of the + confidence of French soldiers in their offensive capacity which had been + severely shaken in April. During June and July they had been mainly + engaged in repelling German attacks on the Chemin des Dames, though + Gouraud, who succeeded Anthoine in the Champagne command, secured some + valuable local gains on the Moronvillers heights. + </p> + <p> + The attack at Verdun was entrusted to Guillaumat, and his bombardment + began on 17 August. The Germans anticipated an offensive on the left bank + of the Meuse, but not the extension which Guillaumat had planned on the + right bank as well. The weather was as fair at Verdun as it was foul in + Flanders, and while Haig's men floundered in seas of mud, the worst + against which Ptain's had to contend was clouds of dust. Their artillery + had destroyed the German defences on Mort Homme, and when the infantry + advanced on the 20th they carried it, the Avocourt wood, the Bois de + Cumires, and the Bois des Corbeaux, in a few hours with little loss. + Simultaneously on the right bank of the river they captured Talou Hill, + Champneuville, Mormont farm, and part of the Bois des Fosses. On the + following day the Cote de l'Oie and Regnville fell on the left bank, and + Samogneux on the right. On the 24th the French took Camard wood and Hill + 304 and advanced to the south bank of the Forges brook, which remained + their line until the American attack in October 1918, while further + progress was made east of the Meuse on the 25th until the outskirts of + Beaumont were reached. A fortnight later another slight advance was made + between Beaumont and Ornes, and on both banks of the Meuse the line was at + length restored to almost its position before the great German offensive + of 21 February 1916. But Brabant-sur-Meuse, Haumont, Beaumont, and Ornes + remained in German hands, and no attempt had been made to recover the line + the French had then held on the road to tain (<i>see</i> Map, p. 194). + Verdun might now have been thought quite secure but for the fact that + equal success on the Chemin des Dames in October did not save it from the + Germans seven months later. + </p> + <p> + This second of Ptain's limited offensives was carried out by Maistre and + led to a more extended German retirement. But the attack was only on a + four miles' front eastward from Laffaux in the angle made by the German + retreat in the spring between the Forest of St. Gobain and the Chemin des + Dames (<i>see</i> Map, p. 67). It was preceded by a week's intense + bombardment which, as at Verdun, destroyed the German defences; and + although it was made in fog and rain the high ground did not suffer like + Flanders from the effects, and the French attack was immediately and + completely successful. Allemant, Vaudesson, Malmaison, and Chavignon, with + 8000 prisoners, were taken on 23 October, and by the 27th the French had + captured Pinon, Pargny, and Filain, and pressed through the Pinon forest + to the banks of the Ailette and the Oise and Aisne canal. This advance + turned the line which the Germans still held on the Chemin des Dames, and + they found it untenable. On 2 November they withdrew down the slopes to + the north bank of the Ailette, and the French occupied without resistance + Courteon, Cerny, Allies, and Chevreux, which they had vainly with + thousands of casualties endeavoured to seize in April and May. The Chemin + des Dames was now really won, and the contrast was pointed between the two + methods and their success. Ptain's more limited offensive secured the + greater strategical gains. But the French rather forgot the ease with + which they finally won the Chemin des Dames in the losses their earlier + efforts had cost them, and were to lose it once more because they thought + it impregnable. + </p> + <p> + In spite of experience the Entente was slow in learning not to + underestimate the military resourcefulness of the Germans, and Ptain's + victories, coupled with the failure of the Germans to react, provoked a + jubilation which was not justified. To the German Higher Command the loss + of a few square miles at Verdun and the Chemin des Dames was a mere matter + of detail compared with the ambitious strategy it now had in mind. + Situated as the Germans were between two fronts, they were quicker to + grasp the significance of events in the East than were Western Powers; and + the collapse of Russia had already inspired Ludendorff with the idea and + hopes of a final and victorious offensive on the West in the spring of + 1918. It must come soon, or the advent of American armies would make it + too late. Even the French and British forces were serious enough, and an + obvious preliminary would be to weaken the enemy line in France by a + diversion. The Germans knew enough about Italy to be confident that a + staggering blow would not be difficult to deal, and that if it were dealt + it would compel France and Great Britain to go to the rescue of their + distressful ally. Italy had all along been inviting some such blow by her + concentration on Trieste, a divergent quest after booty which led away + from the enemy's vital parts; for the Adriatic was already closed to the + Central Empires by the French and British fleets, and the fall of Trieste, + however gratifying it might be to Irredentists--though Trieste had never + belonged to Italy or Italian rulers--would have no appreciable effect upon + the issue of the war. That quest, moreover, left the Italian flank, upon + which its front entirely depended, exposed at Caporetto. It was not, + indeed, probable that the Italians would have advanced very far had they + set their faces towards Vienna; but if their front had faced in that + direction, they would not have provoked the disastrous collapse of their + whole campaign in the last week of October 1917. Hitherto Russia had + prevented the Central Empires from seizing the opportunity which Italy + offered; but the triumph of Bolshevism removed that protection and also + supplied the Germans with political means for advancing their military + ends. Not a few Italian troops had succumbed to propaganda, and when the + crisis came they imitated Russian examples in a way which provoked + Cadorna--in a censored message--to speak of their "naked treason." + </p> + <p> + The valour which other Italian troops had shown during the summer and + their success on the Bainsizza plateau had not prepared Italy or her + Allies for so great a reversal of fortune in the autumn. The attempt after + the fall of Gorizia in August 1916 to force a way to Trieste had been + checked by the formidable bastion of Mount Hermada, and in May 1917 + Cadorna turned to the other great obstacle to his eastward advance, the + Selva di Ternova with its peaks M. San Gabriele and M. San Daniele, which + dominated the valley of the Vippacco and the railway to Trieste running + along it. But these peaks could not be taken by a frontal attack, and an + effort was made to outflank them from the north by seizing the Bainsizza + plateau and the Chiapovano valley behind it. A week from 14 May was spent + in the preliminary operation of extending the Italian hold over the east + bank of the Isonzo above and below Plava, and in seizing the westerly edge + of the Bainsizza plateau with its two peaks, M. Kuk and M. Vodice. This + advance over difficult country required great endurance and valour, but it + fell short of anticipations, and on the 23rd Cadorna struck another blow + in the direction of the Hermada. Hudi Log, Jamiano, Flondar, and San + Giovanni were captured, and for a moment a footing was gained in + Kostanjevica and on the lower slopes of Hermada; but an Austrian + counter-attack on 5 June recovered Flondar and drove the Italians off the + Hermada. + </p> + <p> + It was clear that Italy unaided could not achieve even the limited + objective of Trieste on which she had set her heart, and in July Cadorna + appealed for help to Great Britain and France. The former sent and the + latter promised some batteries of artillery, but no infantry could be + spared in view of our commitment to the Flanders campaign and of French + caution after the failure on the Chemin des Dames; and in August Cadorna + resumed his attack alone. It was dictated by political rather than + military motives; for there was discontent in Italy which the most + rigorous censorship could not conceal, and the reference in the Pope's + peace note of August to "useless slaughter" evoked serious echoes in a + public mind which found inadequate compensation for the meagre and costly + results of the Italian campaign in its splendid advertisement by the + Italian Government. Italy needed a victory, and Cadorna achieved enough to + keep up the illusion of triumphant progress. The bombardment began on 18 + August and the infantry attack on the 19th over an extended front of + thirty miles from Lom to the north of the Bainsizza plateau to the Hermada + and the shores of the Adriatic. Most of the Bainsizza plateau was overrun, + Monte Santo at its southern extremity was captured, and the Italians + recovered a footing on the Hermada. A terrific and bloody battle was waged + early in September for the key-position at M. San Gabriele, but heavy + Austrian reinforcements from Russia prevented the Italians from mastering + the crest. On the 5th they were again driven back from the Hermada and San + Giovanni, while away in the north they failed to take the heights of Lom. + This held up their further advance across the Bainsizza plateau, and its + eastern half, containing peaks a thousand feet higher than any the + Italians had conquered, remained in Austrian hands. No real progress had + been made, the partial occupation of the Bainsizza plateau proved useless, + the losses had been tremendous, and at the end of September Cadorna + reported that his main operations were at an end. Eleven of the sixteen + British batteries were recalled, the French were countermanded, and the + ball was left at Ludendorff's feet. + </p> + <p> + He had begun his preparations in August when Otto von Buelow was + transferred from the West to the Italian front and given an army composed + of six German and seven Austrian divisions. The control of the campaign + was taken over by the German Higher Command, and the troops had been + trained in the new tactics which were tried by Von Hutier at Riga in the + first week in September and were to be used to more serious purpose at + Caporetto in October and on the Western front in 1918. Time was of the + essence of Ludendorff's strategy; he could not afford, with the American + peril in prospect, to prolong the war by fighting in trenches and merely + defending the Hindenburg lines. Nor could he even afford that deliberate + method of progress favoured by Haig and Ptain, which consisted in rapid + advances on limited fronts to limited objectives, or in snail-like + movements over wider areas. The strategy which by intense bombardment + drove the enemy back a mile or two at the cost of so devastating the + ground as to make one's own advance impossible for weeks, could not + achieve a decision within the time at Ludendorff's disposal. Some means + must be found of reviving the war of movement and repeating in a more + decisive form the German march of August 1914. The bombardment of + devastation must therefore be sacrificed in the interests of the pursuing + troops, and its place be taken by gas shells; and the enemy line must be + broken by the superiority of picked battalions and greater concentration + of machine guns and other portable weapons. The line once broken, the + advantage must be followed up by a series of fresh divisions passing + through and beyond the others like successive waves, maintaining the + continuity of the flowing tide. The Eastern front was used as a training + ground for these new tactics, which served Ludendorff better than any + advance into Russia could have done; and they came as a complete surprise + at Caporetto. + </p> + <p> + That was not, indeed, particularly good terrain for the experiment, and in + order to hoodwink the Italians more effectively Von Buelow did not select + for his attack any sector indicated by the principal Austrian lines of + communication. But these defects of Alpine country were counterbalanced by + the weak moral of the troops opposed to him. One symptom of Italian + instability had been outbreaks during the summer at Turin in which + soldiers had fraternized with the rioters, and the mutinous regiments were + sent as a penance to that sector of the front which Von Buelow was + well-informed enough to select for his offensive. But the nervousness was + general: Italians had never yet met German troops in battle, save perhaps + in small encounters with diminutive units in Macedonia, and some + consternation was created when, about the middle of October, it was + ascertained that there were German divisions on the Italian front; and + presently popular imagination magnified Von Buelow's thirteen divisions + into the combined weight of the Central Empires, with Mackensen at its + head as a bogey-man. That was at least a more acceptable explanation than + the real one of the disaster which overtook the Italian Army. But it is + impossible to gauge with any exactness the extent or effect of German + intrigue and Bolshevist propaganda upon the Italian situation. Bolshevist + envoys had been received with open arms at Turin, and Orlando, then + Minister of the Interior, had refrained on principle from hampering their + activities. More singular was the coincidence of Von Buelow's offensive + with a Parliamentary crisis which precipitated the fall of the Boselli + Ministry. + </p> + <p> + The German attack began on 24 October amid rain and snow, which never + deterred the Germans, and on this occasion even assisted them by + increasing the element of surprise. The infected front of the Second Army + between Zaga and Auzza broke with such celerity that by dawn of the 25th + Von Buelow's men had crossed the Isonzo, scaled Mount Matajur, 5000 feet + high, and were pouring across the Italian frontier; and the gains of + twenty-nine months were lost in as many hours. Elsewhere Italian troops + fought with splendid determination, and the garrison of M. Nero held out + for days and died to a man, while their comrades at Caporetto greeted the + enemy with white flags, and reserves withheld their assistance. Gallantry + to the left and right availed nothing against poltroonery in the centre: + the Bainsizza plateau was lost, and the Third Army on the Carso was in + dire peril of being cut off from its retreat. Nothing but retreat, and + perhaps not even that, was open to the other armies, with the Second in + the centre fleeing like a rabble and Von Buelow threatening the left and + right in the rear. On the 27th Cividale, on the 28th Gorizia, and on the + 29th Udine, twelve miles within the Italian frontier, fell, and Von Buelow + had taken 100,000 prisoners and 700 guns. The Third Army escaped by the + skin of its teeth, the excellence of its discipline, and the sacrifice of + its rearguards and 500 guns at the crossing of the Tagliamento at Latisana + on 1 November. Then the rain came down, and no believer in Jupiter Pluvius + as a German god could maintain that that river had been turned into a + roaring torrent in the interests of the German pursuit. + </p> + <p> + The Tagliamento could, however, be easily turned from the north, and the + Italian retreat continued across the Livenza and the Piave where Cadorna + stood on 10 November. The Adige farther south was considered by many to be + Italy's real strategic frontier, but the abandonment of the Piave would + surrender Venice to the enemy, and Venice was Italy's one naval base in + the northern Adriatic. It must be retained, or the Italian Fleet would + have to withdraw to Brindisi and leave the Adriatic and Italy's eastern + coast open to incursion from Pola. But if the Piave was to be held, the + German threat to turn it by a descent from the Alps down either side of + the Brenta valley must be defeated; and it was here that the Caporetto + campaign was fought to a standstill in November and December. Fortunately + Ludendorff had not been prepared for the magnitude of his own success, and + Von Buelow's thirteen divisions had not been cast for the part of + destroying the Italian armies. Their object had been twofold, firstly to + compel France and Great Britain to weaken their front by sending aid to + Italy, and secondly, to secure plunder in the shape of guns, munitions, + and corn-growing territory. The Kaiser boasted that his armies had been + set up for some time by this Italian success, and Italy's two Allies had + no choice but to send divisions to her assistance, the French under + Fayolle and the British under Plumer. With that the Germans were content, + and although the Austrians continued their efforts to force the Piave and + turn its flank down the Brenta valley, Von Buelow's six German divisions + took little part in the fighting and were soon with their general sent + back to the Western front. + </p> + <p> + No light task remained for the shattered Italian armies, for the Austrians + had been greatly reinvigorated by their success, and continual + reinforcements were arriving from the Russian front. Italy had never been + a match unaided for her hereditary foes, and the prospect of British and + French assistance was needed to stem the torrent of invasion descending + from the mountains. The Italians fought well, and politically the nation + pulled itself together; but one by one the Austrians captured in November + the heights between the Piave and the Brenta which protected the Venetian + plain, and it was not until 4 December that the French and British were + able to relieve the pressure by taking up their respective quarters on the + two cardinal positions of M. Grappa and the Montello. Even so the Austrian + advance continued, while a bridgehead was secured across the Piave at + Zenson. After a four days' battle on 11-15 December the Austrians reached + the limits of their invasion at M. Asolone and M. Tomba on the east, and + M. Melago on the west, of the Brenta valley; and before the end of the + year the Italians were recovering slopes on M. Asolone and the French + those of M. Tomba, while the bridgehead at Zenson was destroyed. Fighting + went on well into 1918 without much material change in the situation until + Austria was called upon to take her part in the final enemy onslaught in + June. Nevertheless the Central Empires had achieved the most brilliant of + their strategical triumphs. At slight cost to themselves they had bitten + deep into Italian territory, taken a quarter of a million prisoners, 1800 + guns, and vast quantities of munitions and stores, and had imposed a + greatly increased strain upon the Allies who alone stood between them and + victory on that Western front which Ludendorff had selected for the final + test of war. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter17" id="chapter17"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <h3> + THE EVE OF THE FINAL STRUGGLE + </h3> + <p> + Two gleams of light, one of them quickly dimmed and the other distant, + relieved the gloom of the last winter of the war. As the Flanders + offensive subsided in the mud, Haig was preparing another blow by a + different hand in a drier land; and he, too, was working to find an escape + from trench-warfare on lines not unlike those of Ludendorff. Both were + dissatisfied with the obstacles which intense bombardment, used for + initial success, placed in the way of its prosecution; but by one of the + ironies of the war, while Ludendorff now relied on the superiority of his + human material, Haig looked for success to the greater ingenuity of + mechanical contrivance expressed in Tanks. They were under a cloud in + Flanders because they could not advance upon mud and water; but on higher + ground their improved efficiency and numbers might be used to some effect. + The plan adopted contemplated a narrow front but an ambitious objective. + It was to break the Hindenburg lines at their nodal point in front of + Cambrai. If successful it would disorganize the whole German scheme of + defence in the West, and would in any case tend to divert the Germans from + their Italian campaign. The objective was not Cambrai itself, but to break + through the Hindenburg lines as far as Bourlon and beyond, and then to + take them in reverse from Bourlon westwards and northwards to the Sense + and the Scarpe. In other words, it appeared to be an experiment in tactics + which might with good fortune develop into a strategical means of + achieving from the south of Douai and Lille what the Flanders campaign had + failed to secure to the north of them. The German line was thin, and, had + it been made of the stuff of the Italian line at Caporetto, Haig might + have repeated Ludendorff's unexpected success. There was a third and more + sinister explanation of the battle of Cambrai, that it was a practical + attempt to answer the gibes in which the Prime Minister had indulged at + the tactics of the British Army. + </p> + <p> + The task was entrusted to the Third Army which had seen little fighting + since the battle of Arras died down in the spring, and had been under Sir + Julian Byng since Allenby's transference to Egypt. The attack began on 20 + November; there was no preliminary bombardment to cut up the ground over + which the Tanks, infantry, and cavalry were to advance, and a single gun + gave the signal for the start amid a favouring fog and behind a + supplementary barrage of smoke which hid the advance from the German guns. + The Tanks broke through the wire entanglements and destroyed the nests of + machine guns, while the infantry marched forward in their track. By + nightfall they had made at points greater progress than on any previous + day in the war. Havrincourt, Graincourt, and Anneux--four and a half miles + from the morning's front--fell on the left; Ribecourt, Marcoing, Neuf + wood, Noyelles, and Masnires in the centre; and La Vacquerie, Bonavis, + and Lateau wood on the right. The flies in the ointment of success were a + check in front of Flesquires and a serious lack of foresight on the + Scheldt canal, where the single bridge was broken at Masnires and the + cavalry were held up on a front of several miles. But for the former, Byng + might have mastered the vital Bourlon position, and but for the latter + have crossed the canal in force, broken the last of the German lines, and + taken Rumilly, Crvecoeur, and possibly Cambrai. For the Germans had been + completely surprised and needed two days to bring up any adequate + reinforcements. The advance continued at a slower pace on the 21st. + Flesquires was taken and then Cantaing and Fontaine-Notre-Dame; but the + bid for Bourlon developed into a costly, stubborn, and indecisive struggle + for five days while the Germans were being steadily reinforced. + </p> + <p> + On the right Byng pushed out to Banteux, but the end of our advance on the + 29th left us with a rectangular block of territory loosely attached to our + original front. The German lines had been breached, but once more it was + shown that lines of concrete and wire fortifications do not roll up like + lines of mere human material without an amount of pressure which our + forces did not permit of applying. The new Government had been at least as + deaf as the old to Haig's demands for men, though the use that had been + made of reserves in Flanders justified some caution and economy in the + supply; and for the success of his major operation Haig had to rely on + troops which were too few and had been imperfectly trained. Meanwhile Von + Marwitz, the German commander, admitting the British victory, announced + his intention of wiping it out, and gathered sixteen fresh divisions to + effect his purpose on the 30th. There was ample warning all along the + front, but we had not grasped the significance of Von Hutier's tactics at + Riga or Von Buelow's at Caporetto, nor had our commanders dreamt that the + Germans without our Tanks could follow the example we had just set + ourselves and attack without a warning bombardment. Their method was as + unexpected as our own, and where it was applied against our right it was + almost as successful. From Bonavis south to Vendhuille all our gains were + lost, and within an hour and a half the Germans had pierced the line we + had held since April and captured Gonnelieu, Villers-Guislain, and + Gouzeaucourt. Gouzeaucourt was retaken later in the day, and at Bourlon, + where the new tactics were not employed, the gallantry of our troops + retained the position. More ground was also recovered next day on our + right, and the German counterattack seemed to have been exhausted. But it + had left us with an untenable front, and on 4-7 December Haig withdrew + from Bourlon and Marcoing to the Flesquires ridge. Out of sixty square + miles and fourteen villages captured we retained but sixteen and three + respectively, while the Germans had secured seven square miles and two + villages held by us before the battle began. The fact that our gains + included a seven-mile stretch of the Siegfried line made no appreciable + difference to the future course of the war; and we even failed to learn + the lesson of our failure. The innate British conservatism, which was + counteracted in politics by a democratic suffrage, retained its unchecked + supremacy in the British Army; and the German tactics which had robbed us + of our gains at Cambrai came no less as a surprise to rob us four months + later of things that were much more serious. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map16.png"><img src="images/map16s.png" width="310" + height="423" alt="The Battles Of Arras And Cambrai" /></a> + </p> + <p> + The light of Byng's success soon died away and left the gloom to be + illumined by a far-off flicker in the East. Even here the effects of the + Russian collapse dogged or rather prevented our steps and barred our + advance from Baghdad; and without Russian co-operation Maude had to think + rather of safeguarding his conquests against Falkenhayn's projects from + Aleppo than of striking farther from his narrow base into the almost + limitless enemy country. On 29 September he pushed forward his defences on + the Euphrates by seizing Ramadie and encircling and compelling the + surrender of the entire Turkish force. In October he occupied the + positions abandoned by the Russians up to the Persian frontier, and early + in November drove the Turks out of Tekrit towards Mosul. After destroying + the Turkish base we retired; there was now no enemy either on the Tigris + or the Euphrates within a hundred miles of Baghdad, and Maude's work had + been rounded off. He died suddenly of cholera on the 18th, leaving a + reputation second to none in the British Army. His successor, Sir William + Marshall, carried on his work by forcing the Turks east of the Tigris back + into the Jebel Hamrin mountains in December and then in March 1918, + driving them up the Euphrates out of Hit and Khan Baghdadie to within 250 + miles of Aleppo. In May he turned to the Tigris, retook Tekrit, expelled + the Turks from Jebel Hamrin, Kifri, and Kirkuk, and forced them back + across the Lesser Zab to within 90 miles of Mosul. But by that time the + public had little attention to spare for Mesopotamia, the Turks had + recovered the whole of the Russian conquests in Asia Minor, and had + occupied the Caucasus right across to the Caspian Sea. Marshall's efforts + had to be diverted north-east to bar the enemy's way through Persia + towards India; and the advance on Aleppo was left to the army of Egypt (<i>see</i> + Maps, pp. 177, 352). + </p> + <p> + Allenby succeeded to its command in June 1917, and had the summer in which + to prepare his plans. Frontal attacks on Gaza had failed with too serious + losses in March and April for their repetition to be risked, especially in + view of the care which had since been taken to add to the Turkish forces + and to the strength of their defences; and Allenby discovered the key of + the Turkish position at Beersheba, nearly thirty miles south-east of Gaza. + It was captured on 31 October with the efficient help of the Imperial + Camel Corps, and on 2 November the enemy was distracted by a second blow + on our extreme left which resulted in the taking of Sheikh Hasan and the + outflanking of Gaza between it and the sea. The whole line between + Beersheba and Gaza had, however, been elaborately fortified, and it + required a week's strenuous fighting to reduce it. Then on 6-7 November + our left advanced once more upon Gaza only to find it practically + undefended; and by nightfall on the 7th Allenby had pushed ten miles along + the coast beyond Gaza. The advance was now rapid in this direction. On the + 9th we occupied Ascalon; on the 14th the Turks were driven from the + junction where the branch line to Jerusalem joins the main line running + down the coastal plain, and the Holy City was cut off from + rail-communication with the Turkish base; and on the 16th Jaffa was + captured. Allenby then swung round towards the east to threaten Jerusalem + from the north, while his right wing pushed up beyond Hebron along the + hills of Juda. He wished to avoid battle near the city, and the Turks + made a determined stand to the north-west of it on the Nebi Samwil ridge. + By 9 December their resistance was overcome, and Jerusalem was threatened + from the north-west by our left and from the south-east by our right. It + surrendered on that day, and Allenby made a quiet official entrance on the + 11th. He had succeeded where Richard Coeur-de-Lion had failed; Jerusalem, + which for 730 years had been in Mohammedan hands, under first the Saracens + and then the Turks, passed under Christian control; and there seemed + better ground in the twentieth than in the sixteenth century for the + Elizabethan's exalted question to his compatriots, "Are we not set upon + Mount Zion to give light to all the world?" + </p> + <p> + The light was somewhat slow to penetrate elsewhere. Even in Palestine it + took Allenby months to substantiate his position. By the end of December + he had pushed across the El Auja north of Jaffa and taken Ramah, Beitunia, + and Bireh, nine miles north of Jerusalem; but Jericho did not fall until + 21 February, and little impression was made during the spring upon Mount + Ephraim, where the Turks barred the road to Shechem, or on their positions + east of the Jordan, although the Turks were increasingly harassed by Arab + raids upon the railway leading to Maan and the Hedjaz. Es Salt was + captured on 1 May, but succumbed to counter-attacks in which some British + guns were captured. The heat of summer put an end to active operations, + while the Turkish recovery at the expense of Russia and the German + victories in Europe counselled caution, and helped to postpone till the + autumn the full fruition of Allenby's strategy. He and Maude had + nevertheless made our Eastern campaign the brightest pages in the sombre + history of the war in 1917, and the fall of Baghdad and Jerusalem + contributed not a little to the collapse of Turkey, which hastened that of + the Central Empires. They were not divergent operations because they + converged towards the centre, and weakness at the extremities affected the + heart of the Turkish Empire. Germany would not have succumbed when she did + but for the fate which had overtaken her allies elsewhere than on the + Western front. But it was a far cry from these contributory operations to + that policy of concentrating on "the vital junction of Muslimieh" which + commended itself to excitable critics, and would have left our Western + front at the mercy of the most formidable onslaught it ever had to face. + </p> + <p> + We needed all the comfort we could extract from our Eastern campaigns; + for, with a gigantic German offensive threatening the West in 1918, we + could be none too sure that we had dealt satisfactorily with the only + serious offensive the Germans had undertaken against us in 1917. That had + been their unlimited submarine warfare, which had reached its greatest + fury in April, when 25 per cent of the vessels leaving British ports + failed to return, but continued through, out the year to sap our strength + like an open ulcer. The general public knew little of the truth, and was + not competent to measure the value of such facts as were placed before it. + The Germans' claim to have sunk 9 1/2 million tons in the first year of + unrestricted warfare was regarded as preposterous, but Sir Eric Geddes + himself assessed the British loss at 6 millions.[Footnote: The total + British loss in the war was 7,731,212 tons. France came next with 900,000 + tons. ] Mr. Lloyd George revealed the fact that we had sunk five German + submarines on 17 November, but not the fact that our total bag for + December barely exceeded that figure; and on the 13th the First Lord of + the Admiralty corrected the optimism of the Premier's figure by declaring + that the Germans were building submarines faster than they lost them, + while we were losing shipping faster than we built it. He was somewhat + more cheerful in his estimate of the situation on 1 February 1918, but on + 5 March had to deplore a falling-off in our construction, partly at any + rate due to the depletion of man-power in that industry. Some consolation + was found in the fact that the proportion of our losses to our total + shipping did not greatly exceed that in the last ten years of the + Napoleonic wars; but the comparison was illusory, because we were far more + dependent upon oversea supplies in 1917 than in 1812, though so far as + food was concerned the dependence was greatly relieved in 1918 by the + efforts of the Board of Agriculture. A source of greater pride, if not of + satisfaction, was the fact that our domestic shortage was due less to the + sinking of our ships by German submarines, than to their diversion to the + service of our Allies. Not only had the British Navy to defend all the + coasts of the Entente by bottling up the German High Seas Fleet, but our + mercantile marine had to provide for most of the Allies' transport and + provisioning; whereas in the Napoleonic wars we had for long no allies to + maintain and could concentrate upon our own requirements. The unparalleled + strain of the war was due to the unparalleled extent to which the British + Empire placed its resources at the disposal of less fortunate countries; + and fortunately for Powers, which later on complained of American + interference, the United States seemed bent in 1918 on bettering our + example. + </p> + <p> + Other incidents of naval warfare than the German submarine campaign added + to the public discomposure. On 17 October two German cruisers sank two + British destroyers and nine convoyed Norwegian merchant ships between the + Shetlands and the Norwegian coast; on 12 December somewhere in the North + Sea four German destroyers sank five neutral vessels, four British armed + trawlers, and also one of the two British destroyers accompanying them, + the other being disabled, while two British trawlers and two neutral + vessels were also sunk off the Tyne; and on the 23rd, three British + destroyers were mined or torpedoed off the Dutch coast. On the 26th it was + announced that Sir Rosslyn Wemyss had succeeded Jellicoe as First Sea + Lord, and other changes were made at the Admiralty. But the unpleasant + incidents continued. On 14 January 1918 Yarmouth was, after a long + immunity from such attacks, once more bombarded by enemy destroyers; on 15 + February a British trawler and seven drifters were sunk by similar means + in the Straits of Dover; and on the 24th the safe return was announced of + the German raider <i>Wolf</i> after a cruise in which she had sunk eleven + vessels in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The extension of submarine + warfare to the sinking of hospital ships was more shocking as an + exhibition of barbarity than alarming as a proof of naval efficiency, and + may even have been designed as a desperate measure to commit Germany + beyond recall to the alternative of victory or irredeemable ruin. As an + outrage against international morality it was only exceeded by the + torpedoing on 6 June of a Dutch vessel on which British delegates were to + have gone to The Hague to discuss with Germans the mutual amelioration of + the lot of prisoners of war. + </p> + <p> + Side by side with this brutality at sea there developed a similar + offensive in the air. The Zeppelin menace had been almost exorcised in the + autumn of 1916 by the effectiveness of explosive bullets fired from + aeroplanes which ignited the gas-bags. But on 28 November a solitary + aeroplane dropped six bombs on London in full daylight, and thus gave + ample warning of what might follow. No adequate steps were, however, taken + to meet the danger until in the spring and summer of 1917 it was brought + home in a more emphatic form. On 25 May German aeroplanes which had been + diverted from their London objective by atmospheric conditions, caused 250 + casualties and nearly inflicted serious military damage at Folkestone; and + on 13 June the Germans effected their most successful raid by appearing + over London shortly before noon and killing 157 and wounding 432 men, + women, and children. The object was avowed in the German press by one of + the leaders of the expedition to be the demoralization of the civilian + population. Its success was due to the lack of counter-preparations; and + when the experiment was repeated on 7 July four of the raiders were + brought down and the casualties were reduced to 59 killed and 193 injured. + After August the daylight aeroplane raids were discontinued, but only to + be resumed in moonlight, and on 4 September 11 persons were killed and 62 + injured in a London raid at night. These became almost nightly affairs at + the end of the month; and while no single aeroplane raid at night caused + anything like the loss of life inflicted on 13 June or 7 July, they were + sufficiently distracting, though it pleased the patriotic press to pretend + that only immigrant aliens, East-End Jews, or at least the poorest of + native Britons, sought safety in flight from the risks they involved. + </p> + <p> + The raids were repeated at irregular intervals, owing to atmospheric + conditions, throughout the winter until Whitsunday 19 May, when 44 were + killed and 179 injured. Generally they occurred when the moon was nearly + full, but on 6 December there was one when it was in its last quarter and + on 18 December another when it was only four days old, and on 7 March 20 + were killed and 55 injured in a raid on a moonless night. On 19 October + these aeroplane raids were varied by a raid on a moonless night by + Zeppelins which shut off their engines and drifted across London with a + north-west wind, dropping only three bombs but killing 27 and injuring 53 + persons. Six of the raiders failed to get home, and this was the last of + the Zeppelin so far as London was concerned, though Zeppelin raids were + made as late as 12 and 13 March on the north-east coast. Reprisals were + adopted as a policy by the British Government in the autumn of 1917, and + great store was set upon them in some quarters. But in spite of the vigour + with which they were carried out along the Rhine, there is no reason to + suppose that our aeroplane raids achieved any greater military effect than + that which we had always denied to German raids on England. They certainly + did not succeed in curing the Germans of their raiding propensities. That + was effected by our improvements in defence, notably in our antiaircraft + bullets and "aprons" suspended from balloons; and after Whitsunday, 1918, + the Germans concentrated on the French, although they had shown fewer + qualms about reprisals. Nor did our supremacy in the air produce the + effects which many anticipated on the field of battle. Italian superiority + with that arm was of little use at Caporetto, and our superiority did not + materially further our advance in Flanders in the autumn of 1917 or retard + the German offensive at St. Quentin in the spring of 1918. Aircraft were + indispensable as eyes for an army, and to a lesser extent for a navy; but + as an independent force they were as limited in their effectiveness as is + artillery or cavalry without the fundamental infantry. + </p> + <p> + The obvious stalemate which marked the situation during the first half of + the fourth year of the war imposed upon the belligerents a reconsideration + of the political and military means of bringing it to an end. + Dissatisfaction was naturally more apparent in Germany during the spring + and summer and in Entente countries during the autumn of 1917; and in July + the Reichstag passed its famous resolution against annexations and + indemnities. Its idea of peace was that Germany should forgo annexations, + and the Entente its claims to indemnities; but the chief anxiety of the + Reichstag was to make capital for the cause of constitutional reform out + of the dissatisfaction with Germany's military situation, and that was + immediately improved by the collapse of the last Russian offensive. + Bethmann-Hollweg fell for failing to control the Reichstag, but his + successor Michaelis was a mere Prussian bureaucrat who only accepted the + Reichstag resolution "as he understood it," and the fate of Russia soon + made it clear that his understanding of "no annexations and no + indemnities" did not preclude the "liberation" of large parts of Russia + and their subjection to German influence, nor the insistence upon + "guarantees" which would reduce Belgium and Serbia to a similar plight. + The Vatican followed the German lead with a peace note in August which + revealed no clear distinction between its and the German point of view; + and in October, amid subdued celebrations of the fourth centenary of + Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, Count Hertling succeeded Michaelis as + Imperial Chancellor and became the first Roman Catholic minister-president + of Prussia since the Reformation. + </p> + <p> + There was, indeed, a fundamental unity in this apparently discordant + combination between the Protestant and the Ultramontane; for the + Hohenzollern State and the Roman Catholic Church were both systems + organized on that principle of autocracy which was more and more coming + out as the underlying issue of the war, and it coincided with the fitness + of things that the answer to the Vatican note was returned by the + President of the United States. There was, in fact, no basis of + accommodation, and any desire for it in Germany disappeared with the + temporary improvement in her military prospects. When the failure of our + campaign in Flanders was coupled with the Italian disaster at Caporetto + and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the Reichstag resolution was + spurned, constitutional reform was smothered, and the Junkers under + Ludendorff's able leadership girded themselves for a final quest of peace + by victory with illimitable annexations and indemnities. The Kaiser + foreshadowed the coming offensive in the West by proclaiming that the only + way to peace was one hewn through the ranks of those who would not make + it. + </p> + <p> + In spite of this brave show, the Entente exhibited a truer confidence by + expressing its dissatisfaction not in the form of seeking a compromise + with the enemy, but in criticism of the conduct of the war. There had, + indeed, been some political hesitation at the time of the Stockholm + Conference in the summer when the Russian revolutionists invited + socialists of all countries to consider a peace without annexations or + indemnities. Even Mr. Lloyd George was subsequently said by his Labour + colleague in the Cabinet to have contemplated British participation; and + there were legitimate grounds for anxiety lest the officially countenanced + if not inspired presence of German socialists at Stockholm might not give + them a political advantage over unrepresented Entente countries. But the + danger passed away as gleams of returning prosperity in the autumn + revealed once more the true mentality of the German Government and exposed + the insincerity of its pacific professions; and precipitate pacifism only + revealed itself in Great Britain in a cautiously worded but dangerously + doubting letter by Lord Lansdowne, published in the "Daily Telegraph" on + 29 November. Once more President Wilson expressed, in his message of 4 + December, the real mind of Germany's most sober and serious enemies. He + branded German autocracy as "a thing without conscience or honour or + capacity for covenanted peace," and declared that peace could only come + "when the German people have spokesmen whose word we can believe, and when + those spokesmen are ready in the name of their people to accept the common + judgment of the nations as to what shall henceforth be the bases of law + and of covenant for the life of the world." Our conception of those bases + was elaborated in a memorandum adopted by the Labour party later in the + month which was substantially accepted by Mr. Lloyd George, after + consultation with Mr. Asquith, Viscount Grey, and representatives of the + Dominions, on 5 January 1918; and then three days later President Wilson + defined the famous Fourteen Points which ultimately became the basis of + the peace. + </p> + <p> + There was more heartburning over the conduct of the war. In France, M. + Ribot's Government fell in September and was reconstituted under M. + Painlev. It succumbed in November to the effects of Caporetto, and + France, like Italy, had to find a new Prime Minister. Her choice fell upon + M. Clmenceau, a vigorous veteran of seventy-six. His supreme quality was + an audacity from which friends as well as foes occasionally suffered, and + his great service was the war he waged upon the half-hearted and the + double-minded of his compatriots. England escaped a change of Ministry, + but not without misgivings or the sacrifice of subordinates on account of + a situation for which Ministers were equally if not more to blame. There + were sweeping changes at the Admiralty, and the mutterings of a Press + campaign against Sir William Robertson and Sir Douglas Haig, for which the + Prime Minister had given some ground, if not the signal, by his reference + to the tactics of the Stone Age. The ultimate cause of his embarrassment + lay in the extravagant anticipations he had encouraged of the results to + follow from his own accession to power. He had attributed the + responsibility for earlier failures to end the war to his predecessors, + and on his own line of argument he was himself responsible for the + ill-success of 1917. In both cases the reasoning was absurd, and + individual Ministers counted for little in the titanic conflict of forces. + Mr. Lloyd George suffered from the Russian revolution, but he had a + windfall in American intervention; the "Victory Loan" of January would not + have saved the Entente from grave financial difficulties had it not been + for American assistance; and the war seemed at least as far from an end + after a year of the new administration as it seemed when Mr. Lloyd George + came in on a promise of speedy success. + </p> + <p> + Nor was his preparation for the coming crisis marked by greater foresight + than the measures of his predecessors. That it was coming in the spring + was sufficiently obvious in the autumn; intelligent outsiders predicted in + November that there would be a great German offensive in the West, and + even drew attention to the unmistakable design of the Germans to weaken + our front in France by the Italian diversion. Yet no serious steps were + taken to strengthen that front in time. The Prime Minister announced in + December that the Russian collapse and Italian defeat imposed fresh + obligations on Great Britain, but his legislative proposals for increasing + our man-power were postponed till the following session and were quite + inadequate in their scope. Meanwhile the British front which was doomed to + attack was being weakened by being extended from St. Quentin to Barisis in + order to shorten and therefore strengthen the French front which was not + the German objective. Steps were, indeed, taken to establish an Allied + military council at Versailles; but the unity was more apparent than real, + and the council had no authority over the individual governments or their + staffs, and each continued to feel responsible and anxious mainly, if not + exclusively, for its own particular front. Matters did not improve in the + early months of 1918. In January Sir Henry Wilson, our military + representative at Versailles, reported his opinion that the impending + German offensive would be launched against the British front between St. + Quentin and Cambrai. He failed to persuade his French colleagues, and if + he convinced his own Government, it failed to act upon his advice. + Possibly it felt bound to abide by the collective view, if any was + expressed, by the Versailles Council; in that case the collective Council + proved less sagacious than the British representative, and on 16 February + it was announced that Sir William Robertson had resigned. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, American preparations were being delayed by an exceptional + winter and by the inherent and enormous difficulty of converting a vast + community inured to peace to the organized purposes of war. In spite of + invidious comparisons by super-patriots between British sloth and + Transatlantic promptitude, America took four times as many months as the + British had taken weeks to put a hundred thousand men into the + firing-line; and the Germans were transferring divisions very much faster + from the Eastern to the Western front. The Bolsheviks had relieved them of + all anxiety on that score. Immediately after their <i>coup d'etat</i> on 7 + November they had issued an invitation to all belligerents to negotiate + for peace. The Germans naturally accepted, and on 29 November Count + Hertling announced in the Reichstag their readiness to treat. On 3 + December Krilenko obtained the surrender at Mohilev of the Russian General + Staff, and Dukhonin, his predecessor, was barbarously murdered, though + Kornilov escaped. On the 5th an armistice was signed to last till the + 17th, and on the 15th a truce for another month. Cossack rebellions under + Kaledin and Kornilov broke out on the Don and under Dutoff in the Urals; + and Scherbachev collected a mixed anti-Bolshevik force on the borders of + the Ukraine. But peace negotiations began between the Germans and + Bolsheviks at Brest-Litovsk on the 22nd. The plausible German Foreign + Secretary, Von Khlmann, presided, and Austria was represented by Count + Czernin. On the 25th, which was Christmas Day for the Germans but not by + the unreformed Russian calendar, Von Khlmann announced Germany's adhesion + to the Russian programme of no annexations and no indemnities on condition + that the Entente accepted the same principle; and an adjournment was made + until 4 January to wait for its reply. + </p> + <p> + Before it was received Germany declared that Poland, Lithuania, Courland, + and parts of Esthonia and Livonia--<i>i.e.</i> the conquered provinces of + Russia--had already expressed their "self-determination" in favour of + separation from Russia and protection by Germany; and on 2 January Trotzky + indignantly denounced these "hypocritical peace proposals." On the 10th, + however, he consented to reopen the discussions at Brest without reference + to the Entente, and to recognize the independent status of the Ukraine. He + was not yet prepared to accept the German terms, and after the forcible + suppression of the Constituent Assembly, which had been elected in the + autumn and endeavoured to meet at Petrograd on 18 January, he accused the + Germans of demanding "a most monstrous annexation." He was still relying + on the result of Bolshevik propaganda in Germany, and the strikes which + broke out at the end of the month and the prohibition of the <i>Vorwrts</i> + showed that it was not without effect. But their suppression by the + Government deprived him of his only weapon, and on 10 February he + announced that, while the Bolsheviks refused to sign an unjust peace, the + state of war was ended between Germany and Russia. This chaotic suggestion + did not commend itself to the Germans, and they took prompt measures to + bring Trotzky to a less ambiguous frame of mind. On the 18th they occupied + Dvinsk and Lutsk, and before the end of the month they were in Hapsal, + Dorpat, Reval, Pskov, and Minsk, and within striking distance of Petrograd + (<i>see</i> Map, p. 274). On the 24th the Bolsheviks intimated their + willingness to accept the new German terms, far more severe than their + original proposals, which included the abandonment of the whole of the + Baltic Provinces, Poland, Lithuania, and the Ukraine, and the surrender of + Armenia and the Caucasus to the Turks. Peace was signed on these + conditions on 2 March, and confirmed by a majority of more than two to one + at a congress of Soviets at Moscow on the 14th. + </p> + <p> + Shameful as this surrender was, the Bolsheviks found some compensation in + the domestic triumphs of their party and their creed. Cossack resistance + succumbed to their arms and propaganda. Alexeiev, who had succeeded + Kaledin in the command of the Cossack forces, was defeated on 13 February; + Kaledin committed suicide; and Bolshevik authority spread to the Black + Sea, the Caucasus, and all across Siberia. Germany hastened to make a + German peace with Finland and the Ukraine, which attempted to sow as many + seeds of discord as was possible; but the bourgeois parties with whom they + treated had but a slender hold on the countries they professed to + represent, and Finland and the Ukraine were soon involved in civil wars in + which their Governments were only able to make headway against the + Bolshevik Red Guards by the help of German troops. The anarchy suited the + Germans except in so far as it detained German forces from the West and + impeded those supplies they sought from the Ukraine and farther afield; + and by the middle of March they were in Odessa and pushing their outposts + and their intrigues towards the Caucasus, the Caspian, and Central Asia. + The most pitiable situation was that of Rumania, threatened as she was by + the Bolsheviks on account of her monarchy and social order, and by the + Central Empires on account of her alliance with the Entente. Completely + cut off from those allies, she was compelled in March to sign the + humiliating Treaty of Bukarest, which surrendered the Dobrudja, the + Carpathian passes, and her supplies of corn and oil to the enemy, while + leaving Mackensen in control of her capital and the greater part of the + kingdom. + </p> + <p> + There have been few disasters in modern history comparable with the fall + of Russia, and none which shows more vividly that the strength of a State + depends not upon the vastness of its territory, the size of its armies, or + the skill of its diplomacy, but upon the <i>moral</i>, the education, and + contentment of its people. Of all the causes of German success in the war + and of suffering to the world at large and little nations in particular, + none was more potent than the blindness of Russian governments which had + refused in the past to set their house in order, and by reform in time to + prepare their people for the storm. Russia herself suffered most, but all + her allies felt in different degrees the effects of her collapse, and in + the spring of 1918 it was to put the general cause of civilization to its + severest test upon the Western front. The perilous situation in which the + Entente stood in March was due to other reasons than the conduct of the + British War Cabinet, but there was a grim irony in its somewhat novel + publication of an official advertisement and report of its preparations + for victory on the eve of the greatest defeat encountered by British arms + during the war. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter18" id="chapter18"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII + </h2> + <h3> + THE LAST GERMAN OFFENSIVE + </h3> + <p> + More than two years before the war concluded a junior officer from the + front remarked that he could not say when, but knew where, it would end, + and that was not far from our existing lines in France and Flanders. As + time wore on and the limitations of strategy under modern conditions grew + clearer, the war assumed more and more the aspect of a single battle + varying in its intensity from season to season and place to place, but + constant in its continuity and in its absorption of the principal forces + of the main belligerents. The unity of control culminating in unity of + command which marked the closing stages of the war was therefore not so + much a brilliant improvisation on the part of any general or statesman as + the inevitable result of the history of the war; and the misfortunes of + the Entente did more than its foresight to bring that consummation to + pass. In the main it was due to the gradual weakening and then the + collapse of Russia, which first involved the ruin of Serbia and Rumania + and the wrecking of our Balkan plans, and finally dissolved the Eastern + front. There could have been no unity of command had Russia remained our + predominant military partner; and even in the West it never comprised the + Italian Army, which retained its independence of action or inaction until + the end of the war. But in 1918 the Italian front sank into a + subordination almost as marked as the Russian, and the war that counted + grew to a climax where it had started between the Alps and the Belgian + coast. There were concentrated the French and British armies which Germany + must beat before she could win peace; and there came in the American hosts + which turned the scale against her. + </p> + <p> + With or without unity of command, the two million American troops which + ultimately crossed the Atlantic would have given us the victory; and the + view that the war was won by unity of command is as superficial as the + view that the battle of St. Quentin was lost by the lack of it. That + battle was lost because the Versailles Council, acting on the advice of + its French rather than its British members, misjudged the direction of the + coming German offensive and misplaced the reserves at its disposal. + Unless, which may be the case, Foch was at variance with his French + colleagues on this point, his appointment as generalissimo at any earlier + stage would not have affected the results of these mistakes. Unity of + command might, indeed, have led to an even more extensive weakening of the + threatened British front in order to make absolutely secure that French + front which the French were convinced was the German objective, and a + demand was made for a further British extension beyond Barisis, but was + successfully resisted at the Versailles Council before the unity of + command had been established. That does not absolve the British Cabinet + from its complicity in the blunder. It was equally responsible to the + British people for British lives whether it was acting on its own + initiative or on the mistaken advice of an ally; and there were also sins + of omission of its own. Not only had it been advised by Sir Henry Wilson + that the German offensive would come on the British front, but it had been + warned that if it came where it was anticipated, that front, thin as it + was, could not be expected to hold unless reinforcements, for which + repeated requests were made, were dispatched. Remonstrances fell on deaf + ears, although there were nearly 300,000 troops available in England. Mr. + Lloyd George afterwards called them first-class troops, and congratulated + himself and the country on the fact that they were transported to France + within a fortnight after the damage had been done. For this, the most + culpable Cabinet failure in the war, others besides the Cabinet were to + blame; and it must be ascribed ultimately to the national sins of + intellectual sloth and ignorance. Those hundreds of thousands of troops, + shown to be superfluous in England by their subsequent dispatch to France, + were kept at home because persons in authority believed they were needed + to do the work of the British Navy and defend our shores against a German + invasion. Throughout the war loquacious generals, who were not employed at + the front, harped at home on that alarm, supremely ignorant of and + indifferent to the unbroken experience of the world and the teaching of + naval history, that military invasion across an uncommanded sea is an + utter impossibility. But there was no one to teach the War Cabinet this + elementary truth, and least of all could it be taught by the eminent + lawyer and the able railway director whom Mr. Lloyd George successively + appointed to the Admiralty to represent the ripest naval wisdom of + mankind. It remained for the nation to pay the cost. + </p> + <p> + The great attack was launched at dawn on Thursday, 21 March, precisely + against that sector of the British front indicated by Sir Henry Wilson two + months before; and Gough's Fifth Army, which held it lightly with fourteen + divisions against forty, was doomed to defeat by the failure of both the + British and the French Governments to provide adequate reserves which + existed in abundance both in England and in the rear of the French line, + and by the fact that Haig was more anxious about his shallow front in + Flanders and Ptain about his in Champagne than either was about the + Somme. Generally speaking, the British front grew thinner from north to + south until between the Somme and the Oise Gough had less than a bayonet a + yard; and Ludendorff knew it. He also made skilful use of the advantage + which the possession of the interior lines gave him in the St. Quentin-St. + Gobain salient. He could mass his troops in that angle without revealing + which side he meant to attack, and thus neutralize that observation which + superiority in aircraft gave his antagonists. It was not so much that he + brought up his forces at night and concealed them in woods, which are + leafless in March, as that the bodily eye of the airmen failed to discern + his intentions. He had other incidental advantages: that laborious + spade-work which characterized the German Army was not a distinguishing + feature of either the British or the French; and both the trenches we took + over south of St. Quentin and our own to the north of it left a good deal + to be desired in their defensive strength, while the great bridgehead + under construction to protect the Somme south of Pronne had not been + completed. The Allied advance had been slow, but since 1916 a confident + conviction possessed the Allied armies that they would only move in a + forward direction. Ludendorff was also able to withdraw his six divisions + and many Austrian batteries from the Italian front, assured that no + Italian offensive need be feared; and his tactics came as a surprise in + spite of the practical warnings given at Caporetto and Cambrai. They were + based not so much upon superiority of numbers as upon superiority of the + selected troops to the average of the forces opposed; and success depended + less upon the weight than upon the sharpness of the weapon used for the + blow. Hindenburg liked a hammer; Ludendorff chose an axe with which to + cleave the enemy front. When it was cleft, inferior metal might be used to + widen the gap between the French and British armies and drive the latter + to the coast while the former was being crushed. + </p> + <p> + The German offensive was facilitated by the abnormally dry season, which + reduced the strength of the water-defences of the British right, and a + dense fog favoured the attack on our forward positions. The Germans got + their infantry across the Oise canal north of La Fre without being + noticed, and many of our outposts were surrounded before it was known that + the attack had begun, although a brief bombardment by gas and other shells + had drenched our line and areas miles behind it all along the front (<i>see</i> + Map, p. 338). The forward zone resisted heroically, but by noon the + Germans were through it west of La Fre and were in our battle-zone north + of St. Quentin at Ronssoy. Between these two extremes of Gough's front + they reached in the afternoon Maissemy, north of St. Quentin, and the line + Essigny-Benay south of it. Farther north less progress had been made + against Byng's Third Army, but the Germans had reached St. Leger in their + effort to thrust a wedge between Arras and Cambrai, and many villages had + been captured. The prospect was gloomy for the morrow, since, although the + Germans had already used sixty-four divisions they were prepared to throw + in fresh ones each succeeding day, and it would be several days before + reinforcements could reach the Somme either from our reserves in Flanders + or the French reserves in Champagne. + </p> + <p> + The Germans made comparatively little headway on the 22nd against the + Third Army; but Gough's last reserves were thrown in without stopping the + German advance on our right, and the meagre French division which Fayolle + was able to send across the Oise could not dam the torrent. At night the + enemy had penetrated our third defensive position, and Gough ordered a + retreat to the unfinished bridgehead on the Somme. Byng's right had to + conform to this movement, which did not stop east of the Somme; for on the + 23rd the Germans had crossed the river south-east of Ham, more than a + dozen miles from their starting-point, and the Pronne bridgehead had to + be abandoned. Even on the west bank Gough's right was thus endangered, and + his left was threatened by a German attempt to break a gap north of + Pronne between his army and Byng's Third. This effort on the Somme, where + it runs due west from Pronne to Amiens, now became the chief and most + promising objective of the German strategy. The link between our two + armies was extremely fragile, and misunderstandings arose between the two + staffs. Fortunately the worst disaster was averted by Byng's timely + withdrawal from Monchy, which disconcerted and postponed the German attack + on Arras. + </p> + <p> + On Sunday the 24th the task of the British was threefold--to stem with + French assistance the German advance on our right between the Somme and + the Oise, to hold the line of the river from Ham northwards to Pronne, + and to repel the German thrust between the Third and Fifth Armies north of + the river bend. They were partially successful in the first two tasks, but + north of the Somme the Germans got into Combles and the Third Army had to + make a big retreat, surrendering Bapaume and nearly all the painful gains + of the 1916 Somme campaign. The Germans renewed the attack with great + energy on the 25th, and the British were unable to hold them up on their + improvised lines. Before night they were ordered to take their stand on + the old Ancre defences. This movement exposed the left flank of Gough's + forces on the Somme; his front had also been driven in by German attacks + across the river, while his right had been forced back beyond Guiscard, + Noyon, and Nesle. Fissures began to appear on the broken front; there was + something very like a gap between the French and British near Roye, and + another between Byng's Fourth and Fifth Corps across the Ancre, besides + that between his and Gough's armies. Byng was the first to re-establish + his line, partly because reinforcements from the north reached him first. + Early on the 26th the Germans had broken through our old line between + Beaumont-Hamel and Hbuterne and taken Colincamps, where they had not been + since 1914; but in the afternoon they were driven out again, and the + recovery was permanent. Here at least the German advance had reached its + limit, and there was some significance in the fact that here on that + afternoon the British whippet Tanks first appeared in battle. + </p> + <p> + Gough was not so happy. He had begun to collect a miscellaneous force, + like that which stopped the final German thrust at Ypres on 31 October + 1914, consisting of all sorts of combatant and non-combatant details, to + check the German rush on the Somme; but threats on his left, right, and + front compelled him to retreat to a line running south from Bray and + behind that held by the French before the battle of the Somme. Still the + Germans advanced towards Montdidier, seeking to break through between + Gough's right and the French, who had been driven off south-west of Roye. + But the worst of the danger was north on the Somme, where Byng's orders + were misunderstood and his extreme right, instead of holding the line + Albert-Bray to protect Gough's left, fell back five miles to + Sailly-le-Sec. The result was that on the 27th the Germans were able to + cross the Somme behind Gough's left at Chipilly and compel his retreat to + a line running from Bouzencourt S.E. to Rosires. There Gough's centre + stoutly maintained itself during the day; but to the south the Germans + drove the French out of Lassigny and Montdidier and seemed in a fair way + to break the liaison between the Allies, while north of the Somme the + Germans had got into Albert and Aveluy wood. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless the clouds were beginning to lighten. The violence of the + German attack was exhausting to the attackers; their communications now + lay across the devastated area, and rain soon came to clog their + movements. Their front of attack was, moreover, being steadily narrowed + from fifty to twenty miles. The French had forced the Germans to leave the + Oise after Noyon, and while their advance continued it did so with a + lengthening flank no longer protected by the river. Unless Von Hutier to + the south or Von Buelow to the north could break these containing and + solidifying barriers, the front of the German attack would be reduced to a + hopeless point before it got to Amiens. The attempt was naturally made + against Arras by Von Buelow's comparatively unwearied army, and on the + 28th he resumed his frustrated attack of the 23rd. This time the Germans + had no fog to help them, and their troops assembling for the attack were + decimated by our artillery. Nowhere did they succeed in piercing the + battle zone, and a second attack in the afternoon fared no better. This + was the decisive failure of the German offensive, and north of the Somme + our front was now secure. South of it the Germans made some further + progress on that day. The Rosires salient had to be abandoned to the + Germans pushing south of it across the Somme, and a retreat made to the + angle of the Luce and Avre rivers. Fayolle also was driven back to the + Avre, but by counter-attacks north and south of Montdidier he prevented + the enemy from debouching from that city. + </p> + <p> + The situation continued grave and the fighting severe for the next few + days, but retreat and pursuit had merged into a battle on a line with take + as well as give. The French front was extended up to the Luce and an + extemporized Fourth Army replaced the weary remnants of the Fifth. More + important was the appointment of Foch as commander-in-chief on the 25th + after a conference at Doullens between Haig and Ptain, Lord Milner and + Clmenceau, though it cannot have had much effect upon the operations + which checked the German advance by the end of March. On 4 April Von + Hutier made a final attempt to reach Amiens, and drove the Allies out of + the angle of the Luce and Avre and from the west bank of the latter back + to a line running west of Castel, Mailly-Raineval, Sauvillers, Cantigny, + and Mesnil St. Georges. But farther the Germans could not advance either + north or south of the Somme, though away to the east the French had to + evacuate the sharp salient between the Oise from La Fre to Chauny and the + St. Gobain forest, and to fall back behind the Aillette. The first act in + the great German offensive had failed in its strategical object of + breaking the Allied line, but it had achieved incomparably more than any + Allied offensive in the war; and the only advances to compare with it were + the German invasion of France and Belgium in 1914 and of Russia in 1915. + The Germans claimed by 4 April 90,000 prisoners and 1300 guns, and the + Fifth Army had been practically destroyed. It was the most formidable + offensive in the history of the world, and four times as many divisions + were launched against the British in March 1918 as against the French at + Verdun in 1916. + </p> + <p> + But it did not exhaust the German effort. There were other acts to follow, + and the second opened on 9 April, immediately after the curtain had been + rung down on the first. No second offensive could, however, approach in + magnitude the original plan. The Germans excelled in forethought and in + methodical preparation for which ample time was needed. They had had it in + the winter, and had staked their hopes upon the success of their throw in + March. Now they had to improvise, and their second thoughts were second + best. There were, indeed, signs of indecision in Ludendorff's later moves. + Possibly he regarded the Flanders offensive in April and the attack on the + Chemin des Dames in May as diversions merely intended to draw reserves + away from the Amiens front and facilitate a resumption of his original + design with better chance of success. Certainly those offensives were + begun with limited forces, and probably succeeded beyond his expectations. + But the attack on the Amiens front was never seriously resumed in spite of + the success of Ludendorff's diversions; and the remainder of the campaign, + so far as German initiative was concerned, resolved itself after April + into an effort to repeat with more success against the French Army + offensives which had failed to dispose of the British. There can hardly + have been much hope in Ludendorff's mind of decisive victory in a strategy + which after April left the British front almost immune from attack, while + American reinforcements were pouring in at the rate of hundreds of + thousands a month. But the responsibility of continuing the war under such + conditions and deluding the German people with false confidence was so + serious that no admission is likely to be forthcoming yet awhile of the + real intentions and thoughts of the German General Staff during the summer + of 1918. The truth no doubt is that Ludendorff had only a choice between a + confession of failure which was bound to ruin the Government and the class + he represented, and a desperate effort to make what he could out of the + military situation; and he preferred gambling, so long as he had anything + with which to play, to an immediate confession of bankruptcy. + </p> + <p> + For a time he had the luck which lures the gambler on, and the scene of + his second act was skilfully chosen. Before 21 March Haig had kept his + line better manned north than south of Arras, and the reasons which made + him anxious for the defence of his northern sector counselled Ludendorff + to attack it when the defeat of the Fifth Army had compelled the British + commander to divert ten divisions from the north and supply their place + with the weary survivors of the battle of St. Quentin. He had little room + to spare between his front and the sea, and a break-through, far less + extensive than that which had been effected in March, would give the + Germans the coast of the Straits of Dover, enable them to bombard the + Kentish shore, hamper the port of London, and perhaps reach it with + long-range guns like those with which they had occasionally bombarded + Paris since 23 March. These annoyances would have been serious; but the + British public paid itself a very bad compliment when it seemed to assume + that the distant bombardment of London would have an effect upon the war + disproportionate to that of Paris; and the notion that an impetus which + carried the Germans to Calais would transport them across the Channel was + merely another illustration of the comprehensive popular ignorance of the + meaning of sea-power. Nieuport or Dunkirk might have taken the place of + Bruges as a submarine base without greatly enhancing the success of that + campaign; and Haig chose rightly when, having to weaken his northern + front, he risked a sector north instead of south of La Basse and the Vimy + Ridge. Defeat to the north of those points, even though it cost us the + coast as far as Calais, would not entail retreat from the Artois hills + between Arras and Gris Nez or threaten our liaison with the French which + had been Ludendorff's first objective. The material comments on the value + of his second thoughts were that the Germans might have had the Channel + ports for the asking in 1914 but did not think them worth it, and that in + April 1918 Ludendorff employed but nine divisions in his initial effort to + break through. Probably his real ambition was merely to shorten his line + and, in view of the possible resumption of his offensive in front of + Amiens, to provide against a British counter-attack on the sensitive + German position along the Belgian coast. + </p> + <p> + Anticipating some such attack, Haig had deemed it wise to relieve the two + Portuguese divisions which held part of the front between the Lys and La + Basse of their arduous responsibility; but he could only replace them by + weary British divisions, and the change had only been half effected when, + on 9 April, Ludendorff s attack began after the usual bombardment with gas + and high-explosive on the 8th. The Portuguese broke fairly soon, the + British flanks on either side were turned, and the whole centre had gone + in a few hours. By night the Germans had captured Fleurbaix, Laventie, + Neuve Chapelle, Richebourg, and Lacouture, and were on the Lys from Bac + St. Maur almost as far as Lestrem. But the key-position at Givenchy was + splendidly held by the 55th Division, which set a permanent limit to the + German success and prevented it from obtaining anything like the + dimensions of the March offensive. It continued, however, to develop on + the north. On the 10th Bois Grenier fell, Armentires was evacuated, and + the Germans poured across the Lys, taking Estaires, Steenwerck, and + Ploegstreet and threatening the Messines ridge. That, too, followed on the + 11th, while farther south the Germans secured Neuf Berquin and Lestrem. On + the 12th they got into Merris and Merville and advanced to the La Basse + canal, threatening to cross it and outflank Bthune on the north-west. + Here, however, they were held up in front of Robecq, between the canal and + the forest of Nieppe, and turned to exploit their advantage farther north. + Their advance here was slower, but by the 16th they had mastered + Wytschaete, Wulverghem, Neuve Eglise, Bailleul, and Meteren, and were + facing the line of hills running from Mt. Kemmel to the Mt. des Cats. + </p> + <p> + British and French reinforcements were now arriving in considerable + numbers, and Ludendorff would have been prudent to rest on his laurels. He + had made a pronounced bulge in our line, had diverted forces from other + sectors of the defence, and compelled us to evacuate our dearly-purchased + gains of the Flanders campaign in the preceding autumn. On the other hand, + he had lengthened instead of shortening his own line, he had achieved no + strategical object, and his troops were left in a salient which invited + attack. Unless he could win the heights from Mt. Kemmel to Mt. des Cats, + which commanded the country to the coast, he would be in a worse situation + for defence than he was before. He was thus driven to prolong the effort, + pour fresh divisions into the battle, and convert a diversion into a major + operation. Doubtless popular visions of the Channel ports and the + bombardment of London reinforced the sounder military reasons for + persistence. There were three obvious lines of attack--on the Belgian + front north of Ypres, on the Kemmel range, now held partly by French + troops, and on Bthune. The first was defeated on the 17th by a brilliant + Belgian resistance, and the third was repulsed on the 18th before Hinges + and at Givenchy; but the second was longer delayed and more stubbornly + pushed. + </p> + <p> + The effort began with an intense bombardment on the 25th, and a few hours + later the Germans had captured the village and hill of Kemmel; our forces + were driven back to a line running in front of Dickebusch lake, La Clytte, + the Scherpenberg, and Locre. Mt. Kemmel had been regarded as the key to + the position, and it looked as though the range would fall. But Kemmel was + an isolated height, and the Germans were beaten in the valleys which + separated it from the Scherpenberg. Their attacks reached a climax on the + 29th, and after some partial success were everywhere defeated. Local + fighting continued spasmodically till late in May, but it was clear that + Ludendorff's second offensive had come to an end like his first. Its + extension had also ruined the chance of successfully resuming the attack + in front of Amiens. On 23 April the Germans attacked just south of the + Somme and captured Villers-Bretonneux, but it was promptly retaken on the + following day; and in the struggle along that line in May we advanced as + well as improved our position. The Germans had fought their last offensive + against the British front and had failed; and when after a four weeks' + pause they resumed their attacks, they were directed against the French. + </p> + <p> + During the interval the British public had time to reflect upon the + disaster and its effects. They were brought home by a new military service + Bill extending the liability to all men under fifty-one and bringing + Ireland within its scope. Panic had as much to do with these proposals as + forethought. The raising of the military age was calculated to weaken our + industrial more than to strengthen our military power; and the extension + to Ireland handed that country over to Sinn Fein and necessitated the + diversion thither of large British forces, which might otherwise have been + sent to the front, without producing a single Irish conscript. The + proposal was, indeed, so foolish that its authors made no attempt to carry + it out. Wiser was the speedy dispatch to France of 300,000 superfluous + troops who had been kept in England by nothing better than an ignorant + fear of invasion. But it was the amazing rapidity with which the United + States responded to Mr. Lloyd George's anxious appeals that saved the + Government from the effects of its own blunders and reduced its military + service Act to a measure for the infliction of gratuitous hardship. In + April nearly 120,000 American troops landed in Europe, over 220,000 in + May, and 275,000 in June. On 2 July President Wilson announced that over a + million had sailed; that number was doubled before the summer ended, and + in July General Smuts was anticipating the possible presence in France of + an American army as large as the British and French combined. + </p> + <p> + The need for so colossal a force did not arise, but in April the position + of his Government as well as the military situation agitated the Prime + Minister and gave wildness to his words as well as to his actions. Apart + from the casualties, we had lost 1000 guns, 4000 machine guns, 200,000 + rifles, 70,000 tons of ammunition, and 250 million rounds of small + ammunition, and 200 tanks. Circumstances wore a different complexion from + the roseate hues of the early months of 1917, and Mr. Lloyd George could + not escape the kind of blame he had heaped upon his predecessors. He + sought to evade it in his speech at the reassembling of Parliament on the + 9th by shifting the responsibility for the disaster partly on to M. + Clmenceau as the principal author of the unfortunate extension of the + British line, and partly on to the commander of the Fifth Army. The latter + at least could not reply, and the unfairness of the attack provoked much + ill-feeling in the army and elsewhere; it found expression in a letter + from Major-General Maurice, lately Director of Military Operations, which + was published on 7 May and challenged the accuracy of ministerial + statements. His charges were so serious that the Government at once + proposed a judicial inquiry. Mr. Asquith committed the tactical error of + moving instead for a parliamentary committee. The Government naturally + treated his motion as a vote of censure, and escaped all investigation on + the ostensible plea that it preferred a different method from that + proposed by Mr. Asquith. The House of Commons by 293 to 106 votes + expressed its apparent satisfaction with that "<i>ex parte</i> statement + from the Prime Minister himself" which "The Times"--then his strongest + supporter in the Press--had the day before said could not dispose of a + charge which "unless and until it is impartially investigated and + disproved, will profoundly shake the public confidence in every statement + made from the Treasury Bench." It was not, however, with the honour of + ministers that the House was mainly concerned. Members were in that mood, + which occurs at times in every nation's history, in which questions of + morals seem irrelevant or unimportant; and what they wanted was not the + truth but a plausible excuse for shirking inquiry and refusing to add a + political to the military crisis. Conscious of their own responsibility + for the Government, they were impatient of any discussion which might + reveal unpleasant facts to their constituents or military information to + the enemy. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult also not to trace a political motive, if not in the + attacks on Zeebrugge and Ostend, at least in the contrast between the + enormous publicity they received and the silence which shrouded the more + normal but not less important or heroic work of the British Navy. The + plans, indeed, had been prepared and sanctioned by Jellicoe before he left + office some months earlier; but many plans have long to wait the + ministerial word, and the naval operations of 23 April were as timely for + political as for military reasons. The military objective was to block the + submarine and destroyer exits from Zeebrugge and Ostend, both of which + were connected by canals with Bruges; and an operation of that kind + against the elaborately fortified Belgian coast required favourable + weather conditions as well as the highest courage. The plan at Ostend was + simply to sink ships in the waterway; at Zeebrugge there were also to be + diversions in the form of a landing on the protecting mole and the blowing + up of the viaduct which connected it with the shore. Success was only + possible if mist and smoke-clouds added to the concealment of night, and + those conditions depended upon the wind. They seemed favourable on the + night of 22-23 April, but a quarter of an hour before the <i>Vindictive</i> + reached the mole, a south-west breeze dispersed the smoke-clouds and + precipitated a torrent of shell-fire from the German batteries. In spite + of it the landing party got on to the mole and systematically destroyed + its works, while a submarine loaded with explosives was run under the + viaduct and exploded. Meanwhile, the blocking ships were sunk at the mouth + of the canal, and the survivors of their crews were picked up and got away + in the <i>Vindictive</i> and her consorts. At Ostend the blocking ships + had to sink outside the centre of the waterway; but the effort was + repeated with better success by the <i>Vindictive</i> on the night of 9-10 + May. Even Count Reventlow described these affairs as "damned plucky," but + added that they were nothing more. The further attacks on the Belgian + coast which were commonly expected did not come, and the operations had no + appreciable effect upon the land campaign. But they hampered the German + submarine campaign to some extent; and if they demonstrated once more that + sea-power is limited to the sea, they also showed that on the sea German + power had become a negligible quantity. That fact was, indeed, being + proved in a more effective though less heroic fashion, by the safe + transport of hundreds of thousands of American troops across the Atlantic; + but possibly public opinion needed the more spectacular demonstration, and + it certainly showed that the spirit of British seamen was unaffected by + the tremors of politicians. + </p> + <p> + Politicians appeared, indeed, to be more nervous after the crisis had + passed than they were before it arose, although their alarms did not + greatly affect the incurable sang-froid of the British public; and the way + in which the middle-aged shouldered the unnecessary burdens imposed upon + them by the improvidence of their Government, was as exemplary as the + eagerness with which youth had volunteered early in the war. Their + acceptance of the new obligations had its value in stimulating America to + dispatch her hundreds of thousands of troops more fit for active service; + and few, if any, of the elderly English recruits saw any fighting. + Ludendorff's plans had already gone astray when he failed in March and + April to break the liaison between the French and British armies; and his + subsequent operations were ineffective attempts to prepare the ground for + a final offensive which he was never allowed to begin. It would have been + doomed to miscarry in any case, for his preliminaries exhausted the forces + intended for the final effort, and the battles in Flanders had enhanced + the failure of his original design. He took four weeks to prepare for a + second subsidiary operation, and hoped to achieve a better success against + the French than he had against the British. He had the advantage of taking + them unawares, and on the eve of his offensive a French journal proclaimed + that it would be another blow at the British front because the Germans + knew that the French line was impregnable. Popular opinion in France had + attributed German success at St. Quentin and in Flanders to British + incompetence or cowardice, and British troops had even been hissed in the + streets of Paris. The attack on the Chemin des Dames was to modify this + opinion, although some tactless Frenchmen announced that reserves sent up + to the British sector, which alone stood its ground, were going "au + secours des Anglais." + </p> + <p> + Ludendorff's object was to widen his front towards Paris, for the lure of + the capital had already diverted him from his original plan of breaking + the liaison between the French and British armies in front of Amiens. That + Paris was his objective in May, and not the diversion of troops from the + critical junction with a view to resuming that attack, seems clear from + the fact that his next blow in June was struck between Montdidier and + Noyon. The Chemin des Dames would have been impregnable if properly held, + but Ludendorff s information was not at fault, and the possession of the + interior lines gave him the same advantage as in March of striking either + right against the British or left against the French. He struck early on + 27 May and achieved the most rapid advance of the war on the Western + front. The line from Soissons to Reims was held by only eight divisions, + four French and four British--one of these in reserve--and in a few hours + the French had lost all their gains since October 1914 and were back again + behind the Aisne. The British divisions, although they had been sent there + to recruit after their hard work in March and April, made a better fight, + and maintained themselves in their second positions all the day. But the + French retreat had uncovered the British left flank, and in the evening + they had to withdraw to the Aisne. By that time the French were nearer the + Vesle than the Aisne, and on the 28th they were driven well south of the + latter river. On the 29th the Germans broadened their front by taking + Soissons, and on the 30th the apex of the salient they had made had + reached the Marne between Chteau-Thierry and Dormans. For three days they + had advanced at the rate of ten miles a day, capturing some 40,000 + prisoners and 400 guns. From that date the pace slackened. The Germans did + not attempt to cross the Marne, but endeavoured to widen their salient by + pushing east behind Reims and west across the Soissons-Chteau-Thierry + road. They had little success in the former direction, but in the latter + they gradually pressed back the French to an irregular line which ran from + Fontenoy on the Aisne southwards along the Savires river across the + Ourcq, and then turned eastwards down the Clignon and reached the Marne + below Chteau-Thierry. American troops, who had on the 27th marked their + advent into battle by capturing and holding Cantigny, a critical point on + the Montdidier front, now took up an equally crucial position south-west + of Chteau-Therry and drove the Germans back on 4-5 June, while on the 6th + British troops recaptured Bligny south-west of Reims. + </p> + <p> + The French themselves defeated on the 5th a German attempt to cross the + Oise at Lagache south of Noyon, which was intended to link up the German + offensive on the Aisne with their next attack farther west. This was + launched on the 9th between Montdidier and Noyon, and its purpose was to + push southwards and envelop the French defences and forces in the forests + of Compigne and Villers-Cotterets which had stopped the German westward + advance on Paris between the Aisne and the Marne. It was a dangerous + threat, but this time Foch was prepared. The attack was, indeed, a matter + of common anticipation, and its adoption suggested that Ludendorff was + getting to the end of his expedients. The Americans at Cantigny set a + western, and the French success at Lagache an eastern limit to its front; + and thus confined it advanced no more than six miles in four days. The + French left stood firm and a brilliant counter-attack by Mangin on the + German right flank between Rubescourt and St. Maur on the 11th determined + its failure, although Foch was compelled to evacuate the salient which the + German advance had created in the French line east of the Oise between + Ribecourt and Mt. de Choisy. Hoping that this attack had diverted French + forces from the defence of the forest of Villers-Cotterets, the Germans + then renewed their push along the Aisne, but were promptly checked; and no + better success attended their effort on the 18th to encircle Reims still + farther east. + </p> + <p> + For the moment German trust in success had to repose upon the secondary + efforts of her Austrian ally on the Piave, although no German troops could + now be spared to give much substance to the expectation. That front had + been quiescent since the winter, but a good deal had been done to + strengthen it, and the Italians were doubtless well advised to stand + behind their lines rather than risk an offensive until Austria was + practically <i>hors de combat</i>. Austria herself had little stomach for + the fight. Her domestic situation was deplorable; parliamentary government + had been suspended; and nearly half the population of the Empire was in + veiled or open revolt. Hundreds of thousands of Czecho-Slovaks and + Jugo-Slavs had joined the enemy, and some were stiffening the Piave front. + But German demands were inexorable, and it was hoped that German tactics + would supply the place of German troops. There were two battles in the + offensive which began on 15 June, one in the mountains, the object of + which was to turn the whole Italian front on the Piave, and the other a + frontal attack across that river between the Montello, the pivot of the + mountain and river fronts, and the sea. The first was the more promising, + but achieved the less success. That front was partly held by French and + British troops, and the insignificant advance which the Austrians made on + the 15th was stopped on the following day. The attack on the Piave was at + first more fortunate; a good deal of the Montello was taken, a serious + impression was made on the Italian right wing at San Don di Piave, and + fourteen new bridges and nearly 100,000 Austrian troops were thrown across + the river. Fortune came to the rescue of the Italians, and torrents of + rain flooded the Piave and broke ten of the Austrian bridges. On the 18th + the counter-attack began, and by a brilliant dash of soldiers and sailors + the Austrian left was turned on the 21st. On the 22nd a general retreat + across the river was ordered; it was skilfully carried out, and the + Austrians escaped with singularly slight losses considering their + precarious position. Their offensive had been an utter failure, but Diaz + did not think it prudent to follow up his success with an advance across + the river. + </p> + <p> + The Austrian misadventure was a meagre morsel with which to fill the gap + between the latest German offensives and the crowning mercy for which the + German public had been led to look; and as the precious summer weeks flew + by uneasiness must have filled any German minds that were capable of + discerning the realities of the situation. But the wish is father to most + men's thoughts, and unpleasant facts which were not concealed by the + censor were sedulously ignored or explained away. "Foch's reserves" became + a jesting synonym on German lips for something which did not exist, and it + was the daily exercise of journalistic wisdom to show that American armies + which could not swim or fly would be prevented by German submarines from + crossing the Atlantic. Ludendorff was not so blind, and had he been a + patriotic statesman instead of a Junker general he would have sought to + make terms while he might do so with advantage. But it is the nemesis of + militarism that it never can make a peace which is tolerable to its + enemies, and Ludendorff had no choice but to persist with an offensive + which had become a desperate gamble. His efforts since the end of May had + profited him little; he had used up most of the divisions intended for a + final resumption of his attack on the Franco-British liaison; and after + more than a month's delay he could only launch his last bolt against an + eccentric and subsidiary objective. Foiled in front of Amiens and Paris, + he turned to Reims; but there was nothing in the previous history of the + war on the Western front to suggest that, even were his last offensive as + successful as his first, it would bring him within measurable distance of + the victory he needed. The Marne might be crossed and the railway to Nancy + and Verdun cut, as they had been in 1914, but the further advance for + which he could hope from his attack on Reims would bring him no nearer to + Paris, to breaking the Entente connexion, or to damming that fatal flow of + American reinforcements which was providing Foch with as many reserves a + month as Germany could recruit in a year. + </p> + <p> + The fateful attack began at 4 a.m. on 15 July after four hours of + artillery preparation. Its object was to encircle the Montagne de Reims, + the chief bastion of the line of communications between Paris and the + eastern front on the Meuse, and to extend the German hold on the Marne + from Dormans as far as Chlons. There were two converging attacks, one on + the twenty-six miles of front which Gouraud held east of Reims between + Prunay and Massiges, and the other on a twenty-two mile line south-west of + Reims between Vrigny and Fossoy on the Marne above Chteau-Thierry. For + each attack Ludendorff used fifteen divisions, with others in reserve. On + both fronts he found Foch prepared to counter the tactics which had been + so successful in the earlier stages of the offensive. The first line was + lightly held, and the Germans were shaken by a skilfully arranged + bombardment as they crossed the zone between it and the real French + defences. Upon these in Champagne they made no impression whatever. + Prunay, Prosnes, Auberive, and Tahure were yielded at first, but recovered + by counter-attacks; the French lost no guns, and their casualties were + insignificant. Gouraud more than anyone else had frustrated Ludendorff's + last offensive. South-west of Reims the Germans were rather more + successful. They pushed across the Marne to a depth of some three miles + between Mezy and Dormans, and in three days advanced up it past Chtillon + towards pernay as far as Rueil. Similar progress was made eastwards on + the line between the Marne and Vrigny. But the gate-posts were firmly held + at Fossoy with American assistance, and at Vrigny with that of the British + and Italian divisions which under Berthelot did some of their best + fighting in the war. By the evening of the 17th the Entente forces were + successfully counter-attacking all along the line, and at dawn on the 18th + Foch delivered the blow which converted the German advance into a retreat, + and began a triumphal progress which did not stop until four months later + the enemy sued for peace. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter19" id="chapter19"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX + </h2> + <h3> + THE VICTORY OF THE ENTENTE + </h3> + <p> + There were a few people in England who had some inkling on 18 July that it + might prove a turning-point in history. Foch's simple piety had led him + into what was almost an indiscretion; he had asked for the special prayers + of the faithful, the request had spread to conventual schools in England, + and by the 16th it was guessed by those who knew the fact that a special + effort was in contemplation. But his great counter-attack owed its + importance to what had gone before and what was to follow; and victory was + due to more complex and comprehensive causes than the valour of the troops + engaged upon the Marne or even the strategy of Foch. Greater efforts were + made at other times on both sides than during the last fortnight of July + 1918, and the destruction of the salient the Germans had made since 27 May + was merely the last ounce which turned the balance of power and the scales + of victory. There were many ounces in the total weight, and the pride of + each belligerent points to the different contributions which it made. To + the Americans their divisions at Chteau-Thierry seem the decisive factor, + to the French it was Foch's genius. The British point to the fact that the + greatest weight of German force was still in front of Amiens and not on + the Marne, and an Italian prince has declared that it was Italy who won + the war on 24 October; while Ludendorff has maintained that American + troops counted for little, and that the crucial factor was the + revolutionary propaganda which had begun to undermine the <i>moral</i> of + German troops as early as 1916. None of these partial explanations contain + more than an element of truth, and a more comprehensive view is suggested + by the likeness of Germany to the "one-hoss shay" of Oliver Wendell + Holmes' ballad, a vehicle so skilfully compacted of durable materials that + each part lasted exactly as long as every other, and that the whole + eventually crumbled into a heap of dust in a single moment. German + resources were vastly inferior to those which were slowly mobilized + against her, but she organized them with such skill that they resisted the + wear and tear of the war for a period to which some observers could + discern no end. The strength of materials is, however, limited, and no + organization can make them last for ever. The German armies began to give + on 18 July, and the decay went on increasing because she had not the means + with which to make repairs. The wonder is not that the machine broke down, + but that it bore so great a strain for so prolonged a time. The Germans + could not command success because they defied the conscience of mankind, + but from the military point of view they certainly deserved it. + </p> + <p> + In spite of Ludendorff's attempt, natural in a Junker, to debit revolution + with his failure, it was American reinforcements which turned the scale. + Few of them were as yet in the battle line, and there was no great + disparity between the opposing forces on the front. But the mobilized + strength of the Allies was growing to three times that of their enemies. + Foch had an inexhaustible reservoir which enabled him to take risks which + Ludendorff could not afford, and gave him a freedom of action which no + Entente general had yet possessed. The extent of his command and his + resources released him from the bonds of limited offensives. He could + crush the German salient on the Marne without prejudicing the prospects of + his plans at Amiens and Arras, in Champagne or at Verdun; and fear imposed + on Ludendorff the dire alternative of weakening his powers of resistance + to future attacks elsewhere, or starving his immediate defence. His plans + for resuming the offensive at Amiens had already been ruined by the drain + of his attacks on the Aisne and on the Marne; and his defensive prospects + on the Amiens front were now to be jeopardized in the effort to avoid + disaster in the salient he had rashly made along the Marne. For, except on + the assumption that Foch was unable to attack on the western flank of that + salient between Soissons and Chteau-Thierry, the German thrust deeper + across the Marne was a wild adventure (<i>see</i> Map, p. 362). + </p> + <p> + Foch, however, had made his plan and his preparations. Concealed by the + forests of Compigne and Villers-Cotterets, he had assembled in the angle + between the Oise and Marne reserves of which the Germans denied the + existence. From the Aisne near Fontenoy southwards to the Ourcq Mangin + commanded an army containing the pick of French colonial troops; and + thence to the Marne Degoutte had another which included five American + divisions. Before them ran the German flank weakly guarding the line of + communications with the German front on the Marne. Led by a vast fleet of + French "mosquito" Tanks something like the British "whippets," the French + early on the 18th broke through the German defences on a front of + twenty-seven miles and advanced from two to five miles towards the + Soissons-Chteau-Thierry road. [Footnote: An error made in the British <i>rchauffe</i> + of the French official news represented Mangin as having advanced eight + miles on the 18th to the Crise on a stretch of five miles east of Buzancy. + It was a mistake of <i>nord-uest</i> for <i>nord-est</i> which was never + corrected, and has got into most of the summaries and histories of the + war, although it makes the subsequent French fighting in that area + unintelligible. The history of the German evacuation of the salient would + have been very different had the French got east of Buzancy on the 18th. + As a matter of fact, it took them eleven days to secure the territory + credited to them by this error on the 18th.] Mangin reached the Montagne + de Paris within two miles of Soissons, and Berzy-le-Sec on the banks of + the Crise, while south of the Ourcq Dgoutte got to Neuilly St. Front and + the Americans captured Courchamps, Torcy, and Belleau. Sixteen thousand + prisoners and fifty guns were captured, but there was nothing like a + German rout. They stubbornly defended their main line of communications + for days until the bulk of their forces could get away; and they evacuated + the salient slowly and in good order. There was, of course, no further + hope for them south of the Marne, and by the 20th they had regained the + northern bank without very serious loss; it was not till the 22nd that the + Allies crossed the river in pursuit. On the 21st the Germans had abandoned + Chteau-Thierry and the Soissons road as far as the Ourcq, but north of + that river they held the road for a week, and Buzancy was not captured + till the 29th. By the 23rd Berthelot was making progress on the other side + of the salient, and the German centre had to relinquish the forest of Fre + and Oulchy on the 25th. On the 31st the Americans drove in their centre at + Seringes, and on 2 August the French forced their way into Soissons. By + the 3rd the Germans had been driven across the Vesle and the salient had + been flattened out. + </p> + <p> + Even the best of the critics in the French press had little idea of what + was to follow. The Germans' latest offensive had been foiled, and they had + lost the more adventurous part of their gains in May; but Foch's success + was regarded as merely a promising detail, and men discussed the locality + of Rupprecht's counter-attack. But the signs of the times did not point in + that direction. On 4 July Americans and Australians fighting side by side + had captured Hamel below the Somme. On the 19th the British had recaptured + Meteren at the apex of the German salient across the Lys, and Merris fell + on the 30th. On the 23rd the French between Amiens and Montdidier had + advanced two miles on a four-mile front and captured Mailly-Raineval, + Sauvillers, and Aubvillers in the Avre valley; and on 4 August the Germans + withdrew from all their ground to the west of that river. Two days later + they attacked and recovered some of the ground they had recently lost near + Morlancourt. Both the withdrawal and the attack were signs of nervous + anticipation, but neither broke the force of the blow which Haig struck on + 8 August on a twenty-mile front from Morlancourt to La Neuville on the + Avre. The troops were mostly British under Rawlinson with a French army + under Dbeney cooperating on his right. Their success first opened the + eyes of the public to the change in the situation on the front, and on + Ludendorff's own testimony deprived him of his last vestige of hope. It + was no weak flank that was attacked, but the sector of the front that was + most strongly held by German armies. The drive was straight along the + great road from Amiens to St. Quentin on which the Germans had made their + westward thrust in March; and the first day saw them seven miles back at + Framerville. To the south they lost Moreuil, Mezires, Demuin, Cayeux, and + Caix, and to the north Morcourt, Cerisy, and Chipilly, while 7000 + prisoners and 100 guns had been taken by 3 p.m. On the 9th those totals + had risen to 24,000 prisoners and over 200 guns, while the British + continued their advance to Rosires and Lihons, and the French to + Arvillers and Beaufort. Nor was that all; for south of Dbeney, Humbert + interposed with another attack between Montdidier and the Oise. By the + 11th the Germans had lost to the French most of their gains in the June + offensive, and to the British further ground between Albert and the Somme. + </p> + <p> + On that day the German line ran in front of Bray, Chaulnes, Roye, and + Lassigny to Ribecourt on the Oise. They had brought up reinforcements to + make a stand on that shortened front, and they stubbornly contested the + French advance on the Lassigny massif. But its capture was completed by + the 15th, and the number of prisoners had risen to 33,000 and of captured + guns to over 600. The Germans were also being pushed out of their salient + on the Lys, where Merville fell on the 19th; and Mangin was forcing his + way forward in the angle of the Aisne and the Oise between Soissons and + Noyon. But the next great blow was struck north of the Somme by Byng + between Albert and Arras. The Germans sought to evade its force by a + timely retreat across the Ancre, and there was no such rapid advance as + marked the first day of Rawlinson's offensive south of the Somme. But it + was less interrupted, and day by day some progress was made. Byng's attack + on the 21st was along a ten-mile front north of the Ancre, and the first + day gave him Beaucourt, Achiet-le-Petit, Bucquoy, Courcelles, and + Moyenneville. On the 22nd he extended his attack from Albert to the Somme + and advanced two miles to a line between Albert and Bray. On the 23rd his + left was advanced another couple of miles to Boiry, Ervillers, Bihucourt, + and Irles, while on his right the Australians captured Bray. The German + centre at Thiepval was thus outflanked on both sides; it gave way on the + 24th, and Byng pushed on to the outskirts of Bapaume. Bapaume held out for + five days longer while Byng pushed his right forward along the Somme + towards Pronne, and extended his left attack northwards beyond the + Scarpe. + </p> + <p> + Byng's addition to the pressure the Germans had to bear from north of the + Scarpe to south of the Oise imposed upon them a retreat as extensive as + that of March and April 1917; but now they could not make it at their + leisure. On the 27th they had to abandon the line south of the Somme on + which they had stood since the 15th, when they recovered stability after + Rawlinson's offensive. Roye was relinquished that day and Chaulnes and + Nesle on the 28th. Noyon followed on the 29th, partly in sympathy with the + northern withdrawal and partly owing to Humbert's pressure on the + north-western bank of the Oise, but also because it had been outflanked to + the south by Mangin's advance between the Oise and the Aisne. Beginning on + the 17th with an attack on a ten-mile front between Tracy-le-Val and + Vingre he had steadily pushed on until by the 23rd his left flank held the + Oise as far as its junction with the Ailette and his front faced the + latter canalized river as far as Guny. By the 29th he was across the + Ailette and threatening to turn the whole German position south of the + Somme at Chauny. Bapaume fell on the same day as Noyon, and it soon became + clear that the Somme would not protect the Germans any more than it had + done the British in March. For on the 31st the Australians stormed Mount + St. Quentin the bulwark of Pronne, and Pronne itself fell into their + hands on 1 September. Simultaneously Byng's army pressed forward from + Bapaume to the Canal du Nord which runs north from Pronne. + </p> + <p> + But this after all was ground we had held for a year in 1917-18, and the + Hindenburg lines might serve the Germans as well in 1918-19. More + significant of the coming debacle was the success of Horne's First Army, + which now intervened and extended the line of Byng's attack. Already + Canadian and British troops, by the capture of Vis-en-Artois on the 27th, + Boiry on the 28th, and Haucourt on the 30th, had seized ground which the + Germans had held since 1914; and on 2 September in one of the outstanding + actions of the campaign Canadian and British troops broke the + Drocourt-Quant line on a front of six miles between taing and + Cagnicourt. On that day the British army fired 943,857 shells. No single + engagement caused greater depression in Germany, but the impression was + somewhat fallacious; for behind this sector of the Hindenburg lines were + waterways which were even worse obstacles to our tanks, and although the + Canadians pressed on to L'cluse, court, and Rumancourt, they were hemmed + in on their left by the Sense and in front by the Canal du Nord, which + protected Douai to the north and Cambrai to the east. The advance here was + checked for some weeks, but it went steadily on along other fronts. The + salient on the Lys was melting away: Bailleul fell on 30 August, Mount + Kemmel on the 31st, and Ploegstreet wood on 4 September. Lens was + evacuated on the 3rd. South-west of Cambrai the British were approaching + their old lines, and east of the Somme the Germans were retreating to St. + Quentin. On the 6th the French took Ham and Chauny, and on the 9th they + were once more across the Crozat canal. Mangin was pushing his way towards + the St. Gobain massif, and French and American troops were driving the + Germans back from the Vesle across the Aisne. It looked as though winter + might come with the line of battle much where it was before the German + offensive began in March. + </p> + <p> + But the latter half of September gave a novel aspect to affairs. A great + deal, no doubt, was due to Foch and the unity of command; but that unity + did not extend to the East nor account for the debacle of Bulgaria and + Turkey. It was, however, partly responsible for the extension of our + offensive in France beyond the limits of the year before and for the + timing of the American attack in the Woevre. In the hour of his Allies' + need President Wilson had consented to the brigading of American with + French and British troops, and to the employment of American divisions as + supports for French and British generals. But with the American Army + growing equal in size to the French and the British and acquiring an + independent skill in war, there could be no hesitation about an American + command on an equal footing with the armies of Haig and Ptain; and to the + Americans under General Pershing had been allotted the right wing of the + Allied front, the British forming the left and the French the centre. Some + critics talked of Pershing's armies being used as the spear-head of an + invasion of Germany through Lorraine; but this would have been an + eccentric operation, and there were obvious reasons for restoring + Lorraine, if possible, to France undevastated by war. North rather than + east was the natural direction for an American advance, and in either case + an indispensable preliminary was to eliminate that strange wedge at St. + Mihiel which the Germans had held since September 1914. The task would + also be a useful apprenticeship for an independent American command. The + attack was made on both sides of the salient on 12 September, but the + principal drive was from the south on a twelve miles' front between + Bouconville and Regnieville. Part of the defending force was Austrian, but + the whole salient collapsed under the blow; 15,000 prisoners and 200 guns + were captured, and a new front was formed on a straight line from Fresnes + to Pont--Mousson. The strategic purpose was to free the American flank + and communications in view of a bigger offensive northwards, and on the + 15th Austria and Germany began their overtures for peace, to which + President Wilson at once returned an unsympathetic reply. + </p> + <p> + Anticipations as well as achievements counselled that diplomatic move, and + Austria in particular had reason to fear developments on other fronts than + the French. The Balkans had been quiescent during the summer, although the + Greeks had on 30 May given an earnest of a better future by a victory at + Skra di Legen, west of the Vardar, in which they captured 1500 Bulgarian + and German prisoners, and on 18 June the fall of the pro-German + Radoslavoff Ministry indicated that Ferdinand wished to present a less + Teutonic appearance to the world. Italy, too, in pursuance of her assumed + protectorate over Albania, thought in July that the time had come to + assert herself, and with the assistance of some French troops began an + advance towards Elbasan. The Austrians were taken by surprise, Berat was + captured, and the country overrun as far as the Semeni and beyond the + Devoli. The effort was not apparently serious; in August the Austrians + returned to the attack, recaptured Berat, and drove the Italians back to + their starting-point in a retreat boldly described in an Italian official + pronouncement as of no military importance. It helped to discourage Italy + from taking an active part in the coming offensive against Bulgaria, but + political motives were the principal reason for quiescence. Italy had a + tenderness for Bulgaria arising out of her antipathy to Jugo-Slavs and + Greeks, and while proclaiming that Austria must be totally destroyed, she + exclaimed against the wickedness and folly of imposing on Bulgaria a + second Peace of Brest-Litovsk (<i>see</i> Map, p. 151). + </p> + <p> + The success of the Balkan campaign did not, however, suffer much from the + lack of Italian push. Franchet d'Esperey was commander-in-chief, and he + was ably seconded by the Serbian Marshal Mishitch. The Serbian Army was + the spear-head of the attack, and it had with it an equally eager and + effective force of Jugo-Slavs; with them cooperated the French on the west + of the Vardar, while east of it were the Greeks and the British with the + arduous and somewhat thankless task of facing the impregnable Demir Kapu + defile and Belashitza range. The offensive began on 15 September, and the + main attack was on the Dobropolie ridge in the angle between the Tcherna + and Vardar rivers. On the first day the Bulgarian line was broken on a + front of sixteen miles, an advance was made of five, and 4000 prisoners + and 30 guns were taken. On the morrow the front widened to twenty-two + miles, and the advance increased to twelve; and within a week the Serbians + had cleared the angle between the rivers and crossed the Tcherna on their + left and the Vardar above Demir Kapu on their right. This cut the main + Bulgarian communications with Prilep on the west and Doiran on the east, + and compelled a general retreat along a hundred miles of front. On the + 23rd the French occupied Prilep; on the 25th the Serbians captured Veles + and Ishtip and pressed on towards Uskub, while their cavalry were at + Kotchana almost on the Bulgarian frontier. The British, whose first + attacks had been checked, had actually crossed the border at Kosturino on + the road between Doiran and Strumnitza. Bulgaria had put her whole trust + in the strength of her front, and with it she collapsed. An armistice was + requested on the 25th, and Franchet d'Esperey's terms were accepted on the + 30th. It was the most dramatic overthrow in the war, and within a + fortnight the whole situation in the Balkans was transformed. The Serbians + were bitterly disappointed at having to stay their avenging hands when + almost at the gates of Sofia; but the elimination of Bulgaria made the + recovery of their country a triumphal procession varied by the occasional + defeat of Austrian rearguards. On 12 October they and their allies + occupied Nish, and a week later they had reached the Danube. Nor was + Serbia alone concerned. Austria had relied upon the Bulgarian buckler, and + when it crumpled her entire hold not only on the Balkans but over her own + Jugo-Slav subjects in Bosnia, Dalmatia, and Carinthia was relaxed. A + general uprising of Jugo-Slavs in favour of union under the Serbian crown + more than doubled the size of that kingdom which Austria had begun the war + to crush. + </p> + <p> + Nor did this exhaust the effects of Bulgaria's capitulation. The terms of + the armistice included the Allied occupation of Bulgarian railways, and + this brought their military front up to the borders of Rumania on the + north and of Turkey on the south. Presently Marghiloman's Ministry, which + the Germans had imposed at Bukarest, fell, and Rumania prepared to resume + her part in the war. Bulgaria, too, was willing to revive her quarrel with + Turkey. The famous corridor had disappeared, and Turkey was an isolated + unit. It was no wonder that the "Easterners" looked up again, and the + Prime Minister's henchmen in the press began to tell stories about his + single-handed and far-sighted championship of an Eastern campaign as the + solution of the problem of the war. But the collapse of the Balkan front + was ultimately due to the collapse of its German foundation. Berlin + journalists talked of the German troops which would soon bring back + Bulgaria to her senses and to the Teutonic fold. But they were mortgaged + to the Western front, and instead of a German expedition to assist her + under Mackensen, Turkey was faced with ruin at the hands of Allenby. + </p> + <p> + His blow had followed swiftly on that of Franchet d'Esperey, and four days + after the Balkan campaign had opened, British forces began the battle + which was to prove the most perfect operation of the war. Preparations had + been in progress during the summer, and little had been done to modify the + British line running a dozen or fifteen miles north of Jericho, Jerusalem, + and Jaffa to the sea. A Turkish counter-attack on 13 July had even met + with some initial success; but the Turks had been unable to maintain their + strength, the Germans could not assist them, the Arabs were perpetually + harassing them along the Hedjaz railway, and what reserves they had were + sent on a wild goose chase for the recovery of Turkish dominion in + Caucasia and Persia and along the shores of the Caspian. The pursuit was + rendered attractive by Russian impotence and anarchy: Armenia was regained + and subjected to a final and more extensive massacre than ever; Northern + Persia was overrun, and even the long and adventurous arms which the + British Empire stretched out in August from Mesopotamia and India to the + southern and eastern shores of the Caspian failed to save Baku from the + combined efforts of Turkish troops and Bolshevik treachery on 14 + September. But Allenby, the luckiest of British generals, brought down + these airy Turkish castles with a single blow. He had been largely + reinforced from India, which mobilized during the war nearly a million men + and bore the chief burden of the Palestine and Mesopotamian campaigns; he + had got a magnificent force of cavalry, and with it the terrain and open + fighting wherein to exhibit a model of that traditional strategy from + which the glory on European battlefields had departed for ever. + </p> + <p> + On 19 September his infantry drove the Turks from a sixteen-mile line + between Rafat and the sea back a dozen miles to the railway junction at + Tul Keram, while his cavalry burst through to the right towards the gap + south-east of Mount Carmel and the plain of Esdraelon. It was a rare ride: + on the morrow they were forty miles north and north-east at El Afuleh, + Nazareth, and Beisan; and then wheeling south-east they cut off the + retreat of nearly the whole of the Turkish forces. On the 22nd Allenby + reported that 25,000 prisoners and 200 guns had been taken and counted, + and that the Seventh and Eighth Turkish armies had virtually ceased to + exist. The Fourth was pursued across the Jordan, and mostly mopped up + between its pursuers and the Arabs to the east. On the 25th we were round + the Lake of Galilee, and the number of prisoners had risen to 45,000 and + of captured guns to nearly 300. There was nothing left to stop our + advance, which was joined by some French battalions, while the Arabs kept + pace on the other side of the Jordan. On the 28th we effected a junction + with them at Deraa, and Damascus fell on the 30th. On 6 October cavalry, + advancing between Mts. Lebanon and Hermon, seized Zahleh and Rayak between + Damascus and Beyrut, which the French occupied on the 7th, while the + British took Sidon. On the 9th we were at Baalbek, on the 13th at + Tripolis, and on the 15th at Homs. On the 26th Aleppo fell, and on the + 28th we reached Muslimieh, that junction on the Baghdad railway on which + longing eyes had been cast as the nodal point in the conflict of German + and other ambitions in the East. + </p> + <p> + Allenby played the leading part in Turkey's destruction, partly because + Marshall's attention in Mesopotamia had been distracted towards the + Caspian. But in October he resumed his interrupted march up the Tigris: on + the 25th his troops captured Kirkuk and forced the passage of the Lesser + Zab; and on the 28th they took Kalat Shergat, and after a six days' battle + forced the Turkish army on the Tigris to surrender. Turkey had taken a lot + more beating than Bulgaria, but the end was the same. On 30 October an + armistice was signed, which permitted the Allies to occupy the forts on + the Dardanelles and Bosporus and make free use of the Straits. Marshall + entered Mosul, and presently British ships commanded the Black Sea and + British troops were holding a line across Caucasia to the Caspian and + connecting with the chain of forces established between Krasnovodsk and + India. An end was thus put to Germany's dreams of a + Teutonic-Turco-Turanian avenue into the heart of Asia, but the search for + an eastern front in Russia against the Central Empires was elusive. For + the Bolsheviks, in spite of the murder of Count Mirbach the German + ambassador at Moscow on 6 July, grew ever more friendly to the Prussians, + and the Entente had to go to Vladivostock for a basis of operations, and + rely largely upon the romantic achievements of the Czecho-Slovak prisoners + who had enlisted in the Russian armies and refused to lay down their arms + at the Peace of Brest-Litovsk. At first the Bolsheviks promised them a + passage via Siberia to the Western front, but then, like Pharaoh hardened + their hearts and refused to let the infant nation go. Thereupon the + Czecho-Slovaks set up for themselves, seized the Siberian railway from the + Bolsheviks, and after much hardship and fighting established contact with + the motley Entente forces advancing from Vladivostock. With their + assistance an anti-Bolshevik government, of which Admiral Koltchak + afterwards made himself master, was set up in Siberia, while Entente + forces, mostly British, were sent to Archangel and the Murmansk coast to + prevent the Germans establishing their authority there as they had done in + the Baltic provinces "liberated" by the Peace of Brest-Litovsk. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map18.png"><img src="images/map18s.png" width="311" + height="411" alt="The Conquest Of Syria" /></a> + </p> + <p> + But this Eastern front, which as late as August was regarded in high but + civilian quarters as indispensable to the Allied success, failed to pierce + the protection which the Bolsheviks gave to Germany or to penetrate + farther west than the Urals; and Germany had after all to be beaten by + professional strategists on the Western front. There was little fault to + be found with their progress, and while Bulgaria, Turkey, and Austria were + collapsing in the East, the Germans were being steadily driven towards + disaster on a widening field of battle in the West. Simultaneously with + Pershing's destruction of the St. Mihiel salient the British were + thrusting the Germans back to the Hindenburg lines between Cambrai and St. + Quentin, and Mangin was pushing forward towards the forest of St. Gobain. + The Germans attempted to stand at pehy, but on 18-19 September they were + driven back with the loss of 11,750 prisoners and 100 guns; and from the + 27th to the 30th was fought the first phase of the battle for Cambrai and + St. Quentin, in which the British First, Third, and Fourth armies took + 26,500 prisoners and 340 guns apart from the gains of the French. The + object was to complete the breach of the Hindenburg lines on the strength + of which public opinion in Germany was stayed; and it was a critical + operation. The lines themselves were reinforced by the Canal du Nord + protecting Cambrai and the Scheldt-St. Quentin canal between Cambrai and + St. Quentin. + </p> + <p> + The southern sector in front of the Fourth Army was the more strongly + fortified, and an intense bombardment began on the night of 26-27 + September which continued till the 29th. This tended to divert attention + from the First and Third armies, which on the 27th forced the Canal du + Nord south of Moeuvres and then spread fanwise along the eastern bank. By + the end of the day they were more than half-way from the Canal du Nord to + Cambrai, and on the 28th the advance was continued across the Scheldt + canal at Marcoing and broadened from Palluel on the north to Gouzeaucourt + on the south. On the 29th the Fourth Army began its attack on the canal to + the north of St. Quentin. It was well supported by several American + divisions, and the great episode of the day was the capture of Bellenglise + by troops who crossed the canal equipped with life-belts, mats, and rafts. + East of Bellenglise, Lehaucourt and Magny were also stormed, and north of + it Nauroy and Bellicourt. Meanwhile the Third Army captured Masnires and + penetrated into the western outskirts of Cambrai while the Canadians + threatened to outflank it on the north. On the 30th the Germans had to + withdraw their centre at Villers Guislain and Gonnelieu, while the Fourth + Army extended its gains southwards by the capture of Thorigny; and, thus + menaced, the Germans had to abandon St. Quentin to the French on 1 + October. On that day, too, New Zealanders and British troops took + Crvecoeur and Rumilly south of Cambrai, and the Canadians Blcourt to the + north of it. The Hindenburg line, apart from its tottering supports, had + gone at the moment when Bulgaria was capitulating; and on the same 30 + September Count Hertling and all his Secretaries of State resigned. + </p> + <p> + The British victory, while the critical movement on the Western front, was + but one of the four operations which Foch had concerted with Haig in the + middle of September. The other three were a Belgian attack at Ypres, an + American advance on the Meuse, and a French offensive in close connexion + with it in Champagne and the Argonne. The Belgian attack was an agreeable + surprise, and nothing did more to illumine the change from 1917 than the + contrast between its rapid success and the painful crawl of Gough's + campaign. The cause was that which also accounted for the Germans' failure + elsewhere; they had not the forces to sustain their vast and crumbling + front, and they attempted to hold the line in Belgium with no more than + five divisions. The attack began on 28 September on a twenty-three mile + front, and in one day 50 per cent more ground was covered than had been + gained in three months the year before. The whole of Houthulst forest, + which then had hardly been touched, was taken at a stroke; and on the 29th + Dixmude fell and the Belgians were across the Roulers-Menin road. As a + consequence of this and of Haig's advance the Germans had to evacuate the + rest of the Lys salient and draw back their front towards Lille and Douai. + Armentires was recovered on 3 October, La Basse and the Aubers ridge + were abandoned without a struggle, and the Germans surrendered the + remaining section of the Drocourt-Quant line, withdrawing to the Douai, + Haute Deule, and Sense canals which protected Lille and Douai. + </p> + <p> + The French and Americans had a sterner task in the Argonne and on the + Meuse, for here was the pivot of the Germans' whole position in the + conquered territory. A possible retirement to the Meuse had been + contemplated in 1917, and in September 1918 the Germans would have been + glad to surrender everything west of it in return for safety on that line; + hence their withdrawals and feeble resistance in Flanders. But the Meuse + from Verdun to Mezires was an indispensable flank for any German front in + Belgium; it had now become more to the Germans than even that, for it was + the only shield behind which their armies could escape disaster and get + back to Germany at all. Whatever else might have to go, this flank must + hold; if it gave, the Germans would have to capitulate or suffer the + wholesale destruction of their forces. Hence the stubbornness of the + defence the Americans encountered; the terrain gave it every advantage + with which art could supplement nature; and a singular and serious + breakdown of their commissariat added to the difficulties under which + American troops fought with intrepid skill. + </p> + <p> + The attack was launched on 26 September. The American front ran for + seventeen miles from Forges on the Meuse, eight miles north of Verdun, to + the centre of the Argonne, whence the French extended it to Auberive on + the Suippe. Pershing's First Army advanced an average depth of seven miles + and captured Varennes, Montfaucon,--for long the Crown Prince's + headquarters,--Nantillois, and Dannevoux. Gouraud's progress was less + rapid but better sustained. His greatest advance was only three miles, but + it extended along a wider front and developed during the following days, + while the Americans were held up by defective organization. Somme-Py and + Manre were taken on the 28th, while on Gouraud's left Berthelot began to + move from Reims, and farther west Mangin pursued the Germans across the + Aisne. Progress along the whole French front continued in October; + Gouraud's right pressed on to a level with, and then in advance of, the + American left towards Challerange and Grandpr; his centre advanced + towards Machault, and on his left Berthelot took Loivre, Brimont, and + forced the passages of the Suippe at Bertricourt and Bazancourt, and of + the Aisne at Berry-au-Bac. The Moronvillers massif was thus outflanked, + and by the middle of the month the Germans were evacuating the whole of + their ground south of the Aisne. This retreat, coupled with the French + advance east of St. Quentin, endangered the great apex of the German front + in the St. Gobain forest, and by the 10th its abandonment was begun. On + the 11th the Chemin des Dames was relinquished, on the 13th the French + were in La Fre and Laon, and the Germans were retreating to the line of + the Serre. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the advance of the right wing of the Allied front had not + quite come up to expectations. The prolonged maintenance of the German + bastion in the Argonne and on the Meuse enabled their centre to withdraw + more or less at its leisure and thus avoid the colossal Sedan with which + it was threatened; and, the French centre having been cast for a part + subsidiary to those of the two wings, the brunt of the fighting fell upon + the British, whose advance was not so fatal as similar progress would have + been on the other wing. They were greatly assisted by American divisions + serving with the Third and Fourth armies, by the Belgians and French on + their left, and by the French on their right; but the check to the + American advance enabled the Germans--unfortunately for them, as it turned + out--to transfer reinforcements from the Meuse to Cambrai and + Valenciennes. + </p> + <p> + Cambrai did not therefore fall until another series of actions had been + fought in the first nine days of October. The Scheldt canal to the north + of it had proved a formidable obstacle, and Haig determined to press the + attack from the south, where the Fourth Army had prepared the way on 29 + September by destroying the Hindenburg line at Bellicourt and Bellenglise. + On 3 October Rawlinson attacked again between Le Catelet and Sequehart and + captured those villages, Gouy, Ramicourt, and the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme + line. On the 4th and 5th further progress was made by the taking of + Beaurevoir and Montbrehain, while north of Le Catelet the Germans were + driven from their positions east of the canal, which were occupied by the + Third Army. On the 8th the final phase in the battle for Cambrai began. + The chief fighting was on the line secured on the 3rd. An American + division captured Brancourt and Prmont, and British divisions Serain, + Villers-Outreaux, and Malincourt north-east of Le Catelet. New Zealanders + south of Cambrai took Lesdain and Esnes, and three British divisions + Serainvillers, Forenville, and Niergnies, penetrating the southern + outskirts of Cambrai, while to the north of it Canadians captured + Ramillies, crossed the canal at Point d'Aire and entered the city on that + side. During the night the whole of it fell into our hands; the Germans + were driven back in disorder to within two miles of Le Cateau; and Bohain + was reached ten miles east of Bellicourt and a similar distance south-west + of Le Cateau. By the 10th the advance had been carried to the line of the + Selle river, on which the Germans made another stand, while farther south + the French pushing east of St. Quentin, cleared the Oise-Sambre canal as + far north as Bernot. On the 10th Le Cateau fell, and by the 13th the + British had gained the west bank of the Selle as far north as Haspres. + </p> + <p> + A great wedge had thus been thrust into the German line, leaving + pronounced salients to the north of it round Lille and Douai, and to the + south-east of it between the Oise and the Aisne. It was the policy of the + Entente to eschew the destruction which fighting in cities involved, and + it was particularly desirable to compel the Germans to retreat from Lille + and its industrial neighbourhood by threats of encirclement rather than by + frontal attack. To complete the process begun on the south, the advance in + the north was now resumed; and on 14 October Belgian forces with a French + army under Dgoutte and the British Second Army under Plumer attacked the + whole front in Flanders between Dixmude and the Lys at Comines. Their + success was even more striking than it had been on 28 September; the + Belgians and French carried Courtemarck, Roulers, and Iseghem, while the + British pushed along the north bank of the Lys until on the 16th they held + it as far as Harlebeke, farther east than Ostend and even than Bruges. On + the 15th the Belgians captured Thourout and the British Menin, crossing + the Lys at various points and taking Comines on the 16th. The effect of + this advance was to precipitate a comprehensive German retreat both north + and south. The coveted Belgian coast had at last to be abandoned: Ostend + fell on the 17th, Zeebrugge and Bruges on the 19th, and by the 21st the + Germans were twenty miles from the sea, striving to stand on the Lys canal + in front of Ghent. To the south the withdrawal was no less complete: both + Lille and Douai were entered on the 17th; Tourcoing and Roubaix soon + followed; and by the 21st our Second and Fifth armies had advanced to the + Scheldt on a front of twenty miles, forming nearly a straight line with + the First, Third, and Fourth on the Selle. + </p> + <p> + There the battle had been renewed on the 17th, as soon as our advancing + lines of communication had been sufficiently repaired to bear the strain. + The attack was made south of Le Cateau by the Fourth Army, employing + British and American troops in co-operation with Dbeney's French armies + on our right. The country was difficult and the fighting stiff, but by + nightfall on the 19th the Germans had been driven across the Oise and + Sambre canal at all points south of Catillon, and on the 20th the Third + and part of the First armies took up the struggle on the Selle north of Le + Cateau. Here again it was severe, especially at Neuvilly, Solesmes, and + Haspres, but the whole of the Selle positions on both banks were secured, + while north-east of its junction with the Scheldt the First Army had + occupied Denain. On the 23rd a combined attack was made by the Fourth and + Third armies, though progress was limited to the front north of the bend + of the Sambre at Ors. Between that point and a few miles south of + Valenciennes our troops advanced six miles up to the outskirts of the + forest of Mormal and Le Quesnoy in spite of the intervening streams which + had been swollen by rain, of the wooded country, and of the stubborn + resistance of the Germans. These battles of the Selle between 17-25 + October yielded to British armies alone 21,000 prisoners and 450 guns, and + on the 26th Ludendorff resigned. Meanwhile the French were gradually + squeezing the Germans out of their salient between the Oise and the Aisne + back upon the Serre. Chalandry and Grandlup, near that river, were + occupied on the 22nd, and east of the Aisne some progress was made in the + Argonne by the capture of Olizy and Termes on the 15th; but till nearly + the end of October the Americans west of the Meuse were held up by their + commissariat difficulties, though east of it they had captured Brabant and + Consenvoye and pushed forward their line to a level with that on the + western bank. + </p> + <p> + It was only on the Meuse and on the Lys that the enemy front showed the + last vestiges of stability at the end of October. The surrender of + Bulgaria had been followed by that of Turkey, and Austria was on the verge + of collapse. Her hold on the Balkans had gone, her southern provinces were + rising in sympathy with the Serbian and Jugo-Slav advance, in the north + the Czecho-Slovaks were preparing to join, and even Hungary was refusing + to supply the starving capital with food. Unless Italy struck quickly, + Fiume and Trieste and the whole north-eastern Adriatic coast would pass + into the hands of the insurgents. The moment had come to forestall the + Jugo-Slavs and deliver a blow which might overthrow the Hapsburg Empire + before it collapsed of itself. Since the repulse of the Austrian offensive + on the Piave in June, the Italian front had remained quiescent during the + critical months of the war, though picked Italian divisions had done good + fighting with the French at Reims, and the Italians in Albania had pursued + the Austrian forces after they had been beaten by the Serbs and French and + abandoned by the Bulgars. On the night of 23-24 October the Tenth Italian + Army, consisting of two British and two Italian divisions commanded by + Lord Cavan, attacked the island of Grave di Papadopoli in the Piave and + completed its conquest on the 25th and 26th. Simultaneously Giardino's + Italians with a French division attacked in the region of Mt. Grappa, but + retired to their original position after taking a number of prisoners. On + the 25th they were more successful, capturing Mt. Pertica and repulsing + Austrian counter-attacks on the 26th. On the 27th the decisive movement + began with Cavan's crossing of the Piave, and on the same day the Austrian + Government requested Sweden to transmit to President Wilson an offer which + was equivalent to surrender. At the front the Austrians continued to + counter-attack very heavily at Mt. Pertica; but on the Piave they + completely collapsed, and the breach of their line on the 27th was + followed by a disorderly flight. The booty was colossal, the heterogeneous + troops of the moribund Hapsburg Empire surrendered wholesale, and on 3 + November their dying government submitted to the terms of an armistice + imposed by General Diaz. On that day Italians landed at Trieste, where + insurgents had taken over the government on 31 October; but an Austrian + Dreadnought at Pola which had hoisted the Croat revolutionary flag was + sunk by the daring act of two Italian officers. + </p> + <p> + Germany now stood alone, and any defence she might otherwise have made on + her frontiers was hopelessly compromised by the position of her armies on + their far-flung line in France and Belgium. Nemesis for the invasion of + Belgium had at last overtaken the invader. The problem of withdrawing in + safety was rendered insoluble by the battles of the first week in November + and the consequent convergence of the Allies on Germany's remaining lines + of communication. The decisive blows were delivered right and left by the + American and British wings. Towards the end of October the Americans had + surmounted their difficulties of transport and organization, and were + breaking down the German resistance, which had been weakened by the + transfer of troops to the British front, between Grandpr and the Meuse. + On 1 November the German line was broken and the Americans advanced three + or four miles. On the 2nd they doubled that distance and were in Buzancy; + on the 3rd they repeated their success, while the French on their left + cleared the Argonne and reached Le Chesne. German resistance also broke + down on the east bank of the Meuse, and the Americans made for Montmdy. + But their advance was most rapid on the west bank, where on the 7th they + leapt forward to Sedan. The Germans were thus deprived of their great + lateral line connecting the eastern and western sectors of their front, + and were driven back against the barrier of the Ardennes; and a great + French offensive into Lorraine was being prepared under Mangin. This + provision somewhat weakened the less essential advance of the French in + the centre between the Aisne and the Oise, but the progress of the + American wing left the Germans no option but retreat in the centre, and + three French armies under Dbeney, Mangin, and Guillaumat were rapidly + converging upon Hirson. The remains of the Hunding position were taken on + 5 November, and Marle and Guise were captured farther north-west. Vervins, + Montcornet, and Rthel fell on the 6th. Hirson and Mezires were reached + and the Belgian frontier crossed on the 9th. On the 10th the Italians + entered Rocroi, and on the morning of the 11th the Allies were converging + on Namur. + </p> + <p> + This rapid pursuit of the German centre had been made possible by the <i>coup + de grce</i> given to the German armies in the battle of the Sambre. Haig + regarded the capture of Valenciennes as an essential preliminary, and on + 1-2 November corps of the First and Third armies attacked a six-mile front + to the south of the town. The line of the Rhonelle was forced and + Valenciennes fell on the 2nd. The line of the Scheldt was thus turned, and + besides falling back in front towards the forest of Mormal the Germans had + to begin evacuating the Tournai bend of the river. But the decisive blow + was still to come. It was delivered on 4 November by the First, Third, and + Fourth armies on a thirty-mile front, between Valenciennes and Oisy on the + Sambre, which was continued by Dbeney's army southwards to the + neighbourhood of Guise. In Haig's restrained language a great victory was + won which definitely broke the enemy's resistance. Nineteen thousand + prisoners were taken on the British front and 5000 on the French. On the + first day Landrecies and Le Quesnoy fell and half the forest of Mormal was + overrun; and the remaining operations consisted of a pursuit. On the 7th + Bavai was captured, and Cond during the following night; on the 8th our + troops were twelve miles east of Landrecies in Avesnes and on the + outskirts of Maubeuge, which fell on the 9th. On that day also Tournai was + occupied, and the Second Army crossing the Scheldt on a wide fronting + reached Renaix. On the 10th they were close to Ath and to Grammont, and + early on the 11th Canadians captured Mons. + </p> + <p> + <a href="images/map19.png"><img src="images/map19s.png" width="656" + height="648" alt="Foch's Campaign" /></a> + </p> + <p> + The British Army ended the war on the Western front where it had begun to + fight, and at 11 a.m. on that day the struggle ceased from end to end of + the fighting line in accordance with an armistice signed six hours before. + Its terms were severe, the immediate evacuation of all the conquered + territory and withdrawal behind the Rhine, leaving the whole left bank and + all the important bridgeheads open to Allied occupation, and a neutral + zone on the right bank; the repatriation of all the transported + inhabitants and Allied prisoners of war; the quashing of the treaties of + Brest-Litovsk and Bukarest, and the withdrawal of all German troops from + territories formerly belonging to Russia, Rumania, and Turkey; the + surrender of thousands of guns, locomotives, aeroplanes, of all submarines + fit for sea, and of the better part of the German Navy. The Germans had no + choice: their armies were in flight along roads choked with transport + towards an ever narrowing exit, and they could only escape if given time, + which they could only obtain by surrender. They yielded to avoid a Sedan + which would have destroyed their armies as a fighting force. But they + gained one at least of the objects for which they had fought. The + Fatherland was saved from the abomination of desolation which the Germans + had spread far and wide in their enemies' homes; and except for a corner + in East Prussia and another in Alsace, German soil had remained immune + from invasion. + </p> + <p> + The surrender might have had the saving grace of common sense had it not + been delayed so long; but it required the imminence of military + destruction and an intimation from President Wilson that peace could not + be concluded with those who had made the war, to provoke that revolution + which competent observers had from the beginning declared to be an + inevitable result of a German defeat. It was precipitated by an order to + the German Fleet to go out and fight. That again had been anticipated as a + counsel of despair, but few foresaw that the order would be disobeyed. The + German genius for organization had tried the strength of its human + material beyond the limits of endurance. The crews mutinied, and the + spirit of revolt spread in the first week of November to Kiel and other + ports, and thence throughout the whole of Germany. Every German throne, + grand-ducal or royal, toppled into the dust, and on the 9th the Kaiser + abdicated, fleeing like the Crown Prince to Holland, and leaving it to a + government of Socialists to sign the terms of surrender. With the imperial + crown went that imperial creation, the German Navy; and the crowning + humiliation was its peaceful transference to Scapa Flow on 21 November, to + be scuttled by its crews on 21 June 1919. Navies had gone in the past to + the bottom, beaten and wrecked like the Spanish Armada, or battered to + pieces and sunk as at Trafalgar; but never yet had Britain's sea-power led + home a captive fleet without a fight. The curtain rang down on a fitting + scene, a proof beyond all precedent of British command of the sea, and a + yet more solemn demonstration that the ultimate factor in war consists in + a people's spirit and not in its iron shards. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="chapter20" id="chapter20"></a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX + </h2> + <h3> + THE FOUNDATIONS OF PEACE + </h3> + <p> + Destruction is easier and more rapid than construction, and it needs a + wiser man and a longer labour to make peace than war. War begins with the + first blow, but peace is not made when the fighting stops; and months were + to pass in the troubled twilight between the two, with millions of men + under arms, with budgets more suggestive of war than peace and men's + thoughts more attuned to a contentious past than prepared for a peaceful + future. The first act of the British Government was, indeed, to transfer + hostilities from its foes abroad to those at home, and to rout its + domestic enemies at a general election. The Parliament elected in 1910 + had, after limiting its existence to five years, extended it during the + war to eight; and the argument for an election and a fresh mandate for the + Peace Conference would have been irresistible had any Ally followed our + example, had the Government during the contest given any indication of the + terms of peace it contemplated, and had the British delegates not been + hampered rather than helped by the foolish concessions which ministers + made to popular clamour for the Kaiser's execution and for Germany's + payment of the total cost of the war. There could, indeed, be little + discussion on the platform, because on principles all parties were + substantially agreed, and details were matters for the Conference; and the + election was fought to defeat opposition, not to the Government's policy, + but to its personnel. In this the Coalition was triumphantly successful: + three-quarters of the new members had accepted its coupon, and of the + remainder the largest party consisted of seventy Sinn Feiners who were in + prison or at least pledged not to attend the House. The Labour group + returned some fifty strong, but Mr. Asquith's followers were reduced to + thirty. This result was, however, a triumph of political strategy + manipulating a very transient emotion, the evanescence of which was shown + in a series of bye-elections before the Conference reached its critical + points. It was well for British influence in the councils of the Allies + that it did not depend upon the vagaries of popular votes, and it would + have been well for the repute of British statesmen if they had not had the + occasion or the temptation to indulge in the hectic misrepresentation and + profligate promises of which their electioneering speeches were full. + </p> + <p> + The weight which the various Allies exerted at the Conference depended + upon the services they had rendered to the common cause and the force they + had at their disposal. At the conclusion of the armistice the British + Empire, in addition to its overwhelming naval preponderance, had over half + a million men in arms more than any other belligerent. Its total military + forces, including Dominion and Indian troops and garrisons abroad, + amounted to 5,680,247 men; France had 5,075,000; the United States, + 3,707,000; Italy, 3,420,000; Germany about 4,500,000; Austria, 2,230,000; + while Bulgaria had had at the end of September half a million, and Turkey + at the end of October some 400,000. Great Britain and France had also been + fighting since the beginning of the war, while Italy had joined in May + 1915, and the United States in April 1917. On the other hand, all the + European Powers had reached, if not passed, their meridian of strength, + whereas the United States could with a corresponding effort raise her + forces to over ten millions. Potentially she was the most powerful of the + associated nations, and only the existence of the British fleet brought + any rival up to anything like equality. Together the United States and the + British Empire were irresistible; and so long as they were agreed, any + concessions they might make to others would be due, not to fear, but to + their sense of justice, desire for peace, and consideration for the + susceptibilities of others. The responsibility for the issue of the + Conference rested therefore upon them to a very special degree; and in + spite of unspeakably foolish and ignorant chatter in reactionary quarters, + it was an inestimable advantage that the British Empire could look to the + United States and President Wilson to bear most of the odium of insisting + upon sound principles and telling unpalatable truths. America was in the + better position to play the part of the candid friend, because she had no + territorial ambitions to serve and no axe to grind save that of peaceful + competition in the arts of industry and commerce; and if European allies + occasionally grumbled at American interference, the reply was obvious that + they should have won the war without waiting for or depending on American + intervention. + </p> + <p> + In spite of a somewhat weak pretence to public diplomacy, the secret + history of the Conference is not likely to be known to this generation; + but its decisions were promptly published, and the attitude of the various + Powers to the principal problems with which they had to deal was easily + discerned. President Wilson had made a personal survey of the ground by a + visit to Europe, unprecedented in the history of the Presidential office, + in December, before the Conference opened at Versailles on 18 January + 1919. It was largely owing to his presence and prestige that in the + forefront of the programme and performance of the Conference stood a plan + for an international organization for the future avoidance of war, + settlement of disputes, and regulation of labour conditions. The idea of a + League of Nations had made rapid progress as the war increased in extent, + intensity, and horror. At Christmas 1917 the British Government, at the + instigation of Lord Robert Cecil and General Smuts, had appointed a + committee to explore the subject, and it had reported in the following + summer in favour of a scheme in which the main stress was laid upon the + avoidance of war. The French Government had also appointed a commission + which likewise reported favourably in the summer of 1918: the principal + difference between the two was that the French commission advocated the + establishment of an organized standing international army. President + Wilson preferred to proceed by means of more informal discussions with + committees not appointed by his government; and the American stress was + laid rather on the organization of an international council and tribunal. + The fruitful idea of a mandatory system was first publicly advocated by + General Smuts. + </p> + <p> + Lord Robert Cecil was charged with the principal share in accommodating + such divergences as existed between the various governments on the matter, + and remarkable progress was made, which resulted in President Wilson's + production before the Conference, on 14 February, of a Covenant embodying + the scheme for a future League of Nations. It was subjected to a good deal + of criticism, and party-spirit in America sought to make capital out of + the proposed abandonment of the self-sufficient isolation of the United + States and the subordination of the Monroe Doctrine to the interests of + the world and the common judgment of mankind. In Great Britain there were + also those who preferred the guarantee of a predominant British navy to + the security of any scrap of paper, and somewhat ignored the fact that the + war had been fought to establish the sanctity of international + obligations. In France, with her vivid recollection of painful experience, + there was similarly a tendency to make the most of our military victory + and to base the stability of peace upon the establishment of military + predominance and the possession of conquests guaranteed by a permanent + anti-German alliance. Italy was frankly out for all she could get + irrespective of the principles of nationality and self-determination. A + rigorous censorship, not merely of news from other countries, but of + serious and moderate Italian books on history and politics, had combined + with an ingenuous self-esteem to produce the popular conviction that Italy + had been the main factor in the victory of the Entente, and that the + Conference was therefore bound to concede whatever rewards she might + demand in return for her services. She contended that her sentiment for + Dalmatia was as sincere as that of the French for Alsace-Lorraine, and + ignored the difference made by the fact that Dalmatia was peopled with + Jugo-Slavs. Italy therefore had little sympathy with the Fourteen Points + which at President Wilson's instigation had been accepted as the basis of + the armistice and the principles of peace. Finally, Japan had a special + grievance in the reluctance of the United States to accept the maxim of + racial equality and a special interest in the acquisition of Chinese + territory; and prejudice against her racial claim prejudiced the Aliies' + defence of Chinese territorial integrity. + </p> + <p> + These were some of the fundamental difficulties of the Conference which + could only be settled in part by self-restraint and compromise. Much had + to be left over to the patient labours of the future League of Nations in + an atmosphere less charged than the Conference with the passion of war; + and it gradually became evident that, instead of the League of Nations + depending upon the excellence of the peace it was to guarantee, the + permanence of the peace would depend upon the capacity of the League of + Nations to remedy its imperfections. The League emerged as the cardinal + factor in the situation which was to make the vital difference between the + work of the Conference of 1919 and that of the Congresses of the + eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Reflection tended, moreover, to + mitigate some of the objections to the Covenant, though various of its + details were modified in response to criticism. Public opinion in the + United States rallied to the argument that America would be stultifying + herself if, after entering the war to win it and make the world safe for + democracy, she refused to participate in the only means of making the + peace tolerable and permanent; and it was recognized that the Monroe + Doctrine was not so much being superseded as expanded from America to + cover all the world. British reliance on sea-power was likewise somewhat + impressed by the determination of the United States, if the League of + Nations failed, to build a navy at least equal to our own, and by the + recognition of the fact that the maintenance of even a two-Power standard + would consequently involve us in a race for naval armaments more severe + than that before the war and pregnant with an even greater disaster to the + cause of civilization. French opinion, too, was gradually modified by the + realization that Great Britain and the United States could not be expected + to sanction a militarist settlement resembling in its spirit and its + motives the German terms of 1871, or to guarantee a peace of which their + people disapproved; and a halting trust in a League of Nations was + fortified by a more specific guarantee of protection by Great Britain and + the United States against an unprovoked attack by Germany. Italy, the + youngest of the Great Powers among the Allies, the least mature in its + political wisdom, and the most subject before the war to the influence of + German <i>realpolitik</i>, carried her obstruction to the point of + temporarily leaving the Conference in April; but her delegates returned on + finding that the rest of the Allies were prepared to make peace without + her participation. + </p> + <p> + Apart from these conflicts of point of view, the Conference had infinite + trouble to deal with territories which had been conquered and peoples + which had been liberated from autocratic yokes. The problem of races and + lands in Africa and in the former Turkish Empire which were admittedly + unfit for self-government had been simplified by the happy thought of the + mandatory system which again depended for its efficacy upon the idea of a + League of Nations. It had long been the claim of the British Empire, that + so far as it was an empire and not a league of free States, it was a power + held in trust and wielded not for the benefit of the Government, but of + the governed. It was now proposed to formulate and expand this idea by + treating these conquered lands not as the freeholds of the conqueror, but + as lands to be held of the League of Nations by a mandate, for the + execution of which the mandatory would be responsible to the common + judgment of the nations. There was some objection to the proposal on the + ground of national pride and resentment at the idea of being held + responsible; but a juster appreciation led to the reflections that + irresponsibility was a Prussian ideal of government, that a better cause + for national pride arose from the general confidence in a nation's + integrity implied in the conferment of the mandate, and that only those + whose deeds were evil need fear the intrusion of international light upon + their methods of administration. To be able to do what one liked with + one's own was a baser ambition than to satisfy the conscience of mankind + that one was making the best use of the talents with which one had been + entrusted; and the general approbation with which the idea of mandates was + received testified better than other proceedings in the Conference to the + growth of a sense of common responsibility for the welfare of mankind. In + this way the administration of German colonies in Africa was to be + entrusted to Great Britain, France, and the Union of South Africa; Pacific + Islands to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand; Mesopotamia and Palestine to + Great Britain, Syria to France, and parts of Asia Minor to Italy and + Greece. + </p> + <p> + More difficult was the self- or other determination of those parts of + Europe which had escaped the iron hand of the three great Empires of + Germany, Austria, and Russia. Alsace-Lorraine would revert by common + consent to France, which was also given the Saar district for a term of + years, not as a conquest but as a means of recovering the vast stores of + coal and iron of which the Germans had robbed the French during their + occupation. Belgium claimed a small strip on her frontier inhabited mainly + by Belgian people; the self-determination which Bismarck had promised the + Danes in Schleswig in 1864 was at last accorded them; and Heligoland was + dismantled. The principal difficulties lay on Germany's eastern frontier, + where the racial mixture between Germans and Poles was complicated by + Poland's claim to a port and access to the sea, and by the fact that the + cession of Dantzig and the Vistula to Poland would sever Germany from East + Prussia, which was German in population and had been under German rule + since 1524. Dantzig had been part of the Polish kingdom down to the first + partition of 1772, but like other towns in Poland it had for centuries + been inhabited and municipally governed mainly by Germans and Jews. For + Poland was a kingdom which prolonged feudal conditions into the eighteenth + century; it was a nation of serfs and landlords, and its commerce and + industry, and therefore its towns, had been left for German and Jewish + immigrants to develop. The corridor to the sea with most of Posen was + eventually given to Poland, while parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia + were subjected to plebiscites which promised a similar result; but, like + other territorial arrangements in central and eastern Europe, it was a + settlement which could never prove satisfactory until racial antagonisms + were modified by good government, and it became possible for different + nationalities to live together in a State in Europe with as little sense + of injustice and exploitation as immigrants in the United States of + America. + </p> + <p> + As some offset to these losses of alien subjects, Germany hoped for an + increase of population by the accession of German Austria (including the + Tyrol) and the German fringes of Bohemia. The mountain ranges which ringed + in Bohemia to the east, north, and west had, however, always been her + boundaries, and were too natural a frontier to be surrendered by the new + State of Czecho-Slovakia, the future independence of which had been + recognized in 1918 as a testimony to the services rendered to the Entente + by the Czecho-Slovak troops in Siberia and Russia; while conflicting views + in German Austria, combined with the reluctance of France to see Germany + aggrandized, postponed this reunion of German-speaking peoples, and left + German Austria the weakest of the central European States into which the + Hapsburg Empire dissolved. Hungary became entirely independent, but was + shorn of her Rumanian, Serb, and Croat appanages. Rumanian troops held + Transylvania, most of the Bukovina, and a slice of Hungary. Croatia and + Carniola, like Bosnia, Herzegovina, and the previously independent + Montenegro had already combined with Serbia to form a great Jugo-Slav + kingdom stretching from north of Laibach to the south of Monastir, and + from the Adriatic to the Danube. The Trentino, Trieste, and Pola had been + occupied by Italy, but the future of Dalmatia, Fiume, and the islands in + the Adriatic was the greatest bone of contention at the Conference, and + their disposal was almost indefinitely postponed. + </p> + <p> + The gravest of all the problems which confronted the victorious Powers + arose in connexion with their former ally, Russia, whose condition + presented almost as many obstacles to peace as it had done to the + successful prosecution of war. There was, however, one countervailing + advantage of incalculable value. Had the imperialist Tsardom emerged + triumphant from the struggle, the reactionary forces at the Conference + would have been enormously strengthened; little would probably have been + heard of the independence of Poland; Constantinople would have fallen into + Russian hands; the Balkans and Asia Minor would have become, in fact if + not in name, Russian protectorates; and there would have been found little + scope for self-determination along the shores of the Baltic or in Eastern + Europe. The great war of liberation would probably have resulted merely in + the substitution of Russia for Germany as a greater menace to the + independence of little nations and to the peace of the world. + Nevertheless, the problems imposed upon the Conference by warring factions + in Russia proper, by discordant races emancipated from Russian domination + and pursuing their own conflicting ambitions, and by the folly of the + Allies themselves in ignoring the principle impressed upon them since + 1917, that it was legitimate to assist Russians against the Germans but + not against one another, were harassing enough. The half-hearted, + disingenuous, and misguided military efforts made by the Allies in Russia + introduced alien irritants into the domestic situation and prolonged that + painful process of internal evolution which could alone produce a + satisfactory solution in a stable Russian government. If the responsible + Allied statesmen had studied the history of previous attempts to impose + particular governments on independent peoples by the force of arms, they + would have been even more reluctant to attempt a repetition of the + experiment in Russia. As it was, their efforts were hampered by their own + subjects and Allies. The United States stood aloof; French soldiers and + sailors refused to fight against Bolsheviks at Odessa; Italy did nothing; + and the burden of an unwise policy was left to Great Britain, where not + even the systematic manipulation of news from Russia in the interests of + intervention could induce public opinion to condone more than perfunctory + help to the cause of restoration. + </p> + <p> + The fairest guise this policy could assume was defence of the principle of + self-determination, and the assumption was maintained that the Russian + people were opposed to the Soviet government. There would have been better + ground for assisting Finns, Letts, Esthonians, and Ukrainians against + Bolshevik imperialism; but it was to Koltchak, Denikin, and their north + Russian friends, rather than to the little peoples that help was sent, and + a powerful motive in the discrimination was the pledge of the Russian + conservatives to resume responsibility for Russia's debts to her Allies, + particularly France, which the Bolsheviks had repudiated. Whatever success + might attend this policy would not be due to its wisdom, and events were + to show that the British Government misjudged the Russian situation in + 1919 as much as European monarchies did that of the French Republic in + 1793. The crimes and follies committed by the Soviet and the Jacobin + governments were equally repulsive, but they did not make foreign + intervention in either case a sound or successful policy; and the Allies + would have been wiser to confine their military action to the defence of + the nascent States which had asserted their independence of Russia and + claimed the right of self-determination. The clearest case was that of + Finland, which had always since its acquisition by Russia in the + eighteenth century protested against its loss of independence. In Esthonia + and Latvia, which had passed under the Russian yoke during the same + period, the native movement was complicated by the class ambitions of the + German barons; and there was a confused triangular struggle between + German, Russian, and native influences, in which the interests and the + principles of the Conference obviously lay on the side of the native + party. The situation was more obscure in Lithuania. It had been bound by a + personal union of its sovereign with Poland since 1370 and by a + legislative union since 1569. There had been no conquest on either side + any more than there had been in the personal and legislative unions of + England and Scotland in 1603 and 1707; and the problem was rather one for + domestic arrangement than for decision by the Conference. The Ukraine, on + the other hand, had first been conquered by Poland and then seized by + Russia during the successive partitions of Poland; and it required the + constraint of a superior authority to check the predatory claims of both + those Powers to their dubious inheritance. + </p> + <p> + The prospect of dealing successfully with the manifold problems which + confronted the Conference depended to a large extent upon the order in + which they were tackled. Manifestly they could not be handled + simultaneously, and the first thing to do was to lay down the principles + not only of the peace, but of its future adjustment and modification by + establishing a League of Nations. When that Covenant had been + provisionally accepted by the Conference in February, the next step was to + settle with Germany; for no provisions for general peace or the security + of new nations could be satisfactory until Germany was bound by material + and moral guarantees to accept and to respect them. It was therefore both + a logical and a practical necessity which constrained the Conference, + after enunciating the principles of peace in the Covenant, to deal next + with their application to Germany. + </p> + <p> + The terms were eventually settled in April and presented to the German + delegation, which had been invited to Versailles for the purpose, on 7 + May. The conditions were harsh, in parts vindictive, and in others + manifestly inconsistent with any natural interpretation of the Fourteen + Points which all the belligerents had accepted as the basis of the + armistice and consequent peace; and they were not such as any Power could + be expected to sign without an effort to get them amended before peace was + concluded or a mental reservation to procure their modification as soon as + might be thereafter. The German delegates, with Count Brockdorff-Rantzau + at their head, did their best to expose the inconsistencies between the + Allies' professions and their performance, and to secure a reconsideration + of the more distasteful terms. An elaborate protest and counterproposals + were delivered early in June and promptly answered by the Allies. A few + minor points were conceded, but the terms as a whole were maintained, with + an intimation that unless they were accepted at once as they stood, the + Allies would draw the sword again. Count Brockdorff-Rantzau thereupon + resigned, and Scheidemann's government fell on 20 June. He was succeeded + as Prime Minister by Herr Bauer, and Herr Mller was sent to replace + Brockdorff-Rantzau at Versailles with a mandate to sign the dictated + peace. It was signed by Germany and by all her enemies, with the exception + of China, on 28 June, five years to a day since the murder at Serajevo; + and early in July it was ratified by a two to one vote of the German + Assembly at Weimar and by the German President Ebert. + </p> + <p> + The Treaty, which filled a volume of over four hundred pages, had no + precedent for its importance or its bulk. It was an epitome of the affairs + of the world, and its predecessors, the Treaties of Utrecht and Paris, + which ushered in peace early in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, + were miniature in comparison. The German terms were an unsatisfactory and + comparatively unimportant part of the Treaty except in so far as they + bound Germany to accept the principles for which the Allies had fought the + war and upon which they were determined that the future government of the + world should rest. They were, indeed, not so much a pact of peace as a + punishment of war; and an idealistic scheme of government by consent + started by imposing on the weaker party conditions with which it could not + but violently disagree. Millions of Germans in Alsace-Lorraine, Bohemia, + Poland, and East Prussia were transferred to alien domination; millions of + others in German Austria were denied the right of self-determination in + the form of union with Germany; cities like Dantzig and Memel, which were + admittedly German, were severed from Germany on the grounds that + neighbouring districts were not, and that the economic interests of + foreign States required the severance; and where German lines of + communication crossed those of the Allies and their friends, the German + lines were cut in order to provide what was regarded as an indispensable + continuity for those of their rivals. These and like provisions were due + to Allied distrust of Germany and lack of confidence in the efficacy of + their own principles. For if the League of Nations succeeded in + establishing that freedom of intercourse at which it professed to aim, + there would be no need for this transfer of control or for the enforcement + of access to the sea at the expense of the principle of + self-determination; and these arbitrary arrangements on Germany's eastern + frontier were the counterpart of the special alliance of Great Britain and + the United States to afford France a protection which the League of + Nations did not immediately or adequately provide. The judgment of + posterity, which rarely coincides with that of the parties to a dispute or + to a treaty, is likely to agree with the declaration of General Smuts, + after signing the Treaty, that real peace would not be found in it so much + as in the machinery it created for its own amendment, and in the spirit + which would in time tone down the passions and products of war. + </p> + <p> + But that hope would have been vain without the crushing of Prussian + militarism, and the best justification of the terms imposed upon Germany + is that they sealed the defeat of that spirit and annulled its works in + the past since the days of Frederick the Great. Here at least the Allies + worked with a will and without susceptibilities to conciliate. The German + army was reduced to an internal police force of a hundred thousand men, + and meticulous care was taken to prevent the evasion of this exiguous + limit. Her fleet was restricted to six battleships, six light cruisers, + twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo-boats; and she was denied submarines + and air-forces altogether. Conscription--despite the war-time plea of our + own conscriptionists that it had nothing to do with militarism--was + abolished as the head and front of Germany's offence; and her armaments + and munitions were limited to diminutive proportions. Much of what Germany + had won by the mailed fist--Alsace-Lorraine, Posen, and West Prussia--was + taken away, while the presumptive Belgian lands of Eupen and Malmedy, the + indubitably German Saar district, Danish Schleswig, and disputed + territories in Upper Silesia and East Prussia were reserved for + determination by plebiscites held under the auspices of the League of + Nations. But the purely German lands which had been conquered by Prussia's + sword, Holstein, Hanover, Westphalia, most of Silesia, and half of Saxony, + were left where the sword had brought them, presumably on the ground that + popular acquiescence had condoned the barbarous arbitrament of war. + Reparation was to supplement restitution: ton for ton the shipping sunk by + submarines was to be made good out of existing German tonnage and future + construction; and two thousand million pounds were to be paid in two years + as a first instalment towards the repair of damage done by the German army + in Belgium, France, and elsewhere. German colonies were held forfeit on + the double but discrepant counts of the fortune of war and the failure of + Germany to govern them according to the standard professed by all and + practised by some of the Allies. The gain to their inhabitants consisted + to no small extent in the fact that they were to be administered by + mandatories whose responsibility was to be enforced by an annual report to + the League of Nations. Finally, Germany was required to acquiesce in + whatever conditions the victors might impose on her defeated Allies, and + to surrender for trial whomsoever of her nationals the Conference might + select to charge with crime in their conduct of the war. + </p> + <p> + In earlier times a treaty of peace was commonly styled a treaty of peace + and amity, and the whilom belligerents swore eternal friendship to date + from the ratification. Here there was no pretence to amity, and the terms + of peace were penalties imposed upon a prisoner at the bar. The justice in + the peace was criminal justice, justice <i>ad hoc</i> rather than + impartial equity. Other nations than Germany had waged wars of aggression; + and if the breach of 1914 was a crime, the jury which adjudged it so had + criminal records of their own. Even the British Empire and the United + States had not attained their vast proportions or acquired their subject + populations by the force of argument or in self-defence. There was no law + against aggression in 1914; all nations were responsible more or less for + its non-existence, and all except Belgium had themselves as well as + Germany to thank for what they suffered in consequence. These, however, + were precisely the reasons for making a law which was lacking and a peace + for which there was no precedent. It was Germany who had taken advantage + of the weakness of international law and done most to prevent its growth; + and it was fitting that Germany should pay a corresponding penalty. There + is a wholesome prejudice against retrospective legislation, but the + benefit cannot be claimed by those who obstructed the legislation because + they wanted to pursue the conduct which it would have made criminal. + Occasions arise which imperatively require the creation of precedents, and + the time had surely come in 1919 to enforce the principle that States must + observe a moral code in their relations with one another, and to assert + the responsibility of governments to that code by imposing penalties for + its breach. For that the Allies had contended throughout the war, and the + repudiation of that issue by the Germans was no ground for their immunity + after their defeat. + </p> + <p> + Their claims were not, indeed, consistent. If there was no international + code to which they could be held responsible, there was none to prevent + the Allies from crying <i>vae victis</i> and using their victory as the + Germans had hoped to use theirs. Their delegates first pleaded the absence + of this code in order to absolve their former rulers, and then urged its + existence to escape from punishment themselves. It was a specious plea + that their revolution had acquitted the German people of the crimes of the + German Government; but even more pregnant for the future welfare of + mankind than insistence upon the responsibility of governments to their + people was insistence upon the responsibility of peoples for their + government. If the government of Germany was a criminal government, the + fault could only be charged against the German people; and it is only when + peoples realize that they will have to pay for the sins of the rulers they + choose or tolerate that there can be any security in a democratic age for + decent conduct in the relations of governments to one another. For fifty + years the German people had been content to profit from the aggressiveness + of their government, releasing it from responsibility to domestic opinion + and denying its responsibility to any other tribunal. That negligence on + the part of the Germans to guarantee the respectability of their State + cost the world thirty million casualties and thirty thousand million + pounds; and the debt to humanity could not be discharged by simply + dismissing the agent who had incurred it. Germany herself could not undo + the harm she had done nor restore the more precious losses she had caused. + Repentance was something, and good conduct would lighten the burden she + had to bear and shorten the term of her isolation. But judgment could not + be evaded; and the majority of the German people showed good sense in + their acceptance of the terms and in the rapidity with which the treaty + was ratified. + </p> + <p> + From German affairs the Conference turned to those of Austria, Bulgaria, + and Turkey, the minor importance of which was indicated by the departure + from Versailles of the principal delegates who had determined the Covenant + of the League and the terms of the treaty with Germany. President Wilson + returned to America to secure the reluctant consent of the Senate to the + settlement he had made; Mr. Lloyd George came back to England to the less + arduous task of obtaining parliamentary sanction for those parts of the + treaty which required it; and the further work of the Conference was left + to the foreign ministers and other experts rather than to Prime Ministers, + though M. Clmenceau remained to preside, and the Italian affairs in + dispute were vital enough to require the presence of a full Italian + delegation. These were concerned with the liquidation of the Hapsburg + Empire, but not with that fragment of it to which Austria had been reduced + by the recognition of Czecho-Slovakian independence, the transference of + Galicia to Poland, and the union of Croats and Slovenes under the Serbian + crown. Deprived of German support by the German treaty, this little + Austria was but a suppliant at the Conference, and its efforts were mainly + bent towards reducing its share in the liabilities of the Empire of which + it had once formed part. Hapsburg Government was defunct, and it was + difficult to apportion its liabilities fairly among those who acquired its + assets; for some of them, like the Czechoslovaks and Jugo-Slavs, had + exonerated themselves from complicity for Hapsburg malfeasance by + rebelling against their government and fighting for the Entente. The + problem was complicated by a further revolution in Hungary where a Soviet + Government was established, and Bela Kun endeavoured to rule after the + manner of Lenin. The Russian Bolsheviks were, however, unable to help + their Hungarian pupils, in spite of the hesitancy shown by the Allies in + dealing with the situation; and early in August Bela Kun's government fell + before domestic reaction and the advance of the Rumanian army, which + occupied Buda-Pesth. At last Rumania had her revenge, and it required + energetic protests on the part of Versailles to induce her to recognize + its restraining authority, refrain from reprisals, and regard the spoils + of war as the common assets of the Allies instead of her own particular + booty. She had ample compensation in the settlement through the redemption + of Rumanes not only from the Hapsburg-Magyar yoke but from that Russian + yoke in Bessarabia which had dulled her ardour for the anti-Hapsburg + cause. + </p> + <p> + These diversions delayed until September the presentation by the Allies of + their final terms to the Austrian Republic. Its territories were reduced + to the limits of Austrian lands before the Hapsburg Empire was created + four hundred years ago by the Emperors Charles V and Ferdinand I; parts + even of their inheritance were lost, though the ecclesiastical lands like + Salzburg acquired during the Napoleonic secularization were retained, and + the future of Klagenfurt was reserved for plebiscitary determination. + Instead of an Empire Austria became the fragment of a nation, divorced + from the rest of the German people by the fears of the Entente, required + like Germany to forswear conscription, denied all access to the sea, and + left with regard to the size of its territories and weakness of its + frontiers in much the same situation as the Serbia she had attacked in + 1914. Protest was as idle as delay, and the treaty which was presented on + 2 September was signed on the 10th. + </p> + <p> + Nine days later Bulgaria learnt her fate, and the draft treaty presented + to her delegates at Versailles on 19 September condemned her to pay an + indemnity of ninety millions, to reduce her army to 20,000, and to lose + the town and district of Strumnitza and the whole of her gean coast. + Strumnitza was given to Serbia, but the gean coast was reserved for + disposal with the rest of Thrace and the remains of the Turkish empire. + Bulgaria herself received a fraction of Turkish territory on the river + Maritza, and her frontiers with Rumania were left unchanged. In the + Balkans, as elsewhere, the Allies applied the principle of + self-determination only to conquered countries; none but an Ally was + allowed the privilege of retaining Irelands in subjection, and in the + Balkans at least the victory of the Entente increased the populations + under alien rule. Guarantees respecting the rights of minorities were, + indeed, imposed on the lesser States, but they would have been more + effective and less invidious, had the greater Powers subjected themselves + to the rule they made for others. + </p> + <p> + The Conference found it easier to dispose of its enemies' lands than to + compose the rivalries of its friends; and the blunders of Italy's + statesmen combined with the blindness of public opinion to reduce her to a + position of almost pathetic isolation. Signor Orlando's abandonment of the + Conference in April failed to shake the resistance of the Allies to her + extravagant expectations, and on 20 June, by a remarkable vote of 229 to + 80 in the Italian Chamber, his government was driven from office. Not only + in Italy but in Allied countries, Italian communities abstained from + celebrating the peace with Germany, and grave indeed would have been the + difficulties of the Conference if the conclusion of that treaty had + depended upon Italy's signature. There was friction amounting to bloodshed + between French and Italians at Fiume, and an Albanian rising against the + protectorate which Italy had proclaimed. Her resolve to establish Italian + domination along the eastern coasts of the Adriatic evoked opposition from + all the native populations, who strongly appealed to the sympathies and + principles of the Allies; and her dependence upon them for the necessaries + of commerce and industry made defiance an impossible policy. Gradually her + new government under Signor Nitti sought to withdraw from an untenable + position; but D'Annunzio's raid on Fiume in September once more inflamed + popular passion, and Dalmatia, the islands in the Adriatic, Albania, + Epirus, and the Dodecanese were apples of discord between Italy and the + Balkan States which distracted the Allies throughout the summer and + autumn. + </p> + <p> + The settlement was also delayed by the enormous difficulty of liquidating + the Ottoman Empire and the reluctance of the United States to accept the + obligation of mandates in Europe or Asia. The curious spectacle was + afforded of the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race indulging in a + rivalry of retirement and endeavouring to saddle each other with fresh + acquisitions of territory; and between them Armenia was almost abandoned + once more to the Turks and the Kurds. France was less retiring in Syria, + the inhabitants of which were believed to prefer to French rule any one of + three alternatives, Arab independence, a mandate for the United States, or + one for Great Britain; and the anxiety of great Powers to leave countries + where their presence was wanted was only equalled by their determination + to stay where it was not. French soreness over the lack of appreciation + shown by the Syrian people was increased by an independent arrangement + between Great Britain and Persia which gave us as complete a control over + Persian administration as we possessed in Egypt during the eighties; and + it was somewhat pertinently asked why Persia should be allowed to dispose + of her government in this way, while Austria was sternly forbidden to + unite with Germany without the consent of the League of Nations. The + sovereignty of Persia had, however, been recognized at Versailles, and the + League could not entrust a mandate for its government to any other State. + It was therefore left for Persia to secure assistance in its + administration by private treaty dictated by Lord Curzon and traditional + views about India, Russia, and the Persian Gulf. Our patronage of + Koltchak's government prevented him from making any protest. + </p> + <p> + Russia remained the sphinx of the situation, and the obscurity of her + future darkened the counsels of Versailles. Early in the war the Entente + had acquiesced in all the imperialist pretensions of the Tsardom to + Constantinople, the Dardanelles, and Asia Minor; and even after the + Revolution the web of the old diplomacy entangled the feet of the Allies. + Fear of Bolshevism threw them on to the side of Restoration, and + Restoration at the hands of Koltchak and Denikin implied a revival of the + Russian Empire at the expense of independent fringes. The Ukraine, + Lithuania, Esthonia, and Latvia, and even Poland and Finland, looked + askance at such a policy, and naturally could not be brought into a + crusade to carry it out. The straightforward line to take would have been + to recognize these emancipated States on the principle of + self-determination and limit our action to their defence. Hatred and haste + had, however, betrayed the Allies into armed intervention in the domestic + politics of Russia proper, and committed them to supporting a cause which + had doubtful chances of success and, if successful, might produce greater + embarrassment for them than defeat. From success they were saved by + Koltchak's failure. Having mastered Siberia and made a brave show of + descending on Bolshevist Russia from the Urals in the spring, he was + routed in July and August and driven back to Omsk, while Bolshevist forces + rose up in his rear. His defeat ruined our plans in North Russia, and at + last convinced the Allies of their folly in seeking to impose a government + on the Russian people; and evacuation became the order of the day. In + South Russia Denikin, unassisted by foreign legions, met with more native + support and greater success. The Bolsheviks were driven from the shores of + the Black Sea, and the Ukraine recovered Kiev. Students of Russian history + drew interesting parallels with the Russian Time of Troubles in the + seventeenth century, but rather neglected the fact that they lasted thirty + years; and the foundations laid at Versailles had long to wait before the + temple of peace was erected upon them in Russia. + </p> + <p> + The Allies themselves were slow to ratify the terms they dictated to + others, and months passed after the German ratification before its example + of promptness was followed by the Entente. The British Empire had to await + the separate decisions of all its Dominions; and the Senate of the United + States was led, by the fact that a majority in it was politically opposed + to the President, to make an even greater use than was customary of its + constitutional powers of obstruction in foreign policy. Italy ratified the + treaty on 7 October; Great Britain, her four Dominions having assented by + 2 October, ratified on the 10th, and France on the 12th. But the Adriatic + and the Baltic, Russia and the Balkans, Turkey and Syria, still defied a + settlement and delayed the peace; and the Powers at Versailles discovered + that their apparent omnipotence was impotent for many purposes. Not one of + their peoples was willing to go to war to enforce the decisions of the + Conference, and the submission of Germany removed the one possible + exception to this rule. Almost against its own will the Conference was + compelled to act on its own principles and find other methods than those + of military force to settle the problems with which it was faced; and this + situation provided ample scope for diplomatic recalcitrance and delay. The + advantage was that practice was thus acquired in the exercise of such + economic and other <i>peine forte et dure</i> as the League of Nations + would in future have to use to reduce its unruly members to order. + Proceedings at Versailles therefore took less and less the character of a + conclusion to the war and more and more that of an endless introduction to + a new era. The work of a temporary Conference to settle terms of peace was + merging into that of a permanent League of Nations for maintaining it; and + the world happily got into its international habits while its individual + governments and legislatures were still debating whether they would fit. + Just as before the war the appearance of peace was deceptive, so the + clouds of a storm that was passed obscured the clearing sky, and filled + the weather-prophets of the platform and the press with a gloom which the + people declined instinctively to share. There were indeed symptoms that + we, like our forefathers a century ago, were destined to tread the + downward path from Waterloo to Peter-loo. The ties of nationality and the + stimulus of patriotism weakened; the home-fires which kept brightly + burning in the war threatened to end in smoke through dissensions over + coal, and men reverted to their ancient anarchy of class and craft. Mr. + Lloyd George's House of Commons, which owed its existence to past events + and to a passing mood, soon forfeited the confidence of a fickle public, + and the impotence to which it was reduced left the country prone to the + temptations and a prey to the turbulence of direct and unrepresentative + action. In the absence of effective opposition and incentive in Parliament + nothing constitutional appeared to move the Government, and an evil + example was set when a few hundred soldiers in January demanded in + Whitehall and obtained their prompt demobilization. The Premier himself, + who had been on Pisgah in September 1914, descended to a lower level and a + dusty arena in his general election speeches; and animosities which had + been concentrated on the Huns were dissipated in domestic directions. + </p> + <p> + Distance alone will lend discernment to the view, and only time will + reveal the ascent of man during the five great years of war. There will be + much backsliding to measure and record, and the intense agitation of war + brought out the worst in the bad as well as the best in the good. Much + that came to the top was scum, while often the salt of the earth went + under. Treason blotted the pages illumined by heroism, and profiteering + tarnished peoples redeemed by the devotion of their sons. Wastefulness and + corruption ran riot even in government circles, while hundreds of + thousands of humble men and women voluntarily stinted and starved + themselves beyond the rigid requirements of the law. Lip-service was paid + to the principle of equality in sacrifice, and some efforts were made to + enforce it. But they failed to remove the inexorable inequalities of human + fate, and the war which brought death and distress to millions, brought to + others ease and honours, wealth and fame. These are the common property of + wars; and if men did more evil in this than in any preceding conflict, it + was not because they were worse than their forefathers, but because the + war was more comprehensive and they had ampler means of working ill. Even + the cruelty with which it was waged by the Germans created horror mainly + because they sinned against the higher standards of modern times, and + because their cruelty found more scientific and effective methods of + expression. + </p> + <p> + All the nations which fought believed in the justice of their cause and + fought as a rule with a courage which belied the alleged degeneracy of the + human race. None of the Powers save Russia fell short of their previous + fame. France strove at Verdun with a fortitude in adversity unequalled in + her annals. German discipline and determination would have evoked + unstinted praise but for the cause in which those qualities were + displayed. Belgium exhibited a national spirit new in her history, and + Serbian heroism was a revelation which earned for the southern Slavs the + greatest relative gains in the war. The people of the United States became + a nation of crusaders moved by motives at least as high as those which + inspired the hearers of Peter the Hermit, Urban II, or St. Bernard; and + the British Empire eclipsed its own and all other records. History tells + of many a shining example of ancient valour in individuals and in the + elect; but here we had heroism in the mass and courage in the common man. + Human memory recalls no parallel to that uprising of the spirit which led + five million Britons to fight as volunteers for the honour of their + country and the liberty of other lands; despite its shortcomings the + Conference of Versailles achieved higher ideals than those attained by any + preceding congress of peace; and if during the war for its common weal the + world paid, in flesh and in spirit, a price greater than that ever paid + before, it purchased a larger heritage of hope and laid a surer foundation + for its faith. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + <a name="maps" id="maps"></a> + </p> + <h2> + LIST OF MAPS + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + 1. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map01.png">THE GERMAN INVASION OF FRANCE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 2. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map02.png">THE BATTLES OF THE AISNE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 3. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map03.png">THE CAMPAIGNS IN ARTOIS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 4. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map04.png">THE DARDANELLES </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 5. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map05.png">THE RUSSIAN FRONT </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 6. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map06.png">THE BALKANS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 7. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map07.png">MESOPOTAMIA </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 8. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map08.png">THE CAUCASUS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 9. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map09.png">THE ATTACK ON VERDUN </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 10. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map10.png">THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 11. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map11.png">THE RUMANIAN CAMPAIGN </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 12. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map12.png">THE CONQUEST OF EAST AFRICA </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 13. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map13.png">THE BALTIC CAMPAIGNS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 14. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map14.png">THE BATTLES IN FLANDERS </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 15. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map15.png">THE ITALIAN FRONT </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 16. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map16.png">THE BATTLES OF ARRAS AND CAMBRAI</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 17. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map17.png">THE LAST GERMAN OFFENSIVE </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 18. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map18.png">THE CONQUEST OF SYRIA </a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + 19. + </td> + <td> + <a href="images/map19.png">FOCH'S CAMPAIGN </a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Short History of the Great War, by A. 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