b h 3 1 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ITHACA, N. Y. 14853 URIS UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY. DATE DUE ,.\a.tu^...-.ISti um^ • llniQ__u_i_ ™"'^-™'W!S*!>Sfl V:,. -^wiiu JUi - - ™— i (tBB 9HfB^ CAVLORO rniNTCDINU t.A. D 521.M3lT919'''™""'''-'''"^ "iif.!.?,IiX,°'II?,f,.i;:,?.rJ,^.,Wi!!ri an authentic na 3 1924 014 193 191 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014193191 THE VICTORIOUS GENERALS General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces. General Pershing, Com- mander-in-Chief of the American armies. Field Marshal Haig, head of the British armies. General d'Esperey (French) to whom Bulgaria surrendered. General Diaz, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian armies. General Marshall (British), head of the Mesopotamian expedition. General AUenby (British), who redeemed Palestine from the Turks. HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR An Authentic Narrative of The World's Greatest War INCLUDING THE TREATY OF PEACE AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS' COVENANT By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Ph.D. In Collaboration with RICHARD J. BEAMISH Special War Onrespondent and Military Analyst With an Introduction By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH Chief of Staff of the United States Amy ^^l^ Illustrated with Reproductions from the Official Photographs of the United States, British and French Governments URIS LIBRARY THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY CbICAGO PHH.ADELPHIA TORONTO i\\S}\J^'':^ Mil Copyright, 1919 COPTBIQHT, 1918 Francis A. March This histozy ia an original work and ift fully protected by the oopyright laws, incloffing the rlglit of translation. AU persona are warned against reproducing the text in whole or in part without the permission of the publishers. WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF, WASHINGTON. November 14, 1918. With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the World War has been practically brought to an end. The events of the past four years have been of such magnitude that the various steps, the numberless battles, and the growth of Allied power which led up to the final victory are not clearly defined even in the minds of many military men. A history of this great period which will state in an orderly fashion this series of events will be of the greatest value to the future students of the war, and to everyone of the present day who desires to refer in exact terms to matters which led up to the final conclusion. The war will be discussed and re-discussed from every angle and the sooner such a compilation of facts is available, the more valuable it will be. I understand that this History of the World War intends to put at the disposal of all who are interested, such a compendium of facts of the past period of over four years; and that the system employed in safeguarding the accuracy of statements contained in it will produce a document of great historical value without entering upon any speculative conclusions as to cause and effect of the various phases of the war or attempting to project into an historical document individual opinions. With these ends in view, this History will be of the greatest value. (^ { UW-t:^_ General, Chief of Staff, United States Army. contents: Chapteb I. A War for International Freedom ,ua A Conflict that was Inevitable — ^The Flower of Manhood on the Fields of France — Geimany's Defiance to the World — ^Heroic Belgium — ^Four Auto- cratic Nations against Twenty-four Committed to the Principles of Liberty — America's Titanic Effort — ^Four Million Men Under Arms, Two Million Overseas — ^France the Martyr Nation — The British Empire's Tremendous Share in the Victory— A River of Blood Watering the Desert of Autocracy 19 Chapter II. The Worij> Suddenly Turned Upside Down The War Storm Breal^ — ^Trade and Commerce Paralyzed — ^Homeward Rush f Travelers — ^Harrowing Scenes as Ships Sail for America — Stock Marketi Closed— The Tide of Desolation FoUowineia the Wake of War 33 Chapter III. Why the World Went to War The Balkan Ferment — ^Russia, the Dying Giant Among Autocracies — Tiirkey the "Sick Man" of Europe — Scars Left by the Balkan War — Germany'B Determination to Seize a Place in the Sun 44 Chapter IV. The Plotter Behind the Scenes The Assassination at Sarajevo — ^The Slavic Ferment — Austria's Domineering Note — ^The Plotters of Potsdam — ^The Mailed Fist of Militarism Beneath the Velvet Glove of Diplomacy — Mobilization and Declarations of War ... 54 Chapter V. The Great War Begins Germany Invades Belgium and Luxemburg — ^French Invade Alsace — England's "Contemptible Little Army" Lands in France and Belgium — ^The Murderous Gray-Green Tide — Heroic Retreat of the British from Mms — ^Belgium Over- run — ^Northern France Invaded — ^Marshal JofEre Makes Ready to Strike . . 76 Chapter VI. The Trail of the Beast in Belgium Barbarities that Shocked Himianity — ^Planned as Part of the Teutonic Policy titiSchreddicMceU — ^How the German and llie Hun Became Synonjmious Terms — The Unmatchable Crimes of a War-Mad Army — A Record of Infamy Written in Blood and Tears — Official Reports 88 Chapter VII. The FmsT Battle" of the Marne Joffre's Masterly Plan— The Enemy Trapped Between Verdun and Paris — GalUeni's "Army in Taxicabs" — ^Foch, the "Savior of Civilization," Appeari — ^His Mighty Thrust Routs the Army of Hausen — ^Jofire Salutes Foch as "firat Strate^ in Eoiope"— Battle that Won the Baton of a Marshal 11§ 9 10 CONTENTS Chapter VIII. Japan in the War pagb Tsing Tau Seized by the Mikado— German "Gibraltar" of the Far East Surrendered After Short Siege— Japan's Aid to the Allies in Money, Ships, Men and Nurses — German Propaganda in the Far East Fails 120 Chapter IX. Campaign in the East Invasion of East Prussia — Von Eindenburg and Masurian Lakes — ^Battle of Tannenberg — ^Augustovo — ^Russians Capture Lemberg — The Offer to Poland 126 Chapter X. Struggle for Supremacy on the Sea " The British Blockade — German Raiders and Their Fate — Story of the Emden's Remarkable Voyage — ^Appearance of the Submarine — British Naval Victory off Helgoland — ^U-9 Sinks Three British Cruisers . .'_Z- ■ ■ .143 Chapter XI. The Sublime Porte Turkish Intrigues — ^The Holy War — Mesopotamia and Transcaucasia — The Suez Canal — ^Turkey the Catspaw of Germany 164 Chapter XII. Rescue of the Starving Famine in Belgium — ^Belgium Relief Commission Organized in London — Herbert C. Hoover — ^American Aid — ^The Great Cardinal's Famous Challenge 181 Chapter XIII. Britannia Rules the "Waves German and British Squadrons Grapple off the Chilean Coast — Germany Wins the First Rovmd — ^England Comes Back with Terrific Force — Graphic Picture of the Destruction of the German Squadron off Falkland Islands — English Coast Towns Bombarded for the First Time in Many Years . . . 201 .Chapter XTV. New Methods and Horrors of Warfare Tanks — Poison Gas — Flame Projectors — ^Airplane Bombs — Trench Mortars — Machine Guns — Modern Uses of Airplanes for Liaison and Attacks on Infantry — ^Radio — Rifle and Hand Grenades — ^A War of Intensive Artillery Prepara- tion — A Debacle of Insanities, Terrible Wounds and Horrible Deaths . . . 217 Chapter XV. German Plots and Propaganda in America ■^ Trailing the German Plotters — Destruction of Ships — Pressure on Congress — Attacks in Canada — Zimmerman's Foolish Effort to Embroil America with Mexico and Japan — ^Lies of the Propagandists After America Entered the War — Dumba, Von Bemstorff, Von Papen and Boy-Ed, a quartet of Unscru- pulous Destructionista ■.,. . . . . ^ 231 __Phapter XVI. Sinking of the Lusitania The Submarine Murderers at Work — Germany's Blackhand Warning — No Chance for Life — ^The Ship Unarmed and Without Munitions — The Presi- dent's Note — Gen&any's Lying Denials — Coroner's Inquest Charges Kaiser with Wilful Murder— "Remember th« Lusitania" One of America's Big lUasons far 9e«laring War ..«.....„ 247 CONTENTS 11 Chapter XVTI. Nextve Chapblle and Wab IN Blood- ,^o. Soaked Trenches War Amid Barbed-Wire Entanglements and the Desolation of No Man's Land — Subterranean Tactics Continuing Over Four Years — ^Attacks that Cost Thousands of Lives for Every Foot of Gain 265 Chaptbr XVTII. Steadfast South Africa Botha and Smuts, Rocks of Loyalty Amid a Sea of Treachery — Civil War that Ended with the Drowning of General Beyers and the Arrest of General De Wet — Conquest of German Colonies-^Trsdl of the Hun in the Jungle . 280 Chapter XIX. Italy Declares War on Attstrla. Her Great Decision — D'Annunzio, Poet and Patriot — ^Italia Irredenta — German Indignation — ^The Campaigns on the Isonzo and in the Tyrol . . . 287 Chapter XX. Glorious Gallipoli A Titanic Enterprise — Its Objects — Disasters and Deeds of Deathless Glory — The Heroic Anzacs — ^Bloody Dashes up Impregnable Slopes — Silently they Stole Away — A Successful Failure 302 Chapter XXI. The Greatest Naval Battle in Histort The Battle of Jutland — ^Every Factor on Sea and in Sky Favorable to the Germans — ^Low Visibility a Great Factor — A Modem Sea Battle — ^Light Cruisers Screening Battleship Squadron — Germans Run Away when British Fleet Marshals Its Full Strength — Death of Lord Kitchener 311 Chapter XXII. The Russian Campaign The Advance on Cracow — ^Von Hindenburg Strikes at Warsaw — German Barbarism — ^The War in Galicia — ^The Fall of Przemysl — ^Russia's Ammuni- tion Fails — ^The Russian Retreat — ^The Fall of Warsaw — Czernowitz . . 327 Chapter XXIII. How the Balkans Decided Ferdinand of Bulgaria Insists Upon Joining Germany — Dramatic Scene in the King's Palace — ^The Die is Cast — ^Bulgaria Succumbs to Seductions of Potsdam Gang — Greece Mobilizes — French and British Troops at Saloniki — Serbia Over-run — Roiimania's Disastrous Venture in the Arena of Mars . 347 Chapter XXIV. The Campaign in Mesopotamia British Army Threatening Bagdad Besieged in Kut-el-Amara — ^After Heroic Defense (Jeneral Townshend Surrenders After 143 Days of Siege — ^New British Expedition Recaptures Kut — ^Troops Push on up the Tigris — Fall of Bagdad, the Magnificent 370 12 CONTENTS Chapter XXV. Canada's Part in the Great War p^,,. By Col. George G. Nasmith, C. M. G. Enthusiastic Response to the Call to Action — ^Valcartier Camp a Splendid Example of the Driving Power of Sir Sam Hughes — Thirty-three Liners Cross the Atlantic with First Contingent of Men and Equipment — ^Largest Convoy Ever Gathered Together — ^At the Front with the Princess Pat's — ^Red Cross — Financial Aid — Half a Million Soldiers Overseas — Mons, the Last Stronghold of the Enemy, Won by the Men from Canada — ^A Record of Glory .... 381 Chapter XXVI. Immortal Verdun Grave of the Military Reputations of Von Palkenhayn and the Crown Prince — Hindenburg's Warning — Why the Germans Made the Disastrous Attempt to Capture the Great Fortress — ^Heroic IVance Reveals Itself to the World — "They Shall Not Pass"— Nivelle's Glorious Stand on Dead Man Hill— Lord Northcliffe's Description — ^A Defense Unsurpassed in the History of France 398 Chapter XXVII. Mttrders and Martyrs The Case of Edith Cavell — Nurse Who Befriended the Helpless, Dies at the Hands of the Germans — Captain Fryatt's Martyrdom — How Germany Sowed the Seeds of Disaster . 409 Chapter XXVIII. The Second Battle of Ypres The Canadians in Action — ^Undismayed by the New Weapon of the Enemy — Holding the Line Against Terrific Odds — Men from the Dominion Fight Like Veterans 412 Chapter XXIX. Zeppelin Raids on France and England First Zeppelin Attack Kills Twenty-eight and Injures Forty-four — ^Part of Germany's Policy of Frightfulness — Raids by German Airplaiies on Unforti- fied Towns — Killing of Non-Combatants — The British Lion Awakes — ^Anti- Aircraft Precautions and Protections — Policy of Terrorism Fails .... 417 Chapter XXX. Red Revolution in Russia Rasputin, the Mystic— The Cry for Bread— Rise of the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates — ^Rioting in Petrograd — The Threatening Cloud of Disaster — Moderate Policy of the Duma Fails — The Fatal Easter Week of 1917— Abdication of the Czar— Last Tragic Moments of the Autocrat of All the Russias — Grand Duke Issues Declaration Ending Power of Romanovs in Russia — ^Release of Siberian Revolutionists — ^Free Russia 425 Chapter XXXI. The Descent to Bolshevism Riwsia Intoxicated with Freedom — Elihu Root and Hie Mission — Last Brilliant Offensive in Galicia — ^The Great Mutiny in the Army — The Battalion of Death — ^Kerensky's Skyrocket Career — ^Kornilov's Revolt — Loss of Riga — Lenine, the Dictator— The Impossible "Peace" of Brest-Iitovsk . . . .438 CONTENTS 13 Chapter XXXII. Germany's Object Lesson to the p^o. United States Two Voyages of the Deutschland — ^U-53 German Submajine Reaches Newport and Sinks Five British and Neutral Steamers oS Nantucket — ^Rescue of Survivors by United States Warships — ^Anti-German Feeling in America Reaching a Climax 459 Chapter XXXIII. America Transformed by War The United States Enters the Conflict — The Efficiency of Democracy — Six Months in an American Training Camp Equal to Six Years of German Com- pulsory Service — American Soldiers and Their Resourcefulness on the Battle- field—Methods of Training and Their Results— The S. A. T. C 464 Chapter XXXIV. How Food Won the War ^ The American Farmer a Potent Factor in Civilization's Victory — Scientific Studies of Food Production, Distribution and Consumption — ^Hoover Lays Down the Law Regulating Wholesalers and Grocers — Getting the Food Across — ^Feeding Armies in the Field 478 Chapter XXXV. The United States Navy in the War •' Increase from 68,000 Men to Approximately 600,000 — ^Destroyer Fleet Arrives in British Waters— '!We Are Ready Now"— The Hunt of the U-Boats— Guimery that is Uiurivalled — Depth Charges and Other New Inventions — The U-Boat Menace Removed — Surrender of German Under-Sea Navy . . 483 Chapter XXXVI. China Joins the Fighting Democracies How the Germans Behaved in China Seventeen Years Before — The Whirligig of Time Brings Its Own Revenge — The Far Eastern Republic Joins Hands with the Allies — German Propaganda at Work — Futile Attempt to Restore the Monarchy — ^Fear of Japan — ^War — Thousands of Chinese Toil Behind the Battle Lines in France— Siam with Its Eight Millions Defies the Germans — End of Teuton Influence in the Orient . . . _ _ . _ . .... 498 Chapter XXXVII. The Defeat and Recovery of Italy Subtle Socialist Gospel Preached by Enemy Plays Havoc with Guileless Italians — Sudden Qn^ught of Gesmans I^ives Cadorna's Men from Heights — The Spectacular Retreat that Dismayed the World — Glorious Stand of the Italians on the Piave — ^Rise of Diaz 502 Chapter XXXVIII. Redemption of the Holy Land A Long Campaign Progressing Through Hardships to Glory — General ASanby Enters Jerusalem on Foot — ^Turkish Army Crushed in Palestine — ^Battle of Annageddon G06 14 CONTENTS Chapter XXXIX. America's Transportation Proboims pao> Government Ovmership of Railroads, Telegrajjhs, Telephones — Getting the Men from Ti-aining Camps to the Battle Fronts — ^From Texas to Toul— A Gigantic System Working Without a Hitch .;. -IZ- 513 Chapter XL. Ships and the Men Who Made Them The Emergency Fleet Corporation— Charles M. Schwab as Master Shipbuilder — ^Hog Island the Wonder Shipyard of the World— An Unbeatable Record- Concrete Ships— Wooden Ships— Standardizing the Steel Ship— Attitude of Labor in the War — Samuel CSompers an Unofficial Member of the Cabinet — Great Task of the United States Employment Service 520 Chapter XLI. Germany's Dying Desperate Effort The High Tide of German Success — An Army of Six Million Men Flung Reck- lessly on the Allies— Most Terrific Battles in all History— The Red Ruin of War from Arras to St. Quentin — ^Amiens Within Arms' Reach of the Invaders — Paris Bombarded by Long-Range Guns from Distance of Seventy-six Miles— A Generalissimo at Last— Marshal Foch in Supreme Command .... 531 Chapter XLII. Chateau-Thierry, Fieij> of Glory German Wave Stops with the Americans — ^Prussian Guard Flung Back — ^The Beginning of Autocracy's End — ^America's Record of Valor and Victory — Cantigny — Belleau Wood — ^Thierry — St. Mihiel — Shock Troops of the Enemy Annihilated — Soldier's Remarkable Letter 545 Chapter XLIII. England and France Strike in the North Second Terrific Blow of General Foch — ^Lens, the Storehouse of Minerals, Captured — Bapaume Retaken — ^British Snap the Famous Hindenburg Line — The Great Thrust Through Cambrai — ^Tanks to the Front — Cavaby in Action 663 Chapter XLIV. Belgium's Gallant Effort The Little Army Under King Albert Thrusts Savagely at the Germans — Ostend and Zeebrugge Freed from the Submarine Pirates — Pathetic Scenes as Belgians are Restored to Their Homes ... . . , 573 Chapter XLV.^ Italy's Terrific Drive Enemy Offensive Opens on Front of Ninety-Seven Miles — ^Repulse of the Anstrians — Italy Turns the Tables — Terrific CounteivThrusts from the Piave to Trente — ^Forcing the Alpine Passages — Battles High in the Air — ^English, French and Americans Back up the Italians in Humbling the Might of Austria — ^D'Annunzio's Romantic Bombardment of Vienna — Diaz Leads his Men to Victory . ...... . . ^ . ^ . ».. - ^ . , . _ . . . . • _ » 682 Chapter XLVI. " Bulgaria Deserts Germany > Greece in the Throes of Revolution — ^Fall of Constantino — Serbians Begin i Advance on Bulgara — ^Thousands of Prisoners Talsea— Surrender of Bulgaria— S CONTENTS 15 Fxaa iPanic in Berlin — Passage Through the Country Granted for Armies of the Allies — ^Ferdinand Abdicates — Germany's Imagined Mittel-Eiiropa Dream Forever Destroyed _._. 591 Chapter XLVII. The Central Empires Whine for Peace y AustriarHungary Makes the First Plea — ^President Wilson's Abrupt Answer — Prince Max, Camouflaged as an Apostle of Peace, made Chancellor and Opens Germany's Pathetic Plea for a Peace by Negotiation— The President Replies on Behalf of all the Allied Powers — ^Foch Pushes on Regardless of Peace Notes. 603 Chapter XLVIII. Battles in the Ant Conquering the Fear of Death — From Individual Fights to Battles Between Squadrons — Heroes of the Warring Nations — America's Wonderful Record — From Nowhere to First Place in Eighteen Months — ^The Liberty Motor . . 611 Chapter XLIX. Health and Happiness of the American ^^ Forces Record of the Red Cross on all Fronts — ^A Gigantic Work Well Executed^ Y. M. C. A. — Y, W. C. A. — ^Knights of Columbus — Jewish Welfare AssooiaF tion — Salvation Army — ^American Library Association — Other Organizations- Surgery and Sanitation . . . . ^ 622 Chapter L. The Pirates op the Under-Seas Germany's Ruthless Submarine Policy — ^A Boomerang Destrojring the Hand that Cast It — Terrorism that Failed — One Hundred and Fifty U-Boats Sunk or Captured — Shameless Surrender of the German Submarines and of the Fleet They Protected 631 Chapter LI. Approaching the Final Stage Cutting the Railroads to Cambrai — ^Americans Co-operate with British ia Furious Attack — ^Douai and St. Quentin Taken — ^The Battle Line Straightened for the Last Mighty Assault — ^AU Hope Abandoned by the Kaiser. . . . 640 Chapter LH. Last Days of the War / American Troops Join with the Allies in Colossal Drive on 71-mile Front — Historic Sedan Taken by the Yanks — Stenay, the Last Battle of the War — How the Opposing Forces Greeted the News of the Armistice 643 Chapter LIII. The Drastic Terms of Surrender HandcuSs for Four Nations — ^Bulgaria First to Fly the White Flag — ^Allenby's Great Victory Forces Turkey Out — Aijstria Signs Quickly — Germany's Capitulation Complete and Humiliating 648 Chapter LIV. Peace at Last An Unfounded Rumor Starts Enormous Jubilation — ^Armistice Signed Four Days Later — ^Kaiser Abdicates and Flees to Holland — Cowardly Ruler Seeka 16 CONTENTS. PAQS Protection of Small Neutral Nation — ^Looking Into the Future — Cost of War to the Nations — ^Liberty Loans — Reconstruction Problems — McAdoo Resigns — ^American Ideals in the Old World ^^ Chaptek LV, America's Position in Peace and Wak ■^ President Wilson's Stirring Speech in Congress Which Brought the United States into the War — ^His Great Speech Before Congress Ending the War — The Fourteen Points OutUning America's Demands Before Peace Could be Concluded — Later Peace Principles Enunciated by the President. . . . 669 Chapter LVI. The War by Years Condensed Word-Picture of the Happenings of the Most Momentous Fifty- two Months in All History — Leading Up to the Eleventh Hour of the EleventhDayof the Eleventh Month of 1918. .^ 684 Chapter LVII. Behind America's Battle Line General March's Story of the Work of the Military Intelligence Division — Of the War Plans Division — Of the Purchase and Traffic Divisions — ^How Men, Munitions and Supplies Reached the Western Front 689 Chapter LVIII. General Pershing's Own Story The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces Tells the Story of the Magnificent Combat Operations of his Troops that Defeated Prussia's Legions — Official Account Discloses Full Details of the Fighting. . 701 Chapter LIX.7 President Wilson's Review of the War a Year in the Life of the United States Crowded with Great Events — Tribute to the Soldiers and Sailors, the Workers at Home Who Supplied the Sinews of the Great Undertaking, the Women of the Land Who Contributed to the Great Result — ^The Future Safe in the Hands of American Businessmen. . 720 Summarized Chronology of the War 729 Treaty of Peace and League of Nations 737 FOREWORD THIS is a popular narrative history of the world's greatest war. Written frankly from the viewpoint of the United States and the Allies, it visualizes the bloodiest and most destructive conflict of all the ages from its remote causes to its glorious conclusion and beneficent results. The world- shaking rise of new democracies is set forth, and the enormous national and individual sacrifices producing that resurrection of hiunan equaUty are detailed. Two ideals have been before us in the preparation of this necessary work. These are simplicity and thoroughness. It is of no avail to describe the greatest of hmnan events if the descrip- tion is so confused that the reader loses interest. Thoroughness is an historical essential beyond price. So it is that official documents prepared in many instances upon the field of battle, and others taken from the files of the governments at war, are the basis of this work. Maps and photographs of unusual clear- ness and high authenticity illuminate the text. All that has gone into war making, into the regeneration of the world, are herein set forth with historical particularity. The stark horrors of Belgium, the bhghting terrors of chemical warfare, the governmental restrictions placed upon hundreds of millions of civilians, the war sacrifices falling upon all the civilized peoples of earth, are in these pages. It is a book that mankind can well read and treasure. M CHAPTER I A Wak for Inteenational Freedom Y FELLOW COUNTRYMEN: The armistice was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accomplished. The war thus comes to an end." Speaking to the Congress and the people of the United States, President Wilson made this declaration on November 11, 1918. A few hours before he made this statement, Germany, the empire of blood and iron, had agreed to an armistice, terms of which were the hardest and most humiliating ever imposed upon a nation of the first class. It was the end of a war for which Germany had prepared for generations, a war bred of a philosophy that Might can take its toll of earth's possessions, of human lives and liberties, when and where it will. That philosophy involved the cession to imperial Germany of the best years of young German manhood, the training of German youths to be killers of men. It involved the creation of a military caste, arrogant beyond all precedent, a caste that set its strength and pride against the righteousness of democracy, against the possession of wealth and bodily comforts, a caste that visualized itself as part of a power-mad Kaiser's assumption that he and God were to shape the destinies of earth. Wheh Marshal Foch, the foremost strategist in the world, representing the governments of the Allies and the United States, delivered to the emissaries of Germany terms upon which they might surrender, he brought to an end the bloodiest, the most destructive and the most beneficent war the world has known. It is worthy of note in this connection that the three great wars in which the United States of America engaged have been wars for freedom. The Revolutionary War was for the liberty of the colonies; the Civil War was waged for the freedom of manhood and for the principle of the indissolubility of the Union ; the World War, beginning 1914, was fought for the right of small nations to 20 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR self-government and for the right of every country to the free use of the high seas. More than four million American men were under arms when the conflict ended. Of these, more than two million were upon the fields of France and Italy. These were thoroughly trained in the military art. They had proved their right to be considered among the most formidable soldiers the world has known. Against the brown rock of that host in khakij the flower of German savagery and courage had broken at Chdteau-Thierry. There the high tide of Prussian militarism, after what had seemed to be an irresistible dash for the destruction of France, spent itself in the bloody froth and spume of bitter defeat. There the Prussian Guard encountered the Marines^ the Iron Division and the other heroic organizations of America's new army. There German soldiers who had been hardened and trained under German conscription before the war, and who had learned new arts in their bloody trade, through their service in the World War, met their masters in young Americans taken from the shop, the field, and the forge, youths who had been sent into battle with a scant six months' intensive training in the art of war. Not only did these American soldiers hold the German onslaught where it was but, in a sudden, fierce, resistless counter-thrust they drove back in defeat and confusion the Prussian Guard, the Pommeranian Reserves, and smashed the morale of that German division beyond hope of resurrection. The news of that exploit sped from the Alps to the North Sea Coast, through all the camps of the Allies^ with incredible rapidity. "The Americans have held the Germans. They can fight," ran the message. ' New life came into the war-weary ranks of heroic poilus and into the steel-hard armies of Great Britain. "The Americans are as good as the best. There are millions of them, and millions more are coming," was heard on every side. The transfusion of American blood came as magic tonic, and from that glorious day there was never a doubt as to the speedy defeat of Germany. From that day the German retreat dated. The armistice signed on November 11, 1918, was merely the period finishing the death sentence of German mili- tarism, the first word of which was uttered at Chdteau-Thierry. Germany's defiance to the world, her determination to A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM 21 force her will and her "kultur" upon the democracies of earthjl produced the conflict. She called to her aid three sister autoc- racies: Turkey, ~~ a land ruled by the whims of a long line of moody misanthropic monarchs; Bulgaria, the traitor nation cast by its Teutonic king into a war in which its people had no choice and little sympathy; Austria-Hungary, a congeries of races in which a Teutonic minority ruled with an iron scepter. Against this phalanx of autocracy, " twenty-four nations arrayed themselves. Populations of these twenty-eight warring nations far exceeded the total population of all the remainder! of humanity. The conflagration of war literally belted the earth, i It consumed the most civiUzed of capitals. | It raged in the swamps and forests of Africa. To its call came alien peoples speaking words that none but themselves could translate, wearing gar- ments of exotic cut and hue amid the smart garbs and sober hues of modem civilization. A twentieth century Babel came to the fields of France for freedom's sake, and there was bom an^ internationalism making for the future understanding and peace of the world. The list of the twenty-eight nations entering the World War and their populations follow: Countnes. ' Population. United States r. .'.110,000,000 AustriarHungaiy 60,000,000 Belgium • 8,000,000 Bulgaria 'f 5,000,000 Brazil : . . 23,000,000 China '.' .'.'V. . .420,000,000 Costa Bica ' .'. t".'. r/- 425,000 Cuba "..".";' ■ . .'f 2,500,000 France* ::V. . 90,000,000 Gautranala ...:.' 2,000,000 Germany 67,000,000 Great Britain* 440,000,000 Greece 5,000,000 Haiti 2,000,000 Honduras 600,000 'Including colonies. Countries. FopulAtion. Italy 37,000,000 Japan 54,000,000 Liberia 2,000,000 1 Montenegro 500,000 ' Nicaragua 700,000 Panama 400,000 - Portugal* 15,000,000 ; Roumania 7,500,000 i Russia 180,000,000 '. San Marino 10,000 Serbia 4,500,000 Siam 6,000,000 Turkey 42,000,000 , Total 1,575,135,000; The following nations took no part in the World War: Countnes. Population. Abyssinia 8,000,000 Afghanistan 6,000,000 Argentina 8,000,000 Bolivia 2,500,000 Countiies. Population. Chile 5,000,000 Colombia 5,000,000 Denmark 3,000,000 Dominican Republic 710,000 22 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Countries. Population. Salvador 1,250,000 Spain 20,000,000 Sweden 6,000,000 Switzerland 3,750,000 Uruguay 1,250,000 Venezuela 2,800,000 Total 150,560,000 Countri9B. Population. Ecuador 1,500,000 Mexico 15,000,000 Nepal 4,000,000 Holland( with colonies) 40,000,000 Norway 2,500,000 Paraguay 800,000 Peru 4,500,000 Persia 9,000,000 * Including coloniea. > Never before in the history of the world were~so"many races and peoples mingled in a military effort as those that came together under the command of Marshal Foch.^If we divide the human races into white, yellow, red and black, all four ^^ were largely represented. Among the white races there | were' Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, English, Scottish, Welsh,' Irish, Canadians, Australians, South Africans (of both British and Dutch descent) New Zealanders; in the American army, probably every other European nation was represented, with additional contingents from those already named, so that every branch of the white race figured in the ethnological total. There were representatives of many^Asiatic^'races," including not only the volunteers from the native states of India, but elements from the French colony in Cochin China, with Annam, Cambodia, TonMn, Laos, and Kwang Chau Wan. England and France both contributed many African tribes, including Arabs from Algeria and Tunis, Senegalese, Saharans, and many of the South African races. The red races of North America were represented in the armies of both Canada and the United States, while the Maoris, Samoans, and other Polynesian races were likewise represented. And as, in the American Army, there were men of German, Austrian, and Hungarian descent, and, in all probability, contingents also of Bulgarian and Turkish blood, it may be said that Foch commanded an army representing the whole human race, imited in defense of the ideals of the Allies. It will be seen that more than ten times the number of neutral rsons were enguKed in the maelstrom of war. Millions of these f ered from it during the entire period of the conflict, fom: years ee months and fifteen days, a total of 1,567 dajrs. For almost ' years Germany rolled up a record of victories on land and of pi cies on and under the seas. TERKITORY OCCUPIED BY THE ALLIES UKDER THE ARMISTICE OF KOVEMBER 11, 1918 r ^ Dotted area, invaded _ territory of Belgium, IVance, Luxembourg and Alsf ■ Lorraine to be evacuated in fourteen days; area in small squares, part of Gemf ' ^ west of the BJiine to be evacuated in twenty-five days and occupied by Allied/ • ' U. S. troops; lightly shaded area to east of Rhine, neutral zone; black semi-cif bridge-heads of thirty kilometers radius in the neutral zone to be occupied by /' 3^^ armies. (2 24 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Little by little, day after day, piracies dwindled as the murder- ous submarine was mastered and its menace strangled. On the land, the Allies, under the matchless leadership of Marshal Ferdi- nand Foch and the generous co-operation of Americans, British, French and Italians, under the great Generals Pershing, Haig, Petain and Diaz, wrested the initiative from von IBndenburg and Ludendorf, late in July, 1918. Then, in one hxmdred and fifteen days of wonderful strategy and the fiercest fighting the world has ever witnessed, Foch and the Allies closed upon the Germanic armies the jaws of a steel trap. A series of brilliant maneuvers dating from the battle of Chdteau-Thierry in which the Americans checked the Teutonic rush, resulted in the defeat and rout on all the fronts of the Teutonic commands. In that titanic effort, America's share was that of the final deciding factor. A nation imjustly titled the "DoUar Nation," believed by Germany and by other countries to be soft, selfish and wasteful, became over night hard as tempered steel, self- sacrificing with an altruism that inspired the world and thrifty beyond all precedent in order that not only its own armies but the armies of the Allies might be fed and munitioned. Leading American thought and American action, President Wilson stood out as the prophet of the democracies of the world. Not only did he inspire America and the AUies to a military and naval effort beyond precedent, but he inspired the civilian popula- tions of the world to extraordinary effort, efforts that eventually won the war. For the decision was gained quite as certainly on the wheat fields of Western America, in the shops and the mines and the homes of America as it was upon the battle-field. This effort came in response to the following appeal by the President: These, then, are the things we must do, and do weJl, besides fighting — ^the things without which m.ei9 figbtipg would be fniitlees: We mtist supply abundant food fSr ourselves and for our armies and our seamen not only, but also for a large part of the nations viiih whom we have now made common cause, in whose support and by whose sides we shall be fighting; We must supply ships by the hundreds out of our shipyards to cany to the other side of the sea, submarines or no submarines, what will every day be needed there; and — Abundant materials out of our fields and our mines and our factories A WAR FOB INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM 25 with which not only to clothe and equip our own forces on land and sea but also to clothe and support our people for whom the gallant fellows under arms can no longer work, to help clothe and equip the armies with which we are co-operating in Em-ope, and to keep the looms and manufactories there in raw material; XDoal to keep the fires going in ships at sea and in the furnaces of hundreds of factories across the sea; Steel out of which to make arms and ammunition both here and there; Rails for worn-out railways back of the fighting fronts; Locomotives and rolling stock to take the place of those every day going to pieces; Everything with which the people of England and France and Italy and Russia have usually supplied themselves, but cannot now afford the men, the materials, or the machinery to make. I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant foodstuffs as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no better or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation of the present price of cotton and helping, helping upon a large scale, to feed the nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting for their liberties and for our own. The variety of their crops will be the visible measure of their comprehension of their national duty. The response was amazing in its enthusiastic and general compliance. No autocracy issuing a ukase could have been obeyed so explicitly. Not only did the various classes of workers and individuals observe the President's suggestions to the letter, but they yielded up individual right after right iu order that the war work of the government might be expedited. Extraordinary powers and functions were granted by the people through Congress, and it was not until peace was declared that these rights and powers returned to the people. These governmental activities ceased functioning after the war: Food administration; Fuel administration; Espionage act; War trade board; Alien property custodian (with extension of time for cer- tain duties); AgricultiU"al stimulation; Housing construction (except for shipbuilders) ; Control of telegraphs and telephones; Export control. 26 HISTORY OF THF /ORLD WAR These functions were extended: Control over railroads: to cease within twenty-one months after the proclamation of peace. The War Finance Corporation: to cease to function six monthsafterthe war, with further time for liquidation. (The Capital Issues Committee: to terminate in six months after the peace proclamation. (The Aircraft Board: to end in six months after peace was proclaimed; and the government operation of ships, within five years after the war was oflScially ended. President Wilson, generally acclaimed as the leader of the world's democracies, phrased for civilization the arguments against autocracy in the great peace conferenceaf ter the war. ThePresident headed the American delegation to that conclave of world re-con- struction. With him as delegates to the conference were Robert Lansing, Secretary of State; Henry White, former Ambassador to France and Italy; Edward M. House and General Tasker H. Bliss. V _ Representing American Labor at the International Labor conference held in Paris simultaneously with the Peace Confer- ence were Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor; William Green, secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America; John R. Alpine, president of the Plumbers' Union; James Duncan, president of the International Association of Granite Cutters; Frank DufiPy, president of the United Broth- erhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Frank Morrison, secretary of the American Federation of Labor. \ Estimating the share of each Allied nation in the great victory, mankind will conclude that the heaviest cost in proportion to pre- war population and treasure was paid by the nations that first felt the shock of war, Belgium, Serbia, Poland and France. All four were the battle-grounds of huge armies, oscillating in a bloody frenzy over once fertile fields and once prosperous towns. Belgium, with a population of 8,000,000, had a casualty list of more than 90,000; France, with its casualties of 4,506,500 out of a population (including its colonies) of 90,000,000, is really the martyr nation of the world. Her gallant poilus showed the world how cheerfully men may die in defense of home and Uberty. Huge Russia, including hapless Poland, had a casualty list of 9,150,000 EmGS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE PRINCIPAL POWERS ASSOCIATED AGAINST THE GERMAN ALLIANCE © International Film Service. THE 'fTIGER" OF FRANCE George Benjamin Eugene Clemenceau, world-famous Premier of France, who by his inspiring leadership maintained the magnificent morale of his countrymen in the face of terrMo assaults mf tho enemy. THE RIGHT HONORABLE DAVID LLOYD GEORGE British Premier, who headed the coalition cabinet which carried England through the war to victory. KING GEORGE V King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, who struggled earnest^ to prevent the war, but when Germany attacked Belgium sent the mighty forces of the British Empire to stop the Ht20 A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM 31 out of its entire population of 180,000,000. The United States out of a population of 110,000,000 had a casualty list of 274,659 for nineteen months of war; of these 67,813 were killed or died of disease; 192,483 were wounded; and 14,363 prisoners or missing. To the glory of Great Britain must be recorded the enormous effort made by its people, showing through operations of its army and navy. The British Empire, including the Colonies, had a casualty list of 3,089,757 men out of a total population of 440,- 000,000. Of these 692,065 were killed; 2,037,325 were wounded, and 360,367 were reported missing. It raised an army of 7,000,000, and fought seven separate foreign campaigns, ia France, Italy, Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, Macedonia, East Africa and Egypt. It raised its navy personnel from 115,000 to 450,000 men. Co-oper- ating with its alUes on the sea, it destroyed approximately one hundred and fifty German and Austrian submarines. It aided materially the American navy and transport service in sending overseas the great American army whose coming decided the war. The British navy and transport service during the war made the following record of transportation and convoy: Twenty milhon men, 2,000,000 horses, 130,000,000 tons of food, 25,000,000 tons of explosives and supplies, 51,000,000 tons of oil and fuels, 500,000 vehicles. In 1917 alone 7,000,000 men, 500,000 animals, 200,000 vehicles and 9,500,000 tons of stores were conveyed to the several war fronts. The German losses were estimated at 1,611,104 killed or died of disease; 3,683,143 wounded; and 772,522 prisoners and missing. A tabulation of the estimates of casualties and the money cost of the war reveals the enormous price paid by humanity to con- vince a miUtary-mad Germanic caste that Right and not Might must hereafter rule the world. Following is the tabulation: Nation. Mobilized. United States 4,272,521 British Empire 7,500,000 France 7,500,000 Italy 5,500,000 Belgium 267,000 Russia 12,000,000 Japan 800,000 Roumanift 750,000 «er1*i« 707,848 Prisoners or Total Dead. Wounded. Missing. Casualties. 67,813 192,483 14,363 274,659 692,065 2,037,325 360,367 3,089,757 1,385,300 2,675,000 446,300 4,506,600 460,000 947,000 1,393,000 2,800,000 20,000 60,000 10,000 90,000 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000 9,150,000 300 907 8 1,210 200,000 130,000 80,000 400,000 822,0e» 38,009 iee,oea 4se,ooo 32 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR NatioD. Mobilized. Montenegi-o 50,000 Greece 230,000 Portugal 100,000 Total 39,676,864 Ceni Germany 11,000,000 Austria^Hungary 6,500,000 Bulgaria 400,000 Turkey 1,600,000 Prisoners or Total Dead. Wounded. Miasinfi- Casualties. 3,000 10,000 7,000 20,000 15,000 40,000 45,000 100,000 4,000 15,000 200 10,000 4,869,478 11,075,715 4,956,233 20,892,226 Aii Powers 1,611,104 3,683,143 772,522 6,066,769 800,000 3,200,000 1,211,000 5,211,000 201,224 152,399 10,825 264,448 300,000 570,000 130,000 1,000,000 Total 19,500,000 2,912,328 7,605,542 2,124,347 12,542,217 Grand total 59,176,864 7,781,806 18,681,257 7,080,580 33,434,443 Canada sent approximately 800,000 men overseas and sus- tained casualties amounting to 220,182. Of these 60,383 were killed or died from disease, 155,790 were wounded and 4,000 were missing or prisoners. Australia's casualties out of a total overseas force of 336,000 were 290,191 which included 54,431 dead, 156,000 wounded and 3,401 prisoners and missiag. ESTIMATED COST IN MONEY The Entente Allies The Central Powers Russia $30,000,000,000 Germany $45,000,000,000 Britain 52,000,000,000 Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000 France 32,000,000,000 Turkey 5,000,000,000 United States 40,000,000,000 Bulgaria 2,000,000,000 Italy 12,000,000,000 Roumania 3,000,000,000 Total $77,000,000,000 Serbia 3,000,000,000 Tot8,l $172,000,000,000 Grand total of estimated cost in money, $249,000,000,000. Was the cost too heavy? Was the price of international hberty paid in human lives and in sacrifices untold too great for the peace that followed? ' Even the most practical of money changers, the most senti- mental pacifist, viewing the cost in connection with the liberation of whole nations, with the spread of enlightened liberty through oppressed and benighted lands, with the destruction of autocracy, of the military caste, and of Teutonic kultur in its materialistic aspect, muet agree that the blood was well shed, the treasure well spent. CHAPTER II The World Suddenly Turned Upside Down DEMORALIZATION, like the black plague of the middle ages, spread in every direction immediately following the first overt acts of war. Men who were millionaires at nightfall awoke the next morning to find themselves bankrupt through depreciation of their stock-holdiags. Prosperous firms of importers were put out of business. International com- merce was dislocated to an extent unprecedented in history. The greatest of hardships immediately following the war, however, were visited upon those who unhappily were caught on their vacations or on their business trips withiu the area affected by the war. Not only men, but women and children, were subjected to privations of the severest character. Notes which had been negotiable, paper money of every description, and even silver currency suddenly became of little value. Americans living in hotds and pensions facing this sudden shrinkage in their money, w^e compelled to leave the roofs that had sheltered them. That which was true of Americans was true of all other nationalities, so that every embassy and the oflace of every consul became a miniature Babel of excited, distressed humanity. The sudden seizure of railroads for war purposes in Germany, France, Austria and Russia, cut off thousands of travelers in villages that were almost inaccessible. Europeans being com- paratively close to their homes, were not in straits as severe as the Americans whose only hope for aid lay in the speedy arrival of American gold. Prices of food soared beyond all precedent and many of these hapless strangers went under. Paris, the brightest and gayest city ia Europe, suddenly became the most somber of dwelling places. No traffic was permitted on the highways at ni^t. No lights were permitted and all the caf^s were closed at eight o'clock. The gay capital was placed under iron military rule. Seaports, and especially the pleasure resorts in France, Belgium and England, were placed under a military supervision. Visitors 33 84 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR were ordered to return to their homes and every resort was shrouded with darkness at night. The records of those early days are filled with stories of dramatic happenings. On the night of July 31st Jean Leon JaurSs, the famous leader of French SociaUsts, was assassinated while dining in a small restaurant near the Paris Bourse. His assassin was Raoul Villein. JaurSs had been endeavoring to accomphsh a union of French and German Socialists with the aim of preventing the war. The object of the assassination appeared to have been wholly political. On the same day stock exchanges throughout the United States were closed, following the example of European stock exchanges. Ship insurance soared to prohibitive figures. Reservists of the French and German armies living outside of their native land were called to the colors and their homeward rush still further com^cated transportation for civiUans. AU the coimtries of Europe clamored for gold. North and South America complied with the demand by sending cargoes of the precious metal overseas. The German ship Kron Prinzessin with a cargo of gold, attempted to make the voyage to Hamburg, but a wireless warning that Allied cruisers were waiting for it off the Grand Banks of Newfound- land, compelled the big ship to turn back to safety in America. Channel boats bearing American refugees from the Continent to London were described as floating heUs. London was excited over the war and holiday spirit, and overrun with five thousand citizens of the United States tearfully pleading with the American Ambassador for money for transportation home or assurances of personal safety. The condition of the terror-stricken tomists fleeing to the friendly shores of England from Continental countries crowded with soldiers dragging in their wake heavy guns, resulted in an extraordinary gathering of two thousand Americans at a hotel one afternoon and the formation of a prehminary organization to afford relief. Some people who attended the meeting were already beginning to feel the pinch of want with little prospects of imme- diate succor. One man and wife, with four children, had six cents when he appealed to Ambassador Page after an exciting escape from German territory. Oscar Straus, worth ten millions, struck London with nin« dollara. Although he had letters of credit for five thousand, he THE WORLD TUBNED UPSIDE DOWN M WHERE THE WORLD WAR BEGAN. 36 JHISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR waa unable to cash them in Vienna. Women hugging newspaper bimdles containing expensive Paris frocks and millinery were herded in third-class carriages and compelled to stand many hours. They reached London utterly fatigued and unkempt, but mainly cheer- ful, only to find the hotels choked with fellow coimtrymen fortunate to reach there sooner. The Ambassador was harassed by anxious women and children who asked many absm-d questions which he could not answer. He said: "The appeals of these people are most distressing. They are very much excited, and no small wonder. I regret I have no definite news of the prospects or plans of the government for relief. I have communicated their condition to the Department of State and expect a response and assurances of coming aid as soon as possible. That the government will act I have not the slightest doubt. I am confident that Washington will do everything in her power for relief. How soony I cannot tell. •' I have heard many distressing tales dining the last forty-eight hours." A crowd filled the Ambassador's office on the first floor of the flat buildiag, ia Victoria Street, which was mainly composed of women, school teachers, art students, and other persons doing Europe on a shoestring. Many were entirely out of money and with limited securities, which were not negotiable. The action of the British povemment extending the bank holiday till Thursday of that week was discouraging news for the new arrivals from the Continent, as it was imcertain whether the espress and steamship companies would open in the morning for the cashing of checks and the delivery of mail, as was aimounced the previous Saturday. DoetOTS J. Riddle Goffe, of New York; Frank F. Simpson, of PitMnn-gh; Arthur D. Ballon of Vistaburg, Midi., and B. F, Mart&i$ of Qdcago, formed themsdves into a committee, and asked fixe coKjpOTatkm. of the press in Ameriea to bring about adequate assistance for the marooned Americans, and to urge the bankers of the United States to insist on their letters of credit and travelers' checks being honored so far as possible by the agents in Europe upon whom they were drawn. Dr. Martin and Dr. Simpson, who left London on Saturday fov Switzerland to fetch back a young American girl, were unable THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS ■ In the first weeks of the war the Germans occupied Rheims, but were driven ^out after von Kluck's retreat. On September 20, 1914, they were reported as first shelling the Cathedral of Rheims and the civiUzed world stood aghast, for the edifice, begun in 1212, is one of the chief glories of Gothic architecture in all Europe. THE WORLD TURNEiJ UPSIDE DOWN 39 to get beyond Paris, and they returned to London. Everywhere they found trains packed with refugees whose only object in Ufe apparently was to reach the chaimel boats, accepting cheerfully the discomforts of those vessels if only able to get out of the war. Rev. J. P. Garfield, of Glaremore, N. H., gave the following account of his experiences in Holland: "On sailing from the Hook of HoUand near midnight we pulled out just as the boat train from The Hague arrived. The steamer paused, but as she was filled to her capacity she later continued on her voyage, leaving fuUy two hundred persons marooned on the wharf. "Our discomforts while crossing the North Sea were great. Every seat was filled with sleepers, the cabins were given to women and children. The crowd, as a rule, was helpful and kindly, the single men carrying the babies and people lending money to those without funds. Despite the refugee conditions prevailing it was noticeable that many women on the Hook wharf climg tenaciously to bandboxes containing Parisian hats." Travelers from Cologne said that searchlights were operated from the tops of the hotels all night searching for airplanes, and machine guns were mounted on the famous Cologne Cathedral. They also reported that tourists were refused hotel acconunodations at Frankfort because they were without cash. Men, women and children sat in the streets all night. The trains were stopped several miles from the German frontier and the passengers, especially the women and children, suffered great hardship being forced to continue their journey on foot. Passengers arriving at London from Montreal on the Ctmard lone steamer Andania, bound for Southampton, reported the vessel was met at sea by a British torpedo boat and ordered by wireless to stop. The liner then was led into Plymouth as a matter of pre- caution against mines. Plymouth was filled with soldiers, and searchlights were seen constantly flashing about the harbor. Otis B. Kent, an attorney for the Interstate Commerce Com- mission, of Washington, arrived in London after an exciting journey from Petrograd. Unable to find accommodations at a hotel he slept on the railway station floor. He said: "I had been on a trip to Sweden to see the midnight sun. I did not realize the gravity of the situation until I saw the Russian 40 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR fleet cleared for action. This was only July 26th, at Kronstadt, where the shipyards were working overtime. "I arrived at the Russian capital on the following day. Enor- mous demonstrations were taking place. I was warned to get out and left on the night of the 28th for Berlin. I saw Russian soldiers drilling at the stations and artillery constantly on the move. "At Berlin I was warned to keep off the streets for fear of being mistaken for an EngUshmen. At Hamburg the number of warnings was increased. Two Russians who refused to rise in a caf6 when the German anthem was played were attacked and badly beaten. I also saw two Englishmen attacked in the street, but they finally were rescued by the police. "There was a harrowing scene when the Hamburg-American Line steamer Imperator canceled its sailing. She left stranded three thousand passengers, most of them short of money, and the women wailing. About one himdred and fifty of us were given passage in the second class of the American Line steamship Phila- delphia, for which I was offered $400 by a speculator. "The journey to Flushing was made in a packed train, its occupants lacking sleep and food. No trouble was encountered on the frontier." Theodore Hetzler, of the Fifth Avenue Bank, was appointed chairman of the meeting for preliminary relief of the stranded toiuists, and committees were named to interview officials of the steamship companies and of the hotels, to search for lost baggage, to make arrangements for the honoring of all proper checks and notes, and to confer with the members of the American embassy. Oscar Straus, who arrived from Paris, said that the United States embassy there was working hard to get Americans out of France. Great enthusiasm prevailed at the French capital, he said, owing to the annoimcement that the United States Government was considering a plan to send transports to take Americans home. The following committees were appointed at the meeting: Finance — ^Theodore Hetzler, Fred I. Kent and James G. Cannon; Transportation — ^Jpseph F. Day, Francis M. Weld and George D. Smith, all of New York; Diplomatic — Oscar S. Straus, Walter L. Fisher and James Byrne; Hotels — ^L. H. Armour, of Chicago, and Thomas J. Shanley, New York. The committee estabUshed headquarters where Americans THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 41 might register and obtain assistance. Chandler Anderson, a mem- ber of the International Claims Commission, arrived in London from Paris. He said he had been engaged with the work of the commission at Versailles, when he was warned by the American embassy that he had better leave France. He acted promptly on this advice and the commission was adjourned until after the war. Mr. Anderson had to leave his baggage behind Vn'm because the railway company would not register it. He said the city of Paris presented a strange contrast to the ordinary animation pre- vailing there. Most of the shops were closed. (There were no taxis in the streets, and only a few vehicles drawn by horses. The armored cruiser Tennessee, converted for the time being into a treasure ship, left New York on the night of August 6th, 1914, to carry $7,500,000 in gold to the many thousand Americans who were in want in European coimtries. Included in the $7,500,000 was $2,500,000 appropriated by the government. Private consignments in gold in sums from $1,000 to $5,000 were accepted by Colonel Smith, of the army quartermaster's depart- ment, who undertook their delivery to Americans in Paris and other European ports. The cruiser carried as passengers Ambassador WiUard, who returned to his post at Madrid, and army and naval officers assigned as military observers in Europe. On the return trip accommoda- tions for 200 Americans were available. The dreadnaught Florida, after being hastily coaled and provisioned, left the Brooklyn Navy Yard under sealed orders at 9.30 o'clock the morning of August 6th and proceeded to Tompkins- viUe, where she dropped anchor near the Tennessee. The Florida was sent to protect the neutraUty of American ports and prohibit supplies to belligerent ships. Secretary Daniels ordered her to watch the port of New York and sent the Mayflower to Hampton Roads. Destroyers guarded ports along the New England coast and those at Lewes, Del., to prevent viola- tions of neutrality at Philadelphia and in that territory. Any vessel that attempted to sail for a belligerent port without clear- ance papers was boarded by American officials. The Texas and Louisiana, at Vera Cruz, and the Minnesota, at Tampico, were ordered to New Yoris, and Secretary Daniek 42 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR announced that other American vessels would be ordered north as fast as room could be found for them m navy yard docks. At wireless stations, under the censorship ordered by the President, no code messages were allowed in any circumstances. Messages which might help any of the belligerents in any way were barred. The torpedo-boat destroyer Warrington and the revenue cutter Androscoggin arrived at Bar Harbor on August 6th, to enforce neutrality regulations and allowed rio foreign ships to leave Frenchman's Bay without clearance papers. The United States cruiser Milwaukee sailed the same day from the Puget Sound Navy Yard to form part of the coast patrol to enforce neutrality regulations. • Arrangements were made in Paris by Myron T. Herrick, the American Ambassador, acting under instructions from Washington, to take over the affairs of the German embassy, while Alexander H. Thackara, the American Consul General, looked after the affairs of the German consulate. President Poiacar6 and the members of the French cabiaet later issued a joint proclamation to the French nation in which was the phrase "mobilization is not war." The marching of the soldiers in the streets with the English, Russian and French flags flying, the singing of patriotic songs and the shouting of "On to Berlin!" were much less remarkable than the general demeanor and cold resolution of most of the people. The response to the order of mobilization was instant, and the stations of all the railways, particularly those leading to the east- ward, were crowded with reservists. Many women accompanied the men xmtil close to the stations, where, softly crying, farewells were said. The troop trams left at frequent intervals. All the automobile busses disappeared, having been requisitioned by the army to carry meat, the coachwork of the vehicles beiag removed and replaced with specially designed bodies. A large number of taxicabs, private automobiles and horses and carts also were taken over by the military for transport purposes. The wildest enthusiasm was manifested on the boTilevards when the news of the ordering of the mobilization became known. Bodies of men formed into regular companies ia ranks ten deep, paraded the streets waving the tricolor and other national emblems THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 43 and cheering and singing the "Marseillaise" and the "Interna- tionale," at the same time throwing their hats in the air. On the sidewalks were many weeping women and children. All the stores and caf^s were deserted. All foreigners were compelled to leave Paris or France before the end of the first day of mobilization by train but not by auto- mobile. Time tables were posted on the walls of Paris giving the times of certain trains on which these people might leave the city. • American citizens or British subjects were allowed to remain in France, except in the regions on the eastern frontier and near certain fortresses, provided they made declaration to the police and obtained a special permit. As to Italy's situation, Rome was quite calm and the normal aspect made tourists decide that Italy was the safest place. Aus- tria's note to Serbia was issued without consulting Italy. One point of the Triple Alliance provided that no member should take action in the Balkans before an agreement with the other allies. Such an agreement did not take place. The alliance was of defen- sive, not aggressive, character and could not force an ally to follow any enterprise taken on the sole account and without a notice, as Buch action taken by Austria against Serbia. It was felt even then that Italy would eventually cast its lot with the Entente Allies. Secretary of the Treasiuy William G. McAdoo; John Skelton Williams, Comptroller of the Currency; Charles S. Hamblin and William P. G. Harding, members of the Federal Reserve Board, went to New York early in August, 1914, where they discussed relief measures with a group of leading bankers at what was regarded as the most momentous conference of the kind held in the country in recent years. The New York Clearing House Committee, on August 2d, called a meeting of the Clearing House Association, to arrange for tJie immediate issuance of clearing house certificates. Among tiiose at iiie conference were J. P. Morgan and his partner, Henry P. Davison; Frank A. Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank, and A. Barton Hepburn, chakman of the Chase National Bank. CHAPTER III Why the World Went to War WHILE it is true that the war was conceived in Berlin, it is none the less true that it was bom in the Balkans. It is necessary in order that we may view with correct perspective the background of the World War, that we gain some notion of the Balkan States and the compUcations entering into their relations. These countries have been the adopted children of the great European powers dining generations of rulers. Russia assumed guardianship of the nations having a pre- ponderance of Slavic blood; Roumania with its Latin consan- guinities was close to France and Italy; Bulgaria, Greece, and Balkan Turkey were debatable regions wherein the diplomats of the rival nations secured temporary victories by devious methods. The Balkans have fierce hatreds and have been the site of sudden historic wars. At the time of the declaration of the World War, the Balkan nations were living under the provisions of the Treaty of Bucharest, dated August 10, 1913. Greece, Roumania, Bulgaria) Serbia and Montenegro were signers, and Turkey acqtuesced in its provisions. The assassination at Sarajevo had sent a convulsive shudder throughout the Balkans. The reason lay in the century-old antagonism between the Slav and the Teuton. Serbia^ Montenegro and Russia had never forgiven Austria for seizing Bosnia and Herzegovina and making these Slavic people subjects of the Austrian crown. Bxxlgaria, Rotunania and Turkey remained cold at the news of the assassination. German diplomacy was in the ascendant at these courts and the prospect of war with Germany as their great ally presented no terrors for them. The sympathies of the people of Greece were with Serbia, but the Grecian Court, because the Queen of Greece was the only sister of the German Kaiser, was whole heartedly with Austria. Perhaps at the first the Roumanians were most nearly neutral. They believed strongly that each of the small nations of the Balkan region as well as all 44 WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 45 of the small nations that had been absorbed but had not been digested by Austria, should cut itself from the leading strings held by the large European powers. There was a distinct undercurrent for a federation resembling that of the United States of America (E0SSIA Fbovisions ov tsb Tbeatt of Bucbabest, 1913 between these peoples. This was expressed most clearly by M. Jonesco, leader of the Liberal party of Roumania and generally recognized as the ablest statesman of middle Europe. He declared: "I always believed, and still believe, that the Balkan States 46 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR cannot secure their future otherwise than by a close understanding among themselves, whether this imderstanding shall or shall not take the form of a federation. No one of the Balkan States is strong enough to resist the pressure from one or another of the European powers. "For this reason I am deeply grieved to see in the Balkan coalition of 1912 Roimiania not invited. If Roumania had taken part in the first one, we should not have had the second. I did all that was in my power and succeeded ia preventing the war between Roumania and the Balkan League in the winter of 1912-13. "I risked my popularity, and I do not feel sorry for it. I employed all my efforts to prevent the second Balkan war, which, as is well known, was profitable to us. I repeatedly told the Bul- garians that they ought not to enter it because in that case we would enter it too. But I was not successful in my efforts. "During the second Balkan war I did aU in my power to end it as quickly as possible. At the conference at Bucharest I made efforts, as Mr. Pashich and Mr. Venizelos know very well, to secure for beaten Bulgaria the best terms. My object was to obtain a new coalition of all the Balkan States, including Roumania. Had I succeeded in this the situation would be much better. No rea- sonable man will deny that the Balkan States are neutralizing each other at the present time, which in itself makes the whole situation all the more miserable. "In October, 1913, when I succeeded in facilitating the con- clusion of peace between Greece and Turkey, I was pursuing the same object of the Balkan coalition. On my retiun from Athens I endeavored, though without success, to put the Greco-Turkish relations on a basis of friendship, being convinced that the well- understood interest of both coimtries lies not only in friendly rdations, but even in an alliance between them. "The dissensions that exist between the Balkan States can be settled in a friendly way without war. The best moment for this would be after the general war, when the map of Europe will be remade. The Balkan country which would start war against another Balkan country would commit, not only a crime against her own future, but an act of folly as well. "The destiny and future of the Balkan States, and of all the small European peoples as well, will not be regulated by fratricidal WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 47 wars, but, with this great European struggle, the real object of which is to settle the question whether Europe shall enter an era of justice, and therefore happiness for the small peoples, or whether we will face a period of oppression more or less gilt-edged. And as I always beUeved that wisdom and truth will triumph in the end, I want to believe, too, that, in spite of the pessimistic news reaching me from the different sides of the Balkan countries, there will be no war among them in order to justify those who do not believe in the vitaUty of the small peoples." The conference at Rome, April 10, 1918, to settle outstanding questions between the ItaUans and the Slavs of the Adriatic, drew attention to those Slavonic peoples in Europe who were imder non- Slavonic rule. At the beginning of the war there were three great Slavonic groups in Europe: First, the Russians with the Little Russians, speaking languages not more different than the dialect of Yorkshire is from the dialect of Devonshire; second, a central group, including the Poles, the Czechs or Bohemians, the Mora- vians, and Slovaks, this group thus being separated imder the foiu; crowns of Russia, Germany, Austria and Hungary; the third, the southern group, iacluded the Sclavonians, the CroatianSj the Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, the Slavs, generally called Slovenes, in the western part of Austria, down to Goritzia, and also the two independent kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia. Like the central group, this southern group of Slavs was divided under four crowns, Hungary, Austria, Montenegro, and Serbia; but, in spite of the fact that half belong to the Western and half to the Eastern Church, they are all essentially the same people, though with considerable infusion of non-Slavonic blood, there being a good deal of Turkish blood in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The languages, however, are practically identical, formed largely of pure Slavonic materials, and, curiously, much more closely con- nected with the eastern Slav group — ^Russia and Little Russia — than with the central group, Polish and Bohemian. A Russian of Moscow will find it much easier to imderstand a Slovene from Goritzia than a Pole from Warsaw. The Ruthenians, in southern Galicia and Bukowina, are identical ia race and speech with the Little Russians of Ukrainia. Of the central group, the Poles have generally inclined to Austria, which has always supported the Polish landlords of Galicia 48 mSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR against the Ruthenian peasantry; while the Czechs have been not so much anti-Austrian as anti-German. Indeed, the Hapsburg rulers have again and again played these Slavs off against their German subjects. It was the Southern Slav question as affecting Serbia and Austria, that gave the pretext for the present war. The central Slav question affecting the destiny of the Poles^— was a bone of contention between Austria and Germany. It is the custom to call the Southern Slavs "Jugoslavs" from the Slav word Yugo, "south," but' as this is a, concession to;. German transUteration, The Mestuhb of Races in South Central EtmoPB' many prefer to write the word "Yugoslav," which represents its pronunciation. The South Slav question was created by the incursions of three Asiatic peoples — Hirns, Magyars, Turks — ^who broke up the originally continuous Slav territory that ran from the White Sea to the confines of Greece and the Adriatic. ' This was the complex of nationalities, the ferment of races existing in 1914. Out of the hatreds engendered by the domination over the liberty-loving Slavic peoples by an arrogant Teutonic minority grew the assassinations at Sarajevo. These crimes were WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR 51 the expression of hatred not for the heir apparent of Austria but for the Hapsburg and their Germanic associates. By a twist of the wheel of fate, the same Slavic peoples whose determination to rid themselves of the Teutonic yoke, started the war, also bore rather more than their share in the swift-moving events that decided and closed the war. " 7-_L Russia, the dying giant among the great nations, championed the Slavic peoples at the beguming of the war. It entered the conflict in aid of little Serbia, but at the end Russia bowed to Germany ia the infamous peace treaty at Brest-Iitovsk. There- after during the last months of the war Russia was virtually an ally of its ancient enemy, Turkey, the "Sick Man of Europe," and the central German empires. With these allies the Bolshevik government of Russia attempted to head off the Czecho-Slovak regiments that had been captured by Russia dxuiig its drive into Austria and had been imprisoned in Siberia. After the peace con- summated at Brest-Litovsk, these regiments determined to fight on the side of the Allies and endeavored to make their way to the western front. No war problems were more difficult than those of the Czecho- slovaks. Few have been handled so masterfully. Surrounded by powerful enemies which for centuries have been bent on destroying every trace of Slavic culture, they had learned how to defend them- selves against every trick or scheme of the brutal Germans. The Czecho-Slovak plan in Russia was of great value to the Alhes all over the world, and was put at their service by Professor Thomas G. Masaryk. He went to Russia when everything was adrift and got hold of Bohemian prisoners here and there and organized them into a compact little army of 50,000 to 60,000 men. Equipped and fed, he moved them to whatever point had most power to thoroughly disrupt the German plans. They did much to check the German army for months. They resolutely refused to take any part in Russian political affairs, and when it seemed no longer possible to work effectively in Russia, this remarkable httle band started on a journey all round the world to get to the western front. They loyally gave up most of their arms under agreement with Lenine and Trotzky^that they might peacefully proceed out of Russia via Vladivostok. While they were carrying out their part of the agreement, and 52 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR well on the way, tBey were surprised by telegrams from Lenine and Trotzky to the Soviets in Siberia ordering them to take away their arms and intern them. The story of what occm-red then was told by two Anaerican engineers, Emerson and Hawkins, who, on the way to Ambassador Francis, and not being able to reach Vologda, joined a band of fom* or five thousand. The engineers were with them three months^ while they were making it safe along the lines of the railroad for the rest of the Czecho-Slovaks to get out, and incidentally for Siberians to resume peaceful occupations. They were also supported by old railway organizations which had stuck bravely to them with- out wages and which every little while were "shot up" by the Bolsheviki. Distress in Russia would have been much more intense had it not been for the loyalty of the railway men in sticking to their tasks. Some American engineers at Irkutsk, on a peaceful journey out of Russia, on descending from the cars were met with a demand to surrender, and shots from machine guns. Some, fortimately, had kept hand grenades, and with these and a few rifles went straight at the machine guns. Although outnumbered, the attackers took the gims and soon afterward took the town. The Czecho- slovaks, in the beginning almost unarmed^ went against great odds and won for themselves the right to be considered a nation. Seeing the treachery of Lenine and Trotzky, they went back toward the west and made things secm-e for their men left behind. They took town after town with the arms they first took away from the Bolsheviki and Germans; but in every town they immediately set up a government, with all the elements of normal life. They established police and sanitary systems, opened hospitals, and had roads repaired, leaving a handful of men in the midst of enemies to carry on the plans of their leaders. American engineers speaking of the cleanliness of the Czecho-Slovak army, said that they lived like Spartans. '\ The whole story is a remarkable evidence of the struggle of these little people for self-government. The emergence of the Czecho-Slovak nation has been one of the most remarkable and noteworthy features of the war. Out of the confusion of the situation, with the possibility of the resuirectbn of oppressed peoples, something of the dignity of old Bohemia was WHYiTHE WORLD WENT TO WAR 53 comprehended, and it was recognized that the Czechs were to be rescued from Austria and the Slovaks from Hungary^ and united in one country with entire independence- This was undoubtedly due, in large measure, to the activities of Professor Masaryk, the presi- dent of the National Executive Council of the Czecho-Slovaks. His four-year exile in the United States had the establishment of tiie new nation as its fruit. Professor Masaxyk called attention to the fact that there is a peculiar discrepancy between the nimiber of states in Europe and ihe number of nationalities — ^twenty-seven states to seventy nationalities. He explained, also, that almost all the states are mixed, from the point of nationality. From the west of Europe to tiie east, tiiis is foimd to be true, and the farther east one goes the more mixed do the states become. Austria is the most mixed of all the states. ;, There is no Austrian language, but there are nine l^iguages, and dx smaller nations or remnants of nations. In all of Gramany there are eight nationalities besides the Germans, who have been independent, and who have their own literature. Turkey is an anomaly, a combination of various nations overthrown and k^t down. J' Since the dghteenth century there has been a continuing strong movem^it from each nation to have its own state. Because of the mixed peoples, there is much confusion. There are Rouma- nians in Austria, but there is a kingdom of Roumania. There are Southern Slavs, but there are also Serbia and Montenegro. It is natural that the Southern Slavs should want to be united as one state. So it is with Italy. There was no justice in Poland being separated in three parts to serve the dynasties of Prussia, Russia and Austria. The Czecho- ^fcrvaks c£ Austria, and Hungary claimed a imion The national urdon consists in an aideavcar to make the suppressed nations free, to unite tiiem in their own states> and to readjust the slates that exist; to force Austria and Prussia to ^ve up the states that should be free. In the future, said Doctor Masaryk, there are to be sharp ethnological boimdaries. The Czecho-Slovaks will guarantee the minorities absolute equality, but they will keep the German part of their country, because there are many Bohemians in it, and they do not trust the Germans. CHAPTER IV The Plotter Behind the Scenes ONE factor alone caused the great war. It waa not the I assassination at Sarajevo, not the Slavic ferment of anti-Teutonism in Austria and the Balkans. The only cause of the world's greatest war was the determination of the German High Command and the powerful circle smrounding it that "Der Tag" had arrived. The assassination at Sarajevo was only the peg for the pendant of war. Another peg would have been found inevitably had not the projection of that assas- sination presented itself as the excuse. Germany's military machine was ready. "A gray-green uniform that at a distance would fade into misty obscurity had been devised after exhaustive experiments by optical, dye and cloth experts co-operating with the military high conamand. These uniforms had been standardized and fitted for the millions of men enrolled in Germany's regular and reserve armies. Rifles, great pyramids of munitions, field kitchens, traveling post-offices, motor lorries, a network of mihtary railways leading to the French and Belgian border, all these and more had been made ready. German soldiers had received instructions which enabled each man at a signal to go to an appointed place where he found everything in readiness for his long forced marches into the territory of Germany's neighbors. More than all this, Germany's spy system, the most elaborate and unscrupulous in the history of mankind, had enabled the Ger- man High Command to construct in advance of the declaration of war concrete gun emplacements in Belgium and other invaded territory. The cellars of dwellings and shops rented or owned by German spies were camouflaged concrete foundations for the great guns of Austria and Germany. These emplacements were in exactly the right position for use against the fortresses of Ger- many's foes. Advertisements and shop-signs were used by spies as guides for the marching German armies of invasion. In brief, Germany bad planned for war. She was approxi- 54 © Press Illuatrating Service, KAISER WILLIAM II OF GERMANY Posterity will regard him as more responsible than any other human being for the Bacrifice of millions of lives in the great war, as a ruler who might have been beneficent and wise, but attempted to destroy the liberties of mankind and to raise on their ruins an odious despotism. To forgive him and to forget bis terrible transgresBiona would be to condone them , ■a ^a o 2 o .3 CO a Cl ^ a) I3 Izi ^ 1 3 o ■7; in yj < o § o c a o o CU a) 3 w O" H ra f^-: < c ^ ^ s ,E-i 73 1 W q; c S ■+J V ^ -s ^ -2 6 ■*=> K bb H "q; t-f w CO -1-3 s t> -0 rr, .• w OJ ffi S^ CO 1^ O 1 .1 1 sffi 73 a ^ ^^^ S3 ~ ^ pi ; (K O •1 ^ >• ~ 7. X ^ i 1 1 @ ■3 te .H a a K THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 57 mately ready for it. Under the shelter of such high-sounding phrases as "We demand our place in the sun," and "The seas must be free," the Gemian people were educated into the belief that the hour of Germany's destiny was at hand. ( * Gekmant's Possessions in Afkica Pbiob to 1914 /^German psychologists, like other German scientists, had co-operated with the imperial militaristic government for many years to bring the Germanic mind into a condition of docility. So well did they understand the mentality and the trends of character of the German people that it was comparatively easy to impose upon them a nailitaristic system and philosophy by which the individual yielded countless personal liberties for the alleged good of the state. Rigorous and compulsory military service, unquestioning adherence to the doctrine that might makes right 58 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR and a cession to "the All-Highest," as the Emperor was styled, of supreme powers in the state, are some of the sufferances to which the German people submitted. German propaganda abroad was quite as vigorous as at home, but infinitely less successful. The German High Command did not expect England to enter the war. It counted upon America's neutraUty with a leaning toward Germany. It believed that German colonization in South Africa and South America would incline these vast domains toward friendship for the Central empires. How mistaken the propagandists and psychologists were events have demonstrated. It was this dream of world-domination by Teutonic kultur that supplied the motive leading to the world's greatest war. Bosnia, an unwilling province of Austria-Hungary, at one time a province of Serbia and overwhelmingly Slavic in its population, had been seething for years with an anti-Teutonic ferment. The Teutonic comt at Vienna, leading the minority Germanic party in Austria-Himgary, had been endeavoring to allay the agitation among the Bosnian Slavs. In pursuance of that policy, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir-presumptive to the thrones of Austria and Hungary, and his morganatic wife, Sophia Chotek> Duchess of Hohenberg, on June 28, 1914, visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. On the morning of that day, while they were being driven through the narrow streets of the ancient town, a bomb was thrown at them, but they were iminjured. They were driven through the streets again in the afternoon, for purpose of public display. A student, just out of his 'teens, one Gavrilo Prinzep, attacked the royal party with a magazine pistol and killed both the Archduke and his wife. Here was the excuse for which Germany had waited. Here was the dawn of "The Day." The Germanic court of Austria asserted that the crime was the result of a conspiracy, leading directly to the Slavic court of Serbia. The Serbians in their turn declared that they knew nothing of the assassination. They pointed out the fact that Sophia Chotek was a Slav, and that Francis Ferdinand was more liberal than any other member of the Austrian royal household, and finally, that he, more than any other member of the Austrian court, understood and respected the Slavie character and aspirations. V THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES <>» At six o'clock on the evening of July 23d, Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia, presenting eleven demands and stipulating that categorical replies must be delivered before six o'clock on the evening of July 25th. Although the language in which the ulti- matum was couched was humiliating to Serbia, the answer was duly delivered within the stipulated time. The demands of the Austrian note in brief were as follows: 1. The Serbian Government to give formal assurance of its con- demnation of Serb propaganda against Austria. 2. The next issue of the Serbian "Official Journal" was to contain a declaration to that effect. 3. This declaration to express regret that Serbian officers had taken part in the propaganda. 4. The Serbian Government to promise that it would proceed rigor- ously against all guilty of such activity. 5. This declaration to be at once commimicated by the King of Serbia to his army, and to be published in the official bulletin as an order of the day. 6. All anti-Austrian publications in Serbia to be suppressed. 7. The Serbian political party known as the "National Union" to be suppressed, and its means of propaganda to be confiscated. 8. All anti-Austrian teaching ia the schools of Serbia to be suppressed. 9. All officers, civil and mihtary, who might be designated by Austria as guilty of anti-Austrian propaganda to be dismissed by the Serbian Government. 10. Austrian agents to co-operate with the Serbian Government in suppressing all anti-Austrian propaganda, and to take part in the judicial proceedings conducted in Serbia against those charged with complicity in the crime at Sarajevo. 11. Serbia to explain to Austria the meaning of anti-Austrian utter- ances of Serbian officials at home and abroad, since the assassination. To the first and second demands Serbia unhesitatingly assented. To the third demand, Serbia assented, although no evidence was given to show that Serbian officers had taken part in the propaganda. The Serbian Government assented to the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth demands also. Extraordinary as was the ninth demand, which would allow the Austrian Government to proscribe Serbian officials, so eager for peace and friendship was the Serbian Government that it 60 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR assented to it, with the stipulation that the Austrian Government should offer some proof of the guilt of the proscribed oflficers. The tenth demand, which in effect allowed Austrian agents to control the poUce and courts of Serbia, it was not possible for Serbia to accept without abrogating her sovereignty. However, it was not unconditionally rejected, but the Serbian Government asked that it be made the subject of further discussion, or be referred to arbitration. The Serbian Government assented to the eleventh demand, on the condition that if the explanations which would be given concerning the alleged anti-Austrian utterances of Serbian officials would not prove satisfactory to the Austrian Government, the matter should be submitted to mediation or arbitration. Behind the threat conveyed in the Austrian ultimatum was the menacing figure of mihtant Germany. The veil that had hitherto concealed the hands that worked the string, was removed when Germany, under the pretense of localizing the quarrel to Serbian and Austrian soil, interrogated France and England, asking them to prevent Russia from defending Serbia in the event of an attack by Austria upon the Serbs. England and France promptly refused to participate in a tragedy which would deliver Serbia to Austria as Bosnia had been deUvered. Russia, bound by race and creed to Serbia, read into the ultimatum of Teutonic kultur a determination for warfare. Mobilization of the Russian forces along the Austrian frontier was arranged, when it was seen that Serbia's pacific reply to Austria's demands would be con- temptuously disregarded by Germany and Austria. During the days that intervened between the issuance of the ultimatum and the actual declaration of war by Germany against Russia on Saturday, August 1st, various sincere efforts were made to stave off the world-shaking catastrophe. Arranged chronologic- ally, these events may thus be summarized: Russia, on July 24th, formally asked Austria if she intended to annex Serbian territory by way of reprisal for the assassination at Sarajevo. On the same day Austria replied that it had no present intention to make such annexation. Russia then requested an extension of the forty- e ght-hour time-limit named in the ultimatum. Austria, on the morning of Saturday, July 25th, refused Russia's request for an extension of the period named in the ultimatum. THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 61 On the same day, the newspapers published in Petrograd printed an official note issued by the Russian Government warning Eiu-ope generally that Hussia would not remain indifferent to the fate of Serbia. These newspapers also printed the appeal of the Serbian Crown Prince to the Czar dated on the preceding day, urpng that Russia come to the rescue of the menaced Serbs. Serbia's peaceful reply surrendering on aU points except one, and agreeing to submit that to arbitration, was sent late in the afternoon of the same day, and that night Austria declared the reply to be unsatisfactory and withdrew its minister from Belgrade. England commenced its attempts at pacification on the follow- ing day, Sunday, July 26th. ^ Sir Edward Grey spent the entire Sabbath in the Foreign Office and personally conducted the corre- spondence that was calculated to bring the dispute to a peaceful conclusion. He did not reckon, however, with a Germany deter- mined upon war, a Germany whose manufacturers, ship-owners and Junkers had combined with its naihtarists to achieve "Germany's place in the sim" even though the world would be stained in the blood of the most frightful war this earth has ever known. Realization of this fact did not come to Sir Edward Grey until his negotiations with Germany and with Austria-Hungary, had proceeded for some time. His first suggestion was that the dispute between Russia and Austria be committed to the arbitration of Great Britain, France> Italy and Germany. Russia accepted this but Germany and Austria rejected it. Russia had previously suggested that the dispute be settled by a conference between the! diplomatic heads at Vienna and Petrograd. _ This also was refused by Austria. Sir Edward Grey renewed his efforts on Monday> July 27th7 with an invitation to Germany to present suggestions of its own, looking toward a settlement. This note was never answered. Germany took the position that its proposition to compel Russia' to stand aside while Austria punished Serbia had been rejected by England and Prance and it had nothing further to propose. #1*^1 During all this period of negotiation the German Foreign Office, to all outward appearances at least, had been acting inde- pendently of the Kaiser, who was in Norway on a vacation trip. He returned to Potsdam on the night of Stmday, July 36th. On Monday morning the Czar of Russia received a personal message. 6£ HISTORY. OF THE WORLD , WAR from the Kaiser, urging Russia to stand aside that Serbia might be punished. The Czar immediately replied with the suggestion that the whole matter be submitted to The Hague. No reply ofany kind was ever made to this proposal by Germany. ' All suggestions and negotiations looking forward to peace were brought to a tragic end on the following day, Tuesday, July The Gbbman Confederation in 1815 28th, when Austria declared war on Serbia, having speedily mobilized troops at strategic points on the Serbian border. Russian mobiliza- tion, which had been proceeding only in a tentative way, on the Austrian border, now became general, and on July 30th, mobilization of the entire Russian army was proclaimed. Germany's effort to exclude England from the war began on Thursday, July 29th. A note, sounduig Sir Edward Grey on the THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 63 question of British neutrality in the event of war was received, and a curt refusal to commit the British Empire to such a proposal was the reply. Sir Edward Grey, in a last determined effort to avoid a world-war, suggested to Germany, Austria, Serbia and Russia that the military operations commenced by Austria should be recognized as merely a punitive expedition. He fxuiiher sug- gested that when a point in Serbian territory previously fixed upon should have been reached, Austria would halt and would submit her further action to arbitration ia the conference of the Powers. Russia and Serbia agreed unreservedly to this proposition. Austria gave a half-hearted assent to the principle involved. Germany made no reply. The die was cast for war on the following day, July 31st, when Germany made a dictatorial and arrogant demand upon Russia that mobilization of that nation's military forces be stopped within twelve hours. Russia made no reply, and on Satiu:day, August 1st, Germany set the world aflame with the dread of war's horror by her declaration of war upon Russia. Gennany's responsibility for this monimiental crime against the peace of the world is eternally fixed upon her, not only by these outward and visible acts and negotiations, not only by her years of patient preparation for the war into which she plunged the world. The responsibiUty is fastened upon her forever by the revelations of her own ambassador to England during this fateful period. Prince Lichnowsky, in a remarkable communication which was given to the world, laid bare the machinations of the German High Command and its advisers. He was a guest of the Kaiser at Kiel on board the Imperial yacht Meteor when the message was received informing the Kaiser of the assassination at Sarajevo. His story continues: Being unacquainted with the Vienna Tiewpoint and what was going on there, I attached no very far-reaching significance to the event; but, looking back, I could feel sure that in the Austrian aristocracy a feeling of relief outweighed all others. His Majesty regretted that his efforts to win over the T^chduke to his ideas had thus been frustrated by the Archduke's assassination. . . . I went on to Berlin and saw the Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg. I told Him that I regarded our foreign situation as very satisfactory as it was a long time indeed since we had stood so well with England. And in France there was a pacifist cabinet. Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg did 64 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR not seem to share my optimism. He complained of the Hussian arma- ments. I tried to tranquilize him with the argmnent that it was not to Russia's interest to attack us, and that such an attack would never have English or French support, as both countries wanted peace. I went from him to Dr. ^immermann (the under Secretary) who was acting for Herr von Jagow (the Foreign Secretary), and learned from him that Russia was about to call up nine hundred thousand new troops. His words immistakably denoted ill-humor against Russia, who, he said, stood eyerywhere in our way. i In addition, there were questions of com- mercial policy that had to be settled. That General von Moltke was urging war was, of course, not told to me. I learned, however, that Herr von Tschirschlqr (the German Ambassador in Vienna) had been reproved because he said that he had advised Vienna to show moderation toward Serbia. Prince Liehnowsky went to his summer home in Silesia, quite unaware of the impending crisis. He continues: When I returned from Silesia on my way to London, I stopped only a few hours in Berlin, where I heard that Austria intended to proceed against Serbia so as to bring to an end an imbearable state of affairs. Unfortunately, I failed at the moment to gauge the significance of the news. I thought that once more it wotild come to nothing; that even if Russia acted threateningly, the matter could soon be settled. I now regret that I did not stay in Berlin and declare there and then that I would have no hand in such a policy. There was a meeting in Potsdam^ as early as July 5th, between the German and Austrian authorities, at which meeting war was decided on. Prince Liehnowsky says: I learned afterwards that at the decisive discussion at Potsdam on July 5th the Austrian demand had met with the imconditional approval of all the personages in authority; it was even added that no harm would be done if war with Russia did come out of it. It was so stated at least in the Aiistrian report received at London by Coimt Mensdorff (the Austrian Ambassador to England). At this poiut I received instructions to endeavor to bring the English press to a friendly attitude in case Austria should deal the death-blow to "Greater-Serbian" hopes. " I was to use all my influence to prevent public opinion in'England from taking a stand against Austria. I remem- bered England's attitude dimng the Bosnian annexation crisis, when public opinion showed itself in sympathy with the Serbian claims to Bos- nia; I recalled also the benevolent promotion of nationalist hopes that went on in the days of Lord Byron and Garibaldi; and on these and other grounds I thought it extremely imlikely that English pubUc opinion would support a pimitive expedition against the Archduke's miu-derers. I thus felt it my duty to enter an urgent warning against the whole project, THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 67 which I characterized as venturesome and dangerous, I recommended that coimsels of moderation be given Austria, as 1 did not believe that the conflict could be localized (that is to say, it could not be limited to a war between Austria and Serbia). Herr von Jagow answered me that Russia was not prepared; that there would be more or less of a rumpus; but that the more firmly we stood by Austria, the more surely would Russia give way. Austria was already blaming us for flabbiness and we could not flinch. On the other hand, Russian sentiment was growing more unfriendly all the time, and we must simply take the risk. I subsequently learned that this attitude was based on advices from Cotmt Pourtales (the German Ambassador in Petrograd), that Russia would not stir under any circumstances; informa- tion which prompted us to spur Coimt Berchtold on in his course. On learning the attitude of the German Government I looked for salvation through English mediation, knowing that Sir Edward Grey's influence in Petrograd could be used in the cause of peace. I, therefore, availed my- self of my friendly relations with the Minister to ask him confidentially to advise moderation in Russia in case Austria demanded satisfaction from the Serbians, as it seemed hkely she would. The English press was quiet at first, and friendly to Austria, the assassination being generally condemned. By degrees, however, more and more voices made themselves heard, in the sense that, however necessary it might be to take cognizance of the crime, any exploitation of it for political ends was imjustifiable. Moderation was enjoined upon Austria. When the ultimatimi came out, all the papers, with the exception of the Standard, were imanimous in condemning it. The whole world, outside of Berlin and Vienna, realized that it meant war, and a world war too. The English fleet, which happened to^have been holding a naval review, was not demobilized./ I The British Government labored to make the Serbian reply conciliatory, and "the Serbian answer was in keeping with the British efforts." Sir Edward Grey then proposed his plan of mediation upon the two points which Serbia had not wholly con- ceded.^ Prince lichnowsky writes: / M. Cambon (for France), Marquis Imperiali (for Italy), and I were to meet, with Sir Edward in the chair, and it would have been easy to work out a formula for the debated points, which had to do with the co-operation of imperial and royal officials in the inquiries to be con- ducted at Belgrade. By the exercise of good will everything could have been settled in one or two sittings, and the mere acceptance of the British proposal would have relieved the strain and further improved our rela^ tions with England. I seconded this plan with all my energies. In vain. I was told (by Berlin) that it would be against the dignity of Austria. Of course, ail that was needed was one hint from Berlin to Count Berch- 68 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR told (the Austrian Foreign Minister); he would have satisfied himself with a diplomatic triumph and rested on the Serbian answer. That hint was never given. On the contrary, pressure was brought in favor of war. ... After our refusal Sir Edward asked us to come forward with our proposal. We insisted on war. No other answer could I get (from Berlin) than that it was a colossal condescension on the part of Austria not to contemplate any acquisition of territory. Sir Edward justly pointed out that one could reduce a country to vassalage without acquiring terri- tory; that Russia would see this, and regard it as a humiliation not to be put up with. The impression grew stronger and stronger that we were bent on war. Otherwise our attitude toward a question in which we were not directly concerned was incomprehensible. The insistent requests and well-defined declarations of M.Sasanof, the Czar's positively humble telegrams, Sir Edward's repeated proposals, the warnings of Marquis San Guiliano and of Bollati, my own pressing admonitions were all of no avail. B^Un remained inflexible — Serbia must be slaughtered. Then, on the 29th, Sir Edward decided upon his well-known warn- ing. I told him I had always reported (to Berlin) that we should have to reckon with English opposition if it came to a war with France. Time and again the Minister said to me, "If war breaks out it will be the great- est catastrophe the world has ever seen." And now events moved rapidly. Count Berchtold at last decided to come around, having up to that point played the r61e of "Strong man" imder guidance of Berlin. Thereupon we (in answer to Russia's mobilization) sent our ultimatiun and declara- tion of war — after Russia had spent a whole week in fruitless negotiation and waiting. C Thus ended my mission in London. It had suffered shipwreck, not on the wiles of the Briton but on the wiles of our own policy. Wwe not those right who saw that the German people was pervaded with the spirit of Treitechke and Bemhardi, which glorifies war as an end instead of holding it in abhorrence as an evil thing? Properly speaking militarism is a sdiool for the people and an instrument to further political ends. But in the patriarchal absolutism of a military monarchy, militarism exploits politics to further its own ends, and can create a situation which a democ- racy freed from junkerdom would not tolerate. I That is what our enemies think; ttiat is what they are bound to think when tiiey see that in spite of capitalistic industrialism, and in spite of Booiaillstic oigai^^tHms, the living-, as Nietzsche said, are still ruled by the dead. The democratization of Germany, the fiirst war tim pro- posed by oiu: enemies, will become a reahty. ' This is the frank statement of a great German statesman made long before Germany received its knock-out blow. It was written when Germany was sweepmg all before it on land, and when the ^U-boat was at the height of its murderous powers on the high seas. THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 69 No one in nor out of Germany has controverted any of its statements and it will forever remain as one of the counts in the indictmert ag ains t Germany and the sole cause of the world's greatest mig'.ry, the war. . . America's outstanding authority on matters of iutemational conduct, former Secretary of State Elihu Root declared that the World War was a mighty and all-embracing struggle between two conflicting principles of humar right and human duty; it was a conflict between the divine righl f kings to govern mankind through armies and nobles, and the right f the peoples of the earth who toil and endure and aspire to gover. \ themselves by law imder justice, and in the freedom of individual manhood. After the declaration of war against Russia by Germany, events marched rapidly and inevitably toward the general con- flagration. Germany's most strenuous efforts were directed toward keeping England out of the conflict. We have seen in the revelations of Prince Lichnowsky how eager was England to divert Germany's murderous purpose. There are some details, however, required to fill in the diplomatic picture. President Poincar^, of the French Republic, on July 30th, asked the British Ambassador in Paris for an assurance of British support. On the following day he addressed a similar letter to King George of England. Both requests were qualifiedly refused on the ground that England wished to be free to continue negotia- tions with Gecmany for the purpose of averting the war. In the meantime, the German Government addressed a note to England offering guarantees for Belgian integrity, providing Belgium did not side with France, offering to respect the neutrality of Holland and giving assurance that no French territory in Europe woxild be annexed if Germay won the war. Sir Edward Grey described this as a "shameful proposal, " and rejected it on July 30th. On July 31st England sent a note to France and Germany asking for a statement of pmpose concerning Belgian neutrality.' France immediately announced that it would respect the treaty: ctf 1839 and its reaffirmation in 1870, guaranteeing Belgiima's neutrality. This treaty was entered into by Germany, England, France, Ausiaia and Russia. Germany's reply on August 1st was a proposal that she would respect the neutrality of Belgium if England would stay out of the war. This was promptly declined. 70 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR On August 2d the British cabinet agreed that if the Gennan fleet nttempted to attack the coast of France the British fleet would in;ervene. Germany, the next day, sent anote agreeing to refrain from naval attacks on France provided England would remain neutral, but declined to conunit herself as to the neutrality of Belgium. Before this, however, on 'August 2d, Germany had announced to Belgium its intention to enter Belgium for the purpose of attacking France, a The, Belgian Minister in London made an appeal to the British Foreign Offic and was informed that invasion of Belgium by Germany would be ' Jlowed by England's declaration of war. Monday, August 3d, was signalized by Belgium's dec- laration of its neutrality and its firm purpose to defend its soil against invasion by France, England, Germany or any other nation. The actual invasion of Belgium commenced on the morning of August 4th, when twelve regiments of Uhlans crossed the frontier near Vise, and came in contact with a Belgian force driving it back upon Li^ge. % King Albert of Belgium promptly appealed to England, Russia and France for aid in repelling the invader. England sent an ultimatum to Germany fixing midnight of August 4th as the time for expiration of the ultimatmn. This demanded that satis- factory assurances be furnished immediately that Germany would respect the neutrality of Belgiiun. No reply was made by Germany and England's declaration of war followed. Chancellor von Bethmann-HoUweg, of the German Empire, wrote Germany's infamy into history when, in a formal statement, he acknowledged that the invasion of Belgium was "a wrong that we wiU try to make good again as soon as our military ends have been reached." To Sir Edward Vochen, British Ambassador to Germany, he addressed the inquiry: "Is it the purpose of your country to make war upon Germany for the sake of a scrap of paper?" The treaty of 1839-1870 guaranteeing Belgimn's neutrality was the scrap of paper. With the entrance of England into the war, the issue between autocracy and democracy was made plain before the people of the world. Austria j and later Tm-key, joined with Germany; France, and Japan, by reason of their respective treaty obligations joined England and Russia. Italy for the time preferred to remain neu- tral, ignoring her implied alliance with the Teutonic empires. How other nations lined up on the one side and the other is indicated THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES 73 by the State Department's list of war declarations, and diplomatic severances, which follows: Austria against Belgium, Aug. 28, 1914. Austria against Japan, Aug, 27, 1914. Austria against Montenegro, Aug. 9, 1914. Austria against Russia, Aug. 6, 1914. Austria against Serbia, July 28, 1914. Belgium against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914. Brazil against Germany, Oct. 26, 1917. Bulgaria against Serbia, Oct. 14, 1915. China against Austria, Aug. 14, 1917. Chiua against Germany, Aug. 14, 1917. Costa Rica against Germany, May 23, 1918. Cuba against Germany, AprH 7, 1917. Cuba against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 16, 1917. France against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914. France against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915. France against Germany, Aug. 8, 1914. France against Turkey, jNov. 5, 1914. Germany against Belgium, Aug. 4, 1914. Germany against France, Aug. 3, 1914. Germany against Portugal, March 9, 1916. Germany against Roumania", Sept. 14, 1916. Germany against Russia, Aug. 1, 1914. Great Britain against Austria, Aug. 13, 1914, Great Britain against Bulgaria, Oct. 15, 1916. Great Britain against Germany, Aug. 4, 1914. Great Britain against Tiurkey, Nov. 5, 1914. Greece against Bulgaria, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.) Greece against Bulgaria, July % 1917. (Government of Alexander.) Greece against Germany, Nov. 28, 1916. (Provisional Government.) Greece against Germany, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) Guatemala against Germany and Austria-Hungary, April 22, 1918. Haiti against Germany, July 15, 1918. Hondinras against Germany, July 19, 1918. Italy against Austria, May 24, 1915. Italy against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915. Italy against Germany, Aug. 28, 1916. Italy against Turkey, Aug. 21, 1915. Japan against Germany, Aug. 23, 1914. Liberia against Germany, Aug. 4, 1917. Montenegro against Austria, Aug. 8, 1914. Montenegro against Germany, Aug. 9, 1914. Nicaragua against Germany, May 24, 1918. Panama against Germany, April 7, 1917. 74 HISTORY OF.^THE WORLD WAR Panama against Austria, Dec. 10, 1917. Portugal against Germany, Nov. 23, 1914. (Resolution passed authorizing military intervention as ally of England.) Portugal against Germany, May 19, 1915. (Military aid granted.) Roumania against Austria, Aug. 27, 1916. (Allies of Austria also consider it a declaration.) " Russia against Germany, Aug. 7, 1914. Russia against Bulgaria, Oct. 19, 1915. Russia against Turkey, Nov. 3, 1914. San Marino against Austria, May 24, 1915. Serbia against Bulgaria, Oct. 16, 1915. Serbia against Germany, Aug. 6, 1914. Serbia against Turkey, Dec. 2, 1914. Siam against Austria, July 22, 1917. Siam against Germany, July 22, 1917. Turkey against Allies, Nov. 23, 1914. Turkey against Roumania, Aug. 29, 1916. United States against Germany, April 6, 1917. United States against Austria-Hungary, Dec. 7, 1917. SEVERANCE OF DIPLOMATIC EELATIONS The Nations that formally severed relations whether afterward declaring war or not, are as follows: Austria against Japan, Aug. 26, 1914. Austria against Portugal, March 16, 1916. Austria against Serbia, July 26, 1914. Austria against United States, April 8, 1917. Bolivia against Germany, April 14, 1917. Brazil against Germany, April 11, 1917. China against Germany, March 14, 1917. Costa Rica against Germany, Sept. 21, 1917. Ecuador against Germany, Dec. 7, 1917. Egypt against Germany, Aug. 13, 1914. France against Austria, Aug. 10, 1914. Greece against Turkey, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) Greece against Austria, July 2, 1917. (Government of Alexander.) Guatemala against Germany, April 27, 1917. Haiti against Germany, June 17, 1917. Honduras against Germany, May 17, 1917. Nicaragua against Germany, May 18, 1917. Peru agaiast Germany, Oct. 6, 1917. Santo Domingo against Germany, June 8, 1917. Turkey against United States, April 20, 1917. ^ United States against Germany, Feb. 3, 1917. Uruguay against Germany, Oct. 7, 1917. CHAPTER V The Great War Begins YEARS before 1914, when Germany declared war against civilization, it was decided by the German General Staff to strike at France through Belgium. The records of the German Foreign Office prove that fact. The reason for this lay in the long line of powerful fortresses along the line that divides France from Germany and the sparsely spaced and com- paratively out-of-date forts on the border between Germany and Belgium. True, there was a treaty guaranteeing the inviolabiUty of Belgian territory to which Germany was a signatory party. Some of the clauses of that treaty were: Article 9. Belgium, within the limits traced in conformity with the principles laid down in the present preliminaries, shall form a perpetually neutral state. The five powers (England, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia), without wishing to intervene ia the internal affairs of Belgium, guarantee her that perpetual neutrality as well as the integrity and inviolability of her territory in the limits mentioned in the present article. Article 10. By just reciprocity Belgium shall be held to observe this same neutrality toward all the other states and to make no attack on their internal or external tranquillity whUe always preserving the right to defend herself against any foreign aggression. This agreement was followed on January 23, 1839, by a defini- tive treaty, accepted by Belgium and by the Netherlands, which treaty regulates Belgium's neutrality as follows: Article 7. Belgium, within the limits defined in Articles 1, 2 and 4, shall form an independent and perpetually neutral state. She is obUgated to preserve this neutrahty against all the other states. To convert this solemn covenant into a "scrap of paper" it was necessary that Germany should find an excuse for tearing it to pieces. There was absolutely no provocation in sight, but that did not deter the German High Command. That august body with no information whatever to afford an excuse, alleged in a formal note to the Belgian. Government that the French army Intended 76; 76 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR to invade Germany through Belgian territory. This hypocritical and mendacious note and Belgium's vigorous reply follow: Note handed in on August 2, 1914, at 7 o'clock p. M., by Herr von Below-Saleske, German Minister, to M. Davignon, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Brussels, 2d August, 1914. Imperial German Legation m Belgium (Highly confidential) The German Government has received reliable information according to which the French forces intend to march on the Meuse, by way of Givet and Namur. This information leaves no doubt as to the intention of France of marching on Germany through Belgian territory. The Impe- rial Government cannot avoid the fear that Belgium, in spite of its best will, wiU be in no position to repulse such a largely developed French march without aid. In this fact there is sufficient certainty of a threat directed against Germany. It is an imperative duty for the preservation of Germany to forestall this attack of the enemy. The German Government would feel keen regret if Belgium should regard as an act of hostihty against herseK the fact that the measures of the enemies of Germany obhge her on her part to violate Belgian territory. In order to dissipate any mistmderstanding the GennanGovemment declares as follows: 1. Germany does not contemplate any act of hostility against Bel- gium. If Belgium consents in the war about to commence to take up an attitude of friendly neutrality toward Germany, the German Government on its part undertakes, on the declaration of peace, to guarantee the kingdom and its possessions in their whole extent. 2. Germany imdertakes under the conditions laid down to evacuate Belgian territory as soon as peace is concluded. 3. If Belgium preserves a friendly attitude, Germany is prepared, in agreement with the authorities of the Belgian Govermnent, to buy against cash all that is required by her troops, and to give indemnity for the damages caused in Belgium. 4. If Belgium behaves in a hostile manner toward the German troops, and in particular raises difficulties against their advance by the opposi- tion of the fortffications of the Meuse, or by destroying roads, railways, tunnels, or other engineering works, Germany will be compelled to con- sider Belgium as an enemy. In this case Germany will take no engagements toward Belgium, but she will leave the later settlement of relations of the two states toward one another to the decision of arms. The German Government has a justified hope that this contingency will not arise and that the Belgian THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 77 Government will know how to take suitable measures to hinder its taking place. In this case the friendly relations which unite the two neighbor- ing states will become closer and more lasting. The Reply bt Belgium Note handed in by M. Davignon, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Herr von Below-Saleske, German Minister. Brussels, 3d August, 1914. (7 o'clock in the morning.) By the note of the 2d August, 1914, the German Government has made known that according to certain intelligence the French forces intend to march on the Meuse via Givet and Namur and that Belgium, in spite of her good-will, would not be able without help to beat off an advance of the French troops. The German Government felt it to be its duty to forestall this attack and to violate Belgian territory. Under these conditions Germany proposes to the King's Government to take up a friendly attitude, and undertakes at the moment of peace to guarantee the integrity of the king- dom and of her possessions in their whole extent. The note adds that if Belgium raises difficulties to the forward march of the German troops Germany will be compelled to consider her as an enemy and to leave the later settlement of the two states toward one another to the decision of arms. This note caxised profound and painful surprise to the King's Government. The intentions which it attributed to France are in contradiction with the express declarations which were made to us on the 1st of August, in the name of the government of the republic. Moreover, if, contrary to our expectation, a violation of Belgian neutrality were to be committed by France, Belgium would fulfil all her international duties and her army would offer the most vigorous opposition to the invader. The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870, establish the independence and the neutrality of Belgivmi under the guarantee of the powers, and particularly of the Government of his Majesty the King of Prussia. Belgium has always been faithful to her international obligations; she has fulfilled her duties in a spirit of loyal impartiahty; she has neglected no effort to maintain her neutrahty or to make it respected. . I The attempt against her independence with which the German Government threatens her would constitute a flagrant violation of international law. No strategic interest justifies the violation of that law. The Belgian Government would, by accepting the propositions which are notified to her, sacrifice the honor of the nation while at the san^e time betraying her duties toward Europe. 78 HISTORY J)F^THE^0ELD:,WAE Conscious of the part Belgium has played for more than eighty years in the civilization of the world, she refuses to believe that the independence of Belgium can be preserved only at the expense of the violation of her neutrahty. ^_ . . „ -. ^ If this hope were disappointed the Belgian Government has firmly resolved to repulse by every means in her power any attack upon her rights. The German attack upon Belgium and France came with terrible force and suddenness. Twenty-four army corps, divided into three armies clad in a specially designed and colored gray- green uniform, swept ia three mighty streams over the German borders with their objective the heart of France. The Army of the Meuse was given the route through Li^ge, Namur and Mau- beuge. The Army of the Moselle violated the Duchy of Luxem- burg, which, under a treaty guaranteeing its independence and neutrality, was not permitted to maintain an army. Germany was a signatory party to this treaty also. The Army of the Rhine cut through the Vosges Mountains and its route lay between the French cities of Nancy and Toul. The heroic defense of the Belgian army at Li^ge against the Army of the Meuse delayed the operation of Germany's plans and in all probability saved Paris. It was the first of many similar disappointments and checks that Germany encountered during the war. The defense of Li^ge continued for ten herdc days. Within tihat interval the first British Expeditionary Forces were landed in France and Belgium, the French army was mobilized to full steength. ■ The little Belgian army falling back northward on Antwerp, Louvain and Brussels, threatened the German flank and approximately 200,000 German soldiers were compelled to ranain in the CMiquered section of Belgiima to garrison it efifectivdy. JMg/s foirtifioatioi^ were the design (rf the celebrated strate^t BrialmcHitsf Tbey consisted of tvrelve iscJated f orfcresses whioli hod been permitted to become out of repair. No field works of any kind connected them and they were without provision for defense against encircling tactics and against modem artillery. The huge 42-centimeter guns, the first of Germany's terrible surprises, were brought into action against these forts, and their concrete and armored steel txurets were cracked as walnuts are THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 79 cracked between the jaws of a nut-cracker. The Army of the Meuse then made its way like a gray-green cloud of poison gas through Belgium. A cavalry screen of crack Uhlain regiments preceded it, and it made no halt worthy of note imtil it confronted the Belgian army on the line running from Louvain to Namur. The Belgians were forced back before Louvain on August 20th, the Belgian Government removed the capital from Brussds to Antwerp, and the German hosts entered evacuated Brussels. During this advance of the Army of the Meuse, strong French detachments invaded German soil, pouring into Alsace through the Belfort Gap. Brief successes attended the bold stroke. Miil- hausen was captured and the Metz-Strassburg Eailroad was cut in several places. The French suffered a defeat almost immediately following this first flush of victory, both in Alsace and in Lorraine, where a French detachment had engaged with the Army of the Moselle. The French army thereupon retreated to the strong line of forts and earthworks defending the border between France and Germany.; _i_ ' ["' England's first e3q)editionary force landed at Ostend, Calais and Dunkirk on August 7th. It was dubbed England's "con- temptible little army" by the German General Staff. That name was seized upon gladly by England as a spur to volunteering. It brought to the surface national pride and a fierce determination to compel Germany to recognize and to reckon with the "con- tranptible little army." The contact between the French, Belgian and British forces was speedily established and something Uke concerted resistance to the advance of the aiemy was made possible. The German army, however, followed by a huge equipment of motor kitchens, munition trains, and other motor transport evidencing great care in preparation for the movement, swept resistlessly forward until it ^countered the French and British on a line running from Mons to Charleroi. * I^ .1 1 The British army was aaagned to a position between two Froich armies. By some miscalculation, the French army ihat was to have taken its position on the British left, never appeared. The French army on the right was attacked and defeated at Charleroi, falling back in some confuson. The German Army of the Moselle co-operating with the Army of the Meuse then attacked 80 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the British and French, and a great flanking movement by the German joint conmiands developed. This was directed mainly at the British under command of Sir John French. There followed a retreat that for sheer heroism and dogged determination has become one of the great battles of all time. The British, outflanked and outnumbered three to one, fought and marched without cessation for six days and nights. Time after time envelopment and disaster threatened them, but with a determination that would not be beaten they fought off the best that Germany could send against them, maintained contact with the French army on their right, and delayed the German advance so effectively that a complete disarrangement of all the German plans ensued. This was the second greg-t disap- pointment to Germany. It made possible the victory of the Mame and the victorious peace of 1918. The story of that immortal retreat is best told in the words of Sir John French, transmitting the report of this encounter to the British War Office: "The transport of the troops from England both by sea and by rail was effected in the best order and without a check. Each unit arrived at its destination well within the scheduled time. "The concentration was practically complete on the evening of Friday, the 21st ultimo, and I was able to make dispositions to move the force during Saturday, the 22d, to positions I considered most favorable from which to commence operations which the French commander-in-chief, General Joffre, requested me to under- take in pursuance of his plans in prosecution of the campaign. "The line taken up extended along the line of the canal from Cond6 on the west, through Mons and Binche on the east. This line was taken up as follows: "From Cond6 to Mons, inclusive, was assigned to the Second Corps, and to the right of the Second Corps from Mons the First Corps was posted. The Fifth Cavalry Brigade was placed at Binche. "In the absence of my Third Army Corps I desu-ed to keep the cavalry divisions as much as possible as a reserve to act on my outer flank, or move in support of any threatened part of the line. The forward reconnoissance was intrusted to Brig.-Gen. Sir Philip Chetwode, with the Fifth Cavalry Brigade,' but I directed General Allenby to send forward a few squadrons to assist in this work. THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 81 "During the 22d and 23d these advanced equadrons did Borne excellent work, some of them penetrating as far as Soignies, and several encounters took place in which our troops showed to great advantage. "2. At 6 A. M., on August 23d, I assembled the commanders of the First and Second Corps and cavalry division at a point close to the position and explained the general situation of the Allies, and what I understood to be General Joffre's plan. I discussed with them at some length the immediate situation in front of us. "From information I received from French headquarters I understood that little more than one, or at most two, of the enemy's army corps, with perhaps one cavalry division, were in front of my position; and I was aware of no attempted outflanking move- ment by the enemy. I was confirmed in this opinion by the fact that my patrols encountered no undue opposition in their recon- noitering operations. The observations of my airplanes seemed to bear out this estimate. "About 3 p. M. on Sxmday, the 23d, reports began coming in to the effect that the enemy was commencing an attack on the Mons line, apparently in some strength, but that the right of the position from Mons and Bray was being particidarly threatened. "The commander of the First Corps had pushed his flank back to some high ground south of Bray, and the Fifth Cavalry Brigade evacuated Binche, moving slightly south; the enemy thereupon occupied Binche. "The right of the Third Division, under General Hamilton, was at Mons, which formed a somewhat dangerous salient; and I directed the commander of the Second Corps to be careful not to keep the troops on this saUent too long, but, if threatened seriously, to draw back the center behind Mons. This was done before dark. In the meantime, about 5 p. m., I received a most unexpected message from General Joffre by telegraph, telling me that at least three German corps, viz., a reserve corps, the Fourth Corps and the Ninth Corps, were moving on my position in front, and that the Second Corps was engaged in a turning movement from the direction of Toumay. He also informed me that the two reserve French divisions and the Fifth French army on my right were retiring, the Germans having on the previous day gained possession of the passages of the Sambre, between Charleroi and Namur. 82 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "3. In view of the possibility of my being driven from the Mens position, I had previously ordered a position in rear to be reconnoitered. This position rested on the fortress of Maubeuge on the right and extended west to Jenlain, southest to Valenciennes, on the left. The position was reported difficult to hold, because standing crops and buildings made the placing of trenches very difficult and limited the field of fire in many important localities. It nevertheless afforded a few good artillery positions. "When the news of the retirement of the French and the heavy German threaterdng on my front reached me, I endeavored to confirm it by airplane reconnoissajice; and as a result of this I determined to effect a retirement to the Maubeuge position at daybreak on the 24th. "A certain amount of fighting continued along the whole line throughout the night and at daybreak on the 24th the Second Division from the neighborhood of Harmignies made a powerful demonstration as if to retake Binche. This was supported by the artillery of both the First and Second Divisions, while the First Division took up a supporting position in the neighborhood of Peissant. Under cover of this demonstration the Second Corps retired on the line Dour-Quarouble-Fram6ries. The Third Division on the right of the corps suffered considerable loss in this operation from the enemy, who had retaken Mons. "The Second Corps halted on this line, where they partially intrenched themselves, enabling Sir Douglas Haig with the First Corps gradually to withdraw to the new position; and he effected this without much further loss, reaching the line Bavai-Maubeuge about 7 p. M. Toward midday the enemy appeared to be directing his principal effort against owr left. "I had previously ordered General Allenby with the cavalry to act vigorously in advance of my left frent and endeavor to take the pressure off. "About 7.30 A. M. General Allenby received a message from Sir Charles Ferguson, commanding the Fifth Division, saying that he was very hard pressed and in urgent need of support. On receipt of this message General Allenby drew in the cavalry and endeav- ored to bring direct support to the Fifth Division. "During the course of this operation General De Lisle, of the Second Cavalry Brigade, thought he saw a good opportunity to THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 83 paralyze the further advance of the enemy's infantry by making a mounted attack on his flank. He formed up and advanced for this purpose, but was held up by wire about five hundred yards from his objective, and the Nmth Lancers and the Eighteenth Hussars suffered severely in the retirement of the brigade. "The Nineteenth Infantry Brigade, which had been guarding the line of commimications, was brought up by rail to Valenciennes on the 22d and 23d. On the morning of the 24th they were moved out to a position south of Quarouble to support the left flank of the Second Corps. "With the assistance of the cavalry Sir Horace Smith-Donien was enabled to effect his retreat to a new position; although, having two corps of the enemy on his front and one threatening his flank, he suffered great losses in doing so. "At nightfall the position was occupied by the Second Corps to the west of Bavai, the First Corps to the right. The right was protected by the Fortress of Maubeuge, the left by the Nineteenth Brigade in position between Jenlain and Bry, and the cavalry on the outer flank. "4. The French were still retiring, and I had no support except such as was afforded by the Fortress of Maubeuge; and the determined attempts of the enemy to get round my left flank assured me that it was his intention to hem me against that place and surround me. I felt that not a moment must be lost in retiring to another position. "I had every reason to believe that the enemy's forces were somewhat exhausted and I knew that they had suffered heavy losses. I hoped, therefore, that his pursuit would not be too vigorous to prevent me effecting my object. "The operation, however, was full of danger and difficulty, not only owing to the very superior force in my front, but also to the exhaustion of the troops. "The retirement was recommenced in the early morning of the 25th to a position in the neighborhood of Le Cateau, and rearguards were ordered to be clear of the Maubeuge-Bavai-Eih Road by 6.30 a. m. "Two cavalry brigades, with the divisional cavalry of the Second Corps, covered the movement of the Second Corps. The remainder of the cavalry division, with the Nineteenth Brigade, 84 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the whole under the command of General Allenby, covered the west flank. "The Fourth Division commenced its detrainment at Le Gateau on Sunday, the 23d, and by the morning of the 25th eleven bat- talions and a brigade of artillery with divisional staff were available for service. "I ordered General Snow to move out to take up a position with his right south of Solesmes, his left resting on the Cambrai- LeCateau Road south of La Chaprie. In this position the division rendered great help, to the effective retirement of the Second and First Corps to the new position. "Although the troops had been ordered to occupy the Cambrai- Le Cateau-Landrecies position, and the ground had, during the 25th, been partially prepared and intrenched, I had grave doubts, owing to the information I had received as to the accumulating strength of the enemy against me — as to the wisdom of standing there to fight. "Having regard to the continued retirement of the French on my right, my exposed left flank, the tendency of the enemy's western corps (II) to envelop me, and, more than all, the exhausted condition of the troops, I determined to make a great effort to continue the retreat until I could put some substantial obstacle, such as the Somme or the Oise, between my troops and the enemy, and afford the former some opportunity of rest and reorganization. Orders were, therefore, sent to the corps commanders to continue, their retreat as soon as they possibly could toward the general line Vermand-St. Quentin-Ribemont. "The cavalry under General Allenby, were ordered to cover the retirement. "Throughout the 25th and far into the evening, the First Corps continued its march on Landrecies, following the road along the eastern border of the For^t de Mormal, and arrived at Landrecies about 10 o'clock. I had intended that the corps should come further west so as to fill up the gap between Le Cateau and Landrecies, but the men were exhausted and could not get further ID without rest. "The enemy, however, would not allow them this rest, and about 9.30 p. m. a report was received that the Fourth Guards Brigade in Landrecies was heavily attacked by troops of the Ninth THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 85 German Army Corps, who were coming through the forest on the north of the town. This brigade fought most gallantly, and caused the enemy to suffer tremendous loss in issuing from the forest into the narrow streets of the town. This loss has been estimated from reliable sources at from 700 to 1,000. At the same time information reached me from Sir Douglas Haig that his First Division was also heavily engaged south and cast of Maroilles. I sent urgent messages to the commander of the two French reserve divisions on my right to come up to the assistance of the First Corps, which they eventually did. Partly owing to this assistance, but mainly to the skilful manner in which Sir Douglas Haig extri- cated his corps from an exceptionally difficult position in the darkness of the night, they were able at dawn to resiune their march south toward Wassigny on Guise. "By about 6 p. M. the Second Corps had got into position with their right on Le Cateau, their left in the neighborhood of Caudry, and the line of defense was continued thence by the Fourth Division toward Seranvillers, the left being thrown back. "During the fighting on the 24th and 25th the cavalry became a good deal scattered, butbytheearlymomingof the 26th, General Allenby had succeeded in concentrating two brigades to the south of Cambrai. "The Fourth Division was placed under the orders of the general officer commanding the Second Army Corps. "On the 24th the French Cavalry Corps, consisting of three divisions under General Sord^t, had been in billets north of Avesnes. On my way back from Bavai, which was my 'Poste de Commande- ment' during the fighting of the 23d and 24th, I visited General Sord^t, and earnestly requested his co-operation and support. He promised to obtain sanction from his army commander to act on my left flank, but said that his horses were too tired to move before the next day. Although he rendered me valuable assistance later on in the course of the retirement, he was unable, for the reasons given, to afford me any support on the most critical day of all, viz., the 26th. "At daybreak it became apparent that the enemy was throw- ing the bulk of his strength against the left of the position occupied by the Second Corps and the Fourth Division. "At this time the guns of four German army corps were in 86 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR position against them, and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien reported to me that he judged it hnpossible to continue his retirement at day- break (as ordered) in face of such an attack. "I sent hirn orders to use his utmost endeavors to break off the action and retire at the earliest possible moment, as it was impossible for me to send him any support, the First Corps being at the moment incapable of movement. "The French Cavalry Corps, under General Sord^t, was coming up on our left rear early ia the morning, and I sent an virgent mes- sage to h^rn to do his utmost to come up and support the retire- ment of my left flank; but owing to the fatigue of his horses he found himself unable to intervene ia any way. "There had been no time to intrench the position properly, but the troops showed a magnificent front to the terrible fire which confronted them. "The artillery, although outmatched by at least four to one, made a splendid fight, and inflicted heavy losses on their opponents. "At length it became apparent that, if complete annihilation was to be avoided, a retirement must be attempted; and the order was given to commence it about 3.30 p. m. The movement was covered with the most devoted intrepidity and determination by the artillery, which had itself suffered heavily, and the fine work done by the cavalry in the fiuiiher retreat from the position assisted materially in the final completion of this most difficult and dan- gerous operation. "Fortimately the enemy had himself suffered too heavily to engage in an energetic pursuit. "I cannot close the brief account of this glorious stand of the British troops without putting on record my deep appreciation of the^valuable services rendered by Gen. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien. "I say without hesitation that the saving of the left wing of the army under my command on the morning of the 26th of August, could never have been accomplished unless a commander of rare and unusual coohiess, intrepidity, and determination had been present to personally conduct the operation. "The retreat was continued far into the night of the 26th and through the 27th and 28th, on which date the troops halted on the line Noyon-Chauny-LaF^re, having then thrown off the weight of the enemy's pursuit. THE GREAT WAR BEGINS 87 "On the 27th and 28th I was much indebted to General Sordet and the French Cavahy Division which he commands for materially assisting my retirement and successfully driving back some of the enemy on Cambrai. "This closes the period covering the heavy fighting which commenced at Mons on Sunday afternoon, 23d August, and which really constituted a four days' battle. "It is impossible for me to speak too highly of the skill evinced by the two general officers commanding army corps; the self-sacrificing and devoted exertions of their staffs; the direction of the troops by divisional, brigade, and regimental leaders; the command of the smaller imits by their officers; and the magnifi- cent fighting spirit displayed by non-commissioned officers and men. "I wish particularly to bring to your Lordship's notice the admirable work done by the Royal Flying Corps under Sir David Henderson. Their skill, energy, and perseverence have been beyond all praise. They have furnished me with the most com- plete and accurate information, which has been of incalculable value in the conduct of the operations. Fired at constantly both by friend and foe, and not hesitating to fly in every kind of weather, they^have remained undaunted throughout. "Further, by actually fighting in the air, they have suc- ceeded in destroying five of the enemy's machines." The combined French and British armies, including the forces that had retreated from Alsace and Lorraine, gave way with increasing stubborness before von Kluck. That German general disregarding the fortresses smrroundiag Paris, swung southward to make a junction with the Army of the Crown Prince of Germany advancing through the Vosges Mountauis. General Manoury's army opposed the German advance on the entrenched line of Paris. General Gallieni commanding the garrison of Paris, was ready with a novel mobile transport consisting of taxicabs and fast trucks. The total number of soldiers in the French and British armies now outnumbered those in the German armies opposed to them. General Joffre, in supreme command of the French, had chosen the battleground. He had set the trap with consummate skill. The word was given; the trap was sprung; and the first battle of the Marne came as a crashing surprise to Germany. CHAPTER VI The Trail of the Beast in Belgittm GERMANY'S onrush into heroic Belgium speedily re- solved itself iato a saturnalia that drenched the land with blood and roused the civilized world into resentful horror. As the tide of barbarity swept forward into Northern France, stories of the horrors filtered through the close web of German censorship. There were denials at first by German propagandists. In the face of truth furnished by thousands of witnesses, the denials faded away. What caused these atrocities? Were they the spontaneous expression of dormant brutishness in German soldiers? Were they a sudden reversion of an entire nation to bestiality? The answer is that the private soldier as an individual was not responsible. The carnage, the rapine, the wholesale desola- tion was an integral part of the German policy of schrecklichkeit or frightfulness. This policy was laid down by Germany as part of its imperial war code. In 1902 Germany issued a new war manual entitled ''Kriegsbrauch im Landkriege." In it is written this cold-blooded declaration: All measures which conduce to the attainment and when they took Namur they burned one hundred and fifty houses. Compelled to give battle to the French army in the Belgian Ardennes they ravaged the beautiful valley of the Semois; the complete destruction of the village of Rossignlo and the extermination of its entire male population took place there. Cheeked again by the French on the Meuse, the awful carnage of Dinant results. Held on the Sambre by the French, they bum one hundred houses at Charleroi and enact the appalling tragedy of Tamines. At Mons, the English hold them, and after that all over the Borinage there is a systematic destruction, pillage and murder. The Belgian army drive them back from Malines and Louvain is doomed. The Belgian army falling back and fighting in retreat took refuge in the forts of Antwerp, and the burning and sack of Hougaerde, Wavre, Ottignies, Grimde, Neerlinter, Weert, St. George, Shaffen and Aerschot follow. "The Belgian troops inflicted serious losses on the Germans AN OBSERVATION POST Watching the effect of gun fire from a sand-bagged ruin near the German Unes. Photo by Trans-Atlantic News Service KING ALBERT AT THE HEAD OF THE HEROIC SOLDIERS OF BELGIUM 'It is universally agreed that the Belgian monarch was no figurehead general but a real leader of his troops. It was these men, facing annihilation, who astonished the world by opposing the German mihtary machine successfully enough to allow France to get her armies into shape and prevent the immediate taking of Paris that was planned by Germany. THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 97 in the South of the Province of Limbourg, and the towns of Lummen, Bilsen, and Lanaeken are partially destroyed. Antwerp held out for two months, and all about its outer line of fortifications there was blood and fire, numerous villages were sacked and burned and the whole town of Termonde was destroyed. During the battles of September the village of Boortmeerbeek near Maliues, occupied by the Germans, was retaken by the Belgians, and when the Ger- mans entered it again they burned forty houses. Three times occupied by the Belgians and retaken by the Germans Boortmeer- beek was three times punished in the same way. That is to say, everywhere the German army met with a defeat it took it out, as we say in America, on the civil population. And that is the explanation of the German atrocities in Belgium." A committee of the highest honor and responsibility was appointed by the British Government to investigate the whole subject of atrocities in Belgium and Northern France. Its chair- man was the Rt. Hon. Viscount James Bryce, formerly British Ambassador to the United States. Its other members were the Rt. Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Clark, Sir Alfred Hopkinson, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Mr. Harold Cox and Sir Kenehn E. Digby. The report of the commission bears upon its face the stamp of painstaking search for truth, substantiates every statement made by Minister Whitlock and makes known many horrible instances of cruelty and barbarity. It makes the following deduc- tions as having been proved beyond question: 1. That there were in many parts of Belgium deUberate and systematically organized massacres of the civil population, accom- panied by many isolated murders and other outrages. 2. That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, both men and women, were murdered in large numbers, women violated, and children murdered. 3. That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German army, that elaborate provision had been made for system- atic incendiarism at the very, outbreak of the war, and that the bumings and destruction were frequent where no military necessity coiild be alleged, being, indeed, part of a system of general terrori- 98 HISTORY OF THE; WORLD WAR 4. That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, particularly by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the wounded and prisoners and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the white flag. . The Bryce Commission's report on the destruction of Dinant is an example of testimony laid before them. It follows: "A clear statement of the outrages at Dinant, which many travelers will recall as a singularly picturesque town on the Meuse, is given by one witness, who says that the Germans began burning houses in the Rue St. Jacques on the 21st of August, and that every house in the street was burned. On the following day an engagement took place between the French and the Germans, and the witness spent the whole day in the cellar of a bank with his wife and children. On the morning of the 23d, about 5 o'clock, firing ceased, and almost immediately afterward a party of Germans came to the house. They rang the bell and began to batter at the door and windows. The witness' wife went to the door and two or three Germans came in. The family were ordered out into the street. There they found another family, and the two families were driven with their hands above their heads along the Rue Grande. All the houses in the street were burning. "The party was eventually put into a forge where there were a number of other prisoners, about a hundred in all, and were kept there from 11 A. M. till 2 p. m. They were then taken to the prison. There they were assembled in a courtyard and searched. No arms were foimd. They were then passed through into the prison itself and put iato cells. The witness and his wife were separated from each other. During the next hour the witness heard rifle shots continually and noticed in the comer of a court- yard leadiag off the row of cells the body of a young man with a mantle thrown over it. He recognized the mantle as having belonged to his wife. The witness' daughter was allowed to go out to see what had happened to her mother, and the witness him- self was allowed to go across the courtyard half an hour afterward for the same purpose. He found his wife lying on the floor in a room. She had bullet wounds in fo\ir places but was alive and told her husband to return to the children and he did so. "About 5 o'clock in the evening, he saw the Germans bringing THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 99 out all the young and middle-aged men from the cells, and ranging their prisoners, to the number of forty, in three rpws in the middle of the courtyard. About twenty Germans were drawn up opposite, but before anything was done there was a tremendous fusillade from some point near the prison and the civilians were hurried back to their cells. Half an hour later the same forty men were brought back into the courtyard. Almost immediately there waa a second fusillade and they were driven back to the cells again. "About 7 o'clock the witness and other prisoners were brought out of their cells and marched out of the prison. They went between two lines of troops to Roche Bayard, about a kilometer away. An hour later the women and children were separated and the prisoners were brought back to Dinant passing the prison on their way. Just outside the prison, the witness saw three lines of bodies which he recognized as being those of his neighbors. They were nearly all dead, but he noticed movement in some of tnem. There were about one himdred and twenty bodies. The prisoners were then taken up to the top of a lull outside Dinant and^compelled to stay there till 8 o'clock in the morning. On the following day they were put into cattle trucks and taken thence to Coblenz. For three months they remained prisoners in Germany. "Unarmed civilians were killed in masses at other places neap the prison. About ninety bodies were seen lying on the top of one another in a grass square opposite the convent. [ A witness asked a German oflBcer why her husband had been shot, and he told her that it was because two of her sons had been in the civil guard and had shot at the Germans. As a matter of fact, one of her sons was at that time in Lilge and the other in Brussels. It is stated that besides the ninety corpses referred to above, sixty corpses of civilians were recovered from a hole in the brewery yard and that forty-eight bodies of women and children were found in a garden. The town was systematically set on fire by hand grenades. Another witness saw a little girl of seven, one of whose legs was broken and the other injured by a bayonet. We have no reason to believe that the civilian population of Dinant gave any provocation, or that any other defense can be put forward to justify the treatment inflicted upon its citizens." The Bryce Commission reports the outrages in a number of Beljpan villages in this terse fashion: 100 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "In Hofstade a number of houses had been set on fire and many corpses were seen, some in houses, some in back yards, and some in the streets. Two witnesses speak of having seen the body of a young man pierced by bayonet thrusts with the wrists cut also. On a side road the corpse of a civihan was seen on his doorr step with a bayonet wound in his stomach and by his side the dead body of a boy of five or six with his hands nearly severed. The corpses of a woman and boy were seen at the blacksmith's. They had been killed with the bayonet. In a caf^, a young man, also killed with the bayonet, was holding his hands together as if in the attitude of supplication. "In the garden of a house in the main street, bodies of two women were observed, and in another house, the body of a boy of sixteen with two bayonet wounds in the chest. In Sempst a similar condition of affairs existed. Houses were burning and in some of them were the charred remains of civiUans. In a bicycle shop a witness saw the burned corpse of a man. Other witnesses speak of this incident. Another civilian, xmarmed, was shot aS he was running away. As will be remembered, all the arms had been given up some time before by the order of the burgomaster. "At Weerde four corpses of civihans were lying in the road. It was said that these men had fired upon the German soldiers; but this is denied. The arms had been given up long before. Two children were killed in the village of Weerde, quite wantonly as they were standing in the road with their mother. They were three or four years old and were killed with the bayonet. A small barn burning close by formed a convenient means of getting rid of bodies. They were thrown into the flames from the bayonets. It is right to add that no cormnissioned officer was present at the time. At Eppeghem, on August 25th, a pregnant woman who had been woimded with a bayonet was discovered in the convent. She was dying. On the road six dead bodies of laborers were seen. "At Boortmeerbeek a German soldier was seen to fire three tunes at a Httle girl five years old. Having failed to hit her, he subsequently bayoneted her. He was killed with the butt end of a rifle by a Belgian soldier who had seen hun conunit this murder from a distance. At Herent the charred body of a civilian was found in a butcher's shop, and in a handcart twenty yards away was the dead body of a laborer. Two eye witneseea relate that a THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 101 German soldier shot a civilian and stabbed HiTn with a bayonet as he lay. He then made one of these witnesses, a civilian prisoner, smell the blood on the bayonet. At Haecht the bodies of ten civilians were seen lying in a row by a brewery wall. In a laborer's house, which had been broken up, the mutilated corpse of a woman of thirty to thirty-five was discovered." Concerning the treatment of women and children in general, the report continues: "The evidence shows that the German authorities, when carrying out a policy of systematic arson and plunder in selected districts, usually drew some distinction between the adult male population on the one hand and the women and children on the other. It was a frequent practice to set apart the adult males of the condemned district with a view to the execution of a suitable niunber — preferably of the younger and more vigorous — ^and to reserve the women and children for milder treatment. The depositions, however, present many instances of calculated cruelty, often going the length of murder, toward the women and children of the condemned area. "At Dinant sixty women and children were confined in the cellar of a convent from Sunday morning till the following Friday, August 28th, sleeping on the ground, for there were no beds, with nothing to drink dtuing the whole period, and given no food until Wednesday, when somebody threw into the cellar two sticks of macaroni and a carrot for each prisoner. In other cases the women and children were marched for long distances along roads, as, for instance, the march of the women from Louvain to Tirlemont, August 28thj the laggards pricked on by the attendant Uhlans. A lady complains of having been brutally kicked by privates. Others were struck at with the butt end of rifles. At Louvain, at Li^ge, at Aerschot, at Malines, at Montigny, at Andenne, and elsewhere, there is evidence that the troops were not restrained from drunkenness, and drunken soldiers cannot be trusted to observe the rules or decencies of war, least of all when they are called upon to execute a preordained plan of arson and piUage. From the very first women were not safe. At Li6ge women and children were chased about the streets by soldiers. "Witnesses recount how a great crowd of jjien, women and children from Aerschot were marched to Louvain, and then sud- denly exposed to a fire from a mitrailleuse and rifles. 'We were 102 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR all placed,' recounts a sufferer, 'in Station Street, Louvain, and the German soldiers fired on us. I saw the corpses of some women in the street. I fell down, and a woman who had been shot fell on top of me.* Women and children suddenly tinned out into the streets, and, compelled to witness the destruction of their homes by fire, provided a sad spectacle to such as were sober enough to see. "A humane German officer, witnessing the ruin of Aerschot, exclaimed in disgust: 'I am a father myself, and I cannot bear this. It is not war but butchery.' Officers as well as men succtunbed to the temptation of drink, with results which may be illustrated by an incident which occurred at Campenhout. In this village there was a certain well-to-do merchant (name given) who had a cellar of good champagne. On the afternoon of the 14th or 15th of August three German cavalry officers entered the house and demanded champagne. Having drunk ten bottles and invited five or six officers and three or fom* private soldiers to join them, they continued their carouse, and then called for the master and mistress of the house. " 'Immediately my mistress came in,' says the valet de cham- bre, 'one of the officers who was sitting on the floor got up, and, put- ting a revolver to my mistress' temple, shot her dead. The officer was obviously drunk. The other officers contiaued to drink and sing, and they did not pay any great attention to the killing of my mistress. The officer who shot my mistress then told my master to dig a grave and bury my mistress. My master and the officer went into the garden, the officer threatening my master with a pistol. My master was then forced to dig the grave and to bury my mistress ia it. I cannot say for what reason they killed my mistress. The officer who did it was singing all the time.' "In the evidence before us there are cases tending to show that aggravated crimes against woruen were sometimes severely punished. One witness reports that a young girl who was being pursued by a drunken soldier at Louvain appealed to a German officer, and that the offender was then and there shot. Another describes how an officer of the Thirty-second Regiment of the Line was led out to execution for the violation of two yoimg girls, but reprieved at the request or with the consent of the girls' mother. These instances are sufficient to show that the maltreatment at THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 103 women was no part of the military scheme of the invaders, howevey much it may appear to have been the inevitable result of the system of terror deliberately adopted in certain regions. Indeed, so much is avowed. 'I asked the cormnander why we had been spared,' says a lady in Louvain, who deposes to having suffered much brutal treatment during the sack. He said: 'We will not hurt you any more. Stay in Louvain. All is finished.' It was Saturday, August 29th, and the reign of terror was over. "The Germans used men, women and children of Belgimn as screens for advancing infantry, as is shown in the following: Out- side Fort Fleron, near IMge, men and children were marched in front of the Germans to prevent the Belgian soldiers from firing. The progress of the Germans through Mons was marked by many incidents of this character. Thus, on August 22d, half a dozen Belgian colliers returning from work were marching in front of some Grerman troops who were piusuing the English, and in the opinion of the witnesses, they must have been placed there inten- tionally. An English ofl&cer describes how he caused a banicade to be erected in a main thoroughfare leading out of Mons, when the Germans, in order to reach a crossroad in the rear, fetched civilians out of the houses on each side of the main road and com- pelled them to hold up white flags and act as cover. "Another British officer who saw this incident is conviaced that the Germans were acting deliberately for the purpose of protecting themselves from the fire of the British troops. Apart from this protection, the Germans could not have advanced, as the street was straight and commanded by the British rifle fire at a range of 700 or 800 yards. Several British soldiers also speak of this incident, and their story is confirmed by a Flemish witness in a ade street." The French Government also appointed a commission, headed by M. Georges Payelle. This body made an investigation of outrages committed by German officers and soldiers in Northern France. Its report showed conditions that outstripped in horror the war tactics of savages. It makes the following accusations: "In Rebais, two English cavalrymen who were surprised and wounded in this commime were finished off with gunshots by the Germans when they were dismounted and when one of them had thrown up his hands, showing thus that he was unarmed. 104 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "In the department of the Mame, as everywhere else, the German troops gave themselves up to general pillage, which was carried out always under similar conditions and with the complicity of then- leaders. The Commimes of Heiltz-le-Maurupt, Suippes, Marfaux, Fromentieres and Estemay suffered especially in this way. Everything which the invader could carry off from the houses was placed on motor lorries and vehicles. At Suippes, in particular, they carried off m this way a quantity of different objects, among these sewing machines and toys. A great many villages, as well as important country towns, were burned without any reason whatever. Without doubt, these crimes were com- mitted by order, as German detachments arrived in the neighborhood with their torches, their grenades, and their usual outfit for arson. "At Marfaux nineteen private houses were bxuned. Of the Commune of Glannes practically nothing remains. At Sonmie- Tom-be the entire village has been destroyed, with the exception of the Mairie, the chtirch and two private buildings. At Auve nearly the whole town has been destroyed. At Etrepy sixty- three families out of seventy are homeless. At Hiiiron all of the houses, with the exception of five have been burned. At Sermaize- les-Bains only about forty houses out of 900 remain. At Biginicourt- sur-Saultz thirty houses out of thirty-three are in ruins. "At Suippes, the big market town which has been practically biOTied out, German soldiers carrying straw and cans of petrol have been seen in the streets. While the mayor's house was burn- ing, six sentinels with fixed bayonets were under orders to forbid anyone to approach and to prevent any help being given. "All this destruction by arson, which only represents a small proportion of the acts of the same kind in the Department of Seine-et-Mame, was accomplished without the least tendency to rebellion or the smallest act of resistance being recorded against the inhabitants of the localities which are today more or less com- pletely destroyed. In some villages the Germans, before setting fire to them made one of their soldiers fire a shot from his rifle so as to be able to pretend afterward that the civihan population had attacked them, an allegation which is all the more absurd since at the time when the enemy arrived, the only inhabitants left were old men, sick persons, or people absolutely without any means of aggression. THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 107 "Numerous crimes against the person have also been com- mitted. In the majority of the communes hostages have been taken away; many of them have not returned. At Sermaize- les-Bains, the Germans carried off about one hundred and fifty people, some of whom were decked out with helmets and coats and compelled, thus equipped, to mount guard over the bridges. "At Bignicoml-sur-Saultz thirty men and forty-five women and children were obliged to leave with a detachment. One of the men — ^a certain Emile Pierre — has not returned nor sent any news of himself. At Corfelix, M. Jacqet, who was carried off on the 7th of September with eleven of his fellow-citizens, was found five hundred meters from the village with a bullet ia his head. "At Champuis, the c\a6, his maid-servant, and four other inhabitants who were taken away on the same day as the hostages of Corfelix had not returned at the time of our visit to the place. "At the same place an old man of seventy, named Jacquemin, was tied down in his bed by an officer and left in this state without food for three days. He died a little time after. At Vert-Ia- Gravelle a farm hand was killed. He was struck on the head with a bottle and his chest was run through with a lance. The garde champetre Bnilefer of le Gault-la-For^t was murdered at Maclau- nay, where he had been taken by the Germans. His body was found with his head shattered and a wound on his chest. "At Champguyon, a commune which has been fired, a certain Verdier was killed in his father-in-law's house. The latter was not present at the execution, but he heard a shot and next day an officer said to him, 'Son shot. He is under the ruins.' In spite of the search made the body has not been found among them. It must have been consmned in the fire. "At Sermaize, the roadmaker, Brocard, was placed among a number of hostages. Just at the moment when he was being arrested with his son, his wife and his daughter-in-law in a state of panic rushed to throw themselves into the Saulx. The old man was able to free himself for a moment and ran in all haste after them and made several attempts to save them, but the Germans dragged him away pitilessly, leaving the two wretched women struggling in the river. When Brocard and his son were restored to liberty, four days afterward, and found the bodies, they discovered that their wives had both received bullet wounds in the head. 108 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "At Triaucourt the Germans gave themselves up to the worst excesses. Angered doubtless by the remark which an officer had addressed to a soldier, against whom a young girl of nineteen, Mile. Helene Proces, had made complaint of on accoimt of the indecent treatment to which she had been subjected, they burned the village and made a systematic massacre of the inhabitants. They began by setting fire to the house of an inoffensive householder, M. Jules Gand, and by shooting this unfortunate man as he was leaving his house to escape the flames. Then they dispersed among the houses in the streets, firing off their rifles on every side. A yoimg man, seventeen years, Georges Lecourtier, who tried to escape, was shot. M. Alfred Lallemand suffered the same fate. He was pursued into the kitchen of his fellow-citizen Tautelier, and murdered there, while Tautelier received three bullets in his hand. "Fearing, not without reason, for their lives, Mile. Procea, her mother and her grandmother of seventy-one and her old aunt of eighty-one, tried to cross the trellis which separates their garden from a neighboring property with the help of a ladder. The young gu*l alone was able to reach the other side and to avoid death by hiding in the cabbages. As for the other women, they were struck down by rifle shots. The village curl collected the brains of the aunt on the groimd on which they were strewn and had the bodies carried into Proces' house. |^' During the following night, the Germans played the piano near the bodies. "While the carnage raged, the fire rapidly spread and devoured thirty-five houses. An old man of seventy and a child of two months perished in the flames. M. Igier, who was trying to save his cattle, was pursued for 300 meters by soldiers, who fired at him ceaselessly. By a miracle this man had the good fortune not to be wounded, but five bullets went through his clothing." This summary merely hints at the atrocities that were per- petrated. And these are the crimes that France and Belgium will remember after indemnities have been paid, after borders have been re-established and after generations shall have past. The horrors of blazing villages, of violated womanhood, of mutilated childhood, of stark and senseless butcheries, will flash before the minds of French and Belgian men and women when Crermany's name shall be mentioned long after the declaration of peace. Schrecklichkeit had its day. It took its, bloody toll of the THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM 109 fairest and bravest of two gallant nations. It ravaged Poland as well and wreaked its fiendish will on woxmded soldiers on the battie-fields. But Schrecklichkeit is dead. Belgixim and France have shown that murder and rape and arson can not destroy liberty nor check the indomitable ambitions of the free peoples of earth. The lesson to Germany was taught at a terrible cost to humanity, but it was taught in a fashion that nations hereafter who shall dream of emulating the Hun will know in advance that f rightfulness serves no end except to feed the lust for destruction that «xists only in the most debased and brutish of men. CHAPTER VII The Fikst Battle of the Marne FRANCE and civilization were saved by Joffre and Foch at the first battle of the Marne, in September, 1914. Autocracy was destroyed by Foch at the second battle of the Marne, in July, 1918. This in a nutshell embraces the dramatic opening and closing episodes of the World War on the soil of France. Bracketed between these two glorious victories were the agonies of martyred France, the deaths and life-long cripplings of millions of men, the up-rooting of arrogant militarism, the Uberation of captive nations. The first battle of the Marne was whoUy a French operation. The British were close at hand, but had no share in the victory. Generals GaUieni and Manoury, acting under instructions from Marshal Joflfre, were driven by automobile to the headquarters of the British commander. Sir John French, in the village of Melun. They explained ia detail General Joffre's plan of attack upon the advancing German army. An urgent request was made that the British army halt its retreat, face about, and attack the two corps of von Kluck's army then confronting the British. Simultaneously with this attack General Manoury's forces were to fall upon the flank and the rear guard of von Kluck along the River Ourcq. This operation was planned for the next day, Sep- tember 5th. Sir John French replied that he could not get his tired army in readiness for battle within forty-eight hours. This would delay the British attack in all probability until September 7th. Joffre's plan of battle, however, would admit of no delay. The case was urgent; there was grave danger of a union between the great forces headed by the Crown Prince and those under von Kluck. He resolved to go ahead without the British, and ordered Manoiuy to strike as had been planned. He fixed as an extreme limit for the movement of retreat, which was still going on, the line of Bray-sur-Seine, Nogent-sur-Seine, Arcis-sur-Aube, Vitry-le-Frangois, and the regon to the north of © Underwood and Underwood, N. J'. GENERAL PERSHING AND MARSHAL JOFFRE The Commander-in-Chief of the American E3q)editionary Forces chatting with the veteran Marshal of France, the hero of the first battle of the Marne. MARSHAL FERDINAND FOCH, GENERALISSIMO OF THE ALLIED ARMIES No leader could command greater confidence than the brilliant strategist to whom was mainly due the great victory of the Marne in the first autumn of the war. He also directed theFrench offensive on the Somme in 1916 and in November, 1917, he was chosen as the French representative and subsequently chairman of the Central Military Committee appointed to assist the Supreme Allied War Council. Marshal Foch was formerly for five years lecturer on strategy and tactics at the Ecole de Guerre. At the close of the war he said to the Allied armies: "You have won the greatest battle in history and saved the most sacred cause— the liberty of the world. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 113 Bar-le-Duc. This line might be reached if the troops were cMnpelled to go back so far. They would attack before reaching it, as soon as there was a possibility of brinpng about an offensive disposition, permitting the co-operation of thq whole of the French forces. On September 5 it appeared that this desired situation existed. The First German army, carrying audacity to temerity, had continued its endeavor to envelop the French left, had crossed the The FmsT Geeman Dash for Pakis Grand Morin, and reached the region of Chauffry, to the south of Rebais and of Estemay. It aimed then at cutting Joffre off from Paris, in order to begin the investment of the capital. The Second army had its head on the line Champaubert, Etoges, Berg^es, and Vertus. The Third and Fourth armies reached to Ch41ons-sur-Mame and Bussy-le-R6pos. The Fifth army was advancing on one side and the other from the Argonne as far as Triacourt-les-Islettes and Juivecourt. The Sixth and Seventh armies were attacking more to the east. 114 inSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The French left army had been able to occupy the line Sezanne, Villers-St. Georges and Courchamps. This was precisely the dis- position which the General-in-Chief had wished to see achieved. On the 4th he decided to take advantage of it, and ordered all the armies to hold themselves ready. He had taken from his right two new army corps, two divisions of infantry, and two divisions of cavalry, which were distributed between his left and his center. On the evening of the 5th he addressed to all the commanders of armies a message ordering them to attack. "The hour has come," he wrote, "to advance at all costs, and to die where you stand rather than give way." If one examines the map, it will be seen that by his inflection toward Meaux and Coulommiers General von Kluck was exposing his right to the offensive action of the French left. This is the starting point of the victory of the Mame. On the evening of September 5th the French left army had reached the front Penchard-Saint-Souflet-Ver. On the 6th and 7th it continued its attacks vigorously with the Ourcq as objective. On the evening of the 7th it was some kilometers from the Ourcq, on the front Chambry-Marcilly-Lisieux-Acy-en-Multien. On the 8th, the Germans, who had in great haste reinforced their right by brin^g their Second and Fourth army corps back to the north, obtained some successes by attacks of extreme violence. But in spite of this pressure the French held their ground. In a briUiant action they took three standards, and being reinforced prepared a new attack for the 10th. At the moment that this attack was about to begin the enemy was already in retreat toward the north. The attack became a ptirsuit, and on the 12th the French established themselves on the Aisne. Why did the German forces which were confronting the French, and on the evening before attacking so furiously, retreat on the mormng of the 10th? Because in bringing back on the 6th several army corps from the south to the north to face the French left, the enemy had exposed his left to the attacks of the now rested British, who had immediately faced around toward the north, and to those of the French armies which were prolonging the English lines to the right. This is what the French conunand had sought to bring about. This is what happened on September 8th and allowed the development and rehabilitation which it was to effect. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 115 On the 6th the British army set out from the line Rozcy-Lagny &nd that evening reached the southward bank of the Grand Morin. On the 7th and 8th it continued its march, and on the 9th had debouched to the north of the Mame below Chdteau-Thierry — the town that was to become famous for the American stand in 1918 — ^taking in flank the German forces which on that day were oppos- ing, on the Ourcq, the French left army. Then it was that these forces began to retreat, while the British army, going in piu^uit and capturing seven gxms and many prisoners, reached the Aisne between Soissons and Longueval. The r61e of the French army, which was operating to'"the right of the British army, was threefold. It had to support the British attacking on its left. It had on its right to support the center, which, from September 7th, had been subjected to a German attack of great violence. Finally, its mission was to throw back the three active army corps and the reserve corps which faced it. On the 7th, it made a leap forward, and on the following days reached and crossed the Mame, seizing, after desperate fighting, guns, howitzers, naitrailleuses, and a million cartridges. !^ On the 12th it established itself on the north edge of the Montagne-de- Reime in contact with the French center, which Jor its part had just forced the enemy to retreat in haste. The French center consisted of a new army created on August 29th and of one of those which at the beginning of the cam- paign had been engaged in Belgian Luxembiu-g. The first had retreated, on August 29th to September 6th, from the Aisne to the north of the Mame and occupied the general front Sezanne-Mailly. The second, more to the east, had drawn back to the south of the line Humbauville-Chdteau-Beauchamp-Bignicourt-Blesmes- Maurupt-le-Montoy. The enemy, in view of his right being arrested and the defeat of his enveloping movement, made a desperate effort from the 7th to the 19th to pierce the French center to the west and to the east of Fere-Champenoise. On the 8th he succeeded in forcing back the right of the new French army, which retired as far as Gouragan- 9on. On the 9th, at 6 o'clock in the morning, there was a further retreat to the south of that village, while on the left the other army corps also had to go back to the line Allemant-Connantre. Despite this retreat General Foch, commanding the army of 116 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the ceater, ordered a general offensive for the same day. With the Morocco division, whose behavior was heroic, he met a furious assault of the Germans on his left toward the marshes of Saint Gond. Then, with the divisions which had just victoriously over- come the attacks of the enemy to the north of Sezanne, and with the whole of his left army corps, he made a flanking attack in the evening of the 9th upon the German forces, and notably the guard, which had thrown back his right army corps. The enemy, taken by surprise l^ this bold maneuver, did not resist, and beat a hasty retreat. This marked Foch as the most daring and brilliant strategist of the war. On the 11th the French crossed the Mame between Tours-sur- Mame and Sarry, driving the Germans in front of them in dis- order. On the 12th they were in contact with the enemy to the north of the Camp de Ch^ons. The reserve army of the center, acting on the right of the one Just referred to, had been intrusted with the mission during the 7th, 8th, and 9th of disengaging its neighbor, and it was only on the 10th that being reinforced by an army corps from the east, it was able to make its action effectively felt. On the 11th the Germans retired. But, perceiving their danger, they fought desperately, with enormous expenditure of projectiles, behind strong intrenchments. On the 12th the result had none the less been attained, and the two French center armies were solidly established on the ground gained. To the right of these two armies were three others. They had orders to cover themselves to the north and to debouch toward the west on the flank of the enemy, which was operating to the west of the Argonne. But a wide interval in which the Germans were in force separated them from the French center. The attack took place, nevertheless, with very brilliant success for the French artillery, which destroyed eleven batteries of the Sixteenth German army corps. On the 10th inst., the Eighth and Fifteenth German army corps counter-attacked, but were repulsed. On the 11th French progress continued with new successes, and on the 12th the French were able to face round toward the north in expectation of the near and inevitable retreat of the enemy, which, in fact, took place from the 13th. The withdrawal of the mass of the German force involved THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 117 also that of the left. From the 12th onward the forces of the enemy operatmg between Nancy and the Vosges retreated in a hiury before the two French armies of the East, which immediately occupied the positions that the enemy had evacuated. The offensive of the French right had thus prepared and consolidated in the most useful way the result secxu-ed by the left and center. Such was this seven days' battle, in which more than two millions of men were engaged. Each army gained ground step by step, opening the road to its neighbor, supported at once by it, taking in flank the adversary which the day before it had attacked in front, the efforts of one articulating closely with those of the other, a perfect unity of intention and method animating the supreme command. To give this victory all its meaning it is necessary to add that it was gained by troops which for two weeks had been retreating, and which, when the order for the offensive was given, were found to be as ardent as on the first day. It has also to be said that these troops had to meet the whole Germany army. Under their pres- sure the German retreat at certain times had the appearance of a rout. , - In spite of the fatigue of the poilus, in spite of the power of the German heavy artillery, the French took colors, guns, mitrail- leuses, shells, and thousands of prisoners. One German corps lost almost the whole of its artillery. In that great battle the spectacular rush of General Gallieni's army defending Paris, was one of the dramatic surprises that decided the issue. In that stroke Gallieni sent his entire force forty miles to attack the right wing of the German army. In this gigantic maneuver every motor car in Paris was utilized, and the fljong force of Gallieni became the "Army in Taxicabs," a name that will live as long as France exists. General Clergerie, Chief of Staff to Gallieni told the story for posterity. He said : "From August 26, 1914, the German armies had been descend- ing upon Paris by forced marches. On September 1st they were only three days' march from the advanced line of the intrenched camp, which the garrison were laboring desperately to put into condition for defense. It was necessary to cover with trenches a circuit of 110 miles, install siege guns, assure the coming of sup- 118 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR plies for them over narrow-gauge railways, assemble the food and provisions of all kinds necessary for a city of 4,000,000 inhabitants. "But on September 3d, the intelligence service, which was working perfectly, stated, about the middle of the day, that the German columns, after heading straight for Paris, were swerving toward the southeast and seemed to wish to avoid the fortified camp. "General Gallieni and I then had one of those long conferences which denoted grave events; they usually lasted from two to five minutes at most. The fact is that the military government of Paris did little talking — ^it acted. The conference reached this conclusion: 'If they do not come to us, we will go to them with all the force we can muster.' Nothing remained but to make the necessary preparations. The first thing to do was not to give the alarm to the enemy. General Manoury's army immediately received orders to He low and avoid any engagement that was not absolutely necessary." Then care was taken to reinforce it by every means. All was ready at the designated time. In the night of September 3d, knowing that the enemy would have to leave only a rear guard on one bank of the Ourcq, General Gallieni and General Clergerie decided to march against that rear guard, to drive it back with all the weight of the Manoury army, to cut the enemy's communications, and take full advantage of his hazardous situation. Inunediately the following order was addressed to General Manomy: Because of the movement of the German armies, which seem to be slipping in before our front to the southeast, I intend to send your army to attack them in the flank, that is to say, in an easterly direction. I will indicate your line of march as soon as I learn that of the British army. But make your arrangements now so that your troops shall be ready to march this afternoon and to begin a general movement east of the intrenched camp tomorrow. At ten in the morning a consultation was held by Generals Gallieni, Clergerie, and Manoury, and the details of the plan of operations were immediately decided. General Joflfre gave per- mission to attack and announced that he would himself take the offensive on the 6th. On the 5th, at noon, the army from Paris fired the first shot; the battle of the Ourcq, a preface to the Mame, had begun. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE 119 General Clergerie then told what a precious purveyor of infor- mation he had found in General von der Marwitz, cavahy com- mander of the German first army, who made intemperate use of the wireless telegraph and did not even take the trouble to put into cipher his dispatches, of which the Eiffel Tower made a careful collection. "In the evening of September 9th," he said, "an oflScer of the inteUigence corps brought me a dispatch from this same Marwitz couched in something like these terms: 'TeU me exactly where you are and what you are doing. Hmry up, because XXX.' The officer was greatly embarrassed to interpret those three X's. Adopting the language of the poilu, I said to him, 'Translate it, "I am going to bolt." ' True enough, next day we foimd on the site of the German batteries, which had been pre- cipitately evacuated, stacks of munitions; while by the roadside we came upon motors abandoned for the slightest breakdown, and near Betz almost the entire outfit of a field bakery, with a great store of floiu: and dough half -kneaded. Paris and France were saved. "Von Kluck could not get over his astonishment. He has tried to explain it by saying he was unlucky, for out of a himdred governors not one would have acted as GalUeni did, throwing his whole available force nearly forty nailes from his stronghold. It was downright imprudence." CHAPTER VIII Japan in the War ON AUGUST 16, 1914, the Empire of Japan -issued an ultimatum to Germany. She demanded the evacuation of Tsing-tau, the disarming of the warships there and the handing over of the territory to Japan for ultimate reversion to China. The time limit for her reply was set at 12 o'clock, August 24th. To this ultimatum Germany made no reply, and at 2.30 p. m., August 23d, the German Ambassador was handed his passports and war was declared. The reason for the action of Japan was simple. She was bound by treaty to Great Britain to come to her aid in any war in which Great Britain might be involved. On August 4th a note was received from Great Britain requesting Japan to safeguard British shipping in the Far East. Japan replied that she could not guarantee the safety of British shipping so long as Germany was in occupation of the Chinese province of Tsing-tau. She suggested in turn that England agree to allow her to remove this German menace. The British Government agreed, on the condition that Tsing-tau be subsequently returned to China. The Japanese Government in taking this stand was acting with courage and with loyalty. Toward individual Germans she entertained no animosity. She had the highest respect for German scholarship and German military science. She had been sending her young men to German seats of learning, and had based the reorganization of her army upon the German military system. But she did not believe that a treaty was a mere "scrap of paper," and was determined to fulfil her obligations in the treaty with England. It seems to have been the opinion of the highest Japanese military authorities that Germany would win the war. Japan's statesmen, however, believed that Germany was a menace to both China and Japan and had lively recollections of her unfriendly attitude in connection with the Chino-Japanese war and in the period 120 JAPAN IN THE WAR 121 that followed. Germany had been playing the same game in China that she had played in the Mediterranean and which had xiltimately brought about the war. The Chino-Japanese war had been a great Japanese triumph. One of Japan's greatest victories had been the capture of Port Arthur, but the joy caused in Japan had not ended before it was turned into mourning because of German interference. Germany had then compelled Japan to quit Port Arthur, and to hand over that great fort to Russia so that she h^self might take Kiao-chau without Russia's objection. Japan had never forgotten or forgiven. The German seizure of Kiao-chau had led to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur, the British occupation of Wei-hai-wei and French occupation of Kwan-chow Bay. The vultures were swooping down on defenseless China. This had led to the Boxer disturbance of 1910, where again the Kaiser had interfered. Japan, who recognized that her interests and safety were closely allied with the preservation of the territorial integrity of China, had proposed to the powers that she be permitted to send hCT troops to the rescue of the beleaguered foreigners, but this proposition was refused on account of German suspicion of Japan's motives. Later on, during the Russo-Japanese war, Russia was assisted in many ways by the German Government. Furthermore, the popular sympathy with the Japanese was strongly with the Allies. It was the Kaiser who started tiie cry of the "yellow peril," which had deeply hurt Japanese pride. Yet, even with this strong feeling, it was remarkable that Japan was willing to ally herself with Russia. She knew very well that after all the greatest danger to her liberties lay across the Japan Sea. Russian autocracy, with its militarism, its religious intolerance, its discriminating policy against foreign interests in commerce and trade, was the natural opponent of liberal Japan. The immediate object of Japan in joining hands with England was to destroy the German menace in the Pacific. Before she delivered her ultimatum the Germans had been active; ignoring the rights of Japan while she was still neutral they had captured a Russian steamer within Japanese jurisdiction, as well as a number of British merchant vessels, and even a few Japanese ships had been intercepted by GCTman cruisers. This was the disturbance 122 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR to genera] peace in the Far East, which had prompted England to request Japan's assistance. Japan, when she entered the war, was at least twice as strong as when she began the war with Russia. She had an army of one million men, and a navy double the size of that which she had possessed when the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed. As soon as war was declared she proceeded to act. A portion of her fleet was directed against the German forces in the Pacific, one squadron occupying Jaluit, the seat of government of the Marshall Islands, on October 3d, but her main forces were directed against the fortress of Tsing-tau. The Germans had taken great pride in Tsing-tau, and had made every effort to make it a model colony as well as an impregna- ble fortress. They had built costly water works, fine streets and fime public buildings. They had been making great preparations for a state of siege, although it was not expected that they would be able to hold out for a long time. There were hardly more than five thousand soldiers in the fortress, and in the harbor but four- small gunboats and an Austrian cruiser, the Kaiserin Elizabeth. As Austria was not at war with Japan the authorization of Japan was asked for the removal of the Kaiserin' Elizabeth to Shanghai, where she could be interned. The Japanese were favorable to this proposition, but at the last moment instructions arrived from Vienna directing the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to ask for his pass- ports at Tokio and the commander of the Kaiserin Elizabeth to assist the Germans in the defense of Tsing-tau. The Germans also received orders to defend their fortress to the very last. A portion of the German squadron, under Admiral von Spee, had sailed away before the Japanese attack, one of these being the famous commerce raider, the Emden. On the 27th of August the Japanese made their first move by taking possession of some of the small islands at the mouth of the harbor of Kiao-chau. From these points as bases they swept the surrounding waters for mines, with such success that during the whole siege but one vessel of their fleet was injured by a mine. On the 2d of September they landed troops at the northern base of the peninsula upon which Tsing-tau was situated, with the object of cutting off the fortress from the mainland. The heavy rains which were customary at that season prevented JAPAN IN THK WAR 1S3 much action, but airplanes were sent which dropped bombs upon the wireless station, electric power station and railway station of Kiao-chau, and upon the ships in the harbor. On September 13th General Kamio captured the railway station of Kiao-chau which stands at the head of the bay. This placed him twenty-two miles from Tsing-tau itself. On September 27th he captured Prince Heinrich Hill giving him a gun position from which he could attack the inner forts. On the 23d a small British force arrived from Wei-hai-wei to co-operate with the Japanese. ^.^ fPut'CluLUai. * tbi-kwig-taii, ^ ^ scerto ev APS fm v ^ WVAlBtSC \ fe o* The Gbbuan Gibbauiab in thb Far East Which Feix to thb Jafanesb The combined forces then advanced until they were only five miles from Tsing-tau. The German warships were bombarding the Japanese troops fiercely, and were being replied to by the Japanese squadron in the mouth of the harbor. The great waste of German ammunition led General Kamio to the opinion that the 124 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Germans did not contemplate a long siege. He then determined on a vigorous assault. Before the attack was made he gave the non-combatants an opportunity of leaving, and on the 15th of October a number of women" and children and Chinese were allowed to pass through the Japanese lines. On October 31st the bombardment began, and the German forts were gradually silenced. On November 2d the Kaiserin Elizabeth was sunk in the harbor. The Allied armies were pushing their way steadily down, until, on November 6th> their trenches were along the edge of the last German redoubts. At 6 o'clock on that day white flags were floating over the central forts and by 7.30 Admiral Waldeck, the German Governor, had signed the'terms of capitulation. Germany's prize colony on the continent of Asia had dis- appeared. The survivors, numbering about three thousand, were sent to Japan as prisoners of war. Japanese losses were but two hundred and thirty-six men killed. They had, however, lost one third-class cruiser, the Takachiho, and several smaller crafts. The whole expedition was a notable success. It had occupied much less time than either Japan or Germany had expected, and the news was received in Germany with a universal feeling of bitterness and chagrin. After the Japanese capture of Kiao-chau Japan's assistance to the Allies, while not spectacular, was extremely important, and its Importance increased during the last two years of the war. Her cruiser squadrons did continuous patrol duty in the Pacific and in the China Sea and even in the Indian Ocean. She occupied three groups of German Islands in the South Sea, assisted in driving German raiders from the Pacific, and by her efficiency permitted a withdrawal of British warships to points where they could be useful nearer home. She patrolled the Pacific coast of North and, South America, landed marines to quell riots at Singapore, and finally entered into active service in European waters by send- ing a destroyer squadron to the assistance of the Allies in the Mediterranean. But while the aid of Japan's navy was important to the Allies, her greatest assistance to the Allied cause was what she did in supplying Russia with military supplies. The tremendous struggle carried on by Russia's forces during the first years prevented an JAPAN IN THE WAR 125 easy German victory, and was only made possible through the assistance of Japan. Enormous quantities of guns, ammunition, military stores, hospital and Red Cross supplies, were sent into Russia, with skilled ofiScers and experts to accompany them. In the last year of the war Japan once more came prominently in the public eye in connection with the effort made by the Allies to protect from the Russian Bolsheviki vast stores of ammunition which had been landed in ports of Eastern Siberia. She was com- pelled to land troops to do this and to preserve order in localities where her citizens were in danger. Upon the development of the Czecho-Slovak movement in Eastern Siberia a Japanese force, in association with troops from the United States and Great Britain, was landed to protect the Czecho-Slovaks from Bolsheviki treachery. These troops succeeded in their object, and throughout the latter period of the war kept Eastern Siberia friendly to the Allied cause. In this campaign there was but little blood shed. The expedition was followed by the strong sympathy of the allied world which was full of admiration for the loyalty and courage of the Czecho- slovaks and their heroic leaders. CHAPTER IX Campaign in the East CfG before the declaration of war the German military experts had made their plans. They recognized that in case of war with Russia, France would come to the rescue of its ally. They hoped that Italy, and felt sure that England, would remain neutral, but, no doubt, had provided for the possi- bility that these two nations would join the ranks of their foes. They recognized that they would be compelled to fight against greatly superior numbers, but they had this advantage, that they were prepared to move at once, while England was unprepared, and Russia, with enormous numbers, was so unprovided with rail- road facilities that it would take weeks before her armies would be dangerous. Their plan of campaign, then, was obvious. Leaving in the east only such forces as were necessary for a strong defense, they would throw the bulk of their strength against the French. They anticipated an easy march to Paris, and then with France at their mercy they would gather together all their powers and deal with Russia. But they had underestimated both the French power of resistance, and the Russian weakness, and in particular they had not counted upon the check that they were to meet with in gallant Belgium. The Russian mobilization was quicker by far than had been anticipated. Her armies were soon engaged with the compara- tively small German forces, and met with great success. To understand the Russian campaign one must have some knowledge of the geography of western Russia. Russian Poland projects as a great quadrilateral into eastern Germany. It is bounded on the north by East Prussia, on the south by Galicia, and the western part reaches deep into Germany itself. The land is a broad, level plain, through which from south to north nms the River Vistula. In the center lies the capital, Warsaw, protected by a group of fortresses. The Russian army, therefore, 126 CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 127 could not make a direct western advance until it had protected its flanks by the conquest of East Prussia on the north, and Galicia on the south. By the beginning of the third week in August the first Russian armies were ready. Her forces were arranged as follows: Facing East Prussia was the Army of the Niemen, four corps strong; the Army of Poland, consisting of fifteen army corps, occupied a wide front from Narev on the north to the Bug Valley; a third army, the Army of Galicia, directed its line of advance southward into the coxmtry between Lemberg and the River Sareth. The fortresses protecting Warsaw, BtUl fiui;her to the east, were well garrisoned, and in front of them to the west were troops intended to delay any German advance from Posen. The Russian commander-in-chief was the Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of the late Czar, and one of the most admirable representatives of the Russian at his best; a splendid soldier, honest, straightforward, and patriotic, he was the idol of his men. He had with him a biiUiant staff, but the strength of his army lay in its experience. They had learned war in the bitter school of the Manchurian campaign. The German force on the frontier was not less than five hundred thousand men, and they were arranged for defense. Austria, in Galicia, had gathered nearly one million men under the auspices of Frederick. The first movement of these armies took place in East Prussia. The Army of the Niemen had completed its mobilization early in August, and was under the command of General Rennen- kampf, one of the Russian leaders in Manchuria. In command of the German forces was General von Frangois, an oflScer of Huguenot descent. The first clash of these armies toot place on 'the German frontier near Libau, on August 3d. Two days later, the Russians crossed the frontier, drove in the German advance posts, and seized the railway which runs south and east of the Masurian Lakes. The German force fell back, burning villages and destroying roads, according to their usual plan. On the 7th of August the main army of Rennenkampf crossed the border at Suwalki, advancuig in two main bodies: the Army of the Niemen moving north from Suwalki, the Army of the Narev marching through the region of the Masurian Lakes. In the lake^ district they advanced toward Boyen, and then directed their march toward Insterburg. 128 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR To protect jjisterburg, General von Fran§oi3 made his first stand at Gumbinnen, where, on the 16th of August, the first impor- tant battle of this cainpaign took place. The result was the defeat and retirement of the Germans, and von Frangois was forced to fall back on Koenigsberg. Meantime, the Army of the Narev, imder General Samsonov, was advancing through the coimtry west of the Masurian Lakes. On the 20th his vanguard came upon a German army corps, strongly entrenched at the northwest end of the lakes. The Germans were defeated, and fled in great disorder toward Koenigsberg, abandoning their guns and wagons. Many prisoners were taken, and the Russians found themselves masters of all of East Prussia except that iaside the Koenigsberg line. They then marched on Koenigs- berg, and East Prussia was for a moment at the mercy of the conqueror. Troops were left to invest Koenigsberg, and East Prussia was overrun with the enemy. The report as to the behavior of these troops met with great indignation in Germany; but better informa- tion insists that they behaved with decorum and discretion. The peasantry of East Prussia, remembering wild tales of the Cossacks of a hundred years before, fled in confusion With stories of burning and slaughter and outrage. Germany became aroused. To thoroughly vinderstand the effect of the Kussian invasion of East Prussia, one must know some- thing of the relations of that district with the German Empire. Historically, this was the cradle of the Prussian aristocracy, whose dangerous policies had alarmed Europe for bo many decades. The Prussian aristocracy originated in a mixtiwe of certain west German and Christian knights, with a pagan population of the eastern Baltic plain. The district was separate from Poland and never fell imder the Polish influence. It was held by the Teutonic knights who conquered it in a sort of savage independence. The Christian faith, which the Teutonic knights professed to inculcate, took little root, but such civilization as Germany itself had absorbed did filter in. The chief noble of Borussia, the governing Duke, acquired in time the title of King, and it was here, not in Berlin, nor in Brandenbmrg, that the HohenzoUem power originated. East Prussia, therefore, had a sentimental importance in the eyes of the Prussian nobility. The Prussian Royal House, -.pi" e s ^ g p m >-« H< mBg- O O O W K'" 2 iw S-o B > CD SS (B _ " '^ S-g-S S tr ^ 2 ® ^ € w CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 131 ^Ct/lF Of >l»U&ilSf&^ A •i^v?^ JS^ \poim, /" socmczB ^lOOZl asmoh O I .,1 I KONSK/E VKfy mmsmr nmcomo LuBurt TH£ EASTESJN FZGHTmG ZOITE. 132 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR in particular, had toward this country an especial regard. More- over, it was regarded by the Germans as a whole as their rampart against the Slav, a proof of the German power to withstand the dreaded Russian. That this sacred soil should now be in the hands of a Cossack army was not to be borne. The Kaiser acted at once. Large forces were detached from the west and sent to the aid of the eastern army. A new commander was appointed. He was General von Hindenburg, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War who had been for some years retired. After his retirement he devoted his time to the study of East Prussia, especially the ground around the Masurian Lakes. He became more familiar with its roads, its fields, its marshes, its bogs than any of the peasants who spent their lives in the neighborhood of the lakes. Before his retirement, in the annual maneuvers, he had often rehearsed his defense against Russian invaders. Indeed report, perhaps unfounded, described his retirement to the displeasure of the Emperor WilHam at being badly worsted ia one of these mimic combats. He had prevented the coimtry from being cleared and the swamps from being drained, arguing that they were worth more to Germany than a dozen fortresses. A man of rugged strength, his face suggesting power and tenacity, he was to become the idol of the German people. His chance had come. His army consisted of remnants of the forces of von Frangois and large reinforcements sent him from the west. In all, perhaps, he had with him 150,000 men, and he had behind him an admirable system of strategic railways. The Russian High Command was full of confidence. Rennen- kampf had advanced with the Army of the Niemen toward Koenigsberg, whose fall was reported from time to time, without foundation. Koenigsberg was in fact impregnable to armies no stronger than those under Rennenkampf's conunand. Samsonov with the Army of the Narev, had pushed on to the northeastern point of the lakes, and defeated the German army corps at Frankenau. Misled by his success, he decided to continue his advance through the lake region toward AUenstein. He marched first toward Osterode, in the wilderness of forest, lake and marsh, between Allenstein and the Lower Vistula. His force numbered 200,000 men, but the swamps made it impossible to proceed in mass. Bis column had to be temporarily divided, nor was he well informed CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 133 as to the strength of his enemy. On Wednesday, the 26th of August, hia advance guards were everywhere driven in. As he pushed on he discovered the enemy in great nimibers, and late in the day realized that he was facing a great army. Von Hindenburg had taken a position astride the railway from Allenstein to Soldau, and all access to his front was barred by lakes and swamps. He was safe from frontal attack, and could reinforce each wing at pleasure. From his right ran the only two good roads in the region, and at his left was the Osterode railway. On the first day he stood on the defensive, while the Russians, confident of victory, attacked again and again. Some groimd was won and prisoners captured, and the news of a second victory was sent to western Europe. The battle continued, however, until the last day of August and is known as the battle of Tannenberg, from a village of that name near the marshes. Having worn down his enemy, von Hindenburg counter-attacked. His first movement was on his right. This not only deceived Samsonov and led him to reinforce his left, but also enabled von Hindenburg to seize the only good road that would give the Russian army a chance of retreat. Mean- while the German general was hvurying masses of troops north- eastward to outflank the Russian right. While the Russians were reinforcing one flank, he was concentrating every man he could upon the other. Then his left swept southward, driving in and enveloping the Russian right, and Samsonov was driven into a coimtry full of swamps and almost without roads. To thoroughly understand the plight of the Russian army one must have some idea of the character of the Masurian Lake district. It was probably molded by the work of ice in the past. Great glaciers, in their progress toward the sea, have ground out hundreds of hollows, where are foimd small pools and consider- able lakes. From these glaciers have been dropped patches of clay which hold the waters in wide extents of marsh and bog. The country presents a monotonous picture of low, rounded swells and flats, interspersed with stunted pine and birch woods. The marshes and the lakes form a labyrinth, difficult to pass even to those familiar with the country. The Masurian region is a great trap for any commander who has not had unlimited acquaintance with the place. Causeways, filled with great care, and railroads 134 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR permit an orderly advance, but in a confused retreat disaster at once threatens. This was the ground that von Hindenburg knew so well. The Russians resisted desperately, but their position could not be held. Disaster awaited them. They found their guns sinking to the axle-trees in mire. Whole regiments were driven into the lakes and drowned. On the last day of battle, August 31st, Sam- Bonov himself was killed, and hia army completely destroyed. Fifty thousand prisoners were taken with himdreds of guns and quantities of supplies. Von Hindenburg had attained the triumph of which he had so long dreamed. It was an immensely successful example of that enveloping movement characteristic of German warfare, a victory recalling the battle of Sedan, and it was upon a scale not inferior to that battle. The news of this great triiunph reached Berlin upon the anniver- sary of the battle of Sedan, and on the same day that the news came from the west that von Kluck had reached the gates of Paris and it had a profound effect upon the German mind. They had grown to believe that the Germans were a sort of superman; these wonderful successes confirmed them in this belief. No longer did they talk of a mere defense in the east; an advance on Warsaw was demanded and von Hindenburg was acclaimed the greatest soldier of his day. The Emperor made him Field Marshal, and placed him in command of the Teutonic armies in the east. But von Hindenburg was not satisfied. The remnant of the defeated army had fled toward Narev, and without losing a moment von Hindenburg set off in pursuit. Rennenkampf, all this time, strange to say, had made no move, and at the news of Samsonov's disaster he abandoned the siege of Koenigsberg and retreated toward the Niemen. At Gumbinnen he fought a rear-guard action with the German left, but had made up his mind that the Niemen must be the Russian line of defense. Von Hindenburg, following, crossed the Russian frontier and in the wide forests near Augustovo there was much fighting. This action, described as the first battle of Augustovo, was only a rear-guard action, the Russians desiring merely to delay the enetoy for a day or two. German reports, however, described it as LEADING GERMAN GENERALS Von Hindenburg, Chief of the Grerman General Staff; von Ludendorff, Strategist of the General Staff; von Moltke, dismissed by the Kaiser for incom- petency; von Mackensen, Commander in the E!ast; Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, Army Commander in the Weet. CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 137 a victory only second in importance to Tannenberg. Von Huiden- burg then occupied Suwalki. He apparently had become over confident, and hardly realized that Eennenkampf was contlnxially being reinforced by the Hussian mobilization. The Etissian High Command understood the situation very well. Their aim was to keep von Hindenburg busy on the Niemen, while their armies in the south were overwhelming the fleeing Austrians. Von Hindenburg was deceived, and continued his advance until he got into serious trouble. His movement had begun on September 7th; his army consisted of the four corps with which he had won Tannenberg, and large reinforcements from Germany, including at least one guards battalion, and a number of Saxons and Bavarians. The coimtry is one vast mixtmre of marsh and lake and bog. The roads are few, and advance must therefore be slow and difficult. Rennenkampf made no attempt to delay him beyond a little rear-guard fighting. The German army reached the Niemen on September 21st, and foimd behind it the Russian army in pre- pared positions, with large reinforcements from Vilna. The river at this point was wide and deep, and hard to cross. The battle of the Niemen Crossings was an artillery duel. The Russians quietly waited in their trenches to watch the Germans build their pontoon bridges. Then their guns blew the bridges to pieces. Thereupon von Hindenburg bombarded the Russian lines hoping to destroy the Russian guns. On Friday, the 26th, his guns boomed all day; the Russians made no reply. So on the morning of the 27th he built bridges again, and again the Russians blew them to pieces. On the 28th he gave the order for retreat. He realized that the game wasn't worth the candle; he might easily be kept fighting on the Niemen for months, while the main armies of the Russians were crossing Austria. Von Hindenburg conducted the retreat with a skill which came to him naturally from his knowledge of the marshes. RCTmenkampf followed him closely, keeping up persistent attacks throu^ the woods and marshes. The path of the retreating army lay through the forest of Augustovo, a country nnich like that around the Masurian Lakes, and there the Germans suffered heavy losses. Von Hindenburg managed, however, to get the bulk of his forces back across the frontier and continued his retreat to the intrenchments on the Masurian Lakes. 188 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Germans lost 60,000 men in killed, woimded and prisoners, and von Hindenburg handed over the command of the German armies in East Prussia to General von Schubert, and hastened south to direct the movement to relieve the Austrians at Cracow. But quite as important as the campaign in East Prussia was the struggle in Galicia. When the war began the Germans con- templated merely defense in their own domain; such offense as was planned was left to the Austrians farther south. Galicia is a long, level coimtry lying north of the Carpathian Mountains, and in this coimtry Austria-Hungary had gathered together a force of hardly less than one million men. A quarter of these lay in reserve near the mountains; the remaining three- quarters was divided into two armies; the first, the northern army, being under the command of General Dankl, the second was that of von Offenberg. The base of the first army was Przemysl; that of the second was Lemberg. The first army, it was planned, was to advance into Russian territory in the direction of Lublin. The second army, stationed southeast of the first army, was to protect it from any Russians who might strike in upon the south. The first army, therefore, contained more picked material than the second, which included many troops from the southern parts of the empire, including certain disaffected contingents. The first army made its advance as soon as possible, and entered Russian territory on the 11th of August. It went forward 'with very little loss and against very little resist- ance. The Russian forces which were against it were inferior in Bimiber, and fell back towards the Bug. The Austrians followed, turning somewhat toward the east, when their advance was checked by news of catastrophe in their rear. On the 14th of August the Russian army under General Ruzsky crossed the frontier, and advanced toward the Austrian second army. The Russian army was in far greater strength than had been expected, and when its advance was followed by the appearance upon the right flank of von Offenberg's command, of yet another Russian army, under Brussilov, the Austrian second army found itself in great danger. Ruzsky advanced steadily from August 14th until, on the 21st, it was not more than one day's advance from the outer works of Lemberg, and the third Russian army under Brussilov was threatening von Offenberg's right flank. CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 139 Von Offenberg, underestimating the strength of the enemy, undertook to give battle. The first outpost actions were successful for the Austrians, and helped them in their blunder. On the 24th of August the two Russian armies effected a junction, and their Austrian opponents found themselves threatened with disaster. An endeavor was made to retreat, but the retreat turned into a rout. On the 28th Tamopol was captured by the Russians, and the Austrian army found itself compelled to fall back upon defense positions to the south and east of Lemberg itself. The attack of the Russian armies was completely successful. The Austrian army was driven from its positions, and on September 4th the Austrians evacuated Lemberg and the Russian forces took possesion of the town. The Austrians fled. The population wel- comed the conquerors with the greatest enthusiasm. An immense quantity of stores of every kind were captured by the Russians together with at least 100,000 prisoners. There was no looting, nor any kind of outrage. The Russian policy was to make friends of the inhabitants of Galicia. But there was no halt after Lemberg. Brussilov divided Ms army, and sent his left wing into the Carpathian passes; his center and right moved west toward Przemysl; while Ruzsky moved northwest to reinforce the Russian army on the Bug. Meanwhile the position of Dankl's army was perilous in the extreme. There were two possible courses, one to fall back and join the remnants of von Offenberg's army, the other to attack at once, before the first Russian army could be reinforced, and if victorious to turn on Ruzsky. Dankl's army waa now very siJrong. He had received rein- forcements, not only from Austria but from Germany. On the 4th of September he attacked the Russian center; his attack was a failure, although he outnumbered the Russians. The battle con- tinued until the tenth. Everywhere the Austrians were beaten, and driven off in ignominious retreat. The whole Austrian force fled southward in great disorder; a part directed its flight toward Przemysl, others still farther west toward Cracow. Austria had been completely defeated. Poland was clear of the enemy. The Russian flag flew over Lemberg, while the Russian army was marching toward Cra- cow. The Russian star was in the ascendant. 140 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR But the Austrian armies had not been annihilated. An army of nearly a million men cannot be destroyed in so short a time. The Austrian failure was due in part to the disaffection of some of the elements of the army, and in part to the poor Austrian general- ship. They had imderestimated their foe, and ventured on a most perilous plan of campaign. Russian generalship had been most admirable, and the Russian generals were men of ability and experience. Brussilov had seen service in the Turkish War of 1877. Ruzsky'was a professor in the Russian War Academy. In the Japanese war he had been chief of staff to General Kaulbars, the commander of the Second Man- churian army. Associated with him was General Radko Dmitrieff, an able officer with a most interesting career. General Dmitrieff was bom in Bulgaria, when it was a Tiu-kish province. He grad- uated at the Military School at Sofia, and afterwards at the War Academy at Petrograd. On his return to Bulgaria he commanded a regiment in the Serbian-Bulgarian war. Later he became mixed up in the conspiracy against Prince Alexander, and was forced to leave Bulgaria. For ten years he served in the Russian army, returning to Bulgaria on the accession of Prince Ferdinand. Later on he became Chief of the General Staff, and when the Balkan war broke out he commanded one of the Bulgarian armies, won several important victories, and became a popular hero of the war. Disgusted with the political squabbles which followed the war, he returned to Russia as a general in the Russian army. With men like these in command, the Russian Empire was well served. After the decisive defeat of the Austrian army imder General Dankl, certain changes were made in the Russian High Command. General Ruzsky was made commander of the center, which was largely reinforced. General Ivanov was put in command of the armies operating in Galicia with Dmitrieff and Brussilov as his chief lieutenants. Brussilov's business was to seize the deep passes in the Carpathians and to threaten Hungary. Dmitrieff 's duty was to press the Austrian retreat, and capture the main fortresses of central Galicia. There are two great fortresses on the River San, Jaroslav and Przemysl, both of them controlling important railroad routes. Jaroslav on the main line from Lemberg to Cracow, Przemysl with a line which skirts the Carpathians, and connects with lines going CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 141 south to Hungary. Jaroslav was fortified by a strong circle of intrenchments and was looked to by Austria for stout resistance. The Austrians were disappointed, for Ivanov captured it in three days, on the 23d of September. Dmitrieff found Przemysl a harder nut to crack. It held out for many months, while operations of greater importance were being carried on by the Hussiau armies. The plans of the Russian generals in some respects were not unlike the plan previously suggested as that of the German High Command. At the beginning of the war they had no desire to carry on a power- ful offensive against Gennany. The expedition into East Prussia was conducted more for poUtical than for military purposes. The real offensive at the start was to be against Austria. The Russian movements were cautious at first, but the easy capture of Lem- berg, the fall of Jaroslav, and the demoralization of the Austrian armies, encouraged more daring strategy. With the Germans stopped on the north, little aid to the Austrians could come from that source. The Grand Duke Nicholas was eager to strike a great blow before the winter struck in, so his armies swept to the great Polish city of Cracow. The campaign against Austria also had a political side. Russia had determined upon a new attitude toward Poland. On August 15th the Grand Duke Nicholas, on behalf of the Czar, had issued a proclamation offering self-government to Russian Poland. Home rule for Poland had long been a favorite plan with the Czar. Now he promised, not only to give Russian Poland home rule, but to add to it the Polish peoples in Austria and Ger- many. This meant that Austria and Germany would have to give up Galicia on the one hand, and Prussian Poland on the other, if they should lose the war. In the old days Poland had been one of the greatest kingdoms in Europe, with a proud nobility and high civilization. She was one of the first of the great Slav peoples to penetrate the west. Later she had protected Europe against Tartar invasion, but internal differences had weakened her, and, surroimded by enemies, she had first been plundered, and later on divided between Austria, Russia and Prussia. Never had the Poles consented to this destruction of their independence. Galicia had constantly struggled against Austria; Prussian Poland was equally disturbing to the Prussian peace, and Russia was only able to maintain the control of her PoUsh province by the sword. 142 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Of the three the Pole was probably more inclined to keep on friendly terms with Russia, also a Slav people. The policy of the Czar encouraged this inclination and produced disaffection among the Poles in Galicia and in Posen. Moreover, it gave Russia the sympathy of the world which had long regarded the partition of Poland as a political crime. It encouraged the Czecho-Slavs and other dissatisfied portions of the Austrian Empire. The results were seen immediately in the demoralization of the Austrian armies where considerable numbers of Czecho-Slovak troops deserted to the Russian army, and later in the loyalty to Russia of the Poles, and their refusal, even under the greatest German pressure, to give the German Empire aid. CHAPTER X The Struggle for Stjfremact on the Sea CAPTAIN MAHAN'S thesis that in any great war the nation possessing the greater sea power is likely to win, was splendidly illustrated during the World War. ^The great English fleets proved the insuperable obstacle to the ambitious German plans of world dominion. The millions of soldiers landed in France from Great Britain, and its provinces, the piillions of Americans transported in safety across the water, and the enormous quantities of supplies put at the dis- posal of the Allies depended, absolutely, upon the Allied control of the seB routes of the world. With a superior navy a German blockade of England would have brought her to terms in a short period, and France, left to fight alone^ would have been an easy victim. The British navy saved the worldT] Germany had for maaiy years well understood the necessity of power upon the sea. When the war broke out it was the second greatest of the sea powers. Its ships were mostly modem, for its navy was a creation of the past fifteen years, and its development was obviously for the purpose of attacking the British supremacy. The father of this new navy was a naval officer by the name of von Tirpitz, who, in 1897, had become the German Naval Minister. With the aid of the Emperor he had aroused among the Germans a great enthusiasm for maritime power, and had built up a navy in fifteen years, which was second only to the English navy. Von Tirpitz was an interesting character. In appearance he looked like an old sea-wolf who had passed his life on the wave, but such a thought would be a mistake. The great adnairal's work was done on land; he was an organizer, a diplomatist, and a poli- tician. He created nothing new; in all its details he merely copied the English fleet. He is tall, heavily built, with a great white beard, forked in the middle. He is a man of much dignityj with a smile which has won him renown. He might have been Chancellop of the Empire but he preferred to devote himself to 143 144 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the navy, to prove that the future of Gennany is on the seas. His glories are the Lusitania, the fleet safely anchored at Kiel, and the long rows of innocent victims of the submarine. He was bom in 1850 at Kustrion on the Ildor, when the German navy was only a little group of worthless boats. In 1865 he entered the School of Cadets, in 1869 he was gazetted lieutenant, in 1875 he was lieutenant-commander with a reputation as an able organizer. In 1891 he was appointed Chief of Staff at Kiel. £This was his opportunity, and he set himself at the task of creating and protecting the submarine division of the navyT) As time went on he grew in importance. In 1898 he became Assistant Secretary of State at the Admiralty in Berlin. Two years later he became vice-admiral. His admirers recognized his powers, and he was called the master. In 1899 a patent of nobility was conferred upon him. In 1902 he gained permission to build 13,000-ton war ships, and the following year he was made admiral. In 1907 enormous appropriations were made at his desire for the enlarge- ment of the fleet. In 1908 Emperor William conferred on him the Order of the Black Eagle. In 1914 the Kiel Canal was com- pleted tmder his direction, and he informed the Emperor that the fleet was ready. It is only fair to add that in all his plans he had the active support of his Imperial Master. The Kaiser, too, had dreamed a dream. Von Tirpitz admired the English. His children had been brought up in England, as was also his wife. He imitated the English, but on the day of the declaration of war he absolutely forbade his family to talli English, and he made a bonfire of his fine scientific library of English books. The Kaiser treated Von Tirpitz as his friend, asked his advice> and followed his counsel. His son, Sub-Lieutenant Wolf Von Tirpitz, studied at Oxford, and is on the most friendly terms with many English gentlemen of importance. He was on board the Mainz, which was sunk off Helgoland in August, 1916. In full uniform he swam for twenty minutes, before being picked up by one of the boats of the cruiser Liverpool. He was a lucky prisoner of war. The German battleships and cruisers which represent the toil of von Tirpita for more than half a century, lay hidden away in the shelter of the Kiel Canal during the war to be ingloriously surrendered at its end. His name will remain linked with that of the Lusitania. The^ German High Sea Fleet, at the beginning of the war, THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 147 conmsted of forty-one battleships, seven battle cruisers^ nine aimored cruisers, forty-nine light cruisers, one hundred and forty- five destroyers, eighty torpedo boats, and thirty-eight submarines. Under the direction of Von Tiipitz the navy had become demo- cratic and had drawn to it many able men of the middle class. Its training was highly specialized and the officers were enthusi- asts m their profession. The navy of Austria-Himgaiy had also expanded in recent years imder the inspiration of Admiral Montecuculi. At the outbreak of the war the fleet comprised sixteen battleships, two armored and twelve light cruisers, ei^teen destroyers, eighty-five torpedo boats and eleven submarines. The Allies were much more powerful. The French navy had in the matter of invention given the lead to the world, but its size had not kept pace with its quality. At the beginning of the war France had thirty-one battleships, twenty-four armored cruisers, dght light cruisers, eighty-seven destroyers, one himdred and fifty-three torpedo boats and seventy-six submarines. Rus^a, after the war with Japan, had begun the creation of a powerful battle fleet, which had not been completed when war was declared. At that time she had on the Baltic four dreadnaughts, ten armored cruisers, two light cruisers, eighty destroyers and twenty-four sub- marines, aiid a fleet of about half the strength in the Black Sea. The English fleet had reached a point of efficiency which was unprecedented in its history. The progress of the German sea power had stimulated the spirit of the fleet, and led to a steady advance in training and equipment. The development of arma- ment, and of battleship designing, the improvement in gunnery practice, the revision of the rate of pay, the opening up of careers from the lower deck, and the provision of a naval air service are landmarks in the advance. In the navy estimates of March, 1914, Parliament sanctioned over £51,000,000 for a naval defense, the largest appropriation for the purpose ever made. The home fleet was arranged in three units, the first fleet was divided into four battle squadrons, together with the flagship of the commander-in- chief. The first squadron was made up of eight battleships, the second squadron contiained eight, the third eight and the fourth four. Attached to each fleet was a battle cruiser squadron, con- sisting of four ships in the first fleet, four in the second, four in the third and five in the fourth. The fourth also contained a light 148 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR cruiser squadron, a squadron of six gunboats for mine sweeping, and four flotillas of destroyers, each with a flotilla cruiser attached. The second fleet was composed of two battle squadrons, the first containing eight pre-dreadnaughts, and the second six. Attached to this fleet were also two cruiser squadrons, a mine layer squadron of seven vessels, four patrol flotillas, consisting of destroyers and torpedo boats, and seven flotillas of submarines. A third fleet contained two battle squadrons, mainly composed of old ships, with six cruiser squadrons. The English strength, outside home waters, consisted of the Mediterranean fleet, containing three battle cruisers, four armored cruisers, four ordinary cruisers and a flotilla of seventeen destroyers, together with submarines and torpedo boats. In eastern waters there were a battleship, two cruisers, and four sloops. In the China squadron there were one battleship, two armored cruisers, two ordinary cruisers, and a number of gunboats, destroyers, submarines, and torpedo boats. In New Zealand there were four cruisers. The Australian fleet contained a battle cruiser, three ordinary cruisers, three destroyers and two submarines. Other cruisers and gunboats were stationed at the Cape, the west coast of Africa, and along the western Atlan- tic. At the outbreak of the war two destroyers were purchased from Chile, and two Turkish battleships, building in England, were commandeered by the government. It is evident that the union of France and Britaia made the Allies easily superior in the Mediterranean Sea, so that France was able to transport her African troops in safety, and the British commerce with India and the East could safely continue. The main field of the naval war, therefore, was the North Sea and the Baltic, where Germany had all her fleet, except a few naval raiders. The entrance to the Baltic was closed to the enemy by Denmark, which, as a neutral, was bound to prevent an enemy fleet from passing. Germany, however, by means of the Kiel Canal, could permit the largest battle fleet to pass from the Baltic to the North Sea. The German High Sea Fleet was weaker than the British home fleet by more than forty per cent, and the German policy, therefore, was to avoid a battle, until, through mine layers and submarines, the British power should have been sufficiently weakened. The form of the German coast made this plan easily possible. The various bays and river mouths provided safe retreat THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACy 149 for the German ships, and the German fleet were made secure by the fortifications along the coast. On July the 29th, 1914, at the conclusion of the annual maneuvers, instead of being demo- bilized as would have been usual, the Grand Fleet of Great Britain sailed from Portland along the coast into the mists, and from that moment dominated the whole course of the war. From the 4th of August, the date of the declaration of war, the oceans of the world were practically rid of enemy war ships, and were closed to enemy mercantile marine. Although diplo- macy had not yet failed, the masters of the English navy were not caught napping. The credit for this readiness has been given to Mr. Winston Churchill, one of the first Lords of the Admiralty, who had divined the coming danger. When the grand fleet sailed it seemed to disappear from English view. Occasionally some dweller along the coast might see an occasional cruiser or destroyer sweeping by in the distance, but the great battleships had gone. Somewhere, in some hidden harbor, lay the vigilant fleets of England. Sea fighting had changed since the days of Admiral Nelson. The old wooden ship belonged to a past generation. The guns of a battleship would have sunk the Spanish Armada with one broadside. Li this modem day the battleship was protected by aircraft, which dropped Jbombs from the clouds. Unseen sub- marines circled about her. Beneath her might be mines, which could destroy her at the sUghtest touch. Everything had changed but the daring of the English sailor. In command of the Home fleet was Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He had had a distinguished career. Beginning as a. lieutenant in the Egyptian War of 1882, he had become a comnaander in 1891. In 1897 he became a captain, and served in China, com- manding the Naval Brigade in the Pekin Expedition of 1900, where he was severely woimded. Later he became naval assistant to the Controller of the Navy, Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes, Rear-Admiral in the United Fleet, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Controller of the Navy, Vice-Admiral com- manding the Atlantic fleet, Vice-Admiral commanding the second division of the Home fleet, and second Sea Lord of the Admiralty. He had distinguished himself in the naval maneuvers of 1913, and was one of the officers mainly responsible for the development 150 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR of the modem English navy. He had the confidence of his col- leagues, and a peculiar popularity among the British seamen. On tlxe day after the declaration of war, the first shots were fired. German mine layers, it is now beheved, in disguise, had been dropping mines dining the preceding week over a wide area of the North Sea. On the 6th of August the mine layer, KoKiigen Luise, was svmk by the destroyer Lance, and on August 6th the British light cruiser Amphion struck one of the mines laid by the Koenigen Luise and was sunk with great loss of life. On August 9th, German submarines attacked a cruiser squadron without causing any damage, and one submarine was sunk. It was in the Mediterranean, however, that the greatest interest was felt during the first week of the war. Two German war ships, the Goeben and the Breslau, were off the Algerian coast when war broke out. It is probable that when these ships received then: sailing orders, Germany depended on the assistance of Italy, and had sent these ships to its assistance. They were admirably suited for commerce destroyers. They began by ' bombarding the Algerian coast towns of Bona and Phillipe, doing little damage. They then turned toward the coast of Gibraltar, but fo;md before them the British fleet. Eluding the British they next appeared at Messina. There the captains and officers made their wills and deposited their valuables, including signed portraits of the Kaiser, with the German consul. . The decks were cleared for action, and with the bands playing they sailed out under a blood-red sunset. However, they seem to have been intent only on escape, and they went at full speed eastward toward the Dardanelles, meeting in their way only with the British cruiser Gloucester, which, though much inferior in size, attacked them boldly but was unable to prevent their escape. On entering Constantinople they were reported as being sold to the Turkish Government, the Turks thus beginning the line of conduct which was ultimately to bring them into the war. Picturesque as this incident was it was of no importance as compared with the great British blockade of Germany which began on the 4th of August. German merchantmen in every coimtry of the empire were seized, and hundreds of ships were captured on the high seas. Those who escaped to neutral ports were at // '^ 't***-- "■-„ fc'_^; _ :,m!^ <^irift»^j TORPEDOING OF THE BRITISH BATTLESHIP, "ABOUKIR" In the first few weeks of the war, when the navies of the world were still at open warfare, during a sharp engagement off the Hook of Holland in the North Sea the British warships "Aboukir^', "Cressy" and "Hogue" fell victims to the enemy. This sketch ehows the "Aboukir" after a German torpedo had found its mark in her hull. THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 153 once interned. In a week German commerce had ceased to exist. A few German cruisers were still at large but it was not long before they had been oaptured, or driven into neutral ports. Among the most picturesque of these raiders were the Emden and the Koenigs- berg. The Emden, in particular, interested the world with her romantic adventures. Her story is best told in the words of Lieu- tenant-Captain von Mticke, and Lieutenant Gyssing, whose return to Germany with forty-four men, four officers and one surgeon, after the destruction of the ship, was a veritable Odyssey. "We on the Emden had no idea where we were going, as, on August 11, 1914, we separated from the cruiser squadron, escorted only by the coaler Markomannia. Under way the Emden picked up three officers from German steamers. That was a piece of luck, for afterward we needed many officers for the capturing and sinking of steamers, or manning them when we took them with us. On September 10th, the first boat came in sight. We stopped her; she proved to be a Greek tramp returning from England. On the next day we met the Indus, boimd for Bombayj all fitted up as a troop transport, but still without troops. That was the first one we sunk. The crew we took aboard the Markomannia. Then we sank the Lovat, a troop transport ship, and took the Eambinga along with us. One gets used quickly to new forms of activity. After a few dajrs, capturing ships became a habit. Of the twenty-three which we captm^ed most of them stopped after our first signal; when they didn't, we fired a blank' shot. Then they all stopped. Only one, the Clan Matteson> waited for a real shot across the bow before giving up its many automobiles and locomotives to the seas. "The officers were mostly very polite, and let down rope ladders for us. After a few hoxirs they woidd be on board with us. We oiuBelves never set foot in their cabins, nor took charge of them. The officers often acted on their own initiative, and signaled to us the nature of their cargo. Then the commandant decided as to whether to sink the ship or take it with us. Of the cargo we always took every thing we could use, particularly provisions. Many of the English officers and sailors made good use of the hours of transfra: to drink up the supply of whisky instead of sacri- . ficing it to the waves. I heard that one captain was lying in tears at the enforced separation from his beloved ship, but on investiga- 154 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR tion found that he was merely dead drunk. The captain on one ship once called out cheerily 'Thank God, I've been captured.' He had received expense money for the trip to Australia, and was now saved half the journey." Parenthetically it may be remarked, that the Emden's cap- tain, Karl von Mueller, conducted himself at all times with chivalrous bravery, according to the accoimts of the English them- selves, who in their reports say of him, admiringly, "He played the game." Captain von Miicke's accoimt continues: "We had mostly quiet weather, so that communication with captured ships was easy. They were mostly dynamited, or else shot close to the water line. At Calcutta we made one of ova richest hauls, the Diplomat, chock full of tea, we suiik $2,500,000 worth. On the same day the Trabbotch> too, which steered right straight towards us, was captured. By now we wanted to beat it out of the Bay of Bengal, because we had learned from the papers that the Emden was being keenly searched for. By Rangoon we encountered a Norwegian tramp, which, for a cash consideration, took over all the rest of oiu: prisoners of war. "On September 23d we reached Madras, and steered straight for the harbor. We stopped still 3,000 yards before the city. Then we shot up the oil tanks; three or four of them burned up and illuminated the city. Two days later we navigated around Ceylon, and could see the lights of Colombo. On the same evening we gathered in two more steamers, the King Lund, and Tywerse. The next evening we got the Burresk, a nice steamer with 500 tons of nice Cardiff coal. Then followed m order, the Ryberia, Foyle, Grand Ponrabbel, Benmore, Troiens, Exfort, Graycefale, Sankt Eckbert, Chilkana. Most of them were sunk. The coal ships were kept. All this happened before October 20th.' -Then we Bailed southward to Deogazia, southwest of Colombo." The captain then teUs with much gusto a story of a visit paid to the Emden by some English farmer^, at Deogazia, who were entertained royally by the Emden officers. They knew nothing about the war, and the Emden officers told them nothing. Hia narrative continues: "Now we went toward Miniko, where we sank two ships more. On the next day we found three steamers to the north, one of them with much desired Cardiff coal. From English papers on the THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 155 captured ships we learned that we were being hotly pursued. One night we started for Penang. On October 28th we raised a very practicable fourth smokestack (for disguise). The harbor of Penang lies in a channel difficult of access. There was nothing doing by night. We had to do it at daybreak. At high speed, without smoke, with lights out, we steered into the mouth of the channel. A torpedo boat on guard slept well. We steamed past its small light. Inside lay a dark silhouette. That must be a warship. We recognized the silhouette dead sure. That was the Russian cruiser Jemtchud. There it lay, there it slept like a rat, no watch to be seen. They made it easy for us. Because of the narrowness of the harbor we had to keep close; we fired the first torpedo at fom: hundred yards. "Then, to be sure, things livened up a bit on the sleeping warship. At the same time we took the crew quarters under fire five shells at a time. There was a flash of flame on board, then a kind of burning aureole. After the fourth shell the flame burned high. The first torpedo had struck the ship too deep, because we were too close to it. A second torpedo which we fired off from the other side didn't make the same mistake. After twenty seconds there was absolutely not a trace of the ship to be seen. "But now another ship which we couldn't see was firing. That was the French D'lvrebreville, toward which we now turned at once. A few minutes later an incoming torpedo destroyer waa reported. It proved to be the French torpedo boat Mousquet. It came straight toward us. That's always remained a mystery to me, for it must have heard the shooting. An officer whom we fished up afterward explained to me that they had only recognized we were a German warship when they were quite close to us. The Frenchman behaved well, accepted battle and fought on, but was polished off by us with three broadsides. The whole fight with those ships lasted half an hour. The coromander of the torpedo boat lost both legs by the first broadside. When he saw that part of his crew were leaping overboard he cried out 'Tie me fast. I will not survive after seeing Frenchmen desert their ship.' As a matter of fact he went down with his ship, as a brave captain, lashed fast to the mast. That was my only sea-fight. "On November 9th I left the Emden in order to destroy the wireless plant on the Cocos Island. I had fifty men, four machine 156 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR guns and about thirty rifles. Just as we were about to destroy the apparatus it reported 'Careful. Ejnden near.' The work of destruction went smoothly. Presently the Emden signaled to us 'Hurry up.' I pack up, but simultaneously wails the Emden's siren. I hurry up to the bridge, see the flag 'Anna' go up. That means weigh anchor. We ran like mad into our boat, but abeady the Emden's pennant goes up, the battle flag is raised, they fire from starboard. The enemy is concealed by the island, and there- fore not to be seen, but I see the shell strike the water. To follow and catch the Emden is out of question. She is going twenty knots, I only four with my steam pinnace. Therefore I turn back to land, raise the flag, declare German laws of war in force, seize all arms, set out my machine guns on shore in order to guard against a hostile landing. Then I run again in order to observe the fight." The cable operator at Cocos Island gives the following accoimt of what happened from this point. After describing the sudden flight of the Emden, he goes on: "Looking to the eastward we could see the reason for this sudden departure, for a warship, which we afterwards learned was the Australian cruiser Sydney, was coming up at full speed in pursuit. The Emden did not wait to discuss matters, but, firing her first shot at a range of about 3,700 yards, steamed north as hard as she could go. At first the firing of the Emden seemed excellent, while that of the Sydney was somewhat erratic. This, as I afterward learned, was due to the fact that the Australian cruiser's range finder was put out of action by one of the only two shots the Germans got home. However, the British gunners soon overcame any diflaculties that this may have caused, and settled down to their work> so that before long two of the Emden's fvumels had been shot away. She also lost one of her masts quite early in the fight. Both blazing away with their big guns the two cruisers disappeared below the horizon, the Emden being on fire. "Early the next morning, Tuesday, November 10th, we saw the Sydney returning, and at 8.45 A. M. she anchored off the island. From various members of the crew I gathered some details of the rimning fight \dth the Emden. The Sydney, having an advantage in speed, was able to keep out of range of the Emden's guns, and to bombard with her own heavier metal. The engage- ment lasted eighty minutes, the Emden finally running ashore THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 157 on North Keeling Island, and becoming an utter wreck. Only two German shots proved effective, one of these failed to explode, but smashed the main range finder and killed one man, the other killed three men and wounded fourteen. "Each of the cruisers attempted to torpedo the other, but both were unsuccessful, and the duel proved a contest ia hard pounding at long range. The Sydney's speed during the fighting was twenty-sbc knots, and the Emden's twenty-four knots. The British ship's superiority of two knots enabled her to choose the range at which the battle should be fought and to make the most of her superior guns. Finally, with a number of woimded prisoners on board, the Sydney left here yesterday, and our few hotu-s of war excitement were over." Captain Miicke's return home from the Cocos Island was filled with the most extraordinary adventures, and when he finally arrived in country controlled by his Allies he was greeted as a hero. While the story of the Emden especially interested the world, the Koenigsberg also caused much trouble to English commerce. Her chief exploit occurred on the 20th of September, when she caught the British cruiser Pegasus in Zanzibar harbor undergoing repairs. The Pegasua had no chance, and was destroyed by the Koenigsberg's long-range fire. Nothing much was heard later of the Koenigsberg, which was finally destroyed by an English cruiser, July 11, 1915. The exploits of these two German commerce raiders attracted general attention, because they were the exceptions to the rule. The British, on the other hand, were able to capture such German merchantmen as ventured on the sea without great difficulty, and as they did not destroy their capture, but brought them before prize courts, the incidents attracted no great attention. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which had been fitted up as a com- merce destroyer by the Germans at the beginning of the war, as was the Spreewald of the Hamburg-American Line, and the Cap Trafalgar, were caught and simk during the month of September. On the whole, English foreign trade was unimpaired. But though the German fleet had been bottled up in her harbors, Germany was not yet impotent. There remained the submarine. Up to 1905 Germany had not a single submarine. The 158 HISTORY OF THE WORLl), WAR first Gennan submarine was launched on August 30, 1905. Even then it was considered merely an experiment. In February, 1907, it was added to the register of the fleet. On January 1, 1901, there were only four nations that possessed submarines, France, with foiui^en; the United States, with eight ; England, with six, of which not one was completed, and finally Italy, with two. In 1910, Germany appropriated 18,750,000 marks for submarines, and in 1913, 25,000,000 marks. On January 1, 1914, the total number of submarines of all nations was approximately four hundred. Early in the war the submarine became a grave menace to the English navy and to English commerce. On the 5th of Septem- ber the Pathfinder, a light cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life. On September 22d, three cruisers, the Cressy, Hogue, and Aboukir were engaged in patrolling the coast of Holland. A great storm had been raging and the cruisers were not protected by the usual screen of destroyers. At haK-past six in the morning the seas had fallen and the cruisers proceeded to their posts. The report of Commander Nicholson, of the Cressy, of what followed gives a good idea of the effectiveness of the submarine. "The Aboukir," says this report, "was struck at about 6.25 A. M. on the starboard beam. The Hogue and Cressy closed, and took up a position, the Hogue ahead of the Aboukir, and the Cressy about four hundred yards on her port beam. As soon as it was seen that the Aboukir was in danger of sinking, all the boats were sent away from the Cressy, and a picket boat was hoisted out without steam up. When cutters full of the Aboukir's men were returning to the Cressy, the Hogue was struck> apparently \mder the aft 9.2 magazine, as a very heavy explosion took place immediately. Almost directly after the Hogue was hit we observed a periscope on our port bow about three hundred yards off. Fire was immedi- ately opened, and the engines were put full speed ahead with the intention of running her down. . . "Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship so as to render assistance to the crews of the Hogue and Aboukir. About five minutes later another periscope was seen on our starboard quarter, and fia'e was opened. The track of the torpedo she fired at a range of from 500 to 600 yards was plainly visible, and it struck us on the starboard side just before the after bridge. The ship listed about ten degrees to the starboard and remained steady. The THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 159 time was 7.15 A. M. All the water-tight doors, dead lights and scuttles had been securely closed before the torpedoes left the ship. All mess stools and table shores and all available timber below and on deck had been previously got up and thrown overside for the saving of life. A second torpedo fired by the same submarine missed and passed about ten feet astern. "About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had" hit, a third torpedo fired from the submarine just before the star- board beam, hit us under the No. 5 boiler room. The time was 7.30 A. M. The ship then began to heel rapidly, and finally turned keel up remaining so for about twenty minutes before she finally sank. It is possible that the same submarine fired all three tor- pedoes at the Cressy." Of the total crews of 1,459 officers and men only 779 were saved. The survivors believed that they had seen at least three submarines, but the German official account mentions only one, the U-9, under Captain-Lieutenant Otto Weddigen whose accoimt of this battle confirms the report of Commander Nicholson. Refer- ring to the reports that a flotilla of German submarines had attacked the cruisers, he says: "These reports were absolutely untrue. U-9 was the only submarine on deck." He adds: "I reached the home port on the afternoon of the 23d and on the 24th went to Wilhelmshaven to find that news of my effort had become public. My wife, dry- eyed when I went away, met me with tears. Then I learned that my little vessel and her brave crew had won the plaudit of the Kaiser who conferred upon each of my co-workers the Iron Cross of the second class and upon me the Iron Crosses of the first and second classes." Weddigen was the hero of the hour in Germany. He had with him twenty-five men. He seems to have acted with courage and skill, but it is also evident that the English staff work was to blame. Three such vessels should never have been sent out without a screen of destroyers, nor should the Hogue and the Cressy have gone to the rescue of the Aboukir. A few days after the disaster the English Admiralty issued the following statement: The sinking of the Aboukir was of course an ordinary hazard of patrolling duty. The Hogue and Cressy, however, were sunk because they proceeded to the assistance of their consort, and remained with 160 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR engines stopped, endeavoring to save life, thus presenting an easy target to further submarine attacks. The natural promptings of humanity have in this case led to heavy losses, which would have been avoided by a strict adhesion to military consideration. Modem naval war is pre- senting us with so many new and strange situations that an error of judgment of this character is pardonable. But it has become necessary to point out for the future guidance of His Majesty's ships that the con- ditions which prevail when one vessel of a squadron is injured in the mine field, or is exposed to submarine attack, are analogous to those which occur in action, and that the rule of leaving ships to their own resources is applicable, so far, at any rate, as large vessels are concerned. On the 28th of August occurred the first important naval action of the war, the battle of Helgoland. From the 9th of August German cruisers had shown activity in the seas aroxmd Helgoland and had simk a nimiber of British trawlers. The English sub- marines, E-6 and E-8, and the light cruiser Fearless, had patrolled the seas, and on the 21st of August the Fearless had come under the enemy's shell fire. On August 26th the submarine flotilla, xmder Commodore Keyes, sailed from Harwich for the Bight of Helgoland, and all the next day the Lurcher and the Firedrake, destroyers, scouted for submarines. On that same day sailed the first and third destroyer flotillas, the battle cruiser squadron, first light crmser squadron, and the seventh cruiser squadron, having a rendezvous at this point on the morning of the 28th. The morning was beautiful and clear, so that the submarines could be easily seen. Close to Helgoland were Commodore Keyes' eight submarines, and his two small destroyers. Approaching rapidly from the northwest were Commodore Tyrwhitt's two destroyer flotillas, a little to the east was Commodore Goodenough's first light cruiser squadron. Behind this squadron were Sir David Beatty's battle cruisers with four destroyers. To the south and west of Helgoland lay Admiral Christian's seventh cruiser squadron. Presently from behind Helgoland came a nimiber of German destroyers, followed by two cruisers; and the English submarines, with tJae two small destroyers, fled westwards, acting as a decoy. As the Germans followed, the British destroyer flotillas on the northwest came rapidly down. At the sight of these destroyers the German destroyers fled^ and the British attempted to head them off. According to the official report the principle of the movement THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 161 was to cut the German light craft from home, and engage it at leisiire on the open sea. But between the two German cruisers and the English cruisers a fierce battle took place. The Arethusa was engaged with the German Ariadne, and the Fearless with the Strasburg. A shot from the Arethusa shattered the fore bridge of the Ariadne and killed the captain, and both German cruisers drew off toward Helgoland. Meanwhile the destroyers were engaged in &. hot fight. They sunk the leading boat of the German flotilla and damaged a dozen more. Between nine and ten o'clock there was a luU in the fight; the submarines, with some of the destroyers, remained in the neighborhood of Helgoland, and the Gennans, believing that these boats were the only hostile vessels in the neighborhood, detennined to attack them. The Mainz, the Koln, and the Strasbmrg came again on the scene, and opened a heavy fire on some of the boats of the first flotilla which were busy saving life. The small destroyers were driven away, but the seamen in the boats were rescued by an English submarine. The Arethusa and the Fearless, with the destroyers in their company, engaged with three enemy cruisers. The Strasburg, seriously injiu-ed, was compelled to flee. The boilers of the Mainz blew up, and she became a wreck. The Koln only remaining and carrying on the fight. < The English destroyers were much crippled, and as the battle had now lasted for five hours any moment the German great battle- ships might come on the scene. A wireless signal had been sent to Sir David Beatty, asking for help, and about twelve o'clock the Falmouth and the Nottingham arrived on the scene of action. By this time the first destroyer flotilla was out of action and the third flotilla and the Arethusa had their hands full with the Koln. The light cruisers were followed at 12.15 by the English battle cruisers, the Lion came first, and she alone among the battle cruisers seems to have used her guns. Her gun power beat down all opposition. The Koln made for home, but the Lion's guns set her on fire. The luckless Ariadne hove in sight, but the terrible 13.5-inch guns sufficed for her. The battle cruisers circled around, and in ten minutes the Koln went to the bottom. At twenty minutes to two. Admiral Beatty turned home- 162 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ward. The German cruisers Mainz, Koln, and the Ariadne had been sunk; the Strasburg was seriously damaged. One destroyer was sunk, and at least seven seriously injured. About seven hundred of the German crew perished and there were three hundred prisoners. The British force returned without the loss of a single ship. The . Arethusa had been badly damaged, but was easily repaired. The casualty list was thirty-two killed and fifty-two wounded. The battle was fought on both sides with great gallantry, the chief glory belonging to the Arethusa and the Fearless who bore the brunt of the battle. The strategy and tactical skill employed were ad- mirable, and the German admiral, von Ingenohl from that time on, with one exception, kept his battleships in harbor, and confined his activities to mine laying and the use of submarines. In the first days of the war the German mine layers had been busy. By means of trawlers disguised as neutrals, mines were dropped off the north coast of Ireland, and a large mine field was laid off the eastern coast of England. One of the most important duties of the Royal Naval Reserve was the task of mine sweeping. Over seven hundred mine-sweeping vessels were constantly em- ployed in keeping an area of 7,200 square miles clear for shipping. These ships swept 15,000 square miles monthly, and steamed over 1,100,000 miles in carrying out their duties. It would be hard to overestimate the effect of the British blockade of the German ports upon the fortimes of the war. The Germans for a long time attempted, by the use of neutral ships, to obtaia the necessary supplies through Holland, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. Millions of dollars' worth of food and munitions ultimately reached German hands. The imports of all these nations were multiplied many times, but as the time went on the blockade grew stricter and stricter imtil the Germans felt the pinch. lTo conduct efficiently this blockade meant the use of over 3,600 vessels which were added to the auxiHaay patrol service. Over 13,000 vessels were intercepted and examined by units of the British navy employed on blockade channels. The Germans protested with great vigor against this blockade, and ultimately endeavored to counteract it by declaring unre- stricted submarine warfare. In fact, Great Britain had gone too far, and vigorous protests from America followed her attempt to seize contraband goods in American vesselsj THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 163 The code of maritime law, adopted in the Declaration at Paris of 1856, as well as the Declaration in London of 1909, had been framed in the interests of unmaritime nations. The British plenipotentiaries had agreed to these laws on the theory that in any war of the future Britain would be neutral. The rights of neutrals had been greatly increased. A blockade was difficult to enforce, for the right of a blockading power to capture a blockade runner did not cover the whole period of her voyage, and was confined to ships of the blockading force. A ship carrying contra- band could only be condemned if the contraband formed more than half its cargo. A belligerent warship could destroy a neutral vessel without taking it into a port for a judgment. The transfer of an enemy vessel to a neutral flag was presumed to be valid, if effected more than thirty days before the outbreak of war. Bel- ligerents in neutral vessels on the high seas were exempt from capture. The Emden could justify its sinking of British ships, but the Engfish were handicapped in their endeavor to prevent neutral ships from carrying suppUes to Germany. But Germany had become a law imto itself. And England found it necessary in retaliation to issue orders in coxmcil which made nugatory many of the provisions of the maritime code. The protests of the American Government and those of other neutrals were treated with the greatest consideration, and every endeavor was made that no real injustice should be done. When America itseK later entered the war these differences of opinion disappeared from public view. CHAPTER XI The Sublime Porte A S SOON as the diplomatic relations between Austria and /\ Serbia had been broken, the Turkish Grand Vizier f — \ informed the diplomatic corps in Constantinople that Turkey would remain neutral in the conflict. The declara- tion was not formal, for war had not yet been declared. The policy of Turkey, as represented in the ministerial paper, Tasfiri- Efkiar, was as follows: "Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked toward avoiding it, but neutrality does not mean indifference. The present Austro-Serbian conflict is to a supreme degree inter- esting to us. In the first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is fighting against a much stronger enemy. In the natural course of things Serbia, which till lately was expressing, in a rather open way, her solidarity as a nation, still provoking us, and Greece, will be materially weakened. In the second place, the results of this war may surpass the limits of the conflict between two coun- tries, and in that case our interests will be just as materially affected. We must, therefore, keep our eyes open, as the circum- stances are momentarily changing, and do not permit us to let escape certain advantages which we can secure by active, and rightly acting, diplomacy. The policy of neutrality will impose on us the obligation of avoiding to side with either of the bellig- erents. But the same policy will force us to take all the necessary measures for safeguarding our interests and our frontiers." Whereupon a Turkish mobilization was at once ordered. The war had hardly begun when Turkey received the news that hex twb battleships, building in British yards, had been taken over by England. A bitter feeling against England was at once aroused, Turkish, mobs proceeded to attack the British stores and British subjects, and attempts were even made against the British embassy in Constantinople, and the British consulate at Smyrna. At this time Turkey was in a peculiar position. For a cen- 164 THE SUBLIME PORTE 165 tury she had been on the best of terms with France and Great Britain. On the other hand Russia had been her hereditary enemy. She was still suffering from her defeat by the Balkan powers, and her statesmen saw in this war great possibilities. She desired to recover her lost provinces in Europe, and saw at once that she could hope for little from, the Allies in this direction. For some years, too> German intrigues, and, according to report, German money, had enabled the German Government to control the leading Turkish statesmen. German generals, imder Sketch oy Tbbkitoet Controlled by Ttjhkbt in 1914 General liman von Sanders, were practically in control of the Turkish army. The commander-in-chief was Enver Bey, who had been educated in Germany and was more German than the Germans. A new system of organization for the Turkish army had been established by the Germans, which had substituted the mechanical German system for the rough and inefficient Turkish methods. Universal conscription provided men, and the Turkish soldier has always beeij known as a good soldier. Yet as it turned out the German training did little for him. Under his own officers he could fight well, but under German officers, fighting for a cause which he neither liked nor understood, he was bound to fail. 166 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR At first the Turkish mobilization waa conducted in such a way as to be ready to act in common with Bulgaria in an attack against Greek and Serbian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians had obtained a decisive victory over the Serbians. The entry of Great Britain into the war interfered with this scheme. Mean- time, though not at war, the Tiu-ks were suffering almost aa much as if war had been declared. Greedy speculators took advantage of the situation, and the government itself requisitioned every- thing it could lay its hands on. A Constantinople correspondent, writing on the 6th of August, says as follows: "Policemen and sheriffs followed by military officers are taking by force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flom-, potatoes, wheat and rice, and taking over vir- tually everything, giving in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on which it is written. In this way many shops are forced to close, bread has entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital of a neutral country, is already feeling all the tr«ubles and privations of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries fop the possession of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are seen crying and weeping with despair. Many merchants, afraid lest the government requisition their goods^ hasten to have their orders canceled, the result being that no merchandise of any kind is coming to Constantinople either from Europe or from Anatolia. Both on account of the recruiting of their employees, and of shortage of coal, the companies operating electric tramways of the city have reduced their service to the minimum, as no power is available for the running of the cars. Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen bearing the inscription 'Closed temporarily by order of the government.' " Immediately after war was declared between Gfermany and Russia the Porte ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to every kind of shipping, at the same time barring the entrances of THE SUBLIME PORTE 167 these channels with rows of mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a British merchantman which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another had a narrow escape in the Darda- nelles. A large number of steamers of every nationality waited outside the straits for the special pilot boats of the Turkish Govern- ment, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Tm-key by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, as it was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into the Sea of Marmora and the jEgean. On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so that all political power might center aroimd the Imperial throne. A vigorous endeavor was made to strengthen the Turkish navy. Djemal Pasha was placed at its head with Arif Bey as chief of the naval staff. Talaat Bey and Halil Bey were sent to Bucharest to exchange views with Roumanian statesmen, and representatives of the Greek Government, in regard to the outstanding Greco- Turkish difficulties. On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime Porte was issued defining in the first place many constitutional reforms, and in particular aboUshing the capitulation, that is, the concessions made by law to foreigners, allowing them partici- pation in the administration of justice, exemption from taxation, and special protection in their business transactions. In aboHsh- ing these capitulations the Ottoman Government declared that it would treat foreign countries in accordance with the rules of international law, and that it was acting without any hostile feeling against any of the foreign states. The Allied governments formally protested against this action of the Turkish Government. Meantime Constantinople was the center of most elaborate intrigues. The Turkish Govern- ment grew more and more warlike, and began to threaten, not only Greece, but Russia and the Triple Entente as well. During this period the Turkish press maintained an active campaign against England and the Allies. Every endeavor was made by the Sublime Porte to secure Roumanian or Bulgarian co-operation in a militant policy. The Allies, seeing the situation, made many promises to Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania. Bulgaria was offered Adrianople and Thrace; Greece was to have Smyrna, and 168 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Roumania the Roumanian provinces in Austria. The jealousy of these powers of each other prevented an agreement. The influ- ence of Germany became more and more preponderant with the Ottoman Empire; indeed, it is probable that an imderstanding had existed between the two powers from the beginning. The action of the Turkish Government in regard to the Goeben and Breslau could hardly have been possible unless with a previous understanding. At last the rupture came. The following was the official Turkish version of the events which led to the Turkish declaration of war: "While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish fleet was maneuvering on the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which at first confined its activities to following and hindering every one of our movements, finally, on the 29th, imexpectedly began hostilities by attacking the Ottoman fleet. During the naval battle which ensued the Turkish fleet, with the help of the Almighty, sank the mine layer Pruth, inflicted severe damage on one of the Russian torpedo boats, and captured a collier. A torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat Gairet-i-MiUet sank the Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from the Turkish torpedo boat Mouavenet-i-MiUet inflicted serious damage on a Russian coast guard ship. Three officers and seventy-two sailors rescued by our men and belonging to the crews of the damaged and sunken vessels of the Russian fleet have been made prisoners. The Ottoman Imperial fleet, glory be given to the Almighty, escaped injury, and the battle is progressing favorably for us. Information received from our fleet, now in the Black Sea, is as follows: "From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners, and from the presence of a mine layer among the Russian fleet, evidence is gathered that the Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to the Bosporus with mines, and destroying entirely the Imperial Ottoman fleet, after having split it m two. Our fleet, believing that it had to face an unexpected attack, and supposing that the Russians had begun hostilities without a formal declaration of war, pursued the scattered Russian fleet, bombarded the port of Sebas- topol, destroyed in the city of Novorossisk fifty petroleum depots, fourteen military transports, some granaries, and the wireless telegraph station. In addition to the above our fleet has sunk in FAMOUS BRITISH GENERALS General Smith-Dorrien, BritLsh Corps Commander in the famous retreat from Mons; Generals Plumer, Rawlinson and Byng, Commanders on the Western Front; General Birdwood, Commander of the Australian-New Zealand troops at Gallipoli. FAMOUS FRENCH GENERALS Marshal Petain, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies in the West; Generals Mangin, Gouraud and Humbert, Army Commanders in the West; General Gallieni, Commander of Paris, who sent forward an army in taxicabs to save the day at the First Battle of the Marne. THE SUBLIME PORTE 171 Odessa a Russian cruiser, and damaged severely another. It is believed that this second boat was likewise sunk. Five other steamers full of cargoes lying in the same port were seriously damaged. A steamship belonging to the Russian volunteer fleet was also sunk, and five petrolemn depots were destroyed. In Odessa and Sebastopol the Russians from the shore opened fire against our fleet." The Sultan at once declared war against Russia, England and France, and issued a proclamation to his troops, declaring that he had called them to arms to resist aggression and that "the very existence of oiu: Empire and of three hundred million Moslems whom I have summoned by sacred Fetwa to a supreme struggle, depend on your victory. Do not forget that you are broth^a in arms of the strongest and bravest armies of the world, with whom we are now fighting shoulder to shoulder." The Fetwa, or proclamation aimoimcing a holy war, called upon all Mussulmans capable of carrying arms, and even upon Mussulman women to fight against the powers with whom the Sultan was at war. In this manner the holy war became a duty, not only for all Ottoman subjects, but for the three hundred million Moslems of the earth. On November 5th Great Britain declared war against Turkey, ordered the seizure in British ports of Turkish vessels, and, by an order in Coimcil, annexed the Island of Cyprus. On the 17th of December, the Khedive Abbas II, having thrown in his lot with Turkey and fled to Constantinople, Egypt was form- ally proclaimed a British Protectorate. The title of Khedive was abolished, and the throne of Egypt, with the title of Sultan, was offered to Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha, the eldest Hving prince of the house of Mahomet Ali, an able and enlightened man. This meant that Britain was now wholly responsible for the defense of Egypt. The new Sultan of Egypt made his state entry on Decem- ber 20th into the Abdin Palace in Cairo. The progress of the^ new ruler was received with great enthusiasm by thousands of spectators. The King of England sent a telegram of congratulation with his promise of support: On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I desire to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere friendship, and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding the 172 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR integrity of Egypt, and in seeming her future well being and prosperity. Your Highness has been called upon to undertake the responsibilities of your high office at a grave crisis in the national life of Egypt, and I feel convinced that you will be able, with the co-operation of your Ministers, and the Protectorate of Great Britain, successfully to overcome aU the influences which are seeking to destroy the independence of Egypt and the wealth, liberty and happiness of its people. This was Britain's answer to the Turkish proclamation of war. The Turks had not taken this warlike coiu-se with entire unanimity. The Sultan, the Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were in favor of peace, but Enver Pasha and his colleagues overruled them. The Odessa incident was unjustified aggression, deUberately planned to provoke hostihties. The tricky and corrupt German diplomacy had won its point. It is mteresting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war, a favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers, had counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser had visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as a sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photo- graphs of him had been taken representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and a report had been deUberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through those coimtries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk party? The Mohanamedan did not feel himself greatly moved. At the begmning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any move to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were neutral, and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in the hands of her German advisers, she moved her new army to those frontiers where it could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In particular Germany and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies. An attack upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops which THE SUBLIME PORTE 173 otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must be sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. An expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, and perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt and give an opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the Djehad was being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest. The Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threat- ened, but the Germans had sent there many heavy guns and forti- fications had been built which, in expert opinion, made Constanti- nople safe. The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Trans- caucasia and in Persia was first xmdertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control of its commerce. The English had protected Persia, suppressed piracy and slavery, and introduced sanitary measures in the marshes along the coast. They regarded a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary for the prosperity of India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had never had great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, but in eastern Arabia lived many independent Arabian chieftains who had no idea of subjecting themselves to Tm-kish rule. For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this direction. Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly designed to open up the way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned a great railway to open up trade, and her endeavor to build the Bagdad Railway is a story in itself. Her efforts had lasted for many years, but she found herself constantly blocked by the agents of Great Britain. Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the Gulf had made a start. On November 7th a British force imder Brigadier-General Delamain bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, landed troops and occupied the village. Sailing north from this point they disembarked at Sanijah, where they intrenched them- selves and waited for reinforcements. On November 13th rein- forcements arrived, and on November 17th the British army advanced toward Sahain. From there they moved on Sahil, where they encountered a Turkish force. Some lively fighting ensued and 174 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the Turks broke and fled. Turkish casualties were about one thousand five hundred men, the English killed numbered thirty-eight. The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and it was found th^t the Turks had evacuated the place. A base camp was then prepared, for it was certain that there would be further fighting. Bagdad was only about three hundred miles distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kuma where the Turks were gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was made on Kuma but, Without success. The British obtained reinforcements, but on December 9th the Turkish garrison siurendered uncondi- tionally. The British troops then intrenched themselves> having established a barricade against a hostile advance upon India. Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since Persia had no military power, each combatam was able to occupy that country whenever they desired. The Turks advanced into Persia south of Lake Urmia, and, meeting with no resistance from Persia, moved northward toward the Russian frontier. On the 30th of January, 1915, Russian troops heavily defeated the invaders and followed them south as far as Tabriz, which they occupied and held. The Russian armies had also undertaken movements in this section. In the extreme northwest of Persia a Russian column had crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the 3d of November, the town of Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns entered Kvirdestan, and an expedition against Van was begun. Further north another Russian column crossed the frontier and captured the town of KarakiHssa, but was held there by the Turks. These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Trans- caucasia, where the main body of the Tm-kish army imder Enver Pasha himself was in action. At this point the boundaries of Turkey touch upon the Russian Empire. To the north is the Great Russian fortress of Kars, to the south and west the Turkish stronghold of Erzerum. The whole district is a great mountain tangle, the towns standing at an altitude of 5,000 and 6,000 feet, surrounded by lofty hills. None of the roads are good, and in winter the passes are ahnost impassable. In all the wars between Russia and Turkey, these mountain re^ons have been the scenes of desperate battles. THE SUBLIME PORTE 175 The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from Sarakamish across the frontier, leading them on to some distance from their base, then, while holding their front, a second force was to swing aroimd and attack them on the left flank. The plan was simple, the difficulty was the swing of the left flank, which had to be made through mountain paths, deeply covered with snow. The Tm-kish aimy was composed of about 150,000 men imder the command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with a large German staff, was the true commander. The Russian army, under General Woronzov was about 100,000 men. Early in November the Russians crossed the frontier and reached Koprikeui, which they occupied on the 20th of November. The Turkish Eleventh corps was entrusted with the duty of holding the Russian forces; the remainder of the army was to advance over the passes and take their stations behind the Russian right. On December 25th the Turkish attack began. The Eleventh corps forced back the Russians from Koprikeui to Khorasan, while the extreme Turkish left was endeavoring to outflank them. But the weather was desperate. A blizzard was sweeping down the steeps. The Turkish forces were indeed able to carry out the plan, for they obtained the position desired. But by this time they were worn out, and half starved, and their attack on New Year's Day resulted in their defeat and retreat. The Ninth corps was utterly wiped out, and the remainder of the Turkish forces driven off in confusion. Only the strenuous efforts of the Turkish Eleventh corps prevented a debacle. After a three days' battle it, too, was broken, and with heavy losses it retreated toward Erzerum. The snowdrifts and blizzards must have accounted for not less than 50,000 of the Turkish troops. The result of the battle made Russia safe in the Caucasus. But the Germans had another use for the Turkish forces. England was in control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. The German view of England's position has been well stated by Dr. Paul Rohrbach: "As soon as England acquired Egypt it was incumbent upon her to guard against any menace from Asia. Such a danger apparently arose when Txu-key, weakened by her last war with Russia and by difficult conditions at home, began to turn to Germany for support. And now war has come, and England is reaping the crops which she 176 HISTORY OF THE YVORLD WAR has sown. England, not we, desired this war. She knows this, despite all her hypocritical talk, and she fears that, as soon as connection is established along the Berlin-Vienna-Budapest- Sofia-Constantinople Line, the fate of Egypt may be decided Through the Suez Canal goes the route to all the lands surround- ing the Indian Ocean, sind by way of Singapore to the western shores of the Pacific. These two worlds together have about nine hundred million inhabitants, more than haK the popu- lation of the Universe, and India lies in a controlling position in their midst. Should England lose the Suez Canal she will be obliged, unlike the powers in control of that waterway, to use the long route aroimd the Cape of Good Hope, and depend on the good win of the South African Boers. The majority among the latter have not the same views as Botha. However, it is too early to prophesy, and it is not according to German ideas to imitate our opponents by singing premature paeans of victory. But any- how we are well aware why anxious England already sees us on the road to India." Following out this view a Turkish force was directed toward the Suez Canal, while the German intriguers did their best to stir up revolt in Egypt itself. The story of Egypt is one of the most interesting parts of the world's history. In the early days of the world it led mankind. Its peculiar geographical position at first gave it strength, and afterward made it the prize for which all nations were ready to contend. In 1517 the Sultan Selim con- quered Egypt and made it part of the Tiu-kish realm, and in spite of many changes the sovereignty of Constantinople had continued. In recent years the misgovemment of the Khedive Ismael had brought into its control France and Britain; then came the deposi- tion of Ismael, the revolt imder Arabi, the bombardment of Alexandria and the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Since then Egypt has been occupied by Great Britain, who restored order, defeated the armies of the Mahdi, and turned Egyptian bankruptcy into prosperity. Lord Kitchener was the English hero of the wars with the Mahdi, and Lord Cromer the administrator who gave the Egyptian peasant a comfort unknown since the days of the Pharaohs, With prosperity came political agitation, and Germany, as has been seen, looked upon Egypt as fertile territory for German propaganda. Intrigue having failed in Egypt, a Turkish force was directed THE SUBLIME PORTE 177 against the Suez Canal. If that could be captured Great Britain could be cut off from India. An expeditionary army of about 65,000 men was gathered under the command of Djemal Pasha, the former Turkish Minister of Marine. He had been bitterly indignant at the seizure of the two Turkish dreadnaughts building in England, and was burning for revenge. But he foimd great difficulties before him. To reach the Canal it was necessary to cross a trackless desert, varying from 120 to 150 miles in width. Over this desert there were three routes. The first touched the Mediterranean coast at El-Arish and then went across the desert to El-Kantara on the Canal, twenty-five miles south of Port Said. On this route there were only a few wells, qmte insufficient for an army. A second route ran from Akaba, on the Red Sea, across the Peninsula of Sinai to a point a little north of Suez. This was also badly supplied with wells. Between the two was the central route. Leaving the Mediterranean at El-Arish it ran up the valley called the Wady El-Arish to where that valley touched the second road. There was no railway, nor were these roads suitable for motor transports; for an army to move it would be necessary either to build a railway or to improve the roads. The best route for railway was the Wady El-Arish. The Suez Canal, moreover, can be easily defended. It is over two himdred feet wide, with banks rising to a height of forty feet. A railway runs along the whole Canal, and most of the grotmd to the east is flat, offering a good field of fire either to troops on the banks or to ships on the Canal. A considerable force of British troops, under the command of Major-General Sir John Maxwell, were assigned for the pro- tection of the Canal. About the end of October it was reported that 2,000 Bedouins were marching on the Canal, and on November 21st a skirmish took place between this force and some of the English troops in which the Bedouins were repelled. Nothing more was heard for more than two months, but on January 28, 1915, a small advance party from the Turkish army was beaten back east of El-E^antara. British airmen watched the desert well, and kept the British army well informed of the Turkish movements. The Turks had found it impossible to convey their full force across the desert, and the forces which finally arrived seemed to have numbered only about twelve thousand men. The main attack was not developed until February 2d. 178 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR According to an account in the London Times, on that date, the enemy began to move toward the Ismailia Ferry. They met a reconnoitering party of Indian troops of all arms, and a desultory engagement ensued to which a violent sandstorm put a sudden end about three o'clock in the afternoon. The main attacking force pushed forward toward its destination after nightfall. From twenty-five to thirty galvanized iron pontoon boats, seven and a half meters in length, which had been dragged in carts across the desert, were hauled by hand toward the water. With one or two rafts made of kerosene tins in a wooden frame, all was ready for the attack. The first warning of the enemy's approach was given by a sentry of a mountain battery who heard, to him, an imknown tongue across the water. The noise soon increased. It would seem that Mudjah Ideem — "Holy Warriors" — said to be mostly old Tripoli fighters, accompanied the pontoon section, and regulars of the Seventy-fifth regiment, for loud exultations, often in Arabic, of "Brothers, die for the faith; we can die but once," betrayed the enthusiastic irregular. The Egyptians waited until the Turks were pushing their boats into the water, then the Maxims attached to the battery suddenly spoke, and the guns opened at point-blank range at the men and boats crowded under the steep baiik opposite them. Immediately a violent fire broke out on both sides of the Canal. A little torpedo boat with a crew of thirteen, patrolliug the Canal, dashed up and landed a party of foiu: ofl&cers and men to the south of Tussum, who climbed up the eastern bank and found themselves in a Turkish trench, and escaped by a miracle with the news. Promptly the midget dashed in between the fires and enfiladed the eastern bank amid a hail of bullets, and destroyed several pontoon boats lying unlaimched on the bank. It continued to harass the enemy, though two officers ^d two men were woimded. As the dark, cloudy night lightened toward dawn fresh forces went into action. The Turks, who occupied the outer, or day, lino of the Tussum post, advanced, covered by artillery, against the Indian troops, holding the inner or night position, while an Arab regiment advanced against the Indian troop at the Serapeum post. The warships on the Canal and lake joined in the fray. The enemy brought some six batteries of field guns into action from the slopes THE SUBLIME PORTE 179 west of Kataiba-el-kaeli. Shells adinirably fused made fine practice at all the visible targets, but failed to find the battery above men- tioned, which, with some help from a detachment of infantry, beat down the fire of the riflemen on the opposite bank and inflicted heavy losses on the hostile supports advancing toward the Canal. Supported by land and, naval artillery the Indian troops took the offensive, the Serapeum garnsgBj wHch had stopped the enemy three-quarters of a mile fr(5firtlie position, cleared its front, and the Tussum garrison, by a brilliagi^counter-attack, drove the enemy back. Two battalions of .^ial^jaiia.of-^the Twenty-eighth regi- ment were thrown into the^siit, buVthe artillery gave them no chance, and by 3.30 in the aSemoon a third of the enemy, with the exception of a force that layTiid in btisliy hollows on the east bank between the two posts, were in full retreat, leaving many dead, a large proportion of whom had been killed by shrapneL Meanwhile the warships on the lake bad been id action, a salvo from a battleship woke up Ismailia early, and crowds of soldiers and some civilians climbed every available sand hill to Bee what was doing, till the Turkish guns sent shells sufficiraitly near to convince them that it was safer to watch from cove r^ At about eleven in the morning "two six-inch shells hit the Hardinge nearthe southern entrance of the lake. They first damaged the funnel, and the second burst inboard. Pilot Carew, a gallant old merchant seaman, refused to^go beldw whea the firing opened and lost a leg. Nine others were Vv*otaided/ one or two merchant- men were hit but no lives were _ lost.^ A British gunboat was struck. Then came a dramatic dueL between the Tm-kish big gun, or guns, and a warship. " The Turks fired just over, and then just short, at 9,000 yards. ^ The warship sentinasalvo of more six-inch shells than had been fired that day., 7~^ Late in the afternoon of the 3djth^e wasjBniping from the east bank between Tussum 'and 'SfiJ^peumj'aind ia man was killed on the tops of a British battleship.^ Next morning the sniping was renewed and the Indian troops, moving out to search the ground, found several hundred of the enemy in the hollow previoxisly men- tioned. During the fighting some of the enemy, either by accident or design, held up their hands, while others fired on the Punjabis, who were advancing to take the surrender, akd killed a British officer. A sharp fi^t with the cold steel followed, and a British 180 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR officer killed a Turkish officer with a sword thrust in single combat. A body of a German officer with a white flag was afterward found here, but there is no proof that the white flag was used. Finally all the enemy were killed, captiured or put to ffight. With this the fighting ended, and the subsequent operations were confined to the rounding up of prisoners, and the capture of a considerable amount of military material left behind. The Turks, who departed with their guns and baggage during the night' of the 3d, still seemed to be moving eastward. ■ So ended the battle of the Suez Canal. Two more incidents in the Turkish campaign remain to be noticed. Report havi5g"'coirie that the town of Akaba on the Red Sea was being used as a mine-laying station, H. M. S. Minerva visited the place, and found it occupied by soldiers under a German officer. The Minerva destroyed the fort and the barracks and the government buildings. Another British cruiser, with a detachment of Indian troops, captured the Turkish fort at Sheik Said, at the southern end of the Red Sea. And so for the time ended all Tm-kish movements against Great Britain. That such movements should have been possible seems hard to believe. For a centiuy the British had been the friends and allies of the Turkish Government. In the Crimean War their armies had fought side by side with the Turkish troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord Beaconsfield, in the negotiations which preceded the treaty of Berhn, had saved for Turkey much of its territory. It was only the British influence and the fear of the British power which had pre- vented Russia from taking possession of Constantinople a half a century before. The Enghsh had always been popular in Turkey and there was every reason at the beginning of the war to believe that their popularity had not waned. There is reason to believe that the average Tiu-k had Httle sympathy with the course of his government, and if a free expression of the popular will had been possible the Turkish army would never have been sent against either the EngUshmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver Pasha was greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war was forced upon the Turkish people by German tools and German bribes. CHAPTER XII Rescue of the Staevino THE sufferings of Belgium dm-ing the German occupation were terrible, and attracted the attention and the sym- pathy of the whole worid. To understand conditions it is necessary to know Bomething of the economic situation. Since it had come imder the protection of the Great Powers, Bel- gimn had developed into one of the greatest manufacturing coun- tries in the world. Nearly two million of her citizens were employed in the great industries, and one million two hundred thousand on the farms. She was peaceful, industrious and happy. But on account of the fact that more than one-half of her citizenship earned their living by daily labor she found it impossible to pro- duce foodstuff enough for her own needs. Seventy-eight per cent of her breadstuffs had to be imported. From her own fields she could hardly supply her population for more than four months. The war, and the German occupation, ahnost destroyed busi- ness. Mines, workshops^ factories and nulls were closed. LaboB found itself without employment and consequently without wages. The banks would extend no credit. ^ But even if there had been money enough it soon became apparent that the food supply was rapidly going. The German invasion had come when the crops were standing ripe upon the field. Those crops had not been reaped, but had been trampled imder foot by the hated German. One featm-e of Belgian industrial life should be understood. Hundreds of thousands of her workmen were employed each day in workshops at considerable distances from their own homes. In times of peace the morning and evening trains were always crowded with laborers going to and returning from their daily toil. One of the first things seized upon by the German officials was the railroads, and it was with great difficulty that anyone, not belonging to the German army, could obtain an opportunity to travel at all, and it was with still greater difficxilty that supplies of food of any kind could be transported from place to place, 181 182 liisrORY OF THE WORLD WAR Every village was cut off from its neighbor, every town from the next town. People were unable even to obtain news of the great political events which were occurring from day to day, and the food supply was automatically cut off. But this was not the worst. Gne of the first moves of the Ger- man occupation was to quarter hundreds of thousands of troops upon then" Belgian victims, and these troops must be fed even though the Belgian and his fanaily were near starvation. Then followed the German seizure of what they called materials fot war. General von Beseler in a despatch to the Kaiser> after the fall of Antwerp, speaks very plainly: The war booty taken at Antwerp is enormous — at least five hundred cannon and huge quantities of ammunition, sanitation materials, high- power motor cars, locomotives, wagons, four million kilograms of wheat, iarge quantities of flour, coal and flax wool, the value of which is estimated at ten million marks, copper, silver, one armored train, several hospital trains, and quantities of fish. The Germans proceeded to commandeer foodstuffs and raw materials of industry. Linseed oil, oil cakes, nitrates, animal and vegetable oils, petroleum and mineral oils, wool, copper, rubber, ivory, cocoa, rice, wine, beer, all were seized and sent home to the Fatherland. J.Ioreover, cities and provinces were burdened with formidable war contributions. Brussels v,'as obliged to pay ten million dollars, Antwerp ten miliicn dollars, the province of- Bra- bant, ninety miUicrs of dollar..:, Nr.mur and seventeen surrounding communes six n:nllion four hundred thousand dollars. Finally Governor von Bissing, en the 10th of December, 1914, issued the following decree: A war contribxition of the amount of eight million dollars to be paid monthly for c:;o year is imposed upon ib.e population of Belgium. The payment of these amounts is unposed upon the nine provinces which are regarded as joint debtors. Ihe two first monthly payments are to be made by the 15th of January, 1915, at latest, and the following monthly pajTnents by the tenth of'each following month to the military chest of the Field Army of the General Imperial Government in Brussels. If the provinces are obliged to resort to the issue of stock with a view to pro- curing the necessary fxmds, the form' and terms of these shares will be determined by the Cemmissary General'for the banks in Belgium. At a meeting of the Provincial Councils the vice-president declared: "The Germans demand these $96,000,000 of the RESCUE OF THE STARMNG 183 country without right and without reason. Are we to sanction this enormous war tax? If we listened only to ciu: hearts, we should reply *No! ninety-six million times no!" because our hearts would tell us we were a sraall, honest nation living happily by its free labor; we were a small, honest nation having faith in treaties and belieAong in honor; we were a nation imarraed, but full of confidence, when Germany suddenly huiled two million men upon our frontiers, the most brutal army that the world Jias ever peen, and said to us, 'Betray the promise you have given. Let my armies go by, that I may crush France, and I will give you gold.' Bel^um replied, 'Keep your gold. I prefer to die, rather than live without honor.* The German army has, therefore, crushed pur coimtry in contempt of soleran treaties. 'It is an injustice,' said the Chancellor of the German Empire. 'The position of Germany has forced us to commit it, but we will repair the wrong we have done to Belgiimi by the passage of oiu: armies.' They ivant to repair the injustice as follows: Belgiiun will pay Germany i$96,000,000! Give this proposal your vote. When Galileo had discovered the fact that the earth moved around the sun, he was forced at the foot of the stake to abjure his error, but he miumured, 'Nevertheless it moves.* "Well, gentlemen, as I fear a still greater misfortune for my coimtry I consent to the payment of the $96,000,000 and I cry 'Nevertheless it moves.' Long live our country in spite of all." At the end of a year von Bissing renewed this assessment, inserting iil his decree the statement that the decree was based upon article forty-nine of The Hague Convention, relating to the laws and usages of war on land. This article reads as follows: "If in addition to the taxes mentioned in the above article the occupant levies other moneyed contributions in the occupied terri- tory, they shall only be applied to the needs of the army, or of the administration, of the tenitory in question." In the preceding article it says: "If in the territory occupied the occupant collects the taxes, dues and tolls payable to the statj©, he shall do so as far as possible In accordance with the legal basis and assessment in force at the time, and shall in consequence be bound /to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied territories to the same extent as the National Government had been so bound." 184 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The S96,000,000 per annum was more than six timea the amount of the direct taxes formerly collected by the Belgian state, taxes which the German administration, moreover, collected in addition to the war assessment. It was five times as great as the ordinary expenditure of the Belgian War Department. ^^^^^DanlshA Franco-German frontiers since t366£l87J, SCHLBSWIG-HOLSTEIN AND AlSACE-LoBBAINB ACQUISITIONS But this was not all. In addition to the more or less legitimate German methods of plunder the whole country had been pillaged. In many towns systematic pillage began as soon as the Genniaiis took possession. At Louvain the pillage began on the 27th of August, 1914, and lasted a week. In small bands the soldiers went from house to house, ransacked drawers and cupboards, broke open safes, and stole money, pictures, curios, silver, linen, clothing, wines, and food. Great loads of such plunder were RESCUE OF THE STARVING 185 packed on military baggage wagons and sent to Germany. The same conditions were reported from town after town. In many cases the houses were burnt to destroy the proof of extensive thefts. Nor were these offenses committed only by the conamon sol- diers. In many cases the officers themselves sent home great collections of plunder. Even the Royal Family were concerned in this disgraceful performance. After staying for a week in a chateau in the Liege District, His Imperial Highness, Prince Eitel Fritz, and the Duke of Brunswick, had all the dresses which were found in a wardrobe sent back to Germany. This is said to be susceptible of absolute proof. In addition to this form of plxmder special pretexts were made use of to obtain money. At Arlon a telephone wire was broken, whereupon the town was given four hours to pay a fine of $20,000 in gold, in default of which one hundred houses would be sacked. When the payment was made forty-seven houses had already been plundered. Instance after instance could be given of similar unjustifiable and exorbitant fines. Under treatment like this Belgiiun was brought in a short time into immediate sight of starvation. They made frantic appeals for help. First they appealed to the Germans, but the German authorities did nothing, though in individual cases German soldiers shared their army rations with the people. Then an appeal was made to Holland, but Holland was a nation much Uke Belgium. It did not raise food enough for itself, and was not sure that it could import enough for its own needs. From all over Belgium appeals were sent from the various towns and villages to Brussels. But Brussels, too, was face to fa«e with famine. To cope with famine there were many relief organizations in Belgium. Every little town had its relief com- mittee, and in the larger cities strong branches of the Red Cross did what they could. Besides such secular organizations, there were many religious organizations, generally under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church. In Brussels a strong volunteer relief organization was formed on September 6th under the patronage of the American and Spanish Ministers, Mr. Brand Whitlock and the Marquis of Villa- lobar. This committee, known as the Central Relief Committee, or more exactly La Comite Central de Secours et d' Alimentation 186 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR pour rAgglomeration bruxelloise, did wonderful work until the end of the war. But though there was plenty of organization there were great difficulties ahead. In order to import food, credit had to be established abroad, permission had to be obtained to transport food stuffs into Belgiimi through the British blockade. Permission to use the railroads and canals of Belgium had to be obtained from Germany, and, most important of all, it had to be made certain that no food thus imported should be seized by the German troops. Through the American and Spanish ministers permission was obtained from Governor-General Kolmar von der Goltz to import food, and the Governor-General also gave assurance that, "Food- stuffs of all sorts imported by the committee to assist the civil population shall be reserved exclusively for the noiu^ishment of the civil population of Belgium, and that consequently these foodstuffs shall be exempt from requisition on the part of the military author- ities, and shall rest exclusively at the disposition of the committee." With this assurance the Central Relief Committee sent Emil Francqui and Baron Lambert, members of their committee, together with Mr. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, whose activities ia behalf of Belgiimi attracted much favorable notice, to the city of London, to explain to the British Government the suffering that existed ia Belgium, and to obtaia permission to transport food through the British blockade. In the course of this work they appealed to the American Ambassador in England, Mr. Walter Hines Page, and were introduced by him to an American mining engiaeer named Herbert Clark Hoover, who had just become prominent as the chairman of a committee to assist Americans who had found themselves in Em-ope when the war broke out, and had been unable to secure funds. Mr. Hoover took up the matter with great vigor, and organized an American committee under the patronage of the ministers of the United States and of Spain in London, Berlin, The Hague and Brussels, which committee obtained permission from the British Government to purchase and transport through the British blockade, to Rotterdam, Holland, cargoes of foodstuffs, to be ultimately transferred into Belgium and distributed by the Belgian Central Relief Committee under the direction of American citizens headed by Mr. Brand Whitlock. AN AIRPLANE CONVOY Food ships successfully convoyed by seaplanes in clear weather when submarines were easier to detect. RESCUE OF THE STARVING 189 The following brief notices, in connection with this committee appeared in the London Times: October ,24 1914. — ^A commission has been set up in London, imder the title of The American Commission for Relief in Belgium. The Brussels committee reports feeding 300,000 daily. November 4. — The Commission for Relief in Belgium yesterday issued their first weekly report, 3 London Wall Buildings. A cargo was received yesterday at Brussels just in time. Estimated monthly require- ments, 60,000 tons grain, 15,000 tons maize, 3,000 tons rice and peas. Approved by the Spanish and American ministers, Brussels. y^ The personality of the various gentlemen who devoted them- selves to Belgian relief is interesting, not only because of what they did, but because they are imusual men. The Spanish Minister, who bore the peculiar name of Marquis of Villalobar y O'Neill, had the apj)earance of an Irishman, as he was on the maternal side, and was a trained diplomat, ;^th delightful manners and extraor- dinary strength of character. Another important aid in the Belgian relief work was the Mexican Charg6 d' Affaires Senor don German Bull6. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, wittily described this gentleman as the "representative of a country without a government to a government without a coun- try." The businessman in the American Legation was this secre- tary. Mr. Gibson had the appearance of a typical Yankee, though he came from Indiana. He was about thirty years old, with dark eyes, crisp hair, and a keen face. He was noted for his wit as well as his courage. Many interesting stories are told of him. He had been often under fire, and he was full of stories of his exploits told in a witty and modest way. The following incident shows something of his humor. Like most of the Americans in Belgiiun he was followed by spies. With one of these Gibson became on the most familiar terms, much to the spy's disgust. One very rainy day, when Gibson was at the Legation, he discovered his pet spy standing under the dripping eaves of a neighboring house. Gibson picked up a raincoat and hurried over to the man. "Look here, old fellow," said he, "I'm going to be in the Legation for three hours. You put on this coat and go home. Come back in three hours and I'll let you watch me for the rest of the day." 190 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Mr. Brand Whitlock, the Americaoa Minister, was a remarkable man. Before coming to Belgium he had become a distinguished man of letters. Beginning as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, he had studied law and been admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1894, and to the Bar of the State of Ohio in 1897. He had entered into politics, and been elected mayor of Toledo, Ohio, in 1905, again in 1907, 1909 and 1911. Meanwhile he had been writing novels, "The Thirteenth District," "The Turn of the Balance," "The Fall Guy," and "Forty Years of It." He had accepted the appointment of American Minister to Belgium with the idea that he would find leisure for other Uterary work, but the outbreak of the war affected him deeply. A man of a sympathetic character who had lived all his life in an amiable atmosphere, had been a member of prison reform associations and charitable societies, he now found him- self surrounded by a storm of horrors. Day by day he had to see the distress and suffering of thousands of people. He threw him- self at once into the work of relief. His health was not strong and he always looked tired and worn. He was the scholarly type of man, the kind who would be happy in a Ubrary, or in the atmosphere of a coUege, but he rose to the emergency. The American Legation became the one staple point around which the starving and suffering population could rally. Belgians will never forget what he did in those days. On Washington's Birthday they filed before the door of the American Legation at Number 74 Rue de Treves, men, women and children of all classes; some in furs, some in the garments of the poor; noblemen, scholars, workmen, artists, shopkeepers and peasants to leave their visiting cards, some engraved, some printed and some written on pieces of paper, in tribute to Mr. Whitlock and the nation which he represented. But the man whose name stands out above all others as one of the biggest figures in connection with the work of relief was Mr. Herbert C. Hoover. Mr. Hoover came of Quaker stock. He was bom at West Branch, Iowa, in 1874, graduated from Leiand Stanford University in 1895, specialized in mining engineer- ing, and spent several years in mining in the United States and in Australia. He married Miss Lou Henry, of Monterey, California, in 1899, and with his bride went to China as chief engineer of the Chinese Imperial Bureau of Mines. He aided in the defense RESCUE OF THE STARVING 191 of Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion. After that he continued engineering work in China until 1902, when he became a partner of the firm of Bewick, Moreing & Co., mine operators, of London, and was consulting engineer for more than fifty mining companies. He looked extremely youthful; smooth shaven, with a straight nose, and a strong mouth and chin. To him, more than any one else, was due the creation and the success of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. The splendid organization which saved from so much suffering more than seven million non-combatants in Belgimn and two million in Northern France, was his achievement. A good story is told in the Outlook of September 8, 1915, which illustrates his methods. It seems that before the commission was fairly on its feet, there came a day when it was a case of snarling things in red tape and letting Belgium starve, or getting food shipped and letting governments howl. Hoover naturally chose the latter. When the last bag had been stowed and the hatches were battened down (writes Mr. Lewis R. Freeman, who tells the story), Hoover went in person to the one Ciabinet Minister able to arrange for the only things he could not provide for himself — clearance papers. "If I do not get four cargoes of food to Belgimn by the end of the week," he said bluntly, "thousands are going to die from starvation, and many more may be shot in food riots." "Out of the question," said the distinguished Minister; "there is no time, in the first place, and if there was, there are no good wagons to be spared by the railways, no dock hands, and no steamers. Moreover, the Channel is closed^for a week to merchant vessels, while troops are being transferred to the Continent." "I have managed to get all these things," Hoover replied quietly, "and am now through with them all, except the steamers. This wire tells me that these are now loaded and ready to sail, and I have come to have you arrange for their clearance." The great man gasped, "There have been — ^there are even now — ^men in the Tower for less than you have done!" he ejaculated. "If it was for anything but Belgium Relief — ^if it was anybody but you, yoimg man — I should hate to think of what might happen. As it is — er — ^I suppose there is nothing to do but congratulate you on a jolly clever coup. I'll see about the clearance at once." Mr. Lloyd George tells the following story: It seems that the 192 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Commission on Belgian Relief was attempting to simplify its work by arranging for an extension of exchange facilities on Brussels. Mr. Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, sent for Hoover. What happened is told in Mr. George's words: '"Mr. Hoover,' I said, 'I find I am quite imable to grant your request in the matter of Belgian exchange, and I have asked you to come here that I might explain why.' "Without waiting for me to go on, my boyish-looking caller began speaking. For fifteen minutes he spoke without a break — just about the clearest expository utterance I have ever heard on any subject. He used not a word too much, nor yet a word too few. By the time he had finished I had come to realize, not only the importance of his contentions, but, what was more to the point, the practicability of granting his request. So I did the only thing possible vmder the circumstance, told him I had never under- stood the question before, thanked him for helping me to under- stand, and saw to it that things were arranged as he wanted them." On April 10, 1915, a submarine torpedoed one of the food ships chartered by the conamission. A week later a German hydro- airplane tried to drop bombs on the deck of another commission ship. So Hoover paid a flying visit to Berlin. He was at once assured that no more incidents of the sort would occur. "Thanks," said Hoover. "Your Excellency, have you heard the story of the man who was nipped by a bad-tempered dog? He went to the owner to have the dog muzzled. 'But the dog won't bite you,' insisted the owner. 'You know he won't bite me, and I know he won't bite me,' said the injiured party doubt- fully, 'but the question is, does the dog know?' " "Herr Hoover," said the high official, "pardon me if I leave you for a moment. I am going at once to 'let the dog know.' " This story, which ia told by Mr. Edward Eyre Hunt in his delightful book about Belgium, "War Bread," may be apocryphal, but it illustrates well Hoover's habit of getting exactly what he wants. When Mr. Hoover accepted the chairmanship of the Commis- sion for Relief in Belgium he established his headquarters at 3 London Wall Buildings, London, England, and marshaled a small legion of fellow Americans, business men, sanitary experts, doctors and social workers, who, as unpaid volunteers, set about the great RESCUE OF THE STARVING 193 task of feeding the people of Belgium and Northern France. The commission soon became a great institution, recognized by all governments, receiving contributions from all parts of the earth, with its own ships in every big port, and in the eyes of the Belgians and French, who received their daily bread through its agency, a monument of what Americans could do in social organization and business eflBciency, for Americans furnished the entire per- sonnel of the commission from the beginniag. The commission was a distinct organization from the Belgian National Committee, through and with which it worked in Belgium itself. Its functions were those of direction, and supervision of all matters that had to be dealt with outside Belgiinn. In the occupied territories it had the help of thousands of Belgian and French workers, many of them women. The commission did not depend, according to Mr. Hoover, on any one of its American members for leadership. Any one of them could at any time take charge and carry on the work. "Honold, Poland, Gregory, Brown, Kellogg, Lucey, White, Hun- siker, Connet, and many others who, at various periods, have given of their great ability and experience in administration could do it." At the same time it was admitted that the commission would never have been so successful if Belgium had not already had in existence a well-developed communal system. The base of the commission's organization was a committee in every commune or mimicipahty. "You can have no idea what a great blessing it was in Belgium and Northern France to have the small and intimate divisions which exist under the communal system," said Mr. Hoover. "It is the whole xmit of life, and a political entity much more developed than in America. It has been not only the basis of our relief organization, but the salvation of the people." Altogether there were four thousand communal committees, linked up in larger groups under district and provincial committees, which in tm^ came under the Belgian National Committee. Con- tributions were received from all over the world, but the greater part from the British and French governments. When Mr. Hoover began his work he appealed to the people of the United States, but the American response to the appeal was sadly disappointing. During his stay in America, in the early 194 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR part of 1917, Mr. Hoover expressed himself on the subject of his own country's niggardliness, pointing out at the same time that the chief profits made out of providing food for Belgium had gone into American pockets. Out of the two hundred and fifty millions of dollars spent by the commission at that time, one himdred and fifty millions had been used in the United States to purchase supplies and on these orders America had made a war profit of at least thirty million dollars. Yet in those two years the American people had contributed only nine million doUars! Mr. Hoover declared: "Thousands of contributions have come to us from devoted people all over the United States, but the truth is that, with the exception of a few large gifts, American contributions have been little rUIs of charity of the poor toward the poor. Everywhere abroad America has been getting the credit for keeping alight tbe lamp of humanity, but what are the facts? America's contributions have been pitifully inadequate and, do not forget it, other peoples have begun to take stock of us. We have been getting all the credit. Have we deserved it? We lay claim to idealism, to devotion to duty and to great benevo- lence, but now the acid test is being applied to us. This has a wider import than mere figures. Time and time again, when the door to Belgium threatened to close, we have defended its portals by the assertion that this was an American enterprise; that the sensibilities of the American people would be wounded beyond measure, would be outraged, if this work were interfered with. Cm- moral strength has been based upon this assertion. I believe it is true, but it is difficult in the face of the figures to carry con- viction. And in the last six or eight months time and again we have felt our influence slip from under us." The statement that Germans had taken food intended for the Belgians was disposed of by Mr. Hoover in a speech in New York City. "We are satisfied," he said, "that the German army has never eaten one-tenth of one per cent of the food provided. The Allied governments never woiild have supplied us with two hundred million doUars if we were supplying the German army. If the Germans had absorbed any considerable quantity of this food the population of Belgium would not be alive today." The plan of operation of the Belgian Commission needs some description. Besides the headquarters in London there was an RESCUE OF THE STARVING 195 office in Brussels, and, as Rotterdam was the port of entry for all Belgian supplies, a transshipping office for commisBion goods was opened in that city. The office building was at 98 Haring- vliet, formerly the residence of a Dutch merchant prince. Captain J. F. Lucey, the first Rotterdam director, sat in a roomy office on the second floor overlookiag the Meuse. From his windows he could see the commission barges as they left for Belgium, their huge canvas flags bearing the inscription "Belgian Relief Committee." He was a nervous, big, beardless American, a volunteer who had left his business to organize and direct a great transshipping office in an alien land for an alien people. Out of nothing he created a large staff of clerks, wrung from the Dutch Government special permits, loaded the immense cargoes received from England into canal boats, obtained passports for cargoes and crews, and shipped the foodstuffs consigned personally to Mr. Brand WMtlock. Something of what was done at this point may be imderstood from a reference in the first annual report of the commission pub- lished October 31, 1915: The chartering and management of an entire fleet of vessels, together with agency control practically throughout the world, has been carried out for the commission quite free of the usual charges by large trans- portation firms who offered these concessions in the cause of humanity. Banks generally have given their exchange services and have paid the full rate of interest on deposits. Insurance has been facilitated by the British Government Insmance Commissioners, and the firms who fixed the insurance have subscribed the equivalent of their fees. Harbor dues and port charges have been remitted at many points and stevedoring firms have made important concessions in rates and have afforded other generous services. In Holland, exemption from harbor dues and tele- graph tolls has been granted and rail transport into Belgium provided free of charge. The total value of these Dutch concessions is estimated at 147,824 guilders. The German military authorities in Belgium have abolished custom and canal dues on aU commission imports, have reduced railway rates one-half and on canals and railways they give right of way to commission foodstuffs wherever there is need. By mid-November gift ships from the United States were on their way to Rotterdam, but the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was first in the transatlantic race. One of the most thrilling experiences of the first year's work was the coming of the Christmas ship, a steamer full of Christmas 196 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR gifts presented by the children of America, to the children of war- ridden Belgium. The children knew all about it long before the ship arrived in Rotterdam. St. Nicholas' day had brought them few presents. They were hungry for friendliness, and the thought of getting gifts from children across the sea filled them with joy. Many difficulties arose, which delayed the distribution of these gifts. The Germans insisted that every package should be opened and every scrap of writing taken out before the gifts were sent into Belgixun. This was a tremendous task, for notes written by American children were tucked away into all sorts of impos- sible places. Three motor boats made an attempt to carry these ^ts into Belgium by Christmas day. They carried boxes of clothing, out- fits for babies, blankets, caps, bonnets, cloaks, shoes of every description, babies' boots, candy> fish, striped candy canes, choco- lates and moimtains of nuts, nuts such as the Belgians had never seen in their lives before: pecans, hickory nuts, American walnuts, and peanuts galore. There were scores of dolls, French bisques, smiling pleasantly, pop-eyed rag doUs, old darky mammy dolls, and Santa Clauses, teddy bears, picture books, fairy books and story books. One child had written on the cover of her book: "Father says I ought to send you my best picture book, but I think that this one will do." These gifts made the American aid to Belgium a thousand times more intimate and real, and never after that was American help thought of in other terms than those of burning gratitude. Among these gifts were himdreds of American flags, which soon became familiar to all Belgium. _^ The commission automobiles bore the flag7~and the children would recognize the Stars and Stripes and wave and cheer as it went by. Thousands upon thousands of gifts to the Belgian people followed the Christmas ship. All, or a great part, of the cargoes of one hundred and two ships consisted of gift goods from America and indeed from, all parts of the world, and the Belgians sent back a flood of acknowledgments and thousands of beautiful souvenirs. Some of the most touching remembrances came from the children. Every child in the town of Tamise, for example, wrote a letter to America. RESCUE OF THE STARVING 197 One addressed to the President of the United States reads as follows: Highly Honored Mr. President: Although I am still very young I feel already that feeling of thankfulness which we, as Belgians, "owe to you, Highly Honored Mr. President, because you have come to om* help in these dreary times. Without your help there would certainly have been thousands of war victims, and so. Noble Sir, I pray that God will bless you and all the noble American people. That is the wish of all the Belgian folk. On New Year's day Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, issued his famous pastoral: Belgitim gave her word of honor to defend her independence. She has kept her word. The other powers had agreed to protect and to respect Belgitmi's neutrality. Germany has broken her word, England has been faithful to it. These are the facts. I consider it an obligation of my pastoral charge to define to you your conscientious duties toward the power which has invaded our soil, and which for the moment occupies the greater part of it. This power has Bo authority, and, therefore, in the. depth of your heart, you should render it neither esteem, nor attachment, nor respect. The only legitimate power in Belgium is that which belongs to ova King, to his government, to the representatives of the nation; that alone is authority for us; that alone has a right to our heart's affection and to our submission. Cardinal Mercier was called the bravest man in Belgivtm. Six feet &ve in height, a thin, scholarly face, with grayish white hair, and a forehead so white that one feels one looks on the naked bone, he presented the appearance of some medieval ascetic. But there was *a himiorous look about his mouth, and an expression of sympathy and comprehension which gave the efifect of a keenly intelligent, as well as gentle, leader of the nation. At the beginning of the war the Roman Catholic party was divided. Some of its leaders were opposed to resistance to the invaders. Many priests fled before the German armies. But the pastoral letter of Cardinal Mercier restored to the Church its old leadership. In him conquered Belgimn had foimd a voice. On New Year's Sunday, 1915, every priest at the Mass read out the Cardinal's ringing challenge. There were German soldiers in the churches, but no word of the letter had been allowed to reach the ears of the authorities, and the Germans were taken com- pletely by svirprise. Immediately orders came from headquarters 11 198 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR prohibiting further circulation of the letter, and ordering that every copy should be siirrendered to the authorities. Soldiers at the bayonet's point extorted the letter from the priests, and those who had read it were put under arrest. Yet, somehow, copies of the letter were circulated throughout Belgium, and every Belgian took new heart. As far as the Cardinal was concerned German action was a very delicate matter. They could not arrest and imprison so great a dignitary of the Chm-ch for fear of the effect, not only upon the Catholics of the outer world, but on the Catholics in their own empire. An officer was sent to the Cardinal to demand that the letter be recalled. The Cardinal refused. He was then notified that it was desired that he remain in his palace for the present. His confinement lasted only for a day. The Americans who were in Belgium as representatives of the Relief Commission had two duties. First, to see that the Germans did not seize any of the food supplies, and second, to see that every Belgian who was in need should receive his daily bread. The ration assigned to each Belgian was 250 grams of bread per day. This seems raiiier small, but the figure was established by Horace Fletcher, the American food expert, who was one of the members of the commission. Mr. Fletcher also prepared a pamphlet on food values, which gave recipes for American dishes which were up to that time un- known to the Belgians. He soon got not only the American but the Blegian committeemen talking of calories with great familiarity. Some of the foods sent from America were at first almost useless to the Belgians. They did not know how to cook corn- meal and oatmeal, and some of the famished peasants used them as feed for chickens. Teachers had to be sent out through the villages to give instructions. A great deal of difiiculty developed in connection with the bread. The supply of white flom* was limited; wheat had to be imported, and milled in Belgium. It was milled so as to contain all the bran except ten per cent, but in some places ten or fifteen per cent of commeal was added to the flour, not only to enable the commission to provide the necessary ration, but also to keep down the price. As a result the price of bread was always lower in Belgium than in London, Paris or New York. RESCUE OF THE STARVING^ 199 Much less trouble occurred in connection with the distribu- tion of bread and soup from the soup kitchens. In Antwerp thirty-five thousand men were fed daily at these places. At first it often occurred that soup coii]^ be had, but no bread. The ration of soup and bread given in the kitchens cost about ten cents a day. There were foiu- varieties of soup, pea, bean, vegetable and bouillon, and it was of excellent quality. Every person carried a card with blank spaces for the date of the deliveries of soup. There were several milk kitchens maintained for the children, and several restaurants where persons with money might obtain their food. It was necessary not only to fight starvation in Belgiiun but also disease. There were epidemics of typhoid and black measles. The Rockefeller Foundation established a station in Rotterdam called the Rockefeller Foundation War Relief Commission, and some of the women among its workers acted as volunteer health ofiicers. People were iaoculated against typhoid, and the sources of infection traced and destroyed. Another form of relief work was providing labor for the unemployed. A plan of relief was drawn up and it was arranged that a large portion of them should be employed by the communal organizations, in public works, such as draining, ditchiug, constructing embankments and build- ing sewers. The National Committee paid nine-tenths of the wages, the commime pajong the other tenth. The first enrol- ment of unemployed amounted to more than 760,000 names, and nearly as many persons were dependent upon these workers. Providing employment for these led to certain complications. The Germans had been able up to this time to secure a certain amoimt of labor from the Belgians. Now the Belgian could refuse to work for the German, and a great deal of tact was necessary to prevent trouble. As time went on the relief work of the com- mission was extended into the north of France, where a population of more than 2,000,000 was within the German zone. The work was handled ia the same way, with the same guarantees from Germany. In conclusion a word may be said of the effect of all this suffer- ing upon the Belgian people, and let a Belgian speak, who knew his country well and had traveled it over, going on foot, as he Bays, or by tram, from town to town, from village to village: 200 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "I have seejx and spoken with hundreds of men of all classes and all parts of the country, and all these people, taken singly or united in groups, display a very definite frame of mind. To describe this new psychology we must record the incontestably closer union which has been formed between the political sections of the country. There are no longer any poUtical parties, there are Belgians in Belgium, and that is all; Belgians better acquainted with their country, feeling for it an impulse of passionate tender- ness such as a child might feel who saw his mother suffering for the first time, and on his account. Walloons and Flemings, CathoUcs and Liberals or Socialists, all are more and more frankly united in all that concerns the national life and decisions for the future. "By uniting the whole nation and its army, by shedding the blood of all our Belgians in every comer of the country, by forcing all hearts, all famihes, to follow with anguish the movement of those soldiers^ who fought from lAige to Namiu*, from Wavre to Antwerp or the Oise, the war has suddenly imposed wider horizons upon all, has inspired all minds with noble and ardent passions, has compelled the good will of all to combine and act in concert in order to defend the common interests. "Of these profoimdly tried minds, of these wonderful energies now employed for the first time, of these atrocious sufferings which have brought all hearts into closer contact, a new Belgium is bom, a greater, more generous, more ideal Belgium." CHAPTER XIII Bkitannia Rules the Waves THE month of October, 1914, contained no important naval contests. On the 15th, the old British cruiser Hawke was torpedoed in the North Sea and nearly five hundred men were lost. On the other hand, on the 17th of October, the light cruiser Undaimted, accompanied by the destroyers, Lance, Legion and Loyal, sank four German destroyers off the Dutch coast. But the opening of November turned the interest of the navy to the Southern Pacific. "When the war began Admiral von Spee, with the German Pacific squadron, was at Kiaochau in command of seven vessels. Among these was the Emden, whose adventxirous career has been already described. Another, the Karlsruhe, be- came a privateer in the South Atlantic. Early in August von Spee set sail from Kiaochau with two armored cruisers, the Gneisenau and the Schamhorst and three light cruisers, the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurmberg. These ships were comparatively new, well armed, and of considerable speed. They set off for the great trade highways to destroy, as far as possible, British commerce. Their route led them to the western coast of South America, and arrangements were made so that they were coaled and provisioned from bases in some of the South American states which permitted a slack observance of the laws respecting the duties of neutrals. A small British squadron had been detailed to protect British commerce in this part of the world. It was commanded by Rear- Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, a distinguished and popular sailor, who had imder his command one twelve-year-old battleship, the Canopus, two armored cruisers, the Good Hope and the Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and an armed liner, the Otranto. None of these vessels had either great speed or heavy armament. The equipment of the Canopus, indeed, was obsolete. Admiral Cradock's squadron arrived at Halifax on August 14th, thence sailed to Bermuda, then on past Venezuela and Brazil 201 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR around the Horn. It visited the Falkland Islands, and by the third week of October was on the coast of Chile. The Canopus had dropped behind for repairs, and though rdnforcements were expected, they had not yet arrived. One officer wrote, on the 12th of October, "From now till the end of the month is the critical time, as it wiU decide whether we shall have to fight a superior German force from the Pacific before we can get reinforcements from home or the Mediterranean. We feel that the admiralty ought to have a better force here, but we shall fight cheerfully whatever odds we have to face." Admiral Cradock knew well that his enemy was superior in force. From Coronel, where he sent off some cables, he went north on the first of November, and about four o'clock in the afternoon the Glasgow sighted the enemy. The two big German armored cruisers were leadiag the way, and two light cruisers were following close* The German cruiser Leipzig does not seem to have been in company. The British squadron was led by the Good Hope, with the Monmouth, Glasgow and Otranto following in order. It was a beautiful spectacle. The sun was setting in the wonderful glory which one sees ia the Pacific, and the British ships, west of the German, must have appeared to them in brilliant colora. On the east were the snowy peaks of the Andes. Half a gale was blowing and the two squadrons moved south at great speed. About seven o'clock they were about seven miles apart and the Schamhorst, which was leading the German fleet, opened fire. At this time the Germans were shaded by the inshore twilight, but the British ships must have showed up plainly in the afterglow. The enemy fired with great accuracy. Shell after shell hit the Good Hope and the Monmouth, but the bad light and inferior guns saved the German ships from much damage. The Good Hope was set on fire and at 7.50 exploded and sank. The Monmouth was also on fire, and turned away to the western sea. The Glasgow had escaped so far, but the whole German squadron bore down upon her. She turned and fled and by nine o'clock was out of sight of the enemy. The Otranto, only an armed liner, had disappeared early in the fight. On the following day the Glasgow worked around to the south, and joined the Ganopus, and the two proceeded to the Straits of the Magellan. The account of this battle by the German Admiral von Spee is of especial interest: BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 203 "Wind and swell were head on, and the vessels had heavy going, especially the small cndsera on both sides. Observation and distance estimation were imder a severe handicap because of the seas which washed over the bridges. The swell was so great that it obscured the aim of the gunners at the six-inch guns on the middle deck, who could not see the stems of the enemy ships at all, and the bows but seldom. At 6.20 p. m., at a distance of 13,400 yards, I turned one point toward the enemy, and at 6.34 opened fire at a distance of 11,260 yards. The guns of both oiu" armored cruisers were effective, and at 6.39 already we could note the first hit on the Good Hope. I at once resumed a parallel course, instead of bearing slightly toward the enemy. The English opened their fire at this time. I assume that the heavy sea made more trouble for them than it did for us. Their two armored cruisers remained covered by our fire, while they, so far as could be determined, hit the Schamhorst but twice, and the Gneisenau only four times. At 6.53, when 6,500 yards apart, I ordered a course one point away from the enemy. They were firing more slowly at this time, while we were able to count numerous hits. We could see, among other things, that the top of the Monmouth's forward turret had been shot away, and that a violent fixe was burning in the turret. The Schamhorst, it is thought, hit the Good Hope about thirty-five times. In spite of our altered coiu-se the English changed theirs sufl5ciently so that the distance between us shrunk to 5,300 yards. There was reason to suspect that the enemy despaired of using his artillery effectively, and was maneuvering for a torpedo attack. "The position of the moon, which had risen at six o'clock, was favorable to this move. Accordingly I gradually opened up further distances between the squadrons by another deflection of the leading ship, at 7.45. In the meantime it had grown dark. The range Binders on the Schamhorst used the fire on the Monmouth as a guide for a time, though eventually all range finding, aiming and observations became so inexact that fire was stopped at 7.26. At 7.23 a column of fire from an explosion was noticed between the stacks of the Good Hope. The Monmouth apparently stopped firing at 7.20. The small cruisers, including the Nuremburg, received by wireless at 7.30 the order to follow the enemy and to attack his ships with torpedoes. Vision was somewhat obscured at this time by a rain squall. The light cmisers were not able to 204 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR find the Good Hope, but the Nuremburg encountered the Monmouth and at 8.58 was able, by shots at closest range, to capsize her, ■without a single shot being fired in return. Rescue work in the heavy sea was not to be thought of, especially as the Nuremburg immediately afterward believed she had sighted the smoke of another ship and had to prepare for another attack. The small cruisers had neither losses nor damage in the battle. On the Gneisenau there were two men slightly wounded. The crews of the ships went into the fight with enthusiasm, every one did his duty, and played his part in the victory." Little criticism can be made of the tactics used by Vice- Admiral Spee. He appears to have maneuvered so as to secure the advantage of light, wind and sea. He also seems to have suited himself as regards the range. Admiral Cradock was much criticised for joining battle with his little fleet against such odds, but he followed the glorious tradi- tions of the English navy. He, and 1 , 650 officers and men, were lost, and the news was hailed as a great German victory. But the British admiralty were thoroughly roused. Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, chief of the war staff, proceeded at once with a squadron to the South Atlantic. With him were two battle cruisers, the Invincible and the Inflexible, three armored cruisers, the Camovan, the Kent and the Cornwall. His fleet was joined by the light cruiser Bristol and the armed liner Macedonia. The Glasgow, fresh from her rough experience, was found in the South Atlantic. Admiral Sturdee then laid his plans to come in touch with the victorious German squadron. A wireless message was sent to the Canopus, bidding her proceed to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. This message was intercepted by the Grermans, as was intended. Admiral von Spee, fearing the Japanese fleet, was already headed for Cape Horn. He thought that the Canopus could be easily captured at Port Stanley, and he started at once to that port. Admiral Sturdee's expedition had been kept profoundly secrei. On December 7th the British squadron arrived at Port Stanley, and spent the day coaling. The Canopus, the Glasgow and the Bristol were in the inner harbor, while the remaining vessels lay outside. On December 8th, Admiral von Spee arrived from the direction of Cape Horn. The battle that followed ia B CD "^ Q^ O m B IS >a §•35 fT o est ^"3 p P 'O trB El m p " P ►I JO S I? 03 T CD 5'3'W gOTg. TO (B ^j. g 50 C ^ B I-" CO =•*■ CD ^ » s= ^■2 CD K o B 00 •e ey ^. c e ^ p O cr r c HI =3 » 13' O £!• 2. s p- c*- !i| a to s O. ® 4: 1 r 0-- 00 Co i 1 <*- : l^^^^l^^p^ •it f i^^H| M^ l^^^v^ W w i j ^fl^l f% m^ : »v nSMBH^Bes^E?^'' !»<«»««« y * ^a'Kaii**'* Iw..- ■ GERMANY BRINGS THE WAR TO EAST COAST TOWNS OF ENGLAND By raids with light cruisers on the coast towns, and Zeppelins and airplanes further inland, Germany sought to frighten the British populace. At Hartle- pool, where this scene was enacted, several civilians, some of them women and children, were killed by bursting shells of the raiders. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 207 thoroughly described in the report of Vice-Admiral Sturdee from which the followiag extracts have been made: "At 8 A. M., Tuesday, December 8th, a signal was received from the signal station on shore. 'A four-fimnel and two-fimnel man-of-war ia sight from Sapper Hill steering north.' The Kent was at once ordered to weigh anchor, and a general signal was made to raise steam for full speed. At 8.20 the signal service station reported another column of smoke ia aght, and at 8.47 the Canopus reported that the first two ships were eight miles off, and that the smoke reported at 8.20 appeared to be the smoke of two ships about twenty miles off. At 9.20 A. m. the two leading ships of the enemy, the Gneisenau and Nuremburg, with guns trained on the wireless station, came within range of the Canopus, which opened fire at them across the lowland at a range of 11,000 yards. The enemy at once hoisted their colors, and turned away. A few minutes later the two cruisers altered course to port, as thou^ to close the Kent at the entrance to the harbor. But at about this time it seems that the Invincible and Inflexible were seen over the land, and the enemy at once altered course, and increased speed to join their consorts. At 9.45 A. m. the squadron weighed anchor and proceeded out of the harbor, the Camovan leading. On passing Cape Pembroke light, the five ships of the enemy appeared clearly ia sight to the southeast, hull down. The visibiUty was at its maximum, the sea was calm, with a bright sun, a clear sky, and a light breeze from the northwest. At 10.20 the signal for a general chase was made. At this time the enemy's funnels and bridges showed just above the horizon. Information was received from the Bristol at 11.27 that three enemy ships had appeared oflf Port Pleasant, probably colliers or transports. The Bristol was therefore directed to take the Macedonia under orders, and destroy transports. , "The enemy were still maintaining their distance, and I decided at 12.20 p. m. to attack, with the two battle cruisers and the Glasgow. At 12.47 p. m. the signal to 'Open fire and engage the enemy' was made. The Inflexible opened fire at 12.55 p. m. at the ri^t-hand ship of the enemy, and a few minutes later the Invincible opened fire at the same ship. The deliberate fire became too threatening, and when a shell fell close alongside her at 1.20 P. m. she, the Leipsig, turned away, with the Nurembiu:g and Dresden, 208 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR to the southwest. These light crusiers were at once followed by the Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall. "The action finally developed into three separate encounters. First, the action with the armored cruisers. The fire of the battle cruisers was directed on the Schamhorst and Gneisenau. The effect of this was quickly seen, when, with the Schamhorst leading, they turned about seven points to port, and opened fire. Shortly afterwards the battle cruisers were ordered to turn together with the Invincible leading. The enemy then turned about ten points to starboard, and a second chase ensued until, at 2.45, the battle cruisers again opened fire. This caused the enemy to turn into line ahead to port and open fire. The Schamhorst caught fire forward, but not seriously, and her fire slackened perceptibly. The Gneisenau was badly hit by the Inflexible. "At 3.30 p. M. the Schamhorst turned about ten points to starboard, her fiire had slackened perceptibly, and one shell had shot away her third funnel. Some guns were not firing, and it would appear that the turn was dictated by a desire to bring her starboard guns into action. The effect of the fixe on the Scham- horst became more and more apparent in consequence of smoke from fires and also escaping steam. At times a shell would cause a large hole to appear in her side, through which could be seen a dull, red glow of flame. "At 4.04 p. M. the Schamhorst, whose flag remained flying to the last, suddenly listed heavily to port, and within a minute it became clear that she was a doomed ship, for the list increased very rapidly until she lay on her beam ends. At 4.17 p. M. she disappeared. The Gneisenau passed on the far side of her late flagship, and contmued a determined, but ineffectual, effort to fight the two battle cruisers. At 5.08 p. m. the forward funnel was knocked over, and remained resting against the second funnel. She was evidently in serious straits, and her fire slackened very much. "At 5 15 p. M. one of the Gneisenau's shells struck the Invinci- ble. This was her last effective effort. At 5.30 p. M. she turned toward the flagship with a heavy list to starboard, and appeared to stop, the steam pouring from her escape pipes, and smoke from shell and fires rising everywhere. About this time I ordered the signal 'Cease fire,' but before it was hoisted, the Gneisenau opened fire BRITANNIA RULES THE .WAVES 209 again, and continued to fire from time to time with a single gun. At 5.40 p. M. the three ships closed in on the Gneisenau, and at this time the flag flying at her fore truck, was apparently hauled down, but the flag at the peak continued flying. At 5.50 'Gease fire' was made. At 6 p. m. the Gneisenau keeled over very sud- denly, showing the men gathered on her decks, and then walking on her side as she lay for a minute on her beam ends before sinking. "The prisoners of war from the Gneisenau report that by the time the ammunition was expended some six hundred men had been killed and wounded. When the ship capsized and sank there were probably some two hundred unwounded survivors in the water, but, owing to the shock of the cold water, many were drowned within sight of the boats and ships. Every effort was made to save life as quickly as possible, both by boats and from the ships. Life buoys were thrown and ropes lowered, but only a portion coidd be rescued. The Invincible alone rescued a hundred and eight men, fourteen of whom were found to be dead after being brought on board. These men were buried at sea the following day, with full military honors. "Second, action with the light cruisers. About one p. m. when the Schamhorst and the Gneisenau tiu:ned to port to engage the Invincible and the Inflexible, the enemy's light cruisers turned to starboard to escape. The Dresden was leading, and the Nurem- burg and Leipzig followed on each quarter. In accordance with my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent and Cornwall at once went in chase of these ships. The Glasgow drew well ahead of the Corn- wall and Kent, and at 3 p. m. shots were exchanged with the Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow's object was to endeavor to outrange the Leipzig, and thus cause her to alter course and give the Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action. At 4.17 p. M. the Cornwall opened fire also on the Leipzig; at 7.17 p. m. the Leipzig was on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow oeased fire. The Leipzig turned over on her port side and dis- appeared at 9 p. M. Seven officers and eleven men were saved. At 3.36 p. M. the Cornwall ordered the Kent to engage the Nurem- burg, the nearest cruiser to her. At 6.35 p. m. the Nuremburg was on fire forward, and ceased firing. The Kent also ceased firing, then, as the colors were still observed to be flying on the Nurem- burg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five glO HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR minutes later, on the colors being hauled down, and every prepara- tion was made to save life. The Nuremburg sank at 7.27, and as she sank a group of men were waving the German ensign attached to a staff. "Twelve men were rescued, but only seven sm^ved. The Kent had four killed and twelve wounded, mostly caused by one shell. Ihiring the time the three cruisers were engaged with the Nuremburg and Leipzig, the Dresden, which was beyond her con- sorts, effected her escape, owing to her superior speed. The Glas- gow was the only cruiser with sufficient speed to have had any chance of success, however she was fully employed in engaging the Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or Kent could come up and get withia range. During this time the Dresden was able to increase her distance and get out of sight. Three, Action with the enemy's transports. H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only two ships, the steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present. Both ships were sunk after removal of the crews." Thus was annihilated the last squadron belonging to Germany outside the North Sea. ^ The defeat of Cradock had been avenged. The British losses were very small, considering the length of the fight and the desperate efforts of the German fleet. Only one ship of the German squadron was able to escape, and this on account of her great speed. The German sailors went down with colors flying. They died as Cradock's men had died. The naval war now entered upon a new phase. The shores of Great Britain had for many years been so thoroughly protected by the British navy that few coast fortifications had been built, except at important naval stations. Invasion on a grand scale was plainly impossible, so long as the British fleets held control of the sea. With German guns across the Channel almost within hearing it was evident that a raiding party might easily reach the English shore on some foggy night. The English people were much disturbed. They had read the accounts of the horrible brutalities of the German troops in Belgium and eastern France, and they imagined their feelings if a band of such ferocious brutea were to land ia England and pillage their peaceful homes. There was a hmnorous side to the way in which the yeomanry and territorials entrenched themselves along the eastern coast line, but the Germans, angry at the failure of their fleets, determined BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 211 to disttirb the British peace by raids, slight as the militaxy advan- tage of such raids might be. On November 2d a fleet of German warships sailed from the Elbe. They were three battle cruisers, the Seydlitz, the Moltke, and the Von Der Tann; two armored cruisers, the Blticher and the York, and three light cruisers, the Kolberg, the Graudenz, and the Strasburg. They were mainly fast vessels and the battle cruisers carried eleven-inch guns. Early in the morning they ran through the nets of a British fishing fleet. Later an old coast police boat, the Halcyon, was shot at a few times. About eight o'clock they were opposite Yarmouth, and proceeded to bombard English Coast Towns that weeh Raided that naval station from a distance of about ten miles. Then- range was poor and their shells did no damage. They then turned swiftly for home, but on the road back the York struck a mine, and was sunk. * On the 16th of December they came again, full of revenge because of the destruction of von Spee and his squadron. Early in the morning early risers in Scarborough saw in the north four strange ships. ,; Scarborough was absolutely without defense. It had once been an artillery depot but m recent years had been a cavahy station, and some few troops of this service were quartered there. Otherwise it was an open seaside resort. The German ships poured shells into the defenseless town, aiming at every large object they could see, the Grand Hotel, the gas works, the 212 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR water works and the wireless station. Churches, public buildings, and hospitals were hit, as well as private houses. Over five hundred shells were fired. Then the ships turned around and moved away. The streets were crowded with puzzled and scared inhabitants, many of whom, as is customary in watering places, were women, children and invalids. At nine o'clock Whitby, a coast town near Scarborough, saw two great ships steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later the ships were firing. The old Abbey of Hilda and Cedman was struck, but on the whole little damage was done. Another division of the invaders visited the Hartlepools. There there was a small fort, with a battery of old-fashioned guns, and off the shore was a small British flotilla,^a gunboat and two destroyers. The three battle cruisers among the German raiders opened fire. The little British fleet did what they could but were quickly driven off. The German ships then approached the shore and fired on the Eng- lish battery, the first fight with a foreign foe in England since 1690. The British battery consisted of some territorials who stood with- out wavering to their guns and kept up for half an hour a furious cannonading. A great deal of damage was done; churches, hos- pitals, workhouses and schools were all hit. The total death roll was 119, and the wounded over 300. Six hundred houses were damaged or destroyed, but there was a great deal of heroism, not only among the territorials, but among the inhabitants of the town, and when the last shots were fired all turned to the work of relief. Somewhere between nine and ten o'clock the bold German fleet started for home. The British Grand Fleet had been notified of the raid and two battle cruiser squadrons were hurrying to intercept them. But the weather had thickened and the waters of the North Sea were covered with fog belts stretching for hun- dreds of miles. And so the raiders returned safe to receive their Iron Crosses. The German aim in such raids was probably to create a panic, and so interfere with the English military plans. If the English had not looked at the matter with common sense they might easily have been tempted to spend millions of poimds on seaboard fortifications, and keep millions of men at home who were more necessary in the armies in France. But the English people kept their heads. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 213 Germany, perceiving the indignation of the world at these bombardments of defenseless watering places, endeavored to appease criticism by describing them as fortified towns. But the well-known excellence of the German system of espionage makes it plain that they knew the true condition of affairs. These towns were not selected as fortified towns, but because they were not, and destruction in unfortified towns it was thought would have a greater effect than in a fortified town where it would be regarded as among the natural risks of war. During the rest of the year of 1914 no further sea fight took place in the North Sea nor was there any serious loss to the navy from torpedo or submarine. But on the first of January, 1915, the British ship Formidable, 15,000 tons, was struck by two torpedoes and sunk. The previous day she hadleft Sheerness with eight vessels of the Channel fleet and with no protection from destroyers. The night was a bright moonlight and for such vessels to be moving in line on such a night without destroyers shows gross carelessness. Out of a crew of 800 men only 201 were saved, and the rescue of this part of the crew was due to the seamanship of Captain Pillar of the trawler Providence, who managed to. take most of those rescued on board his vessel. ; On January 24th the German battle cruiser squadron under Rear-Admiral Hipper set sail from Wilhelmshaven. What his object was is not known. He had enlarged the mine field north of Helgoland and north of the mine field had stationed a submarine flotilla. It is likely that he was planning to induce the British fleet to follow him into the mine field, or within reach of his sub- marines. That same morning the British battle cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty put to sea. According to the official report of the English Admiral he was in command of the following vessels: battle cruisers, the Lion, Princess Royal, the Tiger, the New Zealand, and the Indomitable; light cruisers, the Southampton, the Nottingham, the Birming- ham, the Lowestoft, the Arethusa, the Aurora and the Undaimted, with destroyer flotillas under Commodore Tyrwhitt. The German Admiral had with him the Seydlitz, the Mol{ke, the DerfHinger, the Blticher, six light cruisers and a destroyer flotilla. The English Admiral apparently had some hint of the plans of the German squadron. The night of the 23d had been foggy; in the morning. 214 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR however, the wind came from the northeast and cleared off the mists. An abridgment of the official report gives a good account of the battle, sometimes called the battle of Dogger Bank: "At 7.25 A. M. the flash of guns was observed^outh-south- east; shortly afterwards the report reached me from the Aurora that she was engaged with enemy ships. I immediately altered course to south-southeast, increased speed, and ordered the light cruisers and flotillas to get in touch and report movements of enemy. This order was acted upon with great promptitude, indeed my wishes had already been forestalled by the respective senior officers, and reports almost immediately followed from the Southampton, Arethusa, and Aurora as to the position and composition of. the enemy. The enemy had altered their course to southeast; from now onward the light cruisers maintained touch with the enemy and kept me fuUy informed as to their movements. The battle cruisers worked up to full speed, steering to the southward; the wind at the time was northeast, light, with extreme visibility. "At 7.30 A. M. the enemy were sighted on the port bow, steam- ing fast, steering approximately southeast, distance fourteen miles. Owing to the prompt reports received we had attained our posi- tion on the quarter of the enemy, and altered course to run parallel to them. We then settled down to a long stem chase, gradually increasing our speed until we reached 28.5 knots. "Great credit is due to the engineer staffs of the New Zealand and Indomitable. These ships greatly exceeded their speed. At 8.52 A. M., as we had closed within 20,000 yards of the rear ship, the battle cruisers maneuvered so that gtms would bear and the Lion fired a'single shot which fell short. The enemy at this time were in single Hne ahead, with light cruisers ahead and a large number of destroyers on their starboard beam. Single shots were fired at intervals to test the range, and at 9.09 the Lion made her first bit on the Bliicher, the rear ship of the German line. At 9.20 the Tiger opened fire on the Bliicher, and the Lion shifted to the third in the line, this ship being hit by several salvos. The enemy returned our fire at 9.14 A. M., the Princess Royal, on coming into range, opened fire on the Bliicher. The New Zealand was also within range of the Bliicher which had dropped somewhat astern, and opened fire on her. The Princess Royal then shifted to the third ship in the line (Derfflinger) inflicting considerable BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES 215 damage on her. Our flotilla cnuea^ and destroyers had gradually dropped from a position, broad on our beam, to oiu* port quarter, so as not to foul our range with their smoke. But the enemy's destroyers threatening attack, the Meteor and M division passed ahead of us. "About 9.45 the situation was about as follows: The Blticher, the fourth in their line, showed signs of having suffered severely from gun fire, their leading ship and number three were also on fire. The enemy's destroyers emitted vast columns of smoke to screen their battle cruisers, and under cover of this the latter now appeared to have altered course to the northward to increase their distance. The battle cruisers therefore were ordered to form a line of bearing north-northwest, and proceeded at the utmost speed. Their destroyers then showed evident signs of an attempt to attack. The Lion and the Tiger opened fire upon them, and caused them to retire and resimie their original coiu^e. "At 10.48 A. M. the Bliicher, which had dropped considerably astern of the enemy's line, hauled out to port, steering north with a heavy list, on fire, and apparently in a defeated condition. I consequently ordered the Indomitable to attack the enemy break- ing northward. At 10.54 submarines were reported on the star- board bow, and I personally observed the wash of a periscope. I immediately turned to port. At 10.03 an injiiry to the Lion being reported as being incapable of immedate repair, I directed the Lion to diape course northwest. "At 11.20 I called the Attack alongside, shifting my flag to her, and proceeded at utmost speed to rejoin the squadron. I met them at noon, retiring north-northwest. I boarded and hoisted my flag on the Princess Royal, when Captain Brock acquainted me with what had occurred since the Lion fell out of line, namely, that the Bliicher had been sunk and that the enemy battle cruisers had continued their course to the eastward in a considerably dam- aged condition. He also informed me that a Zeppelin and a sea- plane had endeavored to drop bombs on the vessels which went to the rescue of the survivors of the Bliicher." It appears from this report that as soon as the Germans sighted the British fleet they promptly turned aroimd and fled to the southeast. This flight, before they could have known the full British strength, suggests that the German Admiral was hoping 216 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR to lure the British vessels into the Helgoland trap. The British gunnery was remarkably good, shot after shot taking effect at a distance of ten miles, and that too when moving at over thirty miles an hour. Over 120 of the crew of the Bliicher were rescued and more would have been rescued if it had not been for the attack upon the rescue parties by the German aircraft. The injury to the Lion was very unfortunate. Admiral Beatty handed over charge of the battle cruisers to Rear-Admiral Moore, and when he was able to overtake the squadron he found, that imder Admiral Moore's orders the British fleet were retiring. The British squad- ron at the moment of turning was seventy miles from Helgoland, and in no danger from its mine fields/ What might have been a crashing victory became therefore only a partial one: the Germans lost the Bliicher; the Derfflinger and the Seydlitz were badly injured, but it seems that with a little more persistence the whole German squadron might have been destroyed. The result was a serious blow to Germany. This engagemeAt was the first between modem big-gun ships. Particular interest is also attached to it because each squadron was accompanied by scouting and screening light cruisers and destroyers. It was fear of submarines and mines, moreover, that influenced the British to break off the engagement. A Zeppelin airship and a seaplane also took part, and perhaps 'assisted in the fire control of the Germans. The conditions surrounding this battle were ideal for illustrating the functions of battle cruisers.* The German warship raid on the British coast of the previous month was still fresh in mind, and when this situation off the Dogger Bank arose the timely interposing of Admiral Beatty's superior force, the fast chase, the long-range fighting, the loss of the Bliicher and the hasty retreat of the enemy, were all particularly pleasing to the British people. As a result^ the battle cruiser type of ship attained great popularity. CHAPTER XIV Nbw Methods and Hoheoes of Warfare WHEN Germany embarked upon its policy of fright- fulness, it held in reserve murderous inventions that had been contributed to the German General Sta|f by chemists and other scientists working in conjunction with the war. Never since the dawn of time had there been such a perversion of knowledge to criminal purposes; never had science contributed such a deadly toll to the fanatic and criminal inten- tions of a war-crazed class. As the war uncoiled its weary length, and month after month of embargo and privation saw the morale of the German nation groVing steadily lower, these murderous inventions were suc- cessively called into play against the Allies, but as each horror was put into play on the battle-field, its principles were solved by the scientists of the Allied nations, and the deadly engine of destruction was tiuned with trebled force against the Huns. This happened with the various varieties of poison gas, with liquid fire, with trench knives, with nail-studded clubs, with armor used by shock troops, with airplane bombs, with cannon throwing projectiles weighing thousands of pounds great dis- tances behind the battle lines. Not only did America and the Allies improve upon Germany's pattern in these respects, but they added a few inventions that went far toward timoing the scale against Germany. An example of these is the "tank." Originally this was a caterpillar tractor invented in America and adopted in England. At first these were of two varieties, the male, carrying heavy guns only, and the females, equipped with machine guns. To these was later added the whippet tank, named after the racing dog developed in England. These whippet tanks averaged eighteen miles an hour, carrying death and terror into the ranks of the enemy. All the tanks were heavily armored and had as their motto the significant words "Treat 'Em Rough." The Germans designed a heavy anti-tank rifle about three feet 217 218 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR longer than the ordinary rifle and carrying a charge calculated to pierce tank armor. These were issued to the German first line trenches at the rate of three to a company. That they were not particularly effective was proved by the ease with which the tanis of all varieties tore through the barbed wire entanglements and passed over the Hindenburg and Kriemhild lines, supposed by the Germans to be impregnable. The tanks in effect were mobile artillery and were used as such by all the Allied troops. Germany frantically endeavored to manufacture tanks to meet the Allied monsters, but their efforts were feeble when compared with the great output opposed to them. Before considering other inventions losed for the first time in this war, it is well to understand the tremendous changes in methods and tactics made necessary by these discoveries. Put into a sentence, the changed warfare amounts to this: it is a mobilization of material, of railroads, great guns, machine guns, food, airplanes and other engines of destruction quite aa much as it is a mobilization of men. The Germans won battle after battle at the b^inning of the war because of their system of strategic railways that made it possible to transport huge armies to selected points in the shortest possible time both on the eastern and the western fronts. Lacking a system of transportation to match this, Russia lost the great battles that decided her fate, Belgium was over-run, and France, once the border was passed, became a battle-field upon which the Germans might extend their trench systems over the face of the land. Lacking strategic railways to match those of Germany, France evolved an effective substitute in the modern system of automobile transportation. When von Kluck swimg aside from Paris in his first great rush, Gallieni sent out from Paris an army in taxicabs that struck the exposed flank and went far toward winning the first battle of the Mame. It was the truck trans- portation system of the French along the famous "Sacred Road" back of the battle line at Verdun that kept inviolate the motto of the heroic town, "They Shall Not Pass." Motor trucks that brought American reserves in a khaki flood won the second battle of the Mame. It was automobile transportation that enabled Haig to send the British Canadians and Australians in full cry NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 219 after the retreating Germans when the backbone of the German resistance was broken before Lens, Cambrai, and Ostend. America's railway transportation system in France was one of the marvels of the war. Stretching from the sector of sea- coast set apart for America by the French Government, it radiated far into the interior, delivering men, mimitions and food in a steady stream. American engineers worked with their brothers- in-arms with the Allies to construct an inter-weaving system of wide-gauge and narrow-gauge roads that served to victual and muni- tion the entire front and fiirther serve to deliver at top speed whole army corps. It was this network of strategic railways that enabled the French to send an avalanche clad in horizon- blue to the relief of Amiens when Hindenbtu-g made his final tremendous effort of 1918. In its essentials, military effort in the great conflict may be roughly divided into Open warfare, Trench warfare, Crater warfare. The first battle of the Mame was almost wholly open war- fare; so also were the battles of the Masurian Lakes, Allenstein, and Dimajec in the eastern theater of war, and most of the war- fiare on the Italian front between the Piave River and Gorizia. In this variety of battle, airplanes and observation balloons play a promiaent part. Once the enemy is driven out of its trenches, the message is flashed by wireless to the artillery and dau^ter at long range be^s. If there have been no intrench- ments, as was the case in the first battle of the Mame, massed artillery send a plunging fire into the columns moving in open order and prepare the way for machine gunners and infantry to finish the rout. In previous wars, cavalry played a heroic r61e ia open warfare; only rarely has it been possible to use cavalry in the Great War. The Germans sent a screen of Uhlans before its advancing hordes into Belguim and Northern France m 1914. The Uhlans also were in the van ia the Russian invasion, but with these exceptions, German cavalry was a negligible factor. British and French cavalry were active in pursuit of the fleeing Teutons when the Hindenburg line was smashed in 220 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR September of 1918. Outside of that brief episode, the cavalry did comparatively nothing so far as the Allies were concerned. It was the practice on both sides to dismount cavalry and convert it into some form of trench service. Trench mortar companies, bombing squads, and other specialty groups were organized from among the cavalrymen. Of cotu^e the fighting in the open stretches of Mesopotamia, South Africa and Russia involved the use of great bodies of cavalry. The trend of modem warfare, however, is to equip the cavalryman with grenades and bayonets, in addition to his ordinary gear, and to make of him practically a mounted infantryman. Trench warfare occupied most of the time and made nine- tenths of the discomforts of the soldiers of both armies. If proof of the adaptive capacity of the human animal were needed, it is afforded by the manner in which the men biurowed in vermin- infested earth and lived there under conditions of Arctic cold, frequently enduring long deprivations of food, fuel, and suitable clothing. During the early stages of the war, before men became accustomed to the rigors of the trenches, many thousands died as a direct result of the exposure. Many thousand of others were incapacitated for Hfe by "trench feet," a group of maladies cover- ing the consequences of exposure to cold and water which in those early days flowed in rivulets through most of the trenches. The trenches at Gallipoli had their own special brand of maladies. Heatstroke and a malarial infection were among these disabling agencies. Trench fever, a malady beginning with a headache and sometimes ending in partial paralysis and death, was another common factor in the mortality records. But in spite of all these and other discomforts, in spite of the disgusting vermin that crawled upon the men both in winter and in summer, both sides mastered the trenches and in the end learned to live in them with some degree of comfort. At first the trenches were comparatively straight, shallow affairs; then as the artillery searched them out, as the machine gunners learned the art of looping their fire so that the bullets would drop into the hiding places of the enemy, the trench systems gradually became more scientifically involved. After the Germans had been beaten at the Marne and had retired to their prepared positions along the Aisne, there commenced a series of flanking NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 2^1 FORTS, FLYING AND NAVAL BASES ON THE NORTH SEA 222 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR attempts by one side and the other which speedily resolved itself into the famous "race to the sea." This was a competition between the opposing armies in rapid trench digging. The effort on either side was made to prevent the enemy from executing a flank move- ment. In an amazingly short time the opposing trenches extended from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, making f\ui;her outr- flanking attempts impossible of achievement. This was not the first time in history that intrenched armies opposed each other. The Civil War in this country set the fashion in that respect. The contending sides in the Great War, however, improved vastly upon the American example. Com- municating trenches were constructed, leading back to the com- pany kitchens, and finally to the open road leading back to the rest billets of the armies. When night raiding commenced, it was speedily seen that straight trenches exposed whole companies of men to enfilading fiire. Thereupon bastions were made and new defenses presented by zig-zagging the front-line trenches and^^the communicatiag ditches as well. To the formidable obstacles presented by the trenches, equipped as they were with sand-bag parapetsS^^ and firing steps, were added barbed-wire entanglements and pitfalls of various sorts. The greatest improvement was rhade by the Germans, and they added "pill boxes." These were really miniature fortresses of concrete and armor plate with a dome-^iaped roof and loop- holes for machine gunners. Only a direct hit by a projectile from a big gun served to demoHsh a "pill box." The Allies learned after many costly experiments that the best method to overcome these obstacles was to pass over and beyond them, leaving them isolated in Allied territory, where they were captured at the leisure of the attackers. Trench warfare brings with it new instruments. There are the flame projectors, which throw fire to a distance of approximately a hundred feet. The Germans were the first to use these, but they were excelled in this respect by the inventive genius of the nations opposing them. The use of poison gas, the word being used in its broad sense, is now general. It was first used by the Germans, but as in the case of flame throwers, the Allies soon gained the ascendency. *■ •« T- '-.»>-«.,«■•;■ NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 225 The first use of asphyxiating gas was by the Germans during the first battle of Ypres. There the deadly compound was mixed in huge reservoirs back of the German hnes. From these extended a system of pipes with vents pointed toward the British and Canadian hnes. Waiting until air current were moving steadily westward, the Germans opened the stop-cocks shortly after mid- night and the poisonous fumes swept slowly, relentlessly forward in a greenish cloud that moved close to the earth. The result of that fiendish and cowardly act was that thousands of men died in horrible agony without a chance for their lives. Besides that first asphyxiating gas, there soon developed others even more deadly. The base of most of these was chlorine. Then came the lachrymatory or "tear-compeUing" gases, cal- culated to produce temporary or permanent blindness. Another German "triumph" was mustard gas. This is spread in gas shells, as are aJl the modem gases. The Germans abandoned the cumber- some gas-distributing system after the invention of the gas shell. These make a peculiar gobbling sound as they rush overhead. They explode with a very sUght noise and scatter their contents broadcast. The Uquids carried by them are usually of the sort that decompose rapidly when exposed to the air and give off the acrid gases dreaded by the soldiers. They are directed against the artillery as well as against intrenched troops. Every command, no matter how small, has its warning signal in the shape of a gong or a siren warning of approaching gas. Gas masks were speedily discovered to offset the dangers of poison gases of all kinds. These were worn not only by troops in the field, but by artillery horses, pack mules, liaison dogs, and by the civihan inhabitants in back of the battle lines. Where used quickly and in accordance with instructions, these masks were a complete protection against attacks by gas. The perfected gas masks used by both sides contained a chamber filled with a specially prepared charcoal. Peach pits were collected by the millions in all the belligerent countries to make this charcoal, and other vegetable substances of similar density were also used. Anti-gas chemicals were mixed with the charcoal. The wearer of the mask breathed entirely through the mouth, gripping a rubber mouthpiece while his nose was pinched shut by a clamp attached to the mask. 226 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR In training, soldiers were required to hold their breath for six seconds while the mask was being adjusted. It was explained to them that four breaths of the deadly chlorine gas was sufficient to kill; the first breath produced a spasm of the glottis; the second brought mental confusion and delirium; the third produced uncon- sciousness; and the fourth, death. The bag containing the gas mask and respirator was carried always by the soldier. The soldier during the winter season in the front line trenches was a grotesque figure. His head was crowned with a helmet covered with khaki because the glint of steel would advertise his whereabouts. Beneath the hehnet he wore a close fitting woolen cap pulled down tightly around his ears and sometimes tied or buttoned beneath his chin. Suspended upon his chest was the khaki bag contakiiag gas mask and respirator. Over his outer garments were his belt, brace straps, bayonet and ammunition pouches. His rifle was slxmg upon his shoulder with the foot of a woolen sock covering the muzzle and the leg of the same sock wrapped around the breech. A large jerkin made of leather, without sleeves, was worn over the short coat. Long rubber boots reaching to the hips and strapped at ankle and hip completely covered his legs. When anticipating trench raids, or on a raiding party, a handy trench knife and carefully slung grenades were added to his equipment. Airplane bombing ultimately changed the whole character of the war. It extended the fighting lines miles behind the battle front. It brought the horrors of night attacks upon troops resting in billets. It visited destruction and death upon the civilian popu- lation of citieiS scores of miles back of the actual front. Germany transgressed repeatedly the laws of humanity by bombing hospitals far behind the battle front- Describing one of these atrocious attacks, which took place May 29, 1918, Colonel G. H. Andrews, chaplain of a Canadian regiment, said: "The building bombed was one of three large Red Cross hospitals at Boulenes and was filled with Allied wovmded. A hospital in which were a nimiber of wounded German prisoners stood not very far away. "The Germans could not possibly have mistaken the building they bombed for ani^ihing else but a hospital. There were flags with a red cross flying, and lights were turned on them so that NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 227 they would show pFominenily. And the windows were brilliantly lighted. Those inside heard the buzz of thip Hdvanoing airplane^ but did not give them a thought. "The machines came right on> ignormg the hospital witih the German woimded, indicating they had full knowledge of their objective, until they were over a wiag of the Red Cross hospital that contained the operating room on the groimd floor. In the operating room a man was on the table for a most diflBcult surgical feat. Around him were gathered the staff of the hospital and its brilliant surgeons. Lieutenant Sage of New York had just given him the anesthetic when one of the airplanes let the bomb drop. It was a big fellow.^ It must have been all of 250 potmds of high explosive. "It hurtled downward, carrying the two floors before it. Through the gap thus made wounded men, the beds in which they lay, convalescents, and all on the floors came crashing down to the groimd. The bomb's force extended itself to wreck the operating room, where the man on the table, Lieutenant Sage, and all in the room were killed. In all there were thirty-««ven Uves lost, includ- ing three Red Cross nurses. "The building caught Gxe. The concussion had blown the stairs down, so that escape from the upper floors seemed impossi- ble. But the convalescents and the soldiers, who had run to the scene of the bombing, let the very ill ones out of the windows, and escape was made in that way. "And then, to cap the climax^ the German airplanes returned over the spot of their ghastly trimnph and fired on the rescuers with machine guns. God will never forgive the Huns for that act alone. Nor will our comrades ever forget it." The statement of Colonel Andrews was corroborated by a number of other ofl&cers. To protect artillery against counter-Bie of all kinds, both sides from the bpginning used the art of camouflage. This was resorted to particularly against scouting airplanes. At first the branches of trees and similar natm-al cover were used to deceive the airmen. Later the guns themselves were painted with protective colora- tions, and screens of burlap were used instead of branches. The camoufleur, as the camouflage artist was called, speedily extended hie activities to screens over highways, preventing airmen from 228 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR seeing troops in motion, to the protective coloration of lookout posts, and of other necessary factors along the fighting front. Camouflage also found great usefulness in the protective colora- tion of battleships and merchant vessels. Scientific study went hand in hand with the art, the object being to confuse the enemy and to offer targets as small as possible to the enemy gunners. Crater warfare came as a development of intensified artillery attacks upon trench systems. It was at Dunajec on the eastern front that for the first time in modem war the wheels of artillery were placed hub to hub in intensified hurricane fire upon enemy positions. The result there under von Mackensen's direction was the rout of the Russians. When later the same tactics were employed on the western front, the result was to destroy whole trench systems with the exception of deep dugouts, and to send the occupants of the trenches into the craters, made by shell explosions, for protection. It was observed that these craters made excellent cover and when linked by vigorous use of the intrenching tools carried by •every soldier, they made a fair substitute for the trenches. This observation gave root to an idea which was followed by both armies; this was the deUberate creation of crater systems by the artillery of the attacking force. Into these lines of craters the attacking infantry threw itself in wave after wave as it rushed toward the enemy trenches. The ground is so riddled by this intensive artillery fire that there is created what is known as "moon terrain," fields resembUng the surface of the moon as seen through a powerful telescope. Troops on both sides were trained to utilize these shell holes to the utmost, each Uttle group occupying a crater, keeping in touch with its nearest group and moving steadily in unison toward the enemy. One detail in which this war surpassed aU otheres was in the use of machine guns and grenades. The Germans were first to make extensive use of the machine gun as a weapon with which to produce an effective barrage. They established machine-gun nests at frequent intervals commanding the zone over which infantry was to advance and by skilful crossfire kept that terrain free from every living thing. The Germans preferred a machine gun, water cooled and of the barrel-recoil type. The English used a Vickers-Maxim and a Lewis gun, the latter the invention of NEW METHODS OF WARFARE 229 an officer in the American army. The French preferred the Hotchkiss and the Saint-Etienne. The Americans standardized the Browning light and heavy machine guns, and these did effective service. It was asserted by American gunnery experts that the Browning excels all other weapons of its type. Two general types of grenades were used on both sides. One a defensive bomb about the size of an orange, containing a bursting charge weighing twenty-two ounces. Then there was a grenade used for offensive work carrying about thirty-two ounces of high explosives. The defensive grenades were of cast iron and so made that they biirst into more than a himdred jagged pieces when they exploded. These woimded or killed within a radius of one himdred and fifty yards. In exceptional instances, the range was higher. The function of artillery in a modem battle is constantly extending. Both the big gims and the howitzers were the deciding factors in most of the military decisions reached during the war. Artillery is divided first between the big guns having a compara- tively flat trajectory and the howitzers whose trajectory is curved. Then there is a further division into these four classes: Field artillery, Heavy artillery. Railroad artillery, Trench artillery. The type of field artillery is the famous 75-millimeter gun used interchangeably by the French and Americans. It is a quick- firing weapon and is used against attacking masses and for the various kind of barrages, including an anti-aircraft barrage. Included in the heavy artillery are guns and howitzers of larger caliber than the 75-millimeter. Three distinct and terrify- ing noises accompany explosions of these guns. First, there is the explosion when the shell leaves the gim; then there is the peculiar rattling noise like the passing of a railway train when the shells pass overhead; then there is the explosion at point of contact, a terrific concussion which produces the hiunan condition called "shell-shock," a derangement of body and brain, paralyzing nerve and muscle centers and frequently producing iosanity. The railroad artillery comprises huge guns pulled on railways by locomotives, each gun having a number of cars as part of its equipment. These are slow-firing guns of great power and hurling 230 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the largest projectiles known to warfare. The largest guns of this class were produced by American inventive genius as a reply to the German gun of St. Gobain Forest. This was a weapon which hurled a nine-inch shell from a distance of sixty-two miles into the heart of Paris. The damage done by it was comparatively slight and it had no appreciable effect ypon the morale of the Parisians. Its greatest damage was when it struck the Roman Catholic Church of St. Gervais on Good Friday, March 29, 1918, killing seventy-five persons and woimding ninety. Fifty-four of those killed were women, five being Americans. The total effect of the bombardment by this big gim was to arouse France, England and America to a fiercer fighting pitch. The late Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, expressed this sentiment, when he sent the following message to the Archbishop of Paris r- Shocked by the brutal killing of innocent victims gath'^S at reGgious services to commemorate the passing of our blessed Saviour on Good Friday, the Catholics of New York join your noble protest against this outrage of the sanctuary on such a day and at such an hour and, express- ing their sympathy to the bereaved relatives of the dead and injured, pledge their unfaltering allegiance in support of the common cause that unites our two great republics. May God bless the brave officers and men of the Allied armies in their splendid defense of liberty and justice! Trench artillery are Stokes guns and other mortars hiu-ling aerial torpedoes containing great quantities of high explosives. These have curved trajectories and are effective not only agamst trenches but also against deep dugouts, wire entanglements and listening posts. One of the most important details of modem warfare is that of communication or liaison on the battlefield. This is accomplished by ruimers recruited from the trenches, by dogs, pigeons, telephone, radio. As has been heretofore stated, the airplane considered in all its developments, is the newest and most important of factors in modem warfare. It photographs the enemy positions, it detects concentrations and other movements of the enemy, it makes sm-prise impossible, it is a deadly engme of destraction when used in spraying machine-gun fire upon troops in the open. As a bombing ' device, it surpasses the best and most accurate artillery. \ CHAPTER XT German Plots and Propaganda m America THE pages of Germany's militaristic history are black with many shameful deeds and plots. Those pages upon which are written the intrigues against the peace of America and against the lives and properties of American citizens during the period between the declaration of war in 1914 and the armistice ending the war, while not so bloody as those relating to the atrocities in Belgium and Northern France are still revolting to civilized mankind. VJuermany not only paid for the murder of passengers on ships where its infernal machines were placed, not only conspired for the destruction of munition plants and factories of many kinds, not only sought to embroil the United States, then neutral, in a war with Mexico and Japan, but it committed also the crime of murderous hypocrisy by conspiring to do these wrongs imder the cloak of friendship for this country. It was in December of 1915 that the German Government sent to the United States for general publication in American news- papers this statement: The German Government nag naturally never knowingly accepted the support of any person, group of persons, society or organization seek- ing to promote the cause of Germany in the United States by illegal acts, by counsel of violence, by contravention of law, pr by any means what- ever that could offend the American people in the pride of their own authority. _3 The answer to this imperial lie came from the President of the United States, when, in his address to Congress, April 2, 1917, urging a declaration of war on Germany, he characterized the Ger- man spy system and its frightful fruits in the following language: "One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsus- 231 232 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR pecting commimities, and even our offices of government, with spies, and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed it is now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts of justice, that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the indus- tries of the country have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direction of official agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government of the United States." Austria co-operated with Germany in a feeble way in these / plots and propaganda, but the master plotter was Count Johann \_^on Bernstorff, Germany's Ambassador^J The Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, Constantin Theodor Dumba, Captain Franz von Papen, Captain Karl Boy-Ed, Dr. Heinrich F. Albert, and Wolf von Igel, all of whom were attached to the German Embassy, were associates in the intrigues. Franz von Rintelen operated independently and received his fimds and instructions directly from Berlin. One of the earliest methods of creating disorder in American munition plants and other industrial establishments engaged in war work was through labor disturbances. With that end in view a general German employment bureau was established in August, 1915, in New York City. It had branches in Philadelphia, Bridgeport, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and Cincinnati. These cities at that time were the centers of industries engaged in furoish- ing munitions and war suppUes to the Entente alUes. Concerning this enterprise Ambassador Dumba, writing to Baron Burian, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, said: A private German employment office has been established which provides employment for persons who have voluntarily given up their places, and it is akeady working well. We shall also join in and the widest support is assured us. The duties of men sent from the German employment offices into munition plants may be gathered from the following frank circular issued on November 2, 1914, by the German General Headquarters and reprinted iu the Freie Zeitwng, of Berne, PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 233 General Headquabters to the Military Representativb ON THE Russian and French Fronts, as Well as in Italy and Nobwat. In all branch establishments of German banking houses in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, China and the United States, special militaiy accounts have been opened for special war necessities. Main headquarters authorizes you to use these credits to an unlimited extent for the purpose of destroying factories, workshops, camps, and the most important centers of mihtary and civil supply belonging to the enemy. In addition to the incitement of labor troubles, measures must be taken for the damaging of engines and machinery plants, the destruction of vessels carrying war material to enemy countries, the burning of stocks of raw materials and finished goods, and the depriving of large industrial centers of electric power, fuel and food. Special agents, who will be placed at your disposal, will supply you with the necessary means for effecting explosions and fires, as well as with a list of people in the country under your supervision who are willing to undertake the task of destruction. (Signed) De. E. Fischer. Shortly after the establishment of the German employment bureau, Ambassador Dumba sent the following commxmication to the Austrian Foreign Office: It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for months, if not entirely prevent, the manufacture of mimitions in Bethlehem and the Middle West, which, in the opinion of the German military attach^, is of importance and amply outweighs the comparatively small expenditure of money involved. Concerning the operations of the arson and murder squad orgamzed by von Bemstorff, Dumba and their associates, it is only necessary to turn to the records of the criminal courts of the United States and Canada. Take for example the case against Albert Kaltschmidt, living in Detroit, Michigan. The United States grand jury sitting in Detroit indicted Kaltschmidt and his fellow conspirators upon the following coimts: "To blow up the factory of the Peabody's Company, Limitedj at Walkerville, Ontario, . . . engaged in manufacturing unifonns, clothing and military supplies. . . . "To blow up the building known as the Windsor Armories of the City of Windsor. . . . "To blow up and destroy other plants and buildings in said Dominion of Canada, which were used for the manufacture of munitions of war, clothing and uniforms, u 234 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "To blow up and destroy the great railroad bridges of the Canadian Pacific Railroad at Nipigon. . . . "To employ and send into said Dominion of Canada spies to obtain military information." Besides the acts enumerated in the indictment it was proved upon trial that Kaltschmidt and bis gang planned to blow up the Detroit Screw Works where shrapnel was being manxifactured, and to destroy the St. Clair timnel, connecting Canada with the United States. Both of these plans failed. Associated with Kaltschroidt in these plots were Captain von Papen, Baron Kurt von Reiswitz, German consul-general in Chicago; Charles F. Respa, Richard Herman, and William M. Jarasch, the latter two German reservists. Testifying in the case Jarasch, a bartender, said: "Jacobsen (an aide) told me that munition factories in Canada were to be blown up. Before I left for Detroit, Jacobsen and I went to the consulate. , We saw the consul_and he shook hands with me and wished me success." Charles F. Respa, in his testimony made the following revela- tions in response to questions by the government's representatives: Q. How long had you been employed before he (Kaltschmidt) told you that he wanted you to blow up some of these factories? A. About three weeks. Q. Did Kaltschmidt at the time speak of any particular place that he wanted you to blow up? A. The particular place was the Armory. Q. Did he mention the Peabody Buildiiig at that time? A. Not particularly — ^he was more after the bridges and the armories and wanted those places blown up that made ammuni- tion and military clothing. Q. The explosion at the armories was to be timed so that it would occur when the soldiers were asleep there? A. Yes — ^he did not mention that he wanted to kill soldiers. Q. Did he say that if the dynamite in the suitcase exploded it would kill the soldiers? A. I do not remember that he said eo, but he must have known it. Q. Did you take both grips? A. Yes. Q. Where did you set the first grip? A. By the Peabody plant (blown up on June 20, 1915). Q. Where did you put the other suitcase? A. Then I PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 235 walked down the Walkerville road to the Armories at Windsor, and carried the suitcase. Q. When you got to the Armories did you know where to place it? A. I had my instructions. Q. From Kaltschmidt? A. Yes. Q. Did you place this suitcase containing the dynamite bomb at the armory in a proper place to explode and do any damage? A. Yes. Q. Was it properly connected so that the cap would explode and strike the dynamite? A. I fixed it so that it would not. Q. Did you deliberately fix this bomb that you took to the Armories so that it woidd not explode? A. Yes. Q. Why did you do that? A. I knew that the suitcase contained thirty sticks of dynamite and if exploded would blow up the Armories and all the ammunition and Mil every man in it. It is interesting to note in this connection that Kaltschmidt was sentenced to four years in the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, and to pay a fine of $20,000. Horn's sentence was eighteen months in the Atlanta penitentiary and a fine of $1,000. Attempts were also made to close by explosions the tiumels through which the Canadian Pacific Railroad passes under the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia. '^ The German General Staff in this instance operated through Franz Bopp, the German consul-general in San Francisco, and Lieutenant von Brincken. J. H. van Koolbergen was hired to do this work. Concerning the negotiations, van Koolbergen made this statement: "Not knowing what he wanted I went to see him. He was very pleasant and told me that he was an officer in the German army and at present working in the secret service of the German Empire under Mr. Franz Bopp, the Imperial German consul. "I went to the consulate and met Franz Bopp and then saw von Brincken in another room. He asked me if I would do some- thing for him in Canada and I answered him, 'Sure, I will do some- thing, even blow up bridges, if there is money in it.' And he said, 'You are the man; if that is so, you can make good money.' "Von Brincken told me that they were willing to send me up to Canada to blow up one of the bridges on the Canadian Pacific Railroad or one of the timnels. I asked him what was in it and he said he would talk it over with the German consul, Bopp. £36 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "I had accepted von Brincken's proposition to go to Canada and he offered me $500 to defray my expenses. On different occasions, in his room, von Brincken showed me maps and informa- tion about Canada, and pointed out to me where he wanted the act to be done. This was to be between Revelstake and Vancouver on the Canadian Pacific Raihroad, and I was to get $3,000 in case of a successful blowing up of a military bridge or tunnel." Van Koolbergen only made a pretended effort to blow up the tunnel. He did furnish the evidence, however, which served to send Bopp and his associates to the penitentiary. Even more sensational was the plot against the international bridge upon which the Grand Trunk Railway crosses the border between the United States and Canada at Vanceboro, Me. Werner Horn was a German reserve lieutenant. Von Papen delivered to him a flat order to blow up the bridge and he gave him $700 for the purpose of perpetrating the outrage. Horn was partially successful. At his trial in Boston in June, 1917, he made the following confession: "I admit and state that the facts set forth in the indictments as to the conveyance of explosives on certain passenger trains from New York to Boston and from Boston to Vanceboro, in the State of Maine, are true. I did, as therein alleged, receive an explo- sive and conveyed the same from the city of New York to Boston, thence by common carrier from Boston to Vanceboro, Maine. On or about the night of February 1, 1915, I took said explosive in a suitcase in which I was conveying it and carried the same across the bridge at Vanceboro to the Canadian side, and there, about 1.10 in the morning of February 2, 1915, 1 caused said explo- sive to be exploded near or against the abutments of the bridge on the Canadian side, with intent to destroy the abutment and cripple the bridge so that the same could not be used for the passage of trains." Bribery of Congressmen was intended by Franz von Rintelen, operating directly in touch with the German Foreign Office in Berlin. Coxmt von Bemstorff sent the following telegram to Berlin in connection with his plan: I request authority to pay out up to 850,000 in order, as on former occasions, to influence Congress through the organization you know of, which can perhaps prevent war. I am beginning in the meantime to act PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 237 accordingly. In the above circiunstances, a pubKc official Gennan declaration in favor of Ireland is highly desirable, in order to gain the support of the Irish influence here That it was Rintelen's purpose to use large sums of money for the purpose of bribing Congressmen was stated positively by George Plochman, treasurer of the Transatlantic Trust Company, where Eintelen kept his deposits. Rintelen was the main figure on this side of the water in the fantastic plot to have Mexico and Japan declare war upon the United States. During the trial of Rintelen in New York City in May, 1917, it was testified "that he came to the United States in order to embroil it with Mexico and Japan if necessary; that he was doing all he could and was going to do all he could to embroil this country with Mexico; that he believed that if the United States had a war with Mexico it would stop the shipment of ammu- nition to Europe; that he Believed it would be only a matter of time until we were involved with Japan." Rintelen also said that "General Huerta was going to return to Mexico and start a revolution there which would cause the United States to intervene and so make it impossible to ship muni- tions to Europe. Intervention," he said, "was one of his trump cards." Mexico was the happy himting-ground for pro-German plotters, and the German Ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, was the leader in all the intrigues. The culmination of Germany's effort against America on this continent came on January 19, 1917, when Dr. Alfred Zimmerman, head of the German Foreign Office, sent the following cable to Ambassador von Eckhardt: On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral the United States of America. If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the follow- ing basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is under- stood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his 238 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan. Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months. ZiMMEBMAN. This was almost three months before the United States entered the war. As an example of German bUndness and diplomatic folly it stands tmrivaled in the annals of the German Foreign Office. Plots against shipping were the deadliest in which the German conspirators engaged. Death and destruction followed in their wake. In direct connection of von Bernstorff and his tools with these outrages the following testimony by an American secret service man employed by Wolf von Igel is interesting. It refers to an appointment with Captain von Kleist, superintendent of Scheele's bomb factory in Hoboken, N. J. "We sat down and we spoke for about three hours. I asked him the different things that he did, and said if he wanted an inter- view with Mr. von Igel, my boss, he would have to tell everything. So he told me that von Papen gave Dr. Scheele, the partner of von Kleist in this factory, a check for $10,000 to start this bomb factory. He told me that he, Mr. von Kleist, and Dr. Scheele and a man by the name of Becker on the Friedrich der Grosse were making the bombs, and that Captain Wolpert, Captain Bode and Captain Steinberg, had charge of puttmg these bombs on the ships; they put these bombs in cases and shipped them as merchandise on these steamers, and they would go away on the trip and the bombs would go off after the ship was out four or five days, causing a fire and caxosing the cargo to go up in flames. He also told me that they have made quite a number of these bombs; that thirty of them were given to a party by the name of O'Leary, and that he took them down to New Orleans where he had charge of putting them on ships down there, this fellow O'Leary." About four hundred bombs were made under von Igel's direc- tion; explosions and fixes were caused by them on thirty-three ships sailing from New York harbor alone. Four of the bombs were found at Marseilles on a vessel which PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 239 sailed from Brooklyn in May, 1915. The evidence collected in the case led to the indictment of the foUowing men for feloniously transporting on the steamship Kirk Oswald a bomb or bombs filled with chemicals designed to cause incendiary fires: Rintelen, Wolpert, Bode, Schmidt, Becker, Garbade, Praedel, Paradies, von Kleist, Schimmel, Scheele, Steinberg and others. The last three named fled from justice, Scheele being supplied with $1,000 for that purpose by Wolf von Igel. He eluded the Federal author- ities until April, 1918, when he was found hiding in Cuba under the protection of German secret service agents. All the others except Schmidt were found guilty and sentenced, on February 5, 1918, to imprisonment for eighteen months and payment of a fine of $2,000 each. It was proved during the trial that Rintelen had hired Schimmel, a German lawyer, to see that bombs were placed on ships. Schmidt, von Kleist, Becker, Garbade, Praedel and Paradies had already been tried for conspiracy to make bombs for conceal- ment on ocean-goiag vessels, with the purpose of setting the same on fire. All were foimd guilty, and on April 6, 1917, von Kleist and Schmidt were sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of $500 each. Robert Fay, a former officer in the German army, who came to the United States in April, 1916, endeavored to prevent the traffic in munitions by sinking the laden ships at sea. In recoimting the circimistances of his arrival here to the chief of the United States secret service. Fay said: ". . . I had in the neighborhood of $4,000. . . . This money came from a man who sent me over . . . (named) Jonnersen. The understanding was that it might be worth while to stop the shipment of artillery munitions from this country. • . . I imagined Jonnersen to be in the (German) secret service." After stating that he saw von Papen and Boy-Ed, and that neither would have anything to do with him, apparently because suspicious of his identity, Fay continued: "I did not want to return (to Germany) without having carried out my intention, that is, the destruction of ships carrying munitions. I proceeded with my experiments and tried to get hold of as much explosive matter as in any way possible. . . ." Fay and two confederates were arrested in a lonely spot near 240 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Grantwood, New Jersey, while testing an explosive. During his examination at police headquarters in Weehawken immediately after the arrest he was questioned as follows: Q. That large machine you have downstairs, what is that? A. That is a patent of mine. It is a new way of getting a time fuse. . . . Q. Did you know where Scholz (Fay's brother-in-law) had this machine made? A. In different machine shops. . . . Q. What material is it you wanted (from Daeche, an accom- pUce)? A. Trinitrotoluol (T. N. T.). . . . Q. How much did the machinery cost? A. Roughly speaking, $150 or $200. . . . Q. What would be the cost of making one and filling it with explosives? A. About $250 each. ... If they had given me money enough I should simply have been able to block the shipping entirely. Q. Do you mean you could have destroyed every ship that left the harbor by means of those bombs? A. I would have been able to stop so many that the authorities would not have dared (to send out any ships). It was proved during Fay's trial that his bomb was a practical device, and that its forty poimds of explosive would sink any ship to which it was attached. Fay and his accomplices, Scholz and Daeche, were convicted of conspiracy to attach explosive bombs to the rudders of vessels, with the intention of wrecking the same when at sea, and were sentenced, on May 9, 1916, to terms of eight, four and two years respectively, in the federal penitentiary at Atlanta. Dr. Herbert Kienzle and Max Breitung, who assisted Fay in procuring explo- sives, were indicted on the same charge. Both were interned. Another plan for disabling ships was suggested by a man who remained for some time imknown. He called one day at the German Military Information Bureau, maintained at 60 Wall Street by Captaiij von Papen, of the German embassy, and there gave the following outline of his plan: "I intend to cause serious damage to vessels of the Allies leaving ports of the United States by placing bombs, which I am to K &ffi§ O <& -. o a* on C^o 5-^ a. o P CD 13 *" ^ o "-2 2 CO -< H S 2 m p' "St P O C3 PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 243 making myself, on board. These bombs resemble ordinary lumps of coal and I am planning to have them concealed in the coal to be laden on steamers of the Allies. I have already discussed this plan with . . . at . . . and he thinks favorably of my idea. I have been engaged on similar work in . . . after the outbreak of the war, together with Mr. von . . . ." The German secret service report from which the above excerpt is taken states that the maker of the bomb was paid by check No. 146 for $150 drawn on the Riggs National Bank of Washington. A photographic oopy of this check shows that it was payable to Paul Koenig, of the Hamburg-American Line, and was signed by Captain von Papen. On the counterfoil is written this memorandum, "For F. J. Busse." Busse confessed later that he had discussed with Captain von Papen at the German Club in New York City the plan of damaging the boilers of munition ships with bombs which resembled lumps of coal. Free access to Allied ships laden with supplies for Vladivostok would have been invaluable to the conspirators, and in order to obtain it Charles C. Crowley, a detective employed by Consul- General Bopp, resorted to the extraordinary scheme revealed m the following letter to Madam Bakhmeteff, wife of the Russian Ambassador to the United States: Mme J. Bakhmeteff, care Imperial Russian Embassy, Newport, R. I.: Deak Madam: — ^By direction of the Imperial Russian Consul-General of San Francisco, I beg to submit the following on behalf of several fruit- growers of the State of California. As it is the wish of certain growers to contribute several tons of dried fniit to the Russian Red Cross they desire to have arrangements made to facilitate the transportation of this fruit from Tacoma, Washington, to Vladivostok, and as we are advised that steamships are regularly plying between Tacoma and Vladivostok upon which government supplies are shipped we would like to have arrangements made that these fruits as they might arrive would be regu- larly consigned to these steamers and forwarded. It would be necessary, therefore, that an imderstanding be had with the agents of these steam- ship lines at Tacoma that immediate shipments be made via whatever steamers might be sailing. It is the desire of the donors that there be no delay in the shipments as delays would lessen the benefits intended to those for whom the fruit was provided. . . . Respectfully yours, C. C. Crowlet. 244 HISTORY OP THE WORLD WAR The statements of Louis J. Smith and van Koolbergen, com- bined with a mass of other evidence consisting in part of letters and telegrams, caused the grand jiiry to indict Consul-General Bopp, his staff and his hired agents, for conspiracy to undertake a miUtary enterprise against Canada. Among the purposes of this enterprise specified in the indictment was the following: "To blow up and destroy with their cargoes and crews any and all vessels belonging to Great Britain, France, Japan or Russia found within the limits of Canada, which were laden with horses, munitions of war, or articles of commerce in course of transporta- tion to the above countries. . . ." The following descriptions have been made by the United States Government of the tools of von Bemstorff in German plots: Paul Koenig, the head of the Hamburg-American secret serv- ice, who was active in passport frauds, who induced Gustave Stahl to perjure himself and declare the Lusitania armed, and who plotted the destruction of the Welland Canal. In his work as a spy he passed under thirteen aliases in this country and Canada. Captains Boy-Ed, von Papen, von Rintelen, Tauscher, and von Igel were all directly connected with the German Government itself. There is now in the possession of the United States Government a check made out to Koenig and signed by von Papen, identified by niunber in a secret report of the German Biureau of Investiga- tion as being used to procure $150 for the payment of a bomb- maker, who was to plant explosives disguised as coal in the bunkers of the merchant vessels clearing from the port of New York. Boy-Ed, Dr. Bunz, the German ex-minister to Mexico, the German consul at San Francisco, and officials of the Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd steamship lines evaded customs regula- tions and coaled and victualed German raiders at sea. Von Papen and von Igel supervised the making of the incendiary bombs on the Friedrich der Grosse, then in New York Harbor, and stowed them away on outgoing ships. Von Rintelen financed Labor's National Peace Council, which tried to corrupt legislators and labor leaders. A lesser light of this galaxy was Robert Fay, who invented an explosive contrivance which he tied to the rudder posts of vessels. According to his confession and that of his partner in murder, the money came from the German secret police. PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA 245 Among the other tools of the German plotters were David Lamar and Henry Martm, who, in the pay of Captain von Rintelen, organized and managed the so-called Labor's National Peace Council, which sought to bring about strikes, an embargo on munitions^ and a boycott of the banks which subscribed to the Anglo-French loan. A check for $5,000 to J. F. J. Archibald for propaganda work, and a receipt from Edwin Emerson, the war correspondent, for $1,000 traveling expenses were among the docu- ments found in Wolf von Igel's possession. Others who bore English names were persuaded to take leading places in similar organizations which concealed their origin and real purpose. The American Embargo Conference arose out of the ashes of Labor's Peace Council, and its president was American, though the funds were not. Others tampered with were journalists who lent themselves to the German propaganda and who went so far as to serve as couriers between the Teutonic embassies in Washington and the governments in Berlin and Vienna. A check of $5,000 was discovered which Count von Bemstorfif had sent to Marcus Braun, editor of Fair Play. And a letter was discovered which George Sylvester Viereck, editor of the Fatherland, sent to Privy Councilor Albert, the German agent, arranging for a monthly subsidy of $1,750, to be deUvered to him through the hands of intermediaries — women whose names he abbreviates "to prevent any possible inquiry." There is a record of $3,000 paid through the German embassy to finance the lecture tour of Miss Ray Beveridge, aa American artist, who was further to be supplied with German war pictures. The German propagandists also directed their efforts to poison- ing the minds of the people through the circulation of lies con- cerning affairs in France and at home. Here are some of the rumors circulated throughout the coimtry that were nailed as falsehoods: It was said that the national registration of women by the Food Administration was to find out how much money each had in the bank, how much of this was owed, and everjrthing about each registrant's personal affairs. That the millions collected from the public for the Red Cross went into the pockets of thieves, and that the soldiers and sailors got none of it, nor any of its benefits. 246 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR That base hospital units had been annihilated while en route overseas. That leading naembers of other hospital units had been executed as spies by the American Government. That canned goods put up by the housewives were to be seized by the government and appropriated to the use of the army and navy. That soldiers in training were being instructed to put out the eyes of every German captured. That all of the "plums" at the officers' training camps fell to Roman Catholics. The plums went to Protestants when the propagandist talked to a Catholic. That the registration of women was held so that girls would be enticed into the cities where white slaves were made of them. That the battleship Pennsylvania had been destroyed with everyone on board by a German submarine. That more than seventy-five per cent of the American soldiers in France had been infected with venereal diseases. That intoxicants were given freely to American soldiers in Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus huts in France. But the lies and the plots failed to make any impression on the morale of American citizenry. In fact, America from the moment war was declared against Germany until the time an armistice was declared, seemed to care for nothing but results. Charges of graft made with bitter invective in Congress created scarcely more than a ripple. The harder the pro-German plotters worked for the destruction of property and the incitement to labor disturbances, the closer became the protective network of Ameri- canism against these anti-war influences. After half a dozen German lies had been casually passed from mouth to mouth as rumors, the American people came to look upon other mischievous propa- ganda in its true light. Patriotic newspapers in every commimity exposed the false reports and citizens everywhere were on their guard against the misstatements. It was noticeable that the propaganda was intensified just previous to and dming the several Liberty Loan campaigns. Proof that the American spirit rises superior to anti-American influences is furnished by the glorious records of these Liberty Loans. Every one was over-subscribed despite the severest handicaps confronted by any nation. CHAPTER XVI Sinking of the Ltjsitania THE United States was brought face to face with the Great War and with what it meant in ruthless destruction of life when, on May 7> 1915, the crack Cunard Liner Lusitania, bound from New York to Liverpool, with 1,959 persons aboard, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off Old Head of Kinsale, Southwestern Ireland. Two torpedoes reached their mark. The total number of lives lost when the ship sunk was 1,198. Of these 755 were passengers and the remainder were members of the crew. Of the drowned passengers, 124 were Americans and 35 were infants. " Remember the Lusitania!" later became a battlecry just as " Remember the Maine!" acted as a spur to Americans during the war with Spain. It was first used by the famous " Black Watch " and later American troops shouted it as they went into battle. The sinking of the Lusitania, with its attendant destruction of life, sent a thrill of horror through the neutral peoples of the world. General opposition to the use of submarines in attacking peaceful shipping, especially passenger vessels, crystallijied as the result of the tragedy, and a critical diplomatic controversy between the United States and Germany developed. The American Govern- ment signified its determination to break off friendly relations with the German Empire unless the ruthless practices of the submarine commanders were terminated. Germany temporarily agreed to discontinue these practices. Among the victims of the Cunarder's destruction were some of the best known personages of the Western Hemisphere. Alfred Gwyime Vanderbilt, multimilUonaire; Charles Frohman, noted theatrical manager; Charles Klein, dramatist, who wrote "The Lion and the Mouse;" Justus Miles Forman, author, and Elbert Hubbard, known as Fra Elbertus, widely read iconoclastic writer, were drowned. 247 248 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The ocean off the pleasant southern coast of Ireland was dotted with bodies for days after the sinking of the liner. The remains of many of the victims, however, never were recovered. When the Lusitania prepared to sail from New York on her last trip, fifty anonymous telegrams addressed to prominent persons aboard the vessel warned the recipients not to sail with the liner. In addition to these warnings was an advertisement inserted in the leading metropolitan newspapers by the German embassy, advising neutral persons that British steamships were in danger of destruction in the war zone about the British Isles. This notice appeared the day the Lusitania sailed, May 1st, and was placed next the advertisement of the Cunard Line. Following is the advertisement: NOTICE! ^Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. Imperial German Embassy, Washington, D. C., April 22, 1915. Little or no attention was paid to the warnings, only the usual number of persons canceling their reservations. The gen- eral agent of the Cunard Line at New York assured the passengers that the Lusitania's voyage would be attended by no risk what- ever, referring to the liner's speed and water-tight compartments. As the great Cunarder drew near the scene of her disaster, traveling at moderate speed along her accustomed route, there was news of freight steamers falling victims to Germany's undersea campaign. It was not definitely established, however, whether the liner was warned of danger. At two o'clock on the fine afternoon of May 7th, some ten miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, the Lusitania was sighted by a sub- marine 1,000 yards away. A second later the track of a tor- pedo, soon followed by another, was seen and each missile crashed into the Lusitania's hull with rending detonations. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 249 Many were killed or injured immediately by the explosions. Before the liner's headway was lost, some boats were lowered, and capsized as a result. The immediate listing of the steamship added to the difficulties of rescue and increased the tragical toll of dead. Much heroism and calmness were displayed by many in the few minutes the liner remained afloat. The bearing of Frohman, VanderbUt, Hubbard and other Americans was declared to have been particularly inspiring. Rescue ships and naval vessels rushed to the aid of the sur- vivors from all nearby ports of Ireland. It has been said that the sinking of the Lusitania was carefully planned by the chiefs of the German admiralty. They expected, it was believed, to demoralize British shipping and strike terror into the minds of the British people by showing that the largest and swiftest of liners could easily be destroyed by submarines. According to the Paris paper. La Guerre Sociale, published by Gustave Herv6, the submarine responsible was the XJ-21, com- manded by Lieutenant Hersing. Hersing was said to have been decorated for his deed. The U-21 afterwards was destroyed and the story of its participation in the sinking of the great Chmarder never was confirmed. Immediately upon the news of the Lusitania disaster. President Wilson took steps to hold Germany to that "strict accountability" of which he had notified Berlin when the war-zone operations were begun earlier in the year. His first commtmication, protesting against the sinking of the liner in the name of humanity and demanding disavowal, indemnity and assurance that the crime would not be repeated, was despatched on May 13th. On May 30th the German reply argued that the liner carried munitions of war and probably was armed. The following official German version of the incident by the German Admiralty Staff over the signature of Admiral Behncke was ^ven: "The submarine sighted the steamer, which showed no flag, May 7th, at 2.20 o'clock. Central Eiuropean time, afternoon, on the southeast coast of Ireland, in fine, clear weather. "At 3.10 o'clock one torpedo was fired at the Lusitania, which hit her starboard side below the captain's bridge. The 250 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR detonation of the torpedo was followed immediately by a further explosion of extremely strong effect. The ship qxiickly listed to starboard and began to sink. "The second explosion must be traced back to the ignition of quantities of ammunition inside the ship." These extenuations were all rejected by the United States, and the next note prepared by President Wilson was of such char- acter that Secretary of State feryan resigned. This second com- munication was sent on June 11th, and on June 22d another was cabled. September 1st Germany accepted the contentions of the United States in regard to submarine warfare upon peaceful shipping. There were continued negotiations concerning the specific settlement to be made in the case of the Lusitania. On February 4th, 1916, arrived a German proposition which, coupled with personal parleys carried on between German Ambassa- dor von Bemstorff and United States Secretary of State Lansing, seemed in a fair way to conclude the whole controversy. It was annoimced on February 8th that the two nations were in substantial accord and Germany was declared to have admitted thp sinking of the liaer was wrong and unjustified and promised that repara- tion would be made. However, a week later, when Germany took advantage of tentative American proposals concerning the disarming of merchant ships, by announcing that all armed hostile merchantmen would be treated as warships and attacked without warning, the almost completed agreement was overthrown. The renewed negotiations were continuing when the torpedoing of the cross-channel passenger ship Sussex, without warning, on March 24th, impelled the United States to issue a virtual ultimatum, demanding that the Germans immediately cease their present methods of naval warfare on pain of the rupture of diplomatic relations with the most powerful existing neutral nation. The Lusitania, previous to her sinking, had figured in the war news, first at the conflict, when it was feared she had been captured by a German cruiser while she was dashing across the Atlantic toward Liverpool, and agam in February of 1915, when she flew the American flag as a ruse to deceive submarines while crossing the Irish Sea. This latter incident called forth a protest from the United States. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 251 On her fatal trip the cargo of the Lusitania was worth $735,000. As a great transatlantic Hner, the Lusitania was a product of the race for speed, which was carried on for years among larger steamship companies, particularly of England and Germany. When the Lusitania was laimched, it was the wonder of the mari- time world. Its mastery of the sea, from the standpoint of speed, was undisputed. Progress of the Lusitania on its first voyage to New York, September 7, 1907, was watched by the world. The vessel made the voyage ia five das^s and fifty-four minutes, at that time a record. Its fastest trip, made on the western voyage, was four days eleven hours forty-two minutes. This record, however, was wrested from it subsequently by the Mauretania, a sister ship, which set the mark of four days ten hours forty-one minutes, that still stands. Although the Lusitania was surpassed in size by several other liners built subsequently, it never lost the reputation acquired at the outset of its career. Its speed and luxiuious acconunoda- tions made it a favorite, and its passenger lists bore the names of many of the most prominent Atlantic wayfarers. The vessel was pronoimced by its builders to be as nearly imsinkable as any ship could be. Everything about the Lusitania was of colossal dimensions. Her rudder weighed sixty-five tons. She carried three anchors of ten tons each. The maia frames and beams, placed end to end, would extend thirty miles. The Lusitania was 785 feet long, 88 feet beam, and 60 feet deep. Her gross tonnage was 32,500 and her net tonnage, 9,145. Charges were made that one or more guardian submarines deliberately drove off ships nearby which might have saved hundreds of lives lost when the Lusitania went down. "Captain W. F. "Wood, of the Leyland Line steamer Etonian, said his ship was prevented from going to the rescue of the passengers of the sinking Lusitania by a warning that an attack might be made upon his own vessel. The Etonian left Liverpool, May 6th. When Captain Wood was forty-two miles from Kinsale he received a wireless call from the Lusitania for immediate assistance. The call was also picked up by the steamers City of Exeter and Narragansett. The Narragansett, Captain Wood said, was 252 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR made a target for submarine attack, a torpedo missing her by a few feet, and her commander then warned Captain Wood not to attempt to reach the Lusitania. "It was two o'clock in the afternoon, May 7th, that we received the wireless S S," said Captain Wood. "I was then forty-two miles distant from the position he gave me. The Narragansett and the City of Exeter were nearer the Lusitania and she answered the SOS. "At five o'clock I observed the City of Exeter cross our bows and she signaled, 'Have you heard anything of the disaster?' "At that moment I saw a periscope of a submarine between the Tonina and the City of Exeter, about a quarter of a mile directly ahead of us. She dived as soon as she saw us. "I signaled to the engine room for every available inch of speed. Then we saw the submarine come up astern of us. I now ordered full speed ahead and we left the submarine behind. The periscope remained in sight about twenty minutes. "No sooner had we lost sight of the submarine astern, than another appeared on the starboard bow. This one was directly ahead and on the surface, not submerged. "I starboarded hard away from him, he swinging as we did. About eight minutes later he submerged. I continued at top speed for four hours and saw no more of the submarines. It was the ship's speed that saved her, that's all. "The Narragansett, as soon as she heard the SOS call, went to the assistance of the Lusitania. One of the submarines dis- charged a torpedo at her and missed her by not more than eight feet. The Narragansett then warned us not to attempt to go to the rescue, and I got her wireless call while I was dodging the two submarines. You can see that three ships would have gone to the assistance of the Lusitania had they not been aCttacked by the two submarines." The German Government defended the brutal destruction of non-combatants by the false assertions that the Lusitania was an armed vessel and that it was carrying a great store of munitions. Both of these accusations were proved to be mere fabrications. The Lusitania was absolutely unarmed and the nearest approach to munitions was a consignment of 1,250 empty shell cases and 4,200 cases of cartridges for small arms. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 253 Intense indignation swept over the neutral world, the tide rising highest in America. It well may be said that the destruc- tion of the Lusitania was one of the greatest factors in driving America into the war with Germany- Concerning the charge that the Lusitania carried munitions, Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the port of New York, testified that he made personal and close inspection of the ship's cargo and saw that it carried no guna and that there were no mimitions in its cargo. His statement follows: "This report is not correct. The Lusitania was inspected before sailing, as is customary. No guns were found, mounted or unmounted, and the vessel sailed without any armament. No merchant ship would be allowed to arm in this port and leave the harbor." Captain W. T. Tmuer, of the Lusitania, testifying before the coroner's inquest at Kinsale, Ireland, was interrogated as follows: "You were aware threats had been made that the ship would be torpedoed?" "We were," the Captain replied. "Was she armed?" "No, sir." "What precautions did you take?" "We had all the boats swxmg when we came within the danger zone, between the passing of Fastnet and the time of the accident." The coroner asked him whether he had received a message concerning the sinking of a ship off Kinsale by a submarine. Cap- tain Turner replied that he had not. "Did you receive any special instructions as to the voyage?" "Yes, sir." "Are you at liberty to tell us what they were?" "No, sir." "Did you carry them out?" "Yes, to the best of my ability." "Tell us in your own words what happened after passing Fastnet." "The weather was clear," Captain Tinner answered. "We were going at a speed of eighteen knots. I was on the port side and heard Second Officer Hefford call out: 254 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR " 'Here's a torpedo!' "I ran to the other side and saw clearly the wake of a torpedo. Smoke and steam came up between the last two funnels. There was a slight shock. Immediately after the first explosion there was another report, but that may possibly have been internal. "I at once gave the order to lower the boats down to the rails, and I directed that women and children should get into them. I also had all the bulkheads closed. "Between the time of passing Fastnet, about 11 o'clock, and of the torpedoing I saw no sign whatever of any submarines. There was some haze along the Irish coast, and when we were near Fastnet I slowed down to fifteen knots. I was in wireless communication with shore aU the way across." Captain Turner was asked whether he had received any message in regard to the presence of submarines off the Irish coast. He replied in the affirmative. Questioned regarding the nature of the message, he replied: "I respectfully refer you to the admiralty for an answer." "I also gave orders to stop the ship," Captain Turner con- tinued, "but we could not stop. "We foimd that the engines were out of commission. It was not safe to lower boats until the speed was off the vessel. As a matter of fact, there was a perceptible headway on her up to the time she went down. "When she was struck she Usted to starboard, I stood on the bridge when she sank, and the Lusitania went down under me. She floated about eighteen minutes after the torpedo struck her. My watch stopped at 2.36. I was picked up from among the wreckage and afterward was brought aboard a trawler. "No warship was convoying us. I saw no warship, and none was reported to me as having been seen. At the time I was picked up I noticed bodies floating on the surface, but saw no living persons." "Eighteen knots was not the normal speed of the Lusitania, was it?" "At ordinary times," answered Captain Turner, "she could make twenty-five knots, but in war times her speed was reduced to twenty-one knots. My reason for going eighteen knots was that I wanted to arrive at Liverpool bar without stopping, and within two or three hours of high water." SINKING OF THE LUSIPANIA ^55 "Was there a lookout kept for submarines, having regard to previous warnings?" "Yes, we had double lookouts." "Were you going a zigzag course at the moment the torpedo- ing took place?" "No. It was bright weather, and land was clearly visible." "Was it possible for a submarine to approach without being seen?" "Oh, yes; quite possible." "Something has been said regarding the imp«ssibihty of launching the boats on the port side?" "Yes," said Captain Turner, "owing to the listing of the ship." "How many boats were laimched safely?" "I cannot say." "Were any laimched safely?" "Yes, and one or two on the port side." "Were yom: orders promptly carried out?"- "Yes." "Was there any panic on board?" "No, there was no panic at all. It was almost calm." "How many persons were on board?" "There were 1,500 passengers and about 600 crew." By the Foreman of the Jury — "In the face of the warnings at New York that the Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make any application to the admiralty for an escort?" "No, I left that to them. It is their business, not mine. I simply had to carry out my orders to go, and I would do it again." Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply with great emphasis. By the Coroner — "I am glad to hear you say so. Captain." By the Juryman — "Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel in a northern direction?" "No," replied Captain Turner. "Was the course of the vessel altered after the torpedoes struck her?" "I headed straight for land, but it was useless. Previous to this the watertight bulkheads were closed. I suppose the explo- 256 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR sion forced them open. I don't kno:w the exact extent to which the Lusitania was damaged." '* There must have been serious damage done to the water- tight bulkheads?" "There certainly was, without doubt." "Were the passengers supplied with Ufebelts?" "Yes." "Were any special orders given that morning that lifebelts be put on?" "No." "Was any warning given before you were torpedoed?" "None whatever. It was suddenly done and finished," "If there had been a patrol boat about, might it have been of assistance?" "It might, but it is one of those things one never knows." With regard to the threats against his ship, Captain Turner said he saw nothing except what appeared in the New York papers the day before the Lusitania sailed. He had never heard the passengers talking about the threats, he said. "Was a warning given to the lower decks after the ship had been struck?" Captain Turner was asked. "All the passengers must have heard the explosion," Captam Turner replied. Captain Turner, in answer to another question, said he received no report from the lookout before the torpedo struck the Lusitania. Ship's Bugler Livermore testified that the watertight com- partments were closed, but that the explosion and the force of the water must have burst them open. He said that all the officers were at their posts and that earlier arrivals of the rescue craft would not have saved the situation. After physicians had testified that the victims had met death through prolonged immersion and exhaustion the coronK" summed up the case. He said that the first torpedo fired by the German submarine did serious damage to the Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with this, the Germans had discharged another torpedo. The second torpedo, he said, must have been more deadly, because it went right through the ship, hastening the work of destruction. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 257 The characteristic courage of the Irish and British people was manifested at the time of this terrible disaster, the coroner continued, and there was no panic. He charged that the respon- sibility "lay on the German Government and the whole peqple of Germany, who collaborated in the terrible crime." "I propose to ask the jury," he continued, "to return the only verdict possible for a self-respecting jury, that the men in charge of the German submarine were guilty of wilful murder." The jury then retired and after due deliberation prepared this verdict: We find that the deceased met death from prolonged imjnersion and exhaustion in the sea eight miles south-southeast of Old Head of Kinsale, Friday, May 7, 1915, owing to the sinking of the Lusitania by torpedoes fired by a Clerman submarine. We find that the appalling crime was conmiitted contrary to inter- national law and the conventions of all civilized nations. We also charge the officers of said submarine and the Emperor and the Government of Germany, imder whose orders they acted, with the crime of wholesale murder before the tribtmal of the civilized world. We desire to express sincere condolences and sympathy with the relatives of the deceased, the Cunard Company, and the United States, many of whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on an unarmed liner. President Wilson's note to Germany, written consequent on the torpedoing of the Lusitania, was dated six days later, showing that time for careful deUberation was duly taken. The President's Secretary, Joseph P. Tumulty, on May 8th, the day following the tragedy, made this statement: Of course the President feels the distress and the gravity of the situation to the utmost, and is considering very earnestly but very calmly, the right coin^e of action to pursue. He knows that the people of the country wish and expect him to act with deUberation as well as with firmness. Although signed by Mr. Bryan, as Secretary of State, the note was written by the President in shorthand — a favorite method of Mr. "Wilson in making memoranda — ^and transcribed by him on his own t3^ewriter. The document was presented to the members of the President's Cabinet, a draft of it was sent to Counselor Lansing of the State Department, and after a few minor changes, it was transmitted by oable to Ambassador Gerard in Beriin. 258 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Department op State, Washington, Mat 13, 1915. The Secretary of State to the American Ambassador at Berlin: Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and after reading to him this communication leave with him a copy. In view of recent aicts of the German authorities in violation of American rights on the high seas, which culminated in the torpedoing and sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which over 100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable that the Government of the United States and the Imperial German Government should come to a clear and full imderstanding as to the grave situation which has resulted. The sinking of the British passenger'steamer Falaba by a German submarine on March 28th, through which Leon C. Thrasher, an American citizen, was drowned; the attack on April 28th, on the American vessel Gushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing on May 1st of the Ameri- can vessel Gulflight by a German submarine, as a result of which two or more American citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing and sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a series of events which the Government of the United States has observed with growing con- ccn, distress, and amazement. , Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by the Imperial German Government in matters of international right, and particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to recognize the German views and the German influence in the field of international obligation as always engaged upon the side of justice and humanity; and having understood the instructions of the Imperial German Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane of humane action prescribed by the naval codes of the other nations, the Government of the United States was loath to believe — ^it cannot now bring itself to believe — ^that these acts, so absolutely contrary to the rules, the practices, and the spirit of modem warfare, could have the countenance, or sanction of that great government. It feels it to be ite duty, therefore, to address the Imperial German Government concerning them with the utmost frankness and in the earnest hope that it is not mistaken in expecting action on the part of the Imperial German Govern- ment, which will correct the unfortimate impressions which have been created, and vindicate once more the position of that government with regard to the sacred freedom of the seas. The Government of the United States has been apprised that the Imperial German Government considered themselves to be obliged by the extraordinary circumstances of the present war and the measure adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off from all commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation which go much beyond the ordinary methods of warfare at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone p o ^ C 3 o'g'3 sic .TO ■ p -■ ^ o r+ o* ,, p-3 3 3 B ><: o O ■-■.^ ro t3 <^ 1 ^ S-3 O p fa rt =3 H-l d p MH S!^> (-1 E= -^ -3 ^ §^> „,? t^ do &•? as P ? si 3-f= b 5- ^ e o g Q .to 3 - B P ft C s ^ o °' ^■p 3 2, SUBMARINE HUNTING A small naval dirigible used for scouting by the British Navy. Under the cigar- shaped balloon is swung an airplane chassis equipped with powerful motors and steering apparatus, together with a Hght gun. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 261 from which they have warned neutral ships to keep away. This govern- ment has already taken occasion to inform the Imperial German Govern- ment that it cannot admit the adoption of such measures or such a warn- ing of danger to operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of American shipmasters or of Axnerican citizens bound on lawful errands aa passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality, and that it must hold the Imperial German Government to a strict accountability for any infringement of those rights, intentional or incidental. It does not understand the Imperial German Government to question these rights. It assmnes, on the contrary, that the Imperial Government accept, as of course, the rule that the lives of noncombatants, whether they be of neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, cannot lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruc- tion of an imanned merchantman, and recognize also, as all other nations do, the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit and search to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war imder a neutral flag. The Government of the United States, therefore, desires to call the attention of the Imperial German Government with the utmost earnest- ness to the fact that the objection to their present method of attack against the trade of their enemies lies in the practical impossibility of employing submarines in the destruction of commerce without disregarding those rules of fairness, reason, justice, and humanity which all modem opinion regards as imperative. It is practically impossible for the oflicers of a submarine to visit a merchantman at sea and examine her papers and cargo. It is practically impossible for them to make a prize of her; and, if they cannot put a prize crew on board of her, they cannot sink her without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the mercy of the sea in her small boats. These facts, it is imderstood, the Imperial German Government frankly admit. We are informed that in the instances of which we have spoken time enough for even that poor measure of safety was not given, and in at least two of the cases cited not so much as a warning was received. Manifestly, submarines cannot be used against merchantmen, as the last few weeks have shown, without an inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity. American citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their ships and in traveling wherever their legitimate business calls them upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be the well- justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered by acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged international obligations, and certainly in the confidence that their own government will sustain them in the exercise of their rights. There was recently published in the newspapers of the United States, I regret to inform the Imperial German Government, a formal warning, purporting to come from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington, addressed to the people of the United States, and stating, in effect, that 262 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR any citizen of the United States who exercised his right of free travel upon the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take him within the zone of waters within which the Imperial German Navy was using sub- marines against the commerce of Great Britain and France, notwithstand- ing the respectful but very earnest protest of the Government of the United States. I do not refer to this for the purpose of calling the atten- tion of the Imperial German Government at this time to the surprising irregularity of a communication from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington addressed to the people of the United States through the newspapers, but only for the pm:pose of pointing out that no warning that an unlawfiil and inhumane act will be comnoitted can possibly be accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the responsibility for its cOnamission. Long acquainted as this government has been with the character of the Imperial Government, and with the high principles of eqmty by which they have in the past been actuated and guided, the Government of the United States caimot believe that the commanders of the vessels which committed these acts of lawlessness did so except imder a mis- apprehension of the orders issued by the Imperial German naval authori- ties. It takes for granted that, at least within the practical possibilities of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were expected to do nothing that would involve the lives of noncombatants or the safety of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their object of capture or destruction. It confidently expects, therefore, that the Imperial Ger- man Government will disavow the acts of which the Government of the United States complains; that they will make reparation so far as reparar tion is possible for injuries which are without measiu-e, and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of warfare for which the Imperial German Government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended. The government and people of the United States look to the Imperial German Government for just, prompt, and enlightened action in this vital matter with the greater confidence, because the United States and Germany are bound together not only by ties of friendship, but also by the explicit stipulations of the Treaty of 1828, between the United States and the Kingdom of Prussia. Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the destruc- tion of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy inter- national obligations, if no loss of life results, cannot justify or excuse a practice the natural and necessary effect of which is to subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable risks. The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the per- formance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment. Bbtan. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA 263 Ex-President Roosevelt, after learning details of the sinking of the Lusitania, made these statements: "This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of murder than old-time pirate ever practiced. This is the warfare which destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women and children in Belgium. It is a warfare against innocent men, womrai, and childrMi traveling on the ocean, and our own fellowcountrymen and countrywomen, who were among the sufferers. "It seems inconceivable that we can refrain from taking action in this matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national self-respect." Former President Taft made this statement: "I do not wish to embarrass the President of the Administra- tion by a discussion of the subject at this stage of the information, except to express confidence that the President will follow a wise and patriotic course. We must bear in mind that if we have a war it is the people, the men and women, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, who must pay with lives and money the cost of it, and therefore they should not be hurried into the sacrifices until it is made clear that they wish it and knowwhatlthey are doing when they wish it. "I agree that the inhumanity of the circimistances'in the case now presses us on, but ia the heat of even just in^gnation is this the best time to act, when action involves such momentous consequences and means imtold loss of life and treasiire? There are things worse than war, but delay, due to calm deliberation, cannot change the situation or ixunhuize the effect of what we finally conclude to do. "With the present^condition of the war in Europe, our action, if it is to be extreme, will not lose efficiency by giving time to the people, whose war it will be, to know what they are facing. "A demand for war that cannot survive the passion of the first days of public indignation and will not endiu:e the test of delay and deUbwation by all the people is not one that should be yielded to." President Wilson was criticised later by many persons for not insisting upon a declaration of war immediately after the sink- ing of the Lusitania. Undoubtedly the advice of former President 264 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Taf t and of others high in statesmanship, prevailed with the Presi- dent. This in substance was that America should prepare resolutely and thoroughly, giving Germany in the meantime no excuse for charges that America's entrance into the conflict was for aggression or for selfish purposes. It was seen even as early as the sinking of the Lusitania that Germany's only hope for final success lay in the submarine. It was reasoned that unrestricted submarine warfare against the shipping of the world, so far as tended toward the provisioning and munitioning of the Allies, would be the inevitable outcome. It was further seen that when that declaration would be made by Germany, America's decision for war must be made. The President and ids Cabinet thereupon made aU their plans looking toward that eventuality. The resignation of Mr. Bryan from the Cabinet was followed by the appointment of Robert Lansing as Secretary of State. It was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic that President Wilson in aU essential matters affecting the war was active in the preparation of all state papers and in the direction of that depart- ment. Another Cabinet vacancy was created when Lindley M. Garrisen, of New Jersey, resigned the portfolio of Secretary of War because of a clash upon his militant views for preparedness. Newton D. Baker, of Cleveland, Ohio, a close friend and suppor- ter of President Wilson, was appointed in his stead. CHAPTER XVII Nettve Chapelle and Wak in Blood-Soaked Tkenches A FTER the immortal stand of Joffre at the first battle of the / \ Mame and the sudden savage thrust at the German center / \ which sent von Kluck and his men reeling back in retreat to the prepared defenses along the line of the Aisne, the war in the western theater resolved itself into a play for position from deep intrenchments. Occasionally would come a sudden big push by one side or the other in which artillery was massed until hub touched hub and infantry swept to glory and death in waves of gray, or blue or khaki as the case might be. But these tremendous efforts and consequent slaughters did not change the long battle line from the Alps to the North Sea materially. Here and there a bulge would be made by the terrific pressiire of men and material iu some great assault like that first push of the British at Neuve Chapelle, like the German attack at Verdun or like the tremendous efforts by both sides on that bloodiest of all battle-fields, the Somme. Neuve Chapelle deserves particular mention as the test in which the British soldiers demonstrated their might in equal con- test against the enemy. There had been a disposition in England as elsewhere up to that time to rate the Germans as supermen, to exalt the potency of the scientific equipment with which the German army had taken the field. When the battle of Neuve Chapelle had been fought, although its losses were heavy, there was no longer any doubt in the British nation that victory was only a question of time. The action came as a pendant to the attack by General de de Langle de Gary's French army during February, 1915, at Perthes, that had been a steady relentless pressure by artillery and infantry upon a strong German position. To meet it heavy reinforcements had been shifted by the Germans from the trenches between La Hassle and Lille. The earthworks at Neuve Chapelle had been particularly depleted and only a comparatively small body of Saxons and Bavarians defended them. Opposite this body was 266 266 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the first British army. The German intrenchments at Neuve Chapelle surrounded and defended the highlands upon which were placed the German batteries and in their turn defended the road towards Lille, Eoubaix and Turcoing. The task assigned to Sir John French was to make an assault with only forty-eight thousand men on a comparatively narrow front. There was only one practicable method for effective prep- aration, and this was chosen by the British general. An artillery concentration absolutely tmprecedented up to that time was employed by him. Field pieces firing at point-blank range were used to cut the barbed wire entanglements defending the enemy intrenchments, while howitzers and bombing airplanes were used to drop high explosives into the defenseless earthworks. Sir Douglas Haig, later to become the commander-in-chief of the British forces, was in command of the first army. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien commanded the second army. It was the first army that bore the brunt of the attack. No engagement during the years on the western front was more sudden and surprising in its onset than that drive of the British against Neuve Chapelle. At seven o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, the British artillery was lazily engaged in lobbing over a desultory shell fire upon the German trenches. It was the usual breakfast appetizer, and nobody on the German side took any unusual notice of it. Really, however, the shelling was scientific "bracketing" of the enemy's important position. The gunners were making sm-e of their ranges. At 7.30 range finding ended, and with a roar that shook the earth the most destructive and withering artillery action of the war up to that time was on. Field pieces sending their shells hurtling only a few feet above the earth tore the wire emplacements of the enemy to pieces and made kindling wood of the supports. Howitzers sent high explosive shells, containing lyddite, of 15-inch, 9.2-inch and 6-inch caliber into the doomed trenches and later into the ruined village. It was eight o'clock in the morning, one- half hour after the beginning of the artillery action, that the village was bombarded. During this time British soldiers were enabled to walk about in No Man's Land behind the curtain of fire with absolute immunity. No German rifleman or machine gunner left cover. The scene on the German side of the line was like that NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 267 268 HISTOHY OF THE WORLD WAR upon the blasted surface of the moon, pock-marked with shell holes, and with no trace of human life to be seen above ground. An eye witness describing the scene said: "The dawn, which broke reluctantly through a veil of clouds on the morning of Wednesday, March 10, 1915, seemed as any other to the Germans behind the white and blue sandbags in their long line of trenches curving in a hemicycle about the battered village of Neuve Chapelle. For five months they had remained undisputed masters of the positions they had here wrested from the British in October. Ensconced in their comfortably-arranged trenches with but a thin outpost in their fire trenches, they had watched day succeed day and night succeed night without the least variation from the monotony of trench Warfare, the intermittent bark of the machine gmas — rat-tat-tat-tat-tat — and the perpetual rattle of rifle fire, with here and there a bomb, and now and then an exploded mine. "For weeks past the German airmen had grown strangely shy. On this Wednesday morning none were aloft to spy out the strange doings which, as dawn broke, might have been descried on the desolate roads behind the British lines. "From ten o'clock of the preceding evening endless files of men marched silently down the roads leading towards the German positions through Laventie and Richebourg St. Vaast, poor shattered villages of the dead where months of incessant bombardment have driven away the last inhabitants and left roofless houses and rent roadways. . . . Two days before, a quiet room, where Nelsop's Prayer stands on the mantel-shelf, saw the ripening of the plans that sent these sturdy sons of Britain's four kingdoms marching all through the night. Sir John French met the army corps commanders and tmfolded to them his plans for the offensive of the British army against the German line at Neuve Chapelle. "The onslaught was to be a surprise. That was its essence. The Germans were to be battered with artillery, then rushed before they recovered their wits. We had thirty-six clear hours before us. Thus long, it was reckoned (with complete accuracy as after- wards appeared), must elapse before the Germans, whose Une before us had been weakened, could rush up reinforcements. To ensure the enemy's being pinned down right and left of the 'great NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 269 MAP OF THE BATTLE FRONT BETWEEN ARMENTIERES AND LA BASSEE On the left, half way up the map, may be Been Neuve Chapelle; a little to the right' of it ia Aubera, where some of the eternest fighting occurred. 270 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR push/ an attack was to be delivered north and south of the main thrust simultaneously with the assault on Neuve ChapeUe." After describing the impatience of the British soldiers as they awaited the signal to open the attack, and the actual be^nning of the engagement, the narrator continues: "Then hell broke loose. % With a mighty, hideous, screeching burst of noise, hundreds of guns spoke. The men in the front trenches were deafened by the sharp reports of the field-guns spitting out their shells at close range to cut through the Germans' barbed wire entanglements. In some cases the trajectory of these vicious missiles was so flat that they passed only a few feet above the British trenches. "The din was continuous. An officer who had the curious idea of putting his ear to the ground said it was as though the earth were being smitten great blows with a Titan's hammer. After the first few shells had plunged screaming amid clouds of earth and dust into the German trenches, a dense pall of smoke hung over the German lines. The sickening fumes of lyddite blew back into the British trenches. In some places the troops were smothered m earth and dust or even spattered with blood from the hideous fragments of human bodies that went hurtling through the air. At one point the upper half of a German officer, his cap crammed on his head, was blown into one of our trenches. "Words will never convoy any adequate idea of the horror of those five and thirty minutes. [• When the hands of officers' watches pointed to five minutes past eight, whistles resounded along the British lines. At the same moment the shells began to burst farther ahead, for, by previous arrangement, the gunners, lengthen- ing their fuses, were 'lifting' on to the village of Neuve Chapelle so as to leave the road open for our infantry to rush in and finish what the giins had begun. "The shells were now falling thick among the houses of Neuve Chapelle, a confused mass of buildings seen reddish through the pillars of smoke and flying earth and dust, -i At the sound of the whistle — ^alas for the bugle, once the herald of victory, now banished from the fray! — our men scrambled out of the trenches and hurried Liggledy-piggledy into the open. Their officers were in front. Many, wearing overcoats and carrying rifles with fixed bayonets, closely resembled their men. NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 271 "It was from the center of our attacking line that the assault was pressed home soonest. The guns had done their work well. The trenches were blown to irrecognizable pits dotted with dead. The barbed wire had been cut like so much twine. Starting from the Rue Tilleloy the Lincolns and the Berkshires were off the mark first, with orders to swerve to right and left respectively as soon as they had captiu-ed the first line of trenches, in order to let the Royal Irish Rifles and the Rifle Brigade through to the village. The Germans left alive in the trenches, half demented with fright, Burrotmded by a welter of dead and dying men, mostly surrendered The Berkshires were opposed with the utmost gallantry by two German officers who had remained alone in a trench serving a machine gun. But the lads from Berkshire made their way into that trench and bayoneted the Germans where they stood, fighting to the last. The Lincolns, against desperate resistance, eventually occupied their section of the trench and then waited for the Irish- men and the Rifle Brigade to come and take the village ahead of them. Meanwhile the second Thirty-ninth GarhwaJis on the right had taken their trenches with a rush and were away towards the village and the Biez "Wood. "Things had moved so fast that by the time the troops were ready to advance against the village the artillery had not finished its work. So, while the Lincolns and the Berks assembled the prisoners who were trooping out of the trenches in all directions, the infantry on whom devolved the honor of capturing the village, waited. One saw them standing out in the open, laughing and cracking jokes amid the terrific din made by the huge howitzer shells screeching overhead and bursting in the village, the rattle of machine guns all along the line, and the popping of rifles. Over to the right where the Garhwalis had been working with the bayonet, men were shouting hoarsely and wounded were groaning as the stretcher-bearers, aU heedless of buUets, moved swiftly to and fro over the sheU-torn ground. "There was bloody work in the village of Neuve Chapelle. The capture of a place at the bayonet point is generally a grim business, in which instant, unconditional surrender is the only means by which bloodshed, a deal of bloodshed, can be prevented. If there is individual resistance here and there the attacking troops cannot discriminate. They must go through, slaying as they go 272 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR such as oppose them (the Gennans have a monopoly of tne finish- ing-off of woimded men), otherwise the enemy's resistance would not be broken, and the assailants would be sniped and enfiladed from hastily prepared strongholds at half a dozen different points. "The village was a sight that the men say they will never forget. It looked as if an earthquake had struck it. The pub- lished photographs do not give any idea of the indescribable mass of ruins to which our guns reduced it. The chaos is so utter that the very line of the streets is all but obliterated. "It was indeed a scene of desola,tion into which the Rifle Brigade — ^the first regiment to enter the village, I believe — traced headlong. Of the church only the bare shell remained, the interior lost to view beneath a gigantic mound of debris. The little church- yard was devastated, the very dead plucked from their graves, broken coffins and ancient bones scattered about amid the fresher dead, the slain of that morning — grey-green forms asprawl athwart the tombs. Of all that once fair village but two things remained intact — ^two great crucifixes reared aloft, one in the churchyard, the other over against the chateau. From the cross that is the emblem of our faith, the figure of Christ, yet intact though all pitted with bullet marks, looked down in mute agony on the slain in the viUage. "The din and confusion were indescribable. Through the thick pall of shell smoke Germans were seen on all sides, some emer^g half dazed from cellars and dugouts, their hands above their heads, others dodging round the shattered houses, others firing from the windows, from behind carts, even from behind the overturned tombstones. Machine guns were firing from the houses on the outskirts, rapping out their nerve-racking note above the noise of the rifles. "Just outside the village there was a scene of tremendous enthtisiasm. The Rifle Brigade, smeared with dust and blood, fell in with the Third Gurkhas with whom they had been brigaded in India. The little brown men were dirty but radiant. Kukri in hand they had very thoroughly gone through some houses at the cross-roads on the Rue du Bois and silenced a party of Germans who were making themselves a nuisance there with some machine guns. Riflemen and Gurkhas cheered themselves hoarse." Unfortunately for the complete success of' the brilliant attack NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 273 SCENE OP THE BLOODY BATTLES OF THE SOMME The tide of war swept over this terrain with terrific violence. Peronne waa taken by the Britidi in their great ofifensives of 1916-17; in the last desperate effort of the Germans in 1918 they plunged through Peronne, advancing 35 miles, only to be hurled back with awful losses by Marshal Foch. Ilie town of Albert yraa taken and retakes several times. 274 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR a great delay was caused by the failure of the artillery that was to have cleared the barbed wire entanglements for the Twenty-third Brigade, and because of the unlocked for destruction of the British field telephone system by shell and rifle fire. The check of the Twenty-third Brigade banked other commands back qf it, and the Twenty-fifth Brigade was obliged to fight at right angles to the line of battle. The Germans quickly rallied at these points, and took a terrific toll in British lives. Particularly was this true at three specially strong German positions. One called Port Arthur by the British, another at Pietre Mill and the third was the fortified bridge over Des Layes Creek. Because of the lack of telephone communication it was impos- sible to send reinforcements to the troops that had been held up by barbed wire and other emplacements and upon which German machine guns were pouring a steady stream of death. As the Twenty-third Brigade had been held up by imbroken barbed wire northwest of Neuve Chapelle, so the Seventh Division of the Fourth Corps was also checked in its action against the ridge of Aubers on the left of Neuve Chapelle. Under the plan of Sir Douglas Haig the Seventh Division was to have waited until the Eighth Division had reached Neuve Chapelle, when it was to charge through Aubers. With the tragic mistake that cost the Twenty-third Brigade so dearly, the plan affecting the Seventh Division went awry. The German artillery, observing the con- centration of the Seventh Division opposite Aubers, opened a vigorous fire upon that front. During the afternoon General Haig ordered a charge upon the German positions. The advance was made in short rushes in the face of a fire that seemed to blaze from an inferno. Inch by inch the ground was drenched with British blood. At 5.30 in the afternoon the men dug themselves in under the relentless German fire. Further advance became impossible. The night was one of horror. Every minute the men were under heavy bombardment. At dawn on March 11th the dauntless British infantry rushed from the trenches in an effort to carry Aubers, but the enemy artillery now greatly reinforced made that task an impossible one. The trenches occupied by the British forces were consolidated and the salient made by the push was held by the British with bulldog tenacity. The number of men employed in the action on the British side NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 275 was forty-eight thousand. During the early surprise of the action the loss was slight. Had the wire in front of the Twenty-third Brigade been cut by the artillery assigned to such action, and had the telephone system not been destroyed the success of the thrust would have been complete. The delay of four and a half hours between the first and second phases of the attack caused virtually all the losses sustained by the attacking force. The total casualties were 12,811 men of the British forces. Of these 1,751 oflScers and privates were taken prisoners and 10,000 officers and men were killed and wounded. The action continued throughout Thursday, March 11th, with Uttle change in the general situation. The British still held Neuve Chapelle and their intrenchments threatened Aubers. On Friday morning, March 12th, the Crown Prince of Bavaria made a desperate attempt under cover of a heavy fog to recaptiu-e the village. The eflfort was made in characteristic German dense fonnations. The Westphalian and Bavarian troops came out of Biez Wood in waves of gray-green, only to be blown to pieces by British guns already loaded and laid on the mark. Elsewhere the British waited imtil the Germans were scarcely more than fifty paces away when they opened with deadly rapid fire before which the German waves melted like snow before steam. It was such slaughter as the British had experienced when held up before Aubers. Slaughter that staggered Germany. So ended Neuve Chapelle, a battle in which the decision rested with the British, a victory for which a fearful price had been paid but out of which came a confidence that was to hearten the British nation and to put sinews of steel into the British army for the dread days to come. The story of Neuve Chapelle was repeated in large and in miniature many times during the deadlock of trench warfare on the western front until victory finally came to the Allies. During those years the western battle front lay Hke a wounded snake across France and Belgium. It writhed and twisted, now this way, now that, as one side or the other gambled with men and shells and airplanes for some brief advantage. It bent back in a great bulge when von Hindenburg made his famous retreat in the winter of 1916 after the Allies had pressed heavily against the Teutonic front upon the ghasty field of the Somme. The record is 276 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR one of great value to military strategists, to the layman it is only a succession of artillery barrages, of gas attacks, of aerial recon- naissances and combats. One day grew to be very much like another in that deadlock of pythons. A play for position here was met by a coimter-thrust in another place. German inventions were outmatched and out- niunbered by those coming from the Allied side. Trench warfare became the daily life of the men. They learned to fight and live in the open. The power of human adaptation to abnormal conditions was never better exemplified tfian in those weary, dreary years on the western front. The fightuig-lines consisted generally of one, two, or three lines of shelter-trenches lying parallel, measuring twenty or twenty- five inches in width, and varying in length according to the number they hold; the trenches were joined together by zigzag approaches and by a line of reinforced trenches (armed with machine guns), which were almost completely proof against rifle, machine gun, or gun fire. The ordinary German trenches were almost invisible from 350 yards away, a distance which permitted a very deadly fire. It is easy to realize that if the enemy occupied three successive lines and a line of reinforced intrenchments, the attacking line was likely, at the lowest estimate, to be decimated during an advance of 360 yards — ^by rifle fire at a range of 350 yards' distance, and by the extremely quick fire of the machine guns, each of which delivered from 300 to 600 bullets a minute with absolute precision. In the field-trench, a soldier enjoyed far greater security than he would if merely prone behind his knapsack in an excavation barely fifteen inches deep. He had merely to stoop down a little to disappear below the level of the ground and be immune from infantry fire; moreover, his machine guns fired without endangering him. In addition, this stooping position brought the man's knapsack on a level with his helmet, thus forming some protection against shrannel and sheU-splinters. At the back of the German trenches shelters were dug for non-commissioned officers and for the commander of the unit. Ever since the outbreak of the war, the French troops in Lorraine, after severe experiences, realized rapidly the advantages of the German trenches, and began to study those they had taken gloriously. OflJcers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the O -3 O ^ C O _^ -J ?3 p 1 ? "5 3- -' 3 o'~ 3 O - ^ 5'0 d^ p -^ p "era ^ o o S "I? o ^ o -o E| v^^W^^Vi. era c t! 1^; ms: m^-JtxSi. a 3 ■d S-c s SI B o > NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR 279 engineers were straightway detached in every unit to teach the infantry how to construct similar shelters. The education was quick, and very soon they had completed the work necessary for the protection of aU. The tools of the enemy "casualties," the spades and picks left behind in deserted villages, were all gladly piled on to the French soldiers' knapsacks, to be carried willingly by the very men who used to grumble at being loaded with even the smallest regulation tool. As soon as night had set in on the occa- sion of a lull in the fighting, the digging of the trenches was begun. Sometimes, in the darkness, the men of each fighting nation — ^less than 500 yards away from their enemy — ^would hear the noise of the workers of the foe: the so\mds of picks and axes; the officers' words of encouragement; and tacitly they would agree to an araais- tice during which to dig shelters from which, in the morning, they would dash out, to fight once more. Commodious, indeed, were some of the trench barracks. One French soldier wrote: "In really up-to-date intrenchments you may find kitcnens, dining-rooms, bedrooms, and even stables. One regiment has first-class cow-sheds. One day a whimsical 'piou-piou,' finding a cow wandering about in the danger zone, had the bright idea of finding shelter for it in the trenches. The example was quickly followed, and at this moment the — th Infantry possess an under- groimd farm, in which fat kine, well cared for, give such quantities of milk that regular distributions of butter are being made — and very good butter, too." But this is not all. An officer writes home a tale of yet another one of the comforts of home added to the equipment of the trenches: "We are clean people here. Thanks to the ingenuity of , we are able to take a warm bath every day from ten to twelve. We call this teasing the 'bosches,' for this bathing-establishment of the latest type is fitted up — ^would you believe it? — ^in the trenches!" CHAPTER XVIII Steadfast South Afbica WHEN Germany struck at the heart of France through Belgium simultaneous action was undertaken by the German Command in Southwest Africa through propaganda and mobilization of the available German troops. Insidiously and by the use of money systematic propaganda was instituted to corrupt the Boers against their allegiance to the Union of South Africa. One great character stood like a rock against all their efforts. It was the character of General Louis Botha, formerly arrayed in battle against the British during the Boer uprising. With characteristic determination he formulated plans for the invasion of German Southwest Africa without asking permission of the citizens of the South African Union or of the British Foreign Office. His vision comprehended an invasion that would have as its culmination a British-Boer colony where the German colony had been, and that from Cable Bay to the source of the Nile there would be one mighty union, with a great trunk railway feeding Egypt, the Soudan, Rhodesia, Uganda, and the Union of South Africa. An able lieutenant to Botha was General Smuts. He co-operated with his chief in a campaign of education. They pointed out the absolute necessity for deafness to the German tempters, and succeeded in obtaining full co-operation for the Botha plan of invasion from the British Imperial Government and the South African Union. Concerning this agreement General Botha said: "To forget their loyalty to the empire in this hour of trial would be scandalous and shameful, and would blacken South Africa in the eyes of the whole world. Of this South Africans were incapable. They had endured some of the greatest sacrifices that could be demanded of a people, but they had always kept before them ideals, founded on Christianity, and never in their darkest days had they sought to gain their ends by treasonable means. 280 STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA 281 The path of treason was an unknown path to Dutch and English alike. "Their duty and their conscience alike bade them be faithful and true to the Imperial Government in all respects in this hour of darkness and trouble. That was the attitude of the Union Govern- ment; that was the attitude of the people of South Africa. The government had cabled to the Imperial Government at the out- break of war, offering to undertake the defense of South Africa, thereby releasing the Imperial troops for service elsewhere. This was accepted, and the Union Defense Force was mobilized." Preliminary to the invasion of German Southwest Africa, General Botha proclaimed martial law throughout the Union. The first act in consequence of this proclamation was the arrest of a number of conspirators who were planning sedition throughout the Union. The head of this conspiracy was Lieutenant-Colonel S. G. Maritz. General Beyers and General De Wet, both Boer oflBcers of high standing, co-operated with Maritz in an abortive rebellion. The situation was most trying for the native Boers and, to their credit be it recorded, the great majority of them stood out strongly against the Germans. Vigorous action by Botha and Smuts smashed the rebellion in the fall of 1914. A force acting under General Botha in person attacked the troops imder General Beyers at Rustemburg on October 27th, and on the next day General Beyers sought refuge in flight. A smaller force acting under General Kemp was also routed on November 5th. General De Wet opened his campaign of rebellion on November 7th in an action at Wimburg, where he defeated a smaller force of Loyalists under General Cronje. The decisive battle at Marquard occurred on November 12th, Botha commanding the Loyalists forces in person and De Wet the rebels. The victory of Botha in this fierce engagement was complete. De Wet was routed and was captured on December 1st with a rear-guard of fifty-two men. General Beyers was drowned on December 9th while attempting to escape from the Vail into the Transvaal. This virtually ended all opposition to General Botha. The invasion of German South- west Africa began on January 5, 1915, and was one uninterrupted chapter of successes. Through jungle and swamp, swept by torrential rains and encoimtering obstacles that would have dis- heartened any but the stoutest heart, the little force of invasion 282 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR swept forward. Most of the engagements by the enemy were in the nature of guerrilla and rear-guard actions. The backbone of the German command was broken and the remaining forces capitulated in July, 1915. With the capitulation came the story of the German mis- management in Southwest Africa, and particularly their horrible treaitment of the Hereros apd Hottentots in the coimtry mis- governed by them. An official report fuUy authenticated was made and none of its essential details were refuted. The report told the story of how the German authorities exterminated the native Hereros. i When Germany annexed the country in 1890 they were believed to possess well over 150,000 head of cattle. After the rinderpest scourge of 1897 they still owned something like 90,000 head. By 1902, less than ten years after the arrival of the first German settlers, the Hereros had only 45,898 head of cattle, while the 1,051 German traders and farmers then in the country owned 44,487. The policy of robbing and killing the natives had by that time received the sanction of Berlin. By the end of 1905 the surviving Hereros had been reduced to pauperism and possessed nothing at all. In 1907 the Imperial German Government by ordinance prohibited the natives of Southwest Africa from possessing live stock. The wholesale theft of the natives' cattle, theii? only wealth, with the direct connivance and approval of the Berlin Government, was one of the primary causes of the Herero rebellion of 1904. The revolt was suppressed with characteristic German ruthlessness. But the Germans were not content with a mere suppression of the rising; they had decided upon the practical extinction of the whole tribe. % For this purpose Leutwein, who was apparently regarded as too lenient, was superseded by von Trotha, noted for his merciless severity. He had played a notorious part in the Chinese Boxer rebellion, and had just suppressed the Arab rising in German East Africa by the wholesale massacre of men, women, and children. As a preliminary von Trotha invited the Herero chiefs to come in and make peace, "as the war was now over," and promptly shot them in cold blood. Then he issued his notorious "extermination order," in terms of which no Herero — ^man, woman, child, or babe — was to receive mercy or quarter. "Kill every one of them," he said, "and take no prisoners." STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA 283 The hanging of natives was a common occurrence. A German officer had the right to order a native to be hanged. No trial or court was necessary. Many were hanged merely on suspicion. The Hereros were far more himiane in the field than the Germans. They were once a fine race. Now there is only a miserable remnant left. This is amply proved by official German statistics. Out of between 80,000 and 90,000 souls, only about 15,000 starving and fugitive Hereros were alive at the end of 1905, when von Trotha relinquished his task. In 1911, after all rebellions had been suppressed and tranquillity restored, the government had a census taken. The figures, reproduced below, speak for themselves: Estimate Official CenBUa r\ *, 1904 1911 Decrease * Hereros 80,000 5,130 64,870 Hottentots 20,000 9,781 10,219 Berg-Damaras 30,000 12,831 17,169 130,000 37,742 92,258 In other words, eighty per cent of the Herero people dis- appeared, and more than half of the Hottentot and Berg-Damara races shared the same fate. Dr. Paul Rohrbach's dictum, "It is applicable to a nation in the same way as to the individual that the right of existence is primarily justified in the degree that such existence is useful for progress and general development," comes forcible to mind. These natives of Southwest Africa had been weighed in the German balance and had been found wanting. Germany lost more than a million square miles of territory in Africa as a direct consequence of General Botha's bold action. These are divided in four great regions, Southwest Africa, Kamerun, Togo and East Africa.; ;' Togoland as this region is popularly known extends from the north shore of the Gulf of Guinea into the interior and is bounded by French and British colonies. By a joint attack of French and British forces, beginning the second week in August, 1914, the German power in this rich domain was completely broken, and the conquest of Togoland was complete on August 26, 1914. The military operation was of a desultory nature, and the losses negligible in view of the area of 33,000 square miles of highly pro- ductive land passed from German control. The fighting in the great region of Kamerun was somewhat 284 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR more stubborn than that in Togoland. The villages of Bonaberi and Duala were particularly well defended. The British and French fought through swamps and jungle imder the handicap of terrific heat, and always with victory at the end of the engagement. The conquest of the Kamerun was complete by the end of June, 1915. In addition to the operations by the British and French a combined Belgian and French force captured Molundu and Ngaundera in the German Congo. The raids by General Botha on German Southwest Africa, commenced on September 27, 1914. A series of brilhant strategic actions resulted in the conquest of a region once and a half the size of the German Empire at the time the Great War began. A British description of the operation states: The occupation of Windhoek was effected by General Botha's' North Damaraland forces working along the railway from Swakop- mund. At the former place General Vander venter joined up with General Botha's forces. The force from Swakopmund met with considerable opposition, first at Tretskopje, a small township in the great Namib Desert fifty miles to the northeast of Swakopmund, and secondly at Otjimbingwe, on the Swakop River, sixty miles northwest of Windhoek. Apart from these two determined stands, however, little other opposition was encountered, and Karibib was occupied on May 5th and Okahandja and Windhoek on May 12th. With the fall of the latter place, 3,000 Europeans and 12,000 natives became prisoners. The wireless station — one of Germany's most valuable high- power stations, which was able to communicate with one relay only, with Berlin — ^was captxired almost intact, and much rolling stock also fell into the hands of the Union forces. The advance from the south along the Luderitzbucht-Seeheim- Keetmanshoop Railway, approximately 500 miles in length, was made by two forces which joined hands at Keetmanshoop. The advance from Aus (captured on April 10th) was made by General Smuts's forces. Colonel (afterward General) Vanderventer, moving up from the direction of Warmbad and Kalkfontein, around the flanks of Karas Mountain, pushed on after reaching Keetmanshoop in the direction of Gibeon. Bethany had previously been occupied during, the advance to Seeheim. At Kabus, twenty miles to the north of Keetmanshoop, and at Gibeon pitched battles were fought STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA 285 between General Vanderventer's forces and the enemy. No other opposition of importance was encoimtered, and the operations were brought to a successful conclusion. The stiffest fighting in all Africa'came m Gennan East Africa. It began in late September, 1914, and continued until mid-June, 1915. The Germans, curiously enough, commenced the offensive here with an attack upon Monbasa, the terminus of the Uganda railway and the capital of British East Africa. The attack was planned as a joint naval and military operation, the German cruiser Koenigsburg being assigned to move into the harbor and bombard the town simultaneously with the assault by land. The plan went awry when the presence of British warships frightened off the Koenigsburg. The land attack was easily checked by a detachment of the King's African Rifles and native Arabian troops until the detachments of Indian Regulars arrived upon the scene. The enemy thereupon retreated to his original plans. British reprisals came early in November, when the towns of Tanga and Gassin were attacked by British troops. The troops selected for this adventure numbered 6,000 and carried only food, water, guns and munitions. No protection of any kind nor any other equipment was taken by the soldiers. Reinforcements to the German forces delayed the capture of Gassin until January. A garrison of three hundred men was left there and this in turn was besieged by three thousand Germans. After a stubborn defense the Germans recaptured the town. A union of two British forces was accomplished early in June, 1915. One of these cut through German East Africa along the Kagera River and the other advanced on steamers from Kisumu. They met the enemy on Jirne 22d and defeated it with heavy casualties. Later General Tighe, com- manding the combined British forces, was congratulated on the completeness of his victory on Jime 28th, by General Katchener. The territory acquired by the British as a consequence of the invasion of Germany's African possessions, possesses formidable natural barriers, but once these are past the traveller finds lands of wonderful fertility and great natural resources. Approaching German Southwest Africa from the east, access is across the Kala- hari Desert. This in its trackless desolation, its frequent sand- storms and torrid heat through which only the hardiest and best provisioned caravans may penetrate is worse than the worst that 286 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Sahara can show. There is not a sign of life. Approached from the sea the principal port is Walfish Bay, a fair harbor that was improved by the British when they occupied it. Near Walfish some of the largest diamonds in the history of the world have been found and gold fields of considerable richness have been worked. The climate of German Southwest Africa, after the torrential storms of the seacoast and the terrific heat of the desert have been passed, is one of the most salubrious in the world. It is unique among African regions in the opportunities it affords for coloniza- tion by white men. Great Britain possessed large holdings of this land before Germany came into possession, but abandoned them under the belief that the region was comparatively worthless. There was no misapprehension on this score when all of the lands came into the possession of England as the result of the war. CHAPTER XIX Italy Declabes War on Austria FOR many years before the great war began the great powers of Europe were divided into two great alliances, the Triple Entente, composed of Russia, France and England, and the Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, Austria and Italy. When the war began Italy refused to join with Germany and Austria. Why? The answer to this question throws a vivid light on the origin of the war. Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance; she knew the ^ts, not only what was given to the public, but the inside facts. Accord- ing to the terms of the alliance each member was bound to stand by each other only in case of attack. Italy refused to join with Austria and Germany because they were the aggressors. The constant assertions of the German statesmen, and of the Kaiser himself, that war had been forced upon them were declared untrue by their associate Italy in the very beginning, and the verdict of Italy was the verdict- of the world. Not much was said in the beginning about Italy's abstention from war. The Germans, indeed, sneered a little and hinted that some day Italy wotJd be made to regret her course, but now that the Teuton snake is scotched the importance of Italy's action has been perceived and aDPraised at its true value. The Germans from the very beginning understood the real danger that might come to the Central Powers through Italian action. Every effort was made by the fordgn office to keep her neutral. First threats were used, later promises were held out of addition to Italian territory if she would send her troops to Ger- many's assistance. When this failed the most strenuous efforts were made to keep Italy neutral, and a former German premier. Prince von Biilow, was sent to Italy for this purpose. Socialist leaders, too, were sent from Germany to urge the Italian Socialists to insist upon neutrality. In July, 1914, the Italian Government was not taken by 287 288 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR surprise. They had observed the increase year by year of the German army and of the German fleet. At the end of the Balkan wars they had been asked whether they would agree to an Austrian attack upon Serbia. They had consequently long been deliberating as to what their course should be in case of war, and they had made up their minds that under no circimastances would they aid Ger- many against England. Quite independently of her long-standing friendship with England it would be suicide to Italy in her geographical position to enter into a war which should permit her coast to be attacked by the EngUsh and French navies, and her participation in the Triple Alliance always carried the proviso that it did not bind her to fight England. This was well known in the German foreign office, and, indeed, in France where the writers upon war were reckoning confidently on the withdrawing of Italy from the Triple Alliance, and plaimiag to use the entire forces of France against Germany. A better understanding of the Italian position will result from a consideration of the origin of the Triple Alliance. After the war of 1870, Bismarck, perceiving the quick recovery of France, considered the advisibility of attacking her again, and, to use his own words, "bleeding her white^" He found, however, that if this were attempted France would be joined by Russia and England and he gave up this plan. In order, however, to render France powerless he planned an alliance which should be able to control Europe. A league between Germany, Austria and Russia was his desire, and for some time every opportimity was taken to develop friendship with the Czar. Russia, however, remained cool. Her Pan-Slavonic sympathies were opposed to the interests of Germany. Bismarck, therefore, determined, without losing the friendship of Russia, to persuade Italy to join in the continental combination. Italy, at the time, was the least formidable of the six great powers, but Bismarck foresaw that she could be made good use of in such a combination. At that time Italy, just after the completion of Italian unity, found herself in great perplexity. Her treatment of the Pope had brought about the hostility of Roman Catholics throughout the world. She feared both France and Austria, who were strong Catholic countries, and hardly knew where to look for friends. The great Italian leader at the time was Francesco Crispi, who, ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRLV 289 begiiming as a Radical and a conspirator, had become a constitu- tional statesman. Bismarck professed the greatest friendship for Crispi, and gave Crispi to imderstand that he approved of Italy's aspirations on the Adriatic and in Tunis. The next year, however, at the Berlin Congress> Italy's interests were ignored, and finally, in 1882, France seized Tunis, to the great indignation of the Italians. It has been shown in more recent times that the French seizure of Tunis was directly due to Bismarck's instigation. The Italians having been roused to wrath, Bismarck proceeded to offer them a place in the councils of the Triple Alliance. It was an easy argument that such an alliance would protect them against Prance, and no doubt it was promised that it woiild free them from the danger of attack by Austria. England, at the time, was isolated, and Italy continued on the best understanding with her. The immediate result of the alliance was a growth of Italian hostility toward France, which led, in 1889, to a tariff war on France. Meanwhile German commercial and financial enterprises were pushed throughout the Italian peninsula. What did Italy gain by this? Her commerce was weakened, and Austria permitted herself every possible unfriendly act except open war. As time went on Germany and Austria became more and more arrogant. Italy's ambitions on the Balkan peninsula were abso- lutely ignored. In 1908 Austria appropriated Bosnia and Herzegovina, another blow to Italy. By this time Italy understood the situation well, and that same year, seeing no futiu-e for herself in Europe, she swooped down on Tripoli. In doing this she fore- stalled Germany herself, for Germany had determined to seize TripoU. Both Germany and Austria were opposed to this action of Italy, but Italy's eyes were now open. Thirty years of poUtical alliance had created no sympathy among the Italians for the Germans. Moreover, it was not entirely a question of policy. The lordly arrogance of the Prussians caused sharp antagonism. The Italians were lovers of liberty; the Germans pledged toward autocracy. They foimd greater sympathy in England and in France. "I am a son of liberty," said Cavour, "to her I owe all that I am." That, too, is Italy's motto. When the war broke out 290 HISTORY, OF THE WORLD WAR popular sympathy in Italy was therefore strongly in favor of the Allies. The party in power, the liberals, adopted the poUcy of neutrality for the time being, but thousands of Italians volunteered for the French and British service, and the anti-German feeling grew greater as time went on. Finally, on the 23d of May, 1915, the Italian Government with- drew its ambassador to Austria and declared war. A complete statement of the negotiations between Italy and Austria-Hungary, which led to this declaration, was delivered to the Government of the United States by the Italian Ambassador on May 25th. This statement, of which the following is an extract, lucidly pre- sented the Italian position: "The Triple Alliance was essentially defensive, and designed solely to preserve the status quo, or in other words equilibrium, in Eiu-ope. That these were its only objects and piuposes is established by the letter and spirit of the treaty, as well as by the intentions clearly described and set forth in official acts of the ministers who created the aUiance and confirmed and renewed it in the interests of peace, which always has inspired Italian policy. The treaty, as long as its intents and purposes had been loyally interpreted and regarded, and as long as it had not been used as a pretext for aggression against others, greatly contributed to the elimination and settlement of causes of conflict, and for many years assured to Europe the inestimable benefits of peace. But Austria-Hungary severed the treaty by her own hands. She rejected the response of Serbia which gave to her all the satisfaction she could legitimately claim. She refused to listen to the con- ciliatory proposals presented by Italy in conjimction with other powers in the effort to spare Eiu-ope from a vast conflict, certain to drench the Continent with blood and to reduce it to ruin beyond the conception of himian imagination, and finally she provoked that conflict. "Article first of the treaty embodied the usual and necessary obligaticn of such pacts — the pledge to exchange views upon any fact and economic questions of a general nature that might arise pursuant to its terms. None of the contracting parties had the right to undertake without a previous agreement any step the consequence of which might impose a duty upon the other signatories arising under the alUance, or which would in any way ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 291 whatsoever encroach upon their vital interests. This article was violated by Austria-Hungary, when she sent to Serbia her note dated July 23, 1914, an action taken without the previous assent of Italy. Thus, Austria-Hungary violated beyond doubt one of the fundamental provisions of the treaty. The obligation of Austria-Hungary to come to a previous vmderstanding with Italy was the greater because her obstinate pohcy against Serbia gave rise to a situation which directly tended toward the provocation of a European war. "As far back as the beginning of July, 1914, the Italian Gov- ernment, preoccupied by the prevailing feeling in Vienna, caused to be laid before the Austro-Hungarian Government a number of suggestions advising moderation, and warning it of the impending danger of a European outbreak. The course adopted by Austria- Hungary against Serbia constituted, moreover, a direct encroach- ment upon the general interests of Italy both political and eco- nomical in the Balkan peninsula. Austria-Himgary could not for a moment imagine that Italy could remain indifferent while Serbian independence was being trodden upon. On a number of occasions theretofore, Italy gave Austria to imderstand, in friendly but clear^terms, that the independence of Serbia was considered by Italy as essential to the Balkan equilibrium. Austria-Hungary was further advised that Italy could never permit that equilibrium to be disturbed through a prejudice. This warning had been con- veyed not only by her diplomats in private conversations with responsible Austro-Hungarian officials, but was proclaimed pub- licly by Italian statesmen on the floors of Parliament. "Therefore, when Austria-Hungary ignored the usual prac- tices and menaced Serbia by sending her an ultimatum, without in any way notifying the Italian Government of what she proposed to do, indeed leaving that government to learn of her action through the press, rather than through the usual channels of diplomacy, when Austria-Himgary took this unprecedented course she not only severed her alliance with Italy but committed an act inimical to Italy's interests. . . . "After the European war broke out Italy sought to come to an understanding with Austria-Himgary with a view to a settle- ment satisfactory to both parties which might avert existing and future trouble. Her efforts were in vain, notwithstanding the 292 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR efforts of Germany, which for months endeavored to induce Austria- Hungary to comply with Italy's suggestion thereby recognizing the propriety and legitimacy of the Italian attitude. Therefore Italy found herself compelled by the force of events to seek other solutions. "Inasmuch as the treaty of alliance with Austria-Hungary had ceased virtually to exist and served only to prolong a state of continual friction and mutual suspicion, the Italian Ambas- sador at Vienna was instructed to declare to the Austro- Hungarian Government that the Italian Government considered itself free from the ties arising out of the treaty of the Triple Alliance in so far as Austria-Himgary was concerned. This com- munication was delivered in Vienna on May 4th. "Subsequently to this declaration, and after we had been obliged to take steps for the protection of our interests, the Austro- Hungarian Government submitted new concessions, which, how- ever, were deemed insufl&cient and by no means met our minimum demands. These offers could not be considered under the cir- cumstances. The Italian Government taking into consideration what has been stated above, and supported by the vote of Parlia- ment and the solemn manifestation of the coimtry came to the decision that any further delay would be inadvisable. Therefore, on May 23d, it was declared, ia the name of the King, to the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at Rome that, beginning the fol- lowing day. May 24th, it would consider itself in a state of war with Austria-Hungary." It was a closely reasoned argument that the Italian statesmen presented, but there was something more than reasoned argument in Italy's course. She had been waiting for years for the oppor- tunity to bring under her flag the men of her own race still held in subjection by hated Austria. Now was the time or never. Her people had become roused. Mobs filled the streets. Great orators, even the great poet, D'Annimzio, proclaimed a holy war. The sinking of the Lusitania poured oil on the flames, and the treat- ment of Belgium and eastern France added to the fury. Italian statesmen, even if they had so desired, could not have withstood the pressure. It was a crusade for Italia Irredenta, for civilization, for humanity. The coimtry had been flooded by representatives of German propaganda, papers had been hired ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 293 and, by all report, money in laxge amounts distributed. But every German effort was swept away in the flood of feeling. It was the people's war. Amid tremendous enthusiasm the Chamber of Deputies adopted by vote of 407 to 74 the bill conferring upon the govern- ment full power to make war. All members of the Cabinet main- tained absolute silence regarding what step should follow the action of the chamber. When the chamber reassembled on May 20th, after its long recess, there were present 482 Deputies out of 500, the absentees remaining away on account of illness. The Deputies especially applauded were those who wore military uni- forms and who had asked permission for leave from their military duties to be present at the sitting. All the tribunes were filled to overflowing. No representatives of Germany, Austria or Tin-key were to be seen in the diplomatic tribime. The first envoy to arrive was Thomas Nelson Page, the American Ambassador, who was accompanied by his staff. M. Barrere, Sir J. Bennell Rodd, and Michel de Giers, the French, British and Russian Ambassadors, respectively, appeared a few minutes later and all were greeted with applause, which was shared by the Belgian, Greek and Rou- manian ministers. George B. McClellan, one-time mayor of New York, occupied a seat in the President's tribune. A few minutes before the session began the poet, Gabrielle D'Annunzio, one of the strongest advocates of war, appeared in the rear of the public tribime which was so crowded that it seemed impossible to squeeze in anybody else. But the moment the people saw him they lifted hinn shoulder high and passed him over their heads to the first row. The entire chamber, and all those occupying the other trib- unes, rose and applauded for five minutes, crying "Viva D'Annimzio!" Later thousands sent him their cards and in retimi received his autograph bearing the date of this eventful day. Senor Marcora, President of the Chamber, took his place a;t three o'clock. All the members of the House, and everybody in the galleries, stood up to acclaim the old follower of Garibaldi. Premier Salandra, followed by all the members of the Cabinet, entered shortly afterward. It was a solemn moment. Then a delirium of cries broke out. "Viva Salandra!" roared the Deputies, and the cheering 294 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR lasted for a long time. After the formalities of the opening, Premier Salandra, deeply moved by the demonstration, arose and said: "Gentlemen, I have the honor to present to you a bill to meet the eventual expenditures of a national war.'' . The announcement was greeted by further prolonged applause. The Premier's speech was continually interrupted by enthusiasm, and at times he could hardly continue on account of the wild cheering. The climax was reached when he made a reference to the army and navy. Then the cries seemed interminable, and those on the floor of the House and in the galleries turned to the military tribune from which the officers answered by waving their hands and handkerchiefs. At the end of the Premier's speech there were deafening vivas for the King, war and Italy. Thirty-four Socialists refused to join the cheers, even in the cry "Viva Italia!" and they were hooted and hissed. The action of the Italian Government created intense feeling. A newspaper man in Vienna, describing the Austrian indignation, said: "The exasperation and contempt which Italy's treacherous surprise attack and her hypocritical justification aroused here, are quite indescribable. Neither Serbia nor Russia, despite a long and costly war, is hated. Italy, however, or rather those Italian would-be poUticians and business men who offer violence to the majority of peaceful ItaUan people, are unutterably hated." On the other hand German papers spoke with much more modera- tion and recognized that Italy was acting in an entirely natural manner. On the very day on which war was declared active operations were begun. Both sides had been making elaborate preparations. Austria had prepared herself by building strong fortifications in which were employed the latest technical improvements in defensive warfare. Upon the Carso and around Gorizia the Austrians had placed innumerable batteries of powerful guns moimted on rails and protected by armor plates. They also had a great number of medium and smaller guns. A net of trenches had been excavated and constructed in cement all along the edge of the hills which dominated the course of the Isonzo River. These trenches, occupying a position nearly impregnable ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 297 because so mountainous, were defended by every modem device. They were protected with numerous machine guns, surrounded by wire entanglements through which ran a strong electric current. These lines of trenches followed without interruption from the banks of the Isonzo to the summit of the mountains which dom- inate it; they formed a kind of formidable staircase which had to be conquered step by step with enormous sacrifice. During this same period General Cadoma, then head of the Italian army, had been bringing that army up to date, working for high efficiency and piling up munitions. The Army of Italy was a formidable one. Every man in Italy is liable to military service for a period of nineteen years from the age of twenty to thirty-nine. At the time of tiie war the approximate war strength of the army was as follows: Officers, 41,692; active army with the colors, 289,910; reserve, 638,979; mobile militia, 299,956; territorial militia, 1,889,659; total strength, 3,159,836. The above number of total men available included upward of 1,200,000 fully trained soldiers, with perhaps another 800,000 partially trained men, the remaining million being completely untrained men. This army was splendidly armed, its officers well educated, and the men brave and disciplined. The Italian plan of campaign apparently consisted first, in neutralizing the Trentino by capturing or covering the defenses and cutting the two lines of communication with Austria proper, the railway which ran south from Insbruck, and that which ran southwest from Vienna and joined the former at Fransensfets; and second, in a movement in force on the eastern frontier, with Trieste captured or covered on the right flank in the direction of the Austrian fortress at Klagenfurt and Vienna. The first blow was struck by Austria on the day that war was declared. On that day bombs were dropped on Venice, and five other Adriatic ports were shelled from air, and some from sea. The Italian armieb invaded Austria on the east with great rapidity, and by May 27th a part of the Italian forces had moved across the Isonzo River to Monfalcone, sixteen miles northwest of Trieste. Another force penetrated fxui)her to the north in the Crown land of Gorizia, and Gradisca. Reports from Italy were that encounters with the enemy had thus far been merely outpost skirmishes, but 298 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR had allowed Italy to occupy advantageous positions on Austrian territory. By June 1st, the Italians had occupied the greater part of the west bank of the Isonzo, with little opposition. The left wing was beyond the Isonzo, at Caporetto, fighting among the boulders of Monte Nero, where the Austrian artillery had strong positions. Monfalcone was kept under constant bombardment. A general Italian advance took place on Jxme 7th across the Isonzo River from Caporetto to the sea, a distance of about forty miles. Monfalcone was taken by the Italians on June the 10th, the first serious blow against Trieste, as Monfalcone was a railway junction, and its electrical works operated the light and power of Trieste. Next day the center made a great blow against Gradisca and Sagrado, but the river line proved too strong. The only success was won that night at Plava, north of Borrigia, which was carried by a surprise attack. The Isonzo was in flood, and presented a serious obstacle to the onrush of the Italians. By June 14th the Italian eastern army had pushed forward along the gulf of Trieste toward the town of Nebrosina, nine miles from Trieste. Meanwhile, the Austrian armies were being constantly strengthened. The initial weakness of the Austrian defensive was due to the fact that the armies normally assigned to the invaded region had been sent to defend the Austrian line in Galicia against the Russians. "When Italy began her invasion the defenses of the country were chiefly in the hands of hastily • mobilized youths below the military age of nineteen, and men above the military age of forty-two. From now on Austrian troops began to arrive from the Galician front, some of these representing the finest fighting material in the Austrian ranks. The chance of an easy victory was slipping from Italy's hands. The Italian advance was checked. On the 15th of June the Italians carried an important position on Monte Nero, climbing the rocks by night and attacking by dawn. But this conquest did not help much. No guns of great caliber could be carried on the mountain, and Tolmino, which had been heavily fortified, and contained a garrison of some thirty thousand men, was entirely safe. The following week there were repeated counter-attacks at Plava and on Monte Nero, but the Italians held what they had won. ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 299 AREA OF GENERAL CADORNA'S SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS AGAINST GORIZIA The Isonzo valley forms the eastern line for the defense of Italy and its possession was essential to the realization of Italian ideals. Gorizia, its main strategic position, first fell to the Italians August 9, 1916. 300 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The position was now that Cadoma's left wing was in a strong position, but could not do much against Tolmino. His center was facing the great camp of Gorizia, while his right was on the edge of the Carso, and had advanced as far as Dueno, on the Monfalcone- Trieste Railroad. The army was in position to make an attack upon Gorizia. On the 2d of July an attack on a broad front was aimed directly at Gorizia. The left was to swing around against the defenses of Gorizia to the north; the center was directed against the Gorizia bridge-head, and the right was to swing aroimd to the northeast through the Doberdo plateau. If it succeeded the Trieste railway would be cut and Gorizia must fall. Long and confused fighting followed. The center and the right of the Italian army slowly advanced their line, taking over one thousand prisoners. For days there was continuous bombard- ment and coimter-bombardment. The fighting on the left was terrific. In the neighborhood of Plava the Italian forces found themselves opposed by Himgarian troops, unaccustomed to moim- tain warfare, who at first fell back. Austrian reserves came to their aid, and flung back three times the Italian charge. Three new ItaUan brigades were brought up, and King Victor Emanuel himself came to encourage his troops. The final assault carried the heights. On the 22d of July the Italian right cap- tiu-ed the crest of San Michele, which dominates the Doberdo plateau. " Meanwhile the Austrian armies were being heavily reinforced, and General Cadoma found himself unable to make progress. Much groimd had been won but Gorizia was still unredeemed. Many important vantage points were in Italian hands, but it was difficult to advance. The result of the three months' campaign was a stalemate. In the high mountains to the north Italy's cam- paign was a war of defense. To imdertake her offensive on the Isonzo it was necessary that she guard her flanks and rear. The Tyrolese battle-ground contained three distinct points where it was necessary to operate; the Trentino SaUent, the passes of the Dolomites, and the passes of the Camic Alps. Early in Jime Italy had won control of the ridges of the moun- tains in the two latter points, but the problem in the Trentino was more difficult. It was necessary, because of the converging valleys, to push her front well inland. On the Camic Alps the fighting ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 301 consisted of unimportant skirmishes. The main struggle centered aroimd the pass of Monte Croce Camico. In two weeks the Alpini had seized dominating positions to the west of the pass, but the Austrians clung to the farther slopes. A great deal of picturesque fighting went on, but not much progress was made. Further west in the Dolomite region there was more fighting. On the 30th of May Cartina had been captured, and the Italians moved north toward the Pusterthal Railway. Progress was slow, as the main routes to the railway were difficult. By the middle of August they were only a few miles from the railway, but all the routes led through defiles, and the neighboring heights were in the possession of the Austrians. To captiu-e these heights was a most difficult feat, which the Italians performed in the most brilliant way; but even after they had passed these defiles success was not yet won. Each Italian colimm was in its own groove, with no lateral communication. The Austrians could mass themselves where they pleased. As a result the Italian forces were compelled to halt. In the Trentino campaign the Italians soon captured the passes, and moved against Trente and Roverito. These towns were heavily fortified, as were their surrounding heights. The campaign became a series of small fights on mountain peaks and moimtain ridges. ? Only small bodies of troops could maneuver, and the raising of guns up steep precipices was extremely difficult. The Italians slowly succeeded in gaining ground, and established a chain of posts around the heights so that often one would see guns and barbed wire intrenchments at a height of more than ten thousand feet among the crevasses of the glaciers. The Alpini performed wonderful feats of physical endurance, but the plains of Lombardy were still safe. CHAPTER XX GrLORious Gallipoli IF EVER the true mettle and temper of a people were tried and exemplified in the crucible of battle, that battle was the naval and land engagement embracing GaUipoli and the Dardanelles, and the people so tested the British race. Separated in point of time but united in its general plan, the engage- ments present a picture of heroism founded upon strategic mis- takes; of such perseverance and dogged determination against overwhelming natiu:al and artificial odds as even the pages of supreme British bravery cannot parallel. The Immortal charge of the Light Brigade was of a piece with Gallipoli, but it was merely a battle fragment and its glorious record was written in blood within the scope of a comparatively few inspired minutes. In the mine- strewn Dardanelles and upon the sun-baked, blood-drenched rocky slopes of Gallipoli, death, always partnered every sailor and soldier. As at Balaklava, virtually everyone knew that some one had blundered, but the army and the navy as one man fought to the bitter end to make the best of a bad bargain, to tear triumph out of impossibilities. France co-operated with the British in the naval engagement, but the greater sacrifice, the supreme chamel house of the war, the British race reserved for itself. There, the yeomamy of Eng- land, the imsung county regiments whose sacrifices and achieve- ments have been neglected in England's generous desire to honor the men from "down under," the Australians and New Zealanders grouped under the imperishable title of the Anzacs — ^there the Scotchj, Welsh and Irish knit in one devoted British army with the great fighters from the self-governing colonies waged a battle so hopeless and so gallant that the word Gallipoli shaU always remind the world how man may triumph over the fear of death; how, with nothing but defeat and disaster before them, men may go to their deaths as unconcernedly as in other days they go to their nightly sleep. 302 GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI 303 On November 5, 1914, Great Britain declared war upon Turkey. Hostilities, however, had preceded the declaration. On November 3d the combined French and British squadrons had bombarded the entrance forts. This was merely intended to draw the fire of the forts and make an estimate of their power. From that time on a blockade was maintained, and on the 13th of Decem- ber a submarine, commanded by Lieutenant Holbrook, entered the straits and torpedoed the Turidsh warship Messoudieh, which was guarding the mine fields. By the end of January the blockading fleet, through constant reinforcement, had become very strong, and had seiaed the Iskad of Tenedos and taken possession of Lemaos, wMch nominally belonged to Greece, as bases for naval op^ations. On the 19th of February began the great attack upon the fcKPts at the entrance to the Dardandles, vridf^ atteacted the aMention of the world for nearly a year. The expediticm agMiust the Dardanelles had been considered with the greatest ease, and approved by the naval authorities. That their judgment was ocHTect, however, is anoAer question. The history of naval warfare seems to make very plain that a ship, however powerful, is at a tremendous disadrajatage when attacking forts on land. The badly swrved cannon of Al^andria fell, indeed, before a British fleet, but GdlipoU had been fortified by German engineers, and its guns were the Erupp caimon. The British fleet foimd itself opposed by mMurmountable obstacles. Looking backward it seems possible, that if at the vray start Lord Kitchener had permitted a detaohment of troc^s to accompany the fleet, success might have been attafeied, but witiiou^ the army the navy was powerless. The Peninsula of GaUipoU is a tongue of land about fifty miles long, varying in width from twelve to two or three miles. It is a mass of rocky hiUs so steep that in many places it is a matter of difliculty to reach theur tops. On it are a few villages, but there are no decent roads and little cultivated land. On the southern shore of the Dardanelles conditions are nearly the same. Here, the entrance is a flat and marshy plain, but east of this plain are hills three thousand feet high. The high groimd overhangs the sea passage on both sides and, with the exception of narrow bits of beach at their base, presents almost no opportunity for landing. 304 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR MAP OF THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA Showing the various landing places, with inset of the Sari-Bair Region. GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI S05 A strong current continually sifts down the straits from the Sea of Marmora. Forts are placed at the entrance on both the north and south ade, but they were not heavily armed and were merely outposts. Fourteen miles from the mouth the straits become quite narrow, making a sharp turn directly north and then resuming their original direction. The channel thus makes a sharp double bend. At the entrance to the strait, known as the Narrows, were powerful fort- resses, and the slopes were studded with batteries. Along both sides of the channel the low ground was lined with batteries. It was possible to attack the forts at fairly long range, but there was no room to bring any large nxmiber of ships into action at the same time. At the time of the Gallipoli adventure there were probably nearly half a million of men available for a defense of the straits, men well armed and weU trained under German leadership. The first step was comparatively easy. The operations against the other forts began at 8 a. m. on Friday, the 19th of Februaiy. The ships engaged were the Inflexible, the Agamemnon, the Comwallis, the Vengeance and the Triimiph from the British fleet, and the Bouvet, Suffren, and the Gaulois from the French, aU imder the command of Vice-Admiral Sackville Garden. The French squadron was under Rear-Admiral Gueprette. A flotilla of destroyers accom- panied the fleet, and airplanes were sent up to guide the Are of the battleships. At first the fleet was arranged in a semicircle some miles out to sea from the entrance to the strait. It afforded an inspiring spectacle as the ships came along and took up position, and the picture became most awe-inspiring when the guns began to boom. The bombardment at first was slow. Shells from the various ships screaming through the air at the rate of about one every two minutes. The Turkish batteries, however, were not to be drawn, and, seeing this, the British Admiral sent one British ship and on© French ship close in shore toward the Sedd-el-Bahr forts. As they went in they sped right under the gims of the shore batteries, which could no longer resist the temptation to see what they could do. Puffs of white smoke dotted the landscape on the far shore, and dull booms echoed over the placid water. Around the ships 306 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR fountains of water sprang up into the air. The enemy had been drawn, but his marksmanship was obviously very bad. Not a single shot directed against the ships went within a hundred yards of either. At sundowny on account of the failing light, Admiral Garden withdrew the fleet. On account of the bad weather the attack was not renewed until February 25th. It appeared that the outer forts had not been seriously damaged on the 19th, and that what injury had been done had been repaired. In an hour and a half the Cape HeUes fort was silenced. The Agamemnon was hit by a shell fired at a range of six miles, which killed three men and wounded five. Early in the afternoon Sedd-el-Bahr was attacked at close range, but not silenced tiU after 5 p. m. At this time British trawlers began sweeping the entrance for minesy'and during the next day the mine field was cleared for a distance of four miles up the straits. As soon as this clearance was made the Albion, Vengeance and Majestic steamed into the strait andattacked Fort Dardanos, a fortification some distance below the Narrows. The Turks replied vigorously, not only from Dardanos but from batteries scattered along the shore.' Believing that the Turks had abandoned the forts at the entrance, landing parties of marines were sent to shore. In a short time, however, they met a detachment of the enemy and were compelled to retreat to their boats. The outer forts, however, were destroyed, and thdr destruction was extremely encouraging to the Allies. For a time a series of minor operations was carried on, meeting with much success. Besides attacks on forts inside of the strait, Smyrna was bombarded on March the 5th, and on March the 6th the Queen Ehzabethj the Agamemnon and the Ocean bombarded the forts at Chanak on the Asiatic side of the Narrows, from a position in the Gulf of Saros on the outer side of the GaUipoli Peninsula. To all of these attacks the Turks replied vigorously and the attacking ships were repeatedly struck, but with no loss of life. On the 7th of March Fort Dardanos was silenced, and Fort Chanak ceased firing, but, as it turned out, only temporarily Preparations were now being made for a serious effort against the Narrows. The date of the attack was fixed for March 17th, weather permitting. On the 16th Admiral Carden was stricken down with illness and was invalided by medical authority. GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI 307 Admiral de Roebeck, second in command, who had been very active in the operations, was appointed to succeed him. Admiral de Roe- beck was in cordial sympathy with the pinposea of the expedition and determined to attack on the 18th of March. At a quarter to eleven that morning, the Queen Ehzabeth, Inflexible, Agamemnon, Lord Nelson, the Triumph and Prince George steamed up the straits towards the Narrows, and bombarded the forts of Chanak. At 12.22 the French squadron, consisting of the Suffren, Gaulois, Charlemagne, and Bouvet, advanced up the Dardanelles to aid their English associates. Under the combined fire of the two squadrons the Turkish forts, which at first replied strongly, were finally silenced. All of the ships, however, were hit several times during this part of the action. A third squadron, including the Vengeance, Irresistible, Albion, Ocean, Swiftshore and Majestic, then advanced to relieve the six old battleships inside the strait. As the French squadron^ which had engaged the forts in a most brilliant fashion, was passing out the Bouvet was blown up by a drifting mine and sank in less than three minutes, carrying with her most of her crew. At 2.36 p. M. the relief battleships renewed the attack on the forts, which again opened fire. The Turks were now sending mines down with the current. At 4.09 the Irresistible quitted the line, listing heavily, and at 5.60 she sank, having prob- ably struck a drifting mine. At 6.05 the Ocean, also having struck a mine, sank in deep water. Practically the whole of the crews were removed safely. The Gaulois was damaged by gunfire; the Inflexible had her forward control position hit by a heavy shell, which killed and wounded the majority of the men and oflSlcers at that station and set her on fire. At sunset the forts were still in action, and dining the twilight the Allied fleet slipped out of the Dardanelles. Meantime, an expeditionary force was being gathered. The largest portion of this force came from Great Britain, but France also provided a considerable number from her marines and from her Colonial army. Both nations avoided, as far as possible, draw- ing upon the armies destined for service in France. In the English army there were divisions from Australia and New Zealand and there were a number of Indian troops and Terri- torials. The whole force was put under the command of General 308 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Sir Ian Hamilton. The commander-in-chief on the Turkish side was the German General Liman von Sanders, the former chief of the military mission at Constantinople. The bulk of the expedi- tionary force, which numbered altogether about a hundred and twenty thousand men, were, therefore, men whose presence in the east did not weaken the Allied strength in the west. The great difficulty of the new plan was that it was impossible to surprise the enemy. The whole GaUipoli Peninsula was so small that a landing at any point would be promptly observed, and the nature of the ground was of such a character that progress from any point must necessarily be slow. The problem was therefore a simple one. The expeditionary force gathered in Egypt dining the first half of April, and about the middle of the month was beiag sent to Lemnos. Germany was well aware of the Enghsh plans, and was doing aU that it could to provide a defense. On April 23d the movement began, and about five o'clock in the afternoon the first of the transports slowly made its way through the maze of shipping toward the entrance of Mudros Bay. Immediately the patent apathy, which had gradually over- whelmed everyone, changed to the utmost enthusiasm, and as the huge liners steamed through the fleet, their decks yellow with khaki, the crews of the warships cheered them on to victory while the bands played them out with an unending variety of popular airs. The soldiers in the transports answered this last salutation from the navy with deafening cheers, and no more inspiring spectacle has ever been seen than this great expedition. The whole of the fleet from the transports had been divided up into five divisions and there were three main landings. The twenty-ninth division disembarked off the point of the Gallipoli Peninsula near Sedd-el-Bahr, where its operations were covered both from the gulf of Saros and from the Dardanelles by the fire of the covering warships. The Australian and New Zealand contin- gent disembarked north of Gaba Tepe. Further north a naval division madea d emonstration. Awaiting the AustraUans was a party of Turks who had been intrenched almost on the shore and had opened up a terrible fusillade. The AustraUan volunteers rose, as a man, to the occasion. They waited neither for orders nor for the boats to reach the beach, but GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI 309 springing out into the sea they went in to the shore, and forming some sort of a rough line rushed straight on the flashes of the enemy's rifles. In less than a quarter of an hour the Turks were in fuU flight. While the Australians and New Zealanders, or Anzacs as they are now generally known from the initials of the words Australian- New Zealand Army Corps, were fighting so gallantly at Gaba Tepe, the British troops were landing at the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The advance was slow and difficult. The Turk was pushed back, little by little, and the groimd gained organized. The details of this progress, though full of incidents of the greatest courage and daring, need not be recounted. On Jime the 4th a general attack was made, preceded by heavy bombardments by all guns, but after terrific fighting, in which many prisoners were captured and great losses suffered, the net result was an advance of about five hundred yards. As time went on the general impression throughout the Allied countries was that the expedition had failed. On June 30th the losses of the Turks were estimated at not less than seventy thousand, and the British naval and military losses up to June 1st, aggregated 38,635 officers and men. At that time the British and French allies held but a small comer of the area to be conquered. In all of these attacks the part played by the Australian and New Zealand army corps was especially notable. Reinforcements were repeatedly sent to the Allies, who worked more and more feverishly as time went on with the hope of aiding Russia, which was then desperately struggling against the great German advance. On August 17th it was reported that a landing had been made at Suvla Bay, the extreme western point of the Peninsula. From this point it was hoped to threaten the Tiu-kish communica- tion with their troops at the lower end of the Peninsula. This new enterprise, however, failed to make any impression, and in the first part of September, vigorous Turkish counter-offensives gained territory from the Franco-British troops. According to the English reports the Turks paid a terrible price for their success. It had now become evident that the expedition was a failure. The Germans were already gloating over what they called the "failure of British sea power," and English publicists were attempt- ing to show that, though the enterprise had failed, the very presence SIO HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR of a strong Allied force at Saloniki had been an enormous gain. The first official announcement of failure was made December 20, 1916, when it was aimounced that the British forces at Anzac and Suvla Bay had been withdrawn, and that only the minor positions near Sedd-el-Bahr were occupied. Great Britain's loss of officers and men at the Dardanelles up to December 11th was 112,921, according to an annoimcement made in the House of Commons by the Parliamentary Under Secretary for War. Besides these casualties the number of sick admitted to hospitals was 96,683. The decision to evacuate GaUipoli was made in the course of November by the British Government as the result of the early expressed opinion of General Monro, who had succeeded General Hamilton on October 28, 1915. General Monro found himself confronted with a serious problem in the attempt to withdraw an army of such a size from positions not more than three hundred yards from the enemy's trenches, and to embark on open beaches every part of which was within effective range of Turkish guns. Moreover, the evacuation must be done gradually, as it was impossible to move the whole army at once with such means of transportation as existed. The plan was to remove the munitions, supplies and heavy guns by instalments, working only at night, carryiag off at the same time a large portion of the troops, but leaving certain picked battalions to guard the trenches. Every endeavor had to be made for concealment. The plan was splendidly successful, and the Turks apparently com- pletely deceived. On December 20th the embarkation of the last troops at Suvla was accomplished. The operations at Anzac were conducted in the same way. Only picked battalions were left to the end, and these were carried safely off. The success of the Suvla and Anzac evacuation made the position at Cape Helles more dangerous. The Turks were on the lookout, and it seemed almost impossible that they could be again deceived. On January 7th an attack was made by the Turks upon the trenches, which was beaten back. That night more than half the troops had left the Peninsula. The next day there was a heavy storm which made embarkation difficult, but it was never- theless accomplished. The whole evacuation was a clever and successful bit of work. CHAPTER XXI The Greatest Naval Battle in History GERMANY'S ambition for conquest at sea had been nursed and carefully fostered for twenty years. During the decade immediately preceding the declaration of war, it had embarked upon a policy of naval upbuilding that brought it into direct conflict with England's sea policy. Thereafter it became a race in naval construction, England piling up a huge debt in its determination to construct two tons of naval shipping to every one ton built by Germany. Notwithstanding Great Britain's efforts in this direction, Germany's naval experts, with the ruthless von Tirpitz at their head, maintained that, given a fair seaway with ideal weather conditions favoring the low visibility tactics of the German sea command, a victory for the Teutonic ships would foUow. It was this belief that drew the ships of the German cruiser squadron and High Seas Fleet off the coast of Jutland and Horn Reef into the great battle that decided the supremacy of the sea. ' The 31st of May, 1916, will go down in history as the date of this titanic conflict. The British light cruiser Galatea on patrol duty near Horn Reef reported at 2.20 o'clock on the afternoon of that day, that it had sighted smoke plumes denoting the advance of enemy vessels from the direction of Helgoland Bight. Fifteen minutes later the smoke plumes t?ere in such number and volume that the advance of a considerable force to the northward and eastward was indicated. It was reasoned by Vice-Admiral Beatty, to whom the Galatea had sent the news by radio, that the enemy in rounding Horn Reef would inevitably be brought into action. The first ships of the enemy were sighted at 3.31 o'clock. These were the battle screen of fast light cruisers. Back of these were five modem battle cruisers of the highest power and armament. The report of the battle, by an eye-witness, that was issued upon semiofficial authority of the British Government, foUows: First Phase, 3.30 p. m. May 31st. Beatty's battle cruisers, 311 312 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR consisting of the Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary, Tiger, Inflexible, Indomitable, Invincible, Indefatigable, and New Zealand, were on a southeasteriy course, followed at about two miles distance by the four battleships of the class known as Queen Elizabeths. 1 Enemy light cruisers were sighted and shortly afterward the head of the German battle cruiser squadron, consisting of the new cruiser Hindenburg, the SeydUtz, Derffinger, Liitzow, Moltke, and possibly the Salamis.^ Beatty at once began firing at a range of about 20,000 yards (twelve miles) which shortened to 16,000 yards (nine miles) as the fleets closed. The Germans could see the British distinctly out- lined against the light yeUow sky. The Germans, covered by a haze, could be very indistinctly made out by the British gunners. ' The Queen Elizabeths opened fire on one after another as they came within range. The German battle cruisers turned to port and drew away to about 20,000 yards, i Second Phase, 4.40 p. M. A destroyer screen then appeared beyond the German battle cruisers. The whole German High Seas Fleet could be seen approaching on the northeastern horizon in three divisions, coming to the support of their battle cruisers. The German battle cruisers now turned right round 16 points and took station in front of the battleships of the High Fleet. Beatty, with his battle cruisers and supporting battleships, therefore, had before him the whole of the German battle fleet, and JeUicoe was still some distance away.' The opposing fleets were now moving parallel to one another in opposite directions, and but for a master maneuver on the part of Beatty the British advance ships would have been cut off from Jellicoe's Grand Fleet. In order to avoid this and at the same time prepare the way so that Jellicoe might envelop his adversary, Beatty immediately also turned right around 16 points, so as to bring his ships parallel to the German battle cruisers and facing the same direction. As soon as he was around he increased to full speed to get ahead of the Germans and take up a tactical position in advance of their line. He was able to do this owing to the superior speed of the British battle cruisers. Just before the turning point was reached the Indefatigable sank, and the Queen Mary aniJi the Invincible also were lost at the GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 315 turning point, where, of course, the High Seas Fleet concentrated their fire. A little earlier, as the German battle cruisers were turning, the Queen Elizabeths had in similar manner concentrated their fire on the turning point and destroyed a new German battle cruiser, believed to be the Hindenburg. Beatty had now got aroimd and headed away with the loss of three ships, racing parallel to the German battle cruisers. The Queen Elizabeths followed behind engaging the main High Seas Fleet. Third Phase, 5 p. m. The Queen Elizabeths now turned short to port 16 points in order to follow Beatty. The Warspite jammed her steering gear, failed to get aroimd, and drew the fire of six of the enemy, who closed in upon her. The Germans claimed her as a loss, since on paper she ought to have been lost, but, as a matter of fact, though repeatedly straddled by shell fixe with the water boiling up aU around her, she was not seriously hit, and was able to sink one of her oppo- nents. Her captain recovered control of the vessel, brought her aroimd, and followed her consorts. In the meantime the Barham, Valiant and Malaya turned short so as to avoid the danger spot where the Queen Mary and the Invincible had been lost, and for an hour, until Jellicoe arrived, fought a delaying action against the High Seas Fleet. The Warspite joined them at about 6.15 o'clock, and all four ships were so successfully maneuvered in order to upset the spotting corrections of their opponents that no hits of a seriously disabling character were suffered. They had the speed over their opponents by fully four knots, and were able to draw away from part of the long line of German battleships, which almost filled up the horizon. At this time the Queen Elizabeths were steadily firing on at the flashes of German guns at a range which varied between 12,000 and 15,000 yards, especially against those ships which were nearest ihem. The Germans were enveloped in a mist and only smoke and flashes were visible. By 5.45 half of the High Seas Fleet had been left out of range, and the Queen Elizabeths were steaming fast to join hands with Jellicoe. 316 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR To return to Beatty's battle cruisers. They had succeeded in outflanking the German battle cruisers, which were, therefore, obliged to turn a full right angle to starboard to avoid being headed. Heavy fighting was renewed between the opposing battle cruiser squadrons, during which the Derfflinger was sunk; but toward 6 o'clock the German fire slackened very considerably, showing that Beatty's battle cruisers and the Queen Elizabeths had inflicted serious damage on their immediate opponents. Fourth Phase, 6 p. m. The Grand Fleet was now in sight, and, coming up fast in three directions, the Queen Elizabeths altered their course four points to the starboard and drew in toward the enemy to allow Jellicoe room to deploy into line. The Grand Fleet was perfectly maneuvered and the very diffi- cult operation of deploying between the battle cruisers and the Queen Elizabeths was perfectly timed. Jellicoe came up, fell in behind Beatty's cruisers, and followed by the damaged but still serviceable Queen Elizabeths, steamed right across the head of the German fleet. The first of the ships to come into action were the Revenue and the Royal Oak with their fifteen-inch guns, and the Agincourt, which fired from her seven turrets with the speed almost of a Maxim gun. The whole British fleet had now become concentrated. They had been perfectly maneuvered, so as to "cross theT" of the High Seas Fleet, and, iadeed, only decent light was necessary to com- plete their work of destroying the Germans in detail. The light did improve for a few minutes, and the conditions were favorable to the British fleet, which was now in line approximately north and south across the head of the Germans, During the few minutes of good light Jellicoe smashed up the first three German ships, but the mist came down, visibility sud- denly failed, and the defeated High Seas Fleet was able to draw off in ragged divisions. Fifth Phase, Night, The Germans were followed by the British, who still had them enveloped between Jellicoe on the west, Beatty on the north, and Evan Thomas with his three Queen Elizabeths on the south. The Warspite had been sent back to her base. During the night the torpedo boat destroyers heavily attacked GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 317 BBITISH BnTTLE FIXCT €trm»n BsWe Ovistrso'=\: British aetUo Cruistr?''' NOR SEA ^ otHglsttOri, i J ij T I A f^ l> ... h»° bio-g *«i tfiSiiihMirM REFERENCE Apprttfimffit True* ^ British BsWe Fleet ~ „ ■ British Batua Oijiion _ <^' tttliiolanH ( tIeligcJontli, CD \ Sfltinys Ships , HOW THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE OP JUTLAND WAS FOUGHT This chart must be taken only as a general indication of the courses of the opposing fleets. Sir David Beatty, with two squadrons of battle cruisera and one equadron of fast battleships, first steamed_ southward and southeastward of the German battle cruiser squaxfron; then, sighting the German battle fleet, turned northward, after- wards beting eastward and connecting with Sir John Jellicoe's battle squadron. 318 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the German ships, and, although they lost seriously themselves, succeeded in sinking two of the enemy. Coordination of the units of the fleet was practically impos- eible to keep up, and the Germans discovered by the rays of their searchlights the three Queen Elizabeths, not more than 4,000 yards away. Unfortunately they were then able to escape between the battleships and Jellicoe, since the British gunners were not able to fire, as the destroyers were in the way. So ended the Jutland battle, which was fought as had been planned and very nearly a great success. It was spoiled by the unfavorable weather conditions, especially at the critical moment, when the whole British fleet was concentrated and engaged in crushing the head of the German line. Commenting on the engagement. Admiral Jellicoe said: "The battle cruiser fleety gallantly led by Vice-Admiral Beatty, and admirably supported by the ships of the fifth battle squadron under Rear Admiral Evan-Thomas, fought the action under, at times, disadvantageous conditions, especially in regard to light, in a manner that was in keeping with the best traditions of the service." His estimate of the German losses was: two battleships of the dreadnaught type, one of the Deutschland type, which was seen to sink; the battle cruiser Liitzow, admitted by the Germans; one battle cruiser of the dreadnaught type, one battle cruiser seen to be so severely damaged that its return was extremely doubtful; five light cruisers, seen to sink — one of them possibly a battleship; six destroyers seen to sink, three destroyers so damaged that it was doubtful if they would be able to reach port, and a submarine sunk. The official German report admitted only eleven ships sunk; the first British report placed the total at eighteen, but Admiral Jellicoe enumerated twenty-one German vessels as probably lost. The Admiral paid a fine tribute to the German naval men: "The enemy," he said, "fought with the gallantry that was expected of him. We particularly admired the conduct of those on board a disabled German light cruiser which passed down the British line shortly after the deployment under a heavy fire, which was returned by the only gun left in action. The conduct of the officers and men was entirely beyond praise. On all sides it is reported that GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 319 the glorious traditions of the past were most worthily upheld; whether in the heavy ships, cruisers, light cruisers, or destroyers, the same admirable spirit prevailed. The officers and men were cool and determined, with a cheeriness that would have carried them through anything. The heroism of the woimded was the admiration of all. I cannot adequately express the pride with which the spirit of the fleet filled me." At daylight on the 1st of June the British battle fleet, being southward of Horn Reef, turned northward in search of the enemy vessels. The visibility early on the first of June was three to four miles less than on May 31st, and the torpedo-boat destroyers, being out of visual touch, did not rejoin the fleet until 9 A. m. The British fleet remained in the proximity of the battlefield and near the line of approach to the German ports imtil 11 A. M., in spite of the disadvantage of long distances from fleet bases and the dangOT inciured in waters adjacent to the enemy's coasts from submarines and torpedo craft. The enemy, however, made no sign, and the admiral was reluctantly compelled to the conclusion that the High Sea Fleet had returned into port. Subsequent events proved this assump- tion to have been correct. The British position must have been known to the enemy, as at 4 A. m. the fleet engaged a Zeppelin about five minutes, during which time she had ample opportunty to note and subsequently report the position and course of the British fleet. The Germans at first claimed a victory for their fleet. The test, of course, was the outcome of the battle. The fact that the German fleet retreated and nevermore ventured forth from beneath the protecting guns and mine fields aroimd Helgoland, demon- strates beyond dispute that the British were entitled to the triumph. The German official report makes the best presentation of the German case. It follows in full: The High Sea Fleet, consisting of three battleship squadrons, five battle cruisers, and a large number of small cruisers, with several destroyer flotillas, was cruisingin theSkagerrak on May 31st for the purpose, as on earlier occasions, of offering battle to the British fleet. The vanguard of small cruisers at 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon (German time) suddenly encountered, ninety miles west of Hanstholm (a cape on the northwest coast of Jutland), a group of eight of the newest cruisers of the Calliope class and fifteen or twenty of the most modem destroyers. 320 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR While the German light forces and the first cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Hipper were following the British, who were retiring north- westward, the German battle cruisers sighted to the westward Vice- Admiral Beatty's battle squadron of six ships, including four of the Lion type and two of the Indefatigable type. Beatty's squadron developed a battle line on a southeasterly course and Vice-Admiral Hipper formed his line ahead on the same general course and approached for a running £ght. He opened fire at 5.49 o'clock in the afternoon with heavy artillery at a range of 13,000 meters against the superior enemy. The weather was clear and light, and the sea was light with a northwest wind. After about a quarter of an horn* a violent explosion occurred on the last cruiser of the Indefatigable type. It was caused by a heavy shell, and destroyed the vessel. About 6.20 o'clock in the afternoon five warships of the Queen Eliza^ beth type came from the west and joined the British battle cruiser line, powerfiJly reinforcing with their fifteen-inch guns the five British battle cruisers remaining after 6.20 o'clock. To equalize this superiority Vice- Admiral Hipper ordered the destroyers to attack the enemy. The British destroyers and small cruisers interposed, and a bitter engagement at close range ensued, in the course of which a light cruiser participated. The Germans lost two torpedo boats, the crews of which were rescued by sister ships imder a heavy fire. Two British destroyers were sunk by artillery, and two others — ^the Nestor and Nomad — ^remained on the scene in a crippled condition. These later were destroyed by the main fleet after German torpedo boats had rescued all the survivors. While this engagement was in progress a mighty explosion, caused by a big shell, broke the Queen Mary, the third ship in line, asunder, at 6.30 o'clock. Soon thereafter the German main battleship fleet was sighted to the southward, steering north. The hostile fast squadrons thereupon turned northward, closing the first part of the fight, which lasted about an hour. The British retired at high speed before the German fleet, which followed closely. The German battle cruisers continued the artillery combat with increasing intensity, particularly with the division of the vessels of the Queen Elizabeth type, and in this the leading German battle- ship division participated intermittently. The hostile ships showed a desire to run in a flat curve ahead of the point of our line and to cross it. At 7.45 o'clock in the evening British small cruisers and destroyers launched an attack against our battle cruisers, who avoided the tor- pedoes by maneuvering, while the British battle cruisers retired from the engagement, in which they did not participate further as far as can be established. Shortly thereafter a German reconnoitering group, which was parrying the destroyer attack, received an attack from the north- east. The cruiser Wiesbaden was soon put out of action in this attack. The German torpedo flotillas immediately attacked the heavy ships. Appearing shadow-like from the haze bank to the northeast was GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN fflSTORY 321 made out a long line of at least twenty-five battle ships, which at first sought a junction with the British battle cruisers and those of the Queen Elizabeth type on a northwesterly to westerly course, and then turned on an easterly to southeasterly course. With the advent of the British main fleet, whose center consisted of three squadrons of eight battleships each, with a fast division of three battle cruisers of the Invincible type on the northern end, and three of the newest vessels of the Royal Sovereign class, armed with fifteen-inch guns, at the southern end, there began about 8 o'clock in the evening the third section of the engagement, embracing the combat between the main fleets. Vice-Admiral Scheer determined to attack the British main fleet, which he now recognized was completely assembled and about doubly superior. The German battleship squadron, headed by battle cruisers, steered first toward the extensive haze bank to the northeast, where the crippled cruiser Wiesbaden was still receiving a heavy fire. Aroimd the Wiesbaden stubborn individual fights now occurred. The light enemy forces, supported by an armored cruiser squadron of five ships of the Minatour, Achilles, and Duke of Edinburgh classes com- ing from the northeast, were encountered and apparently surprised on account of the decreasing visibility of our battle cruisers and leading battleship division. The squadron came under a violent and heavy fire, by which the small cruisers Defense and Black Prince were sunk. The cruiser Warrior regained its own line a wreck and later sank. Another small cruiser was damaged severely. Two destroyers already had fallen victims to the attack of German torpedo boats against the leading British battleships and a small cruiser and two destroyers were damaged. The German battle cruisers and leading battleship division had in these engagements come imder increased fire of the enemy's battleship squadron, which, shortly after 8 o'clock, could be made out in the haze turning to the northeastward and finally to the east. Germans observed, amid the artillery combat and shelling of great intensity, signs of the effect of good shooting between 8.20 and 8.30 o'clock particularly. [Several officers on German ships observed that a battleship of the Queen Elizabeth class blew up under conditions similar to that of the Queen Mary. The Invincible sank after being hit severely. A ship of the Iron Diike class had earlier received a torpedo hit, and one of the Queen Elizabeth class was running around in a circle, its steering apparatus apparently having been hit. The Liitzow was hit by at least fifteen heavy shells and was xmable to maintain its place in line. Vice-Admiral Hipper, therefore, trans- shipped to the Moltke on a torpedo boat and under a heavy fire. The DerfiBinger meantime took the lead temporarily. Parts of the German torpedo flotilla attacked the enemy's main fleet and heard detonations. In the action the Germans lost a torpedo boat. An enemy destroyer WM seen in a sinkiDg condition, having beea hit by a torpedo, 322 ' HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR After the first violent onslaught into the mass of the superior enemy the opponents lost sight of each other in the smoke by powder clouds. After a short cessation in the artillery comb'kt Vice Admiral Scheer ordered a new attack by all the available forces. German battle cruisers, which with several light cruisers and torpedo boats again headed the line, encountered the enemy soon after 9 o'clock and renewed the heavy fire, which was answered by them from the mist, and then by the leading division of the main fleet. Armored cruisers now flung themselves in a reckless onset at extreme speed against the enemy line in order to cover the attack of the torpedo boats. They approached the enemy line, although covered with shot from 6,000 meters distances. Several German torpedo flotillas dashed forward to attack, delivered torpedoes, and returned, despite the most severe counterfire, with the loss of only one boat. The bitter artillery fight was again interrupted, after this second violent onslaught, by the smoke from guns and fuimels. Several torpedo flotillas, which were ordered to attack somewhat later, found, after penetrating the smoke cloud, that the enemy fleet was no longer before them; nor, when the fleet commander again brought the German squadrons upon the southerly and southwesterly course where the enemy was last seen, could our opponents be found. Only once more — shortly before 10.30 o'clock — did the battle flare up. For a short time in the late twilight German battle cruisers sighted four enemy capital ships to seaward and opened fire immediately. As the two Ger- man battleship squadrons attacked, the enemy turned and vanished in the darkness. Older German light cruisers of the fourth reconnoissance group also were engaged with the older enemy armored cruisers in a short fight. This ended the day battle. The German divisions, which, after losing sight of the enemy, began a night cruise in a southerly direction, were attacked until dawn by enemy light force in rapid succession. The attaclffl were favored by the general strategic situation and the particularly dark night. The cruiser Frauenlob was injured severely during the engagement of the fourth reconnoissance groiip with a superior cruiser force, and was lost from sight. One armored cruiser of the Cressy class suddenly appeared close to a German battleship and was shot into fire after forty seconds, and sank in four minutes. The Florent (?) Destroyer 60, (the names were hard to decipher in the darkness and therefore were uncertainly established) and four destroyers — 3, 78, 06, and 27 — were destroyed by our fire. One destroyer was cut in two by the ram of a'German battleship. Seven destroyers, including the G-30, were hit and severely damaged. These, including the Tipperary and Turbulent, which after saving survivors, were left behind in a sinking condition, drifted past our line, some of them burning at the bow or stem. GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 323 The tracks of countless torpedoes were sighted by the Gennan ships, but only the Pommern (a battleship) fell an immediate victim to a torpedo. The cruiser Rostock was hit, but remained afloat. The cruiser Mbing was damaged by a Gennan battleship during an unavoidable maneuver. After vain endeavors to keep the ship afloat the Elbing was blown up, but only after her crew had embarked on torpedo boats. A post torpedo boat was struck by a mine laid by the enemy. Following are the statistics of the fight: ADMITTED LOSSES— BRITISH NAME TONNAGE PEUBONNBlj Queen Maiy (battle cniiser) 27,000 1,000 Indefatigable (battle cruiser) 18,750 800 Invincible (battle cruiser) 17,250 750 Defense (armored cruiser) 14,600 755 Warrior (armored cruiser) 13,550 704 Black Prince (armored cruiser) 13,550 704 Tipperary (destroyer) 1,850 159 Turbulent (destroyer) 1,850 150 Shark (destroyer) 950 lOO Sparrowhawk (destroyer) 950 lOO Ardent (destroyer) 950 lOO Fortune (destroyer) 950 100 Nomad (destroyer) 950 lOO Nestor (destroyer) 950 lOO British Totals Battle cruisers 63,000 2,560 Armored cruisers 41,700 2,163 Destroyers 9,400 900 Fourteen ships 114,100 5,613 ADMITTED LOSSES— GERMAN* NAME TONNAGE lERSONNEIi Liitzow (battle cruiser) 26,600 1,200 Pommern (battleship) 13,200 729 Wiesbaden (cruiser) 6,600 450 Frauenlob (cruiser) 2,715 264 Elbing (cruiser) 5,000 450 Rostock (cruiser) 4,900 373 Mve destroyers 5,000 500 German Totals Battle cruisers 39,800 1,929 Cruisers 18,215 1,537 Destroyers 5,000 500 Eaeven ships 63,015 3,966 '''These figures are given for what they are worth, but no one outside of Germany doubted but that their losaea were very mueh greater than admitted in the official report. 324 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR TOTAL LOSSES OF MEN Bbitish Dead or missing 6,104 Wounded 513 Total „ 6,617 German Dead or missing 2,414 Wounded 449 Total 2,863 LOSS IN MONEY VALUE (Rough Estimate) British $115,000,000 German 63,000,000 Total 8178,000,000 WMe the world was still puzzling over the conflictuig reports of the battle of Jutland came the shocking news that Field Marshal Lord Horatio Herbert Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, had perished off the West Orkney Islands on June 5th, through the sinking of the British cruiser Hampshire. The entire crew was also lost, except twelve men, a warrant officer and eleven seamen, who escaped on a raft. Earl Kitchener was on his way to Russia, at the request of the Russian Government, for a consulta- tion regarding munitions to be furnished the Russian army. He was intending to go to Archangel and visit Petrograd, and expected to be back in London by June 20th, He was accompanied by Hugh James O'Beime, former Coimcillor of the British Embassy at Petrograd, O. A. Fitz-Gerald, his military secretary, Brigadier- General EUarshaw, and Sir Frederick Donaldson, all of whom were lost. ( The cause of the sinking of the Hampshire is not known. It is supposed that it struck a mine, but the tragedy very naturally brought into existence many stories which ascribe his death to more direct German action. Seaman Rogerson, one of the survivors, describes Lord Kitchener's last moments as follows: "Of those who left the ship, and have survived, I was the one who saw Lord Kitchener last. He went down with the ship, he did not leave her. I saw Captain Seville help his boat's crew to clear away his galley. At the same time the Captain was calUng tjQ I^ord Katchener toi pop^e to the GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY 335 boat, but owing to the noise made by the wind and sea, Lord Kitchener could not hear him, I think. When the explosion occurred, Kitchener walked calmly from the captain's cabin, went up the ladder and on to the quarter-deck. There I saw him walking quite collectedly, talking to two of the officers. All three were wearing khaki and had no overcoats on. f Kitchener calmly watched the preparations for abandoning the ship, which were going on in a steady and orderly way. The crew just went to their stations, obeyed orders, and did their best to get out the boats. r: Where Eael Kitcheneb Met His Death But it was impossible. Owing to the rough weather, no boats could be lowered. Those that were got out were smashed up at once. No boats left the ship. What people on the shore thought to be boats leaving, were rafts. Men did get into the boats as these lay in their cradles, thinking that as the ship went imder the boats would float, but the ship sank by the head, and when she went she turned a somersault forward, carrying down with her all the boats and those in them. I do not think Kitchener got into a boat. When I sprang to a raft he was still on the starboard side of the quarter-deck, talking with the officers. From the little tune 326 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR that elapsed between my leaving the ship and her sinking I feel certain Kitchener went down with her, and was on deck at the time she sank." The British admiralty, after iavestigation, gave out a state- ment declaring that the vessel struck a mine, and sank about fifteen minutes after. . The news of Lord Kitchener's death shocked the whole Allied world. He was the most important personality in the British Empire. He had bvult up the British army, and his name was one to conjure by. His efficiency was a proverb, and he had an air of mystery about him that made him a sort of a popular hero. He was great before the World War began; he was the conqueror of the Soudan; the wimier of the South African campaign; the reorganizer of Egypt. In his work as Secretary of War he had met with some criticism, but he possessed, more than any other man, the public confidence. At the beginning of the war he was appointed Secretary of War at the demand of an overwhelming public opinion. He realized more than any one else what such a war wouldj'mean. When others thought of it as an adventure to be soon concluded, he recognized that there would be years of bitter conflict. He asked England to give up its cherished tradi- tion of a volunteer army; to go through arduous military training; he saw the danger to the empire, and he alone, perhaps, had the authority to inspire his countrymen with the will to sacrifice. But his work was done. The great British army was in the field. CHAPTER XXII The RirssiAN Campaign IN THE very beginning Russia had marked out one point for attack. This was the city of Cracow. No doubt the Grand Duke Nicholas had not hoped to be able to invest that city early. The slowness of the mobilization of the Russian army made a certain prudence advisable at the beginning of the cam- paign. But the great success of his armies in Lemberg encouraged more daring aims. He had invested Przemysl, and Galicia lay before him. Accordingly, he set his face toward Cracow. Cracow, from a military point of view, is the gate both of Vienna and Berlin. A hundred miles west of it is the famous gap of Moravia, between the Carpathian and the Bohemian moimtains, which leads down into Austria. Through this gap runs the great railway connecting Silesia with Vienna, and the Grand Duke knew that if he could capture Cracow he would have an easy road befcfl-e hinn to the Austrian capital. Cracow also is the key of Germany. Seventy miles from the city lies the Oder River. An army might enter Germany by this gate and turn the line of Germany's frontier fortresses. The Oder had been well fortified, but an invader coming from Cracow might move upon the western bank. The Russian plan no doubt was to threaten both enemy capitals. Moreover, an advance of Russia from Cracow would take its armies into Silesia, full of coal and iron mines, and one of the greatest manufacturing districts in the German Empire. This would be a real success, and all Germany would feel the blow. Another reason for the Russian advance in Galicia was her desire to control the Galician oil wells. To Germany petrol had become one of the foremost munitions of war. Since she could not obtain it from either America or Russia she must get it from Austria, and the Austrian oil fields were all in Galicia. This, in itself, would explain the Galician campaign. Moreover, through the Carpathian Mountains it was possible to make frequent raids 327 328 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR into Hungary, and Russia understood well the feeling of Hungary toward her German allies. She hoped that when Himgary perceived her regiments sacrificed and her plains overrun by Russian troops, she would regret that she had allowed herself to be sacrificed to Prussian ambition. The Russians, therefore, suddenly moved toward Cracow. Then von Hindenburg came to the rescue. The supreme com- mand of the Austrian forces was given to him. The defenses of Cracow were strengthened under the direction of the Germans, and a German army advanced from the Posen frontier toward the northern bank of the Vistula. The advance threatened the Russian right, and, accordingly, within ten days' march of Cracow, the Russians stopped. The German offensive in Poland had begun, The news of the German advance came about the fifth of October. Von Hindenburg, who had been fighting in East Prussia, had at last perceived that nothing could be gained there. The vulnerable part of Russia was the city of Warsaw. This was the capital of Poland, with a population of about three-quarters of a million. If he could take Warsaw, he would not only have pleasant quarters for the winter but Russia would be so badly injured that no further offensive from her need be anticipated for a long period. Von Hindenburg had with him a large army. In his center he probably had three-quarters of a million men, and on his right the Austrian army in Cracow, which must have reached a million. Counting the troops operating in East Prussia and along the Carpathians, and the garrison of Przemysl, the Teuton army must have had two and a half million soldiers. Russia, on the other hand, at this time could not have had as many as two million men in the whole nine hundred miles of her battle front. The fight for Warsaw began Friday, October 16, and continued for three days, von Hindenburg being personally in command. On Monday the Germans foimd themselves in troubte. A Rus- sian attack on their left wing had come with crushing force. Von Hindenburg found his left wing thrown back, and the whole Ger- man movement thrown into disorder. Meanwhile an attempt to cross the Vistula at Josefov had also been a failure. The Rus- sians allowed the Germans to pass with slight resistance, waited until they arrived at the village Kazimirjev, a district of low hills and swampy flats, and then suddenly overwhelmed them. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 329 Next day the Russians crossed the river themselves, and advanced along the whole line, driving the enemy before them, through great woods of spruce out into the plains on the west.] This forest region was well known to the Russian guides, and the Germans suffered much as the Russians had suffered in Eastj Prusaa. Buzsky, the Russian commander, piu-sued persistently; the Germans retreating first to Kielce, whence they were driven, on the 3d of November, with great losses, and then being broken into two pieces, with the north retiring westward and the south wing southwest toward Cracow. Rennenkampf's attack on the German left wing was equally successful, and von Hindenbiu'g was driven into full retreat.' The only success won dming this campaign was that in the far south where Austrian troops were sweeping eastward toward the San. This army drove back the Russians under Ivanov, reoccupied Jaroslav and relieved Przemysl. t* This was a welcome relief to Przemysl, for the garrison was nearly starved, and it was well for the garrison that the relief came, for in a few days the Russians returned, recaptured Jaroslav and reinvested Przemysl. As von HindenbiUTg retreated he left complete destruction in his wake, roads, bridges, railroad tracks, water towers, railway stations, all were destroyed; even telegraph posts, broken or sawn through, and insulators broken to bits.' It was now the turn of Russia to make a premature advance, and to pay for it. Dtoubtless the Grand Duke Nicholas, whose strategy up to this point had been so admirable, knew very well the danger of a new advance in Galicia, but he realized the immense political as well as military advantages which were to be obtained by the capture of Cracow. He therefore attempted to move an army through Poland as well as through Galicia, hoping that the army in Poland would keep von Hindenburg busy, while the Galician army would deal with Cracow.' The advance was slow on accoimt of the damaged Polish roads. It was preceded by a cavalry screen which moved with more speed. On November 10th, the vanguard crossed the Posen frontier and cut the railway on the Cracow-Posen line. This reconnaissance convinced the Russian general that the German army did not propose to make a general stand, and it seemed to him that if he struck strongly with his center along the Warta, he might destroy 330 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the left flank of the German southern army, while his own left flank was assaulting Cracow. He believed that even if his attack upon the Warta failed, the Russian center could at any rate pre- vent the enemy from interfering with the attack fiuther south upon Cracow. The movement therefore began, and by November 12th> the Russian cavalry had taken Miechow on the German frontier, about twenty miles north of Cracow. Its main forces were still eighty miles to the east. About this time Grand Duke Nicholas perceived that von Hindenburg was preparing a coimter-stroke. He had retreated north, and then, by means of his railways, was gathering a large army at Thorn. Large reinforcements were gent him, some from the western front, giving him a total of about eight hundred thousand men. In his retreat from Warsaw, while he had destroyed all roads and railways in the south and west, he had carefully preserved those of the north already planning to use them in another movement. He now was beginning an advance, once again, against Warsaw. On accoimt of the roads he per- ceived that it would be difficult for the Russians to obtain rein- forcements. Von Hindenburg had with him as Chief of Staff General von Ludendorff, one of the cleverest staff officers in the German army, and General von Mackensen, a commander of almost equal repute. The Russian army La the north had been pretty well scattered. The Russian forces were now holding a front of nearly a thousand miles, with about two miUion men. The Russian right center, which now protected Warsaw from the new attack could hardly number more than two hundred thousand men. Von Hinden- burg's aim was Warsaw only, and did not affect directly the Russian advance to Cracow, which was still going on. Indeed, by the end of the first week in December, General Dmitrieff had cavalry in the suburbs of Cracow, and his main force was on the line of the River Rava about twelve miles away. Cracow had been strongly fortified, and much entrenching had been done in a wide circle around the city. The German plan was to use its field army in Cracow's defense rather than a garrison. Two separate forces were used; cftie mov- ing southwest of Cracow along the Carpathian hiUs, ^ruck directly at Ivanov's left; the other, operating from Hungary, threatened © Fress llluairating Service. THE FAMOUS WITHERED ARM A most unusual photograph of the ex-Kaiser showing his withered left arm. The Bale of this picture was forbidden in Germany. The other figure is the Het- man of the Ukrainia, Skoropadski. THE FIRST STAGE HOMEWARDS Stretcher bearers bringing in wounded from the battlefield to the collecting posts. GERMAN FRIGHTFULNESS FROM THE AIR A gas attack on the eastern front photographed by a Russian airman. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 333 the Russian rear. These two divisions struck at the same time and the Russians found it necessary to fight rear actions as they moved forward. They were doing this with reasonable success and working their way toward Cracow, when, on the 12th of • December, the Austrian forces working from Himgary carried the Dukla Pass. Tliis meant that the Austrians would be able to pour troops down into the rear of the Russian advance, and the Russian army would be cut off. Dmitrieff, therefore, fell rapidly back, until the opening of the Dukla Pass was in front of his line, and the Russian army was once more safe. Meanwhile the renewed siege of Przemysl was going on with great vigor, and attracting the general attention of the AlUed world. The Austrians attempted to follow up their successes at the Dukla Pass by attempting to seize the Lupkow Pass, and the Uzzok Pass, still further to the east, but the Russians were tired of retreating. New troops had arrived, and about the 20th of December a new advance was begun. With the right of the army swinging up along the river Nida, northeast of Cracow, the Russian left attacked the Dukla Pass in great force, driving Austrians back and capturing over ten thousand men. On Christmas Day all three great western passes were in Russian hands. The Austrian fighting, diu-ing this period, was the best they had so far shown, the brunt of it being upon the Himgarian troops, who, at this time, were saving Germany. Meantime von Hindenbiurg was pursuing his movement in the direction of Warsaw. The Russian generals found it difficult to obtain information. Each day came the chronicle of contests, some victories, some defeats, and it soon appeared that a strong force was crushing in the Russian outposts from the direction of Thorn and moving toward Warsaw. Ruzsky found himself faced by a superior German force, and was compelled to retreat. The Russian aim was to fall back behind the river Bzura, which Ues between the Thorn and Warsaw. Bzura is a strong line of defense, with many fords but no bridges. The Russian right wing passed by the city of Lowicz, moved southwest to Strykov and then on past Lodz. West of Lowicz is a great belt of marshes impossible for the movement of armies. The first German objective was the city of Lodz. Von Hinden- burg knew that he must move quickly before the Russians should S34 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR get up reserves. His campaign of destruction had made it impos- sible for aid to be sent to the Hussian armies from Ivanov, far in the south, but every moment coimted. His right pushed forward and won the western crossings of the marshes. His extreme left moved towards Plock, but the main effort was against Piontek, where there is a famous causeway engineered for heavy transport through the marshes. At first the Russians repeUed the attack on the causeway, but on November 19th the Russians broke and were compelled to fall back. Over the causeway, then, the German troops wctb rushed in great numbers, splitting the Russian army into two parts; one on the south surrounding Lodz, and the other running east of Brezin on to the Vistula. The Russian army around Lodz was assailed on the front flank and rear. It looked like an over- ' whelming defeat for the Russian army. At the very last moment possible, Russian reinforcements appeared — a body of Siberians from the direction of Warsaw. They were thrown at once into the battle and succeeded in re-establishing the Russian line. This left about ninety thousand Germans almost entirely surrounded, as if they were in a huge sack. Ruzsky tried his best to close the mouth of the sack, but he was unsuccessful. The fighting was terrific, but by the 26th the Germans in the sack had escaped. The Germans were continually receiving reinforcements and stUl largely outnumbered the Russians. Von Hindenburg there- fore determined on a new assault. The German left wing was now far in front of the Russian city of Lodz, one of the most important of the Polish cities. The population was about half a million. Such a place was a constant danger, for it was the foundation of a Russian salient. When the German movement b6gan the Russian general, perceiving how difficult it would have been to hold the city, deliberately withdrew, and on December 6th the Germans entered Lodz without opposition. The retreat relieved the Russians of a great embarrassment. Its capture was considered in Germany as a great German victory, and at this time von Hindenburg seems to have felt that he had control of the situation. His movement, to be sure, had not inter- fered with the Russian advance on Cracow, but Warsaw must have seemed to him almost in his power. He therefore concen- trated his forces for a blow at Warsaw. His fijst new movement THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 335 was directed at the Russian right wing, which was then north of the Bzura River and east of Lowicz. He also directed the German forces in East Prussia to advance and attempted to cut the main railway hne between Warsaw and Petrograd. If this attempt had been successful it would have been a highly serious matter for the Russians. The Russians, however, defeated it, and drove the enemy back to the East Prussian border. The movement against the Russian right wing was more successful, and the Russians fell back slowly. This was not because they were defeated in battle, but because the difficult weather inter- fered with communications. There had been a thaw, and the whole country was waterlogged. The Grand Duke was willing that the Germans should fight in the mud. This slow retreat continued from the 7th of December to Christmas Eve, and involved the surrender of a nmnber of Polish towms, but it left the Russians in a strong position. They were able to entrench themselves so that every attack of the enemy was broken. The Germans tried hard. Von Bindenbiu-g would have liked to enter Warsaw on Christmas. The citizens heard day and night the soimd of the cannon, but they were entirely safe. The German attack was a failure. On the whole, the Grand Duke Nicholas had shown better strategy than the best of the German generals. Outnumbered from the very start, his tactics had been admirable. Twice he had saved Warsaw, and he was stiU threatening Cracow. The Russian armies were fighting with courage and efficiency, and were continually growing in numbers as the days went by. During the first weeks of 1915, while there were a number of attacks and coimter-attacks, both armies had come to the trench warfare, so familiar in France. The Germans in particular had constructed a most elaborate trench system, with underground rooms containing many of the ordinary comforts of life. Toward the end of the month the Russians began to move in East Prussia in the north and also far south in the Bukovina. The object of these movements was probably to prevent von Hindenburg from releasing forces on the west. Russia was still terribly weak in equipment and was not ready for a serious advance. An attack on sacred East Prussia would stir up the Germans, while Hungary 336 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR wotild be likewise distitrbed by the advance on Bukovina. Von Hiadenburg, however, was still full of the idea of capturing Warsaw. He had failed twice but the old Field Marshal was stubborn and moreover he knew well what the capture of Warsaw would mean to Russia, and so he tried again. The Russian front now followed the west bank of the Bzura for a few miles, changed to the eastern bank following the river until it met with the Rawka> froioa- there a hne of trenches passed south and east of Balhiov and from there to Skiemievice. Von Mackensen concentrated a considerable army at Balinov and had on the 1st of February about a hundred and forty thousand men there. That night, with the usual artillery preparation^ he moved from Balinov against the Russian position at the Borzymov Crest. The Germans lost heavily but drove forward into the enemy's line, and by the 3d of February had almost made a breach in it. This point, however, could be readily reinforced and troops were hurried there from Warsaw in such force that on February 4th the German advance was checked. Von Mackensen had lost heavily, and by the time it was checked he had become so weak that his forces yielded quickly to the counter-attack and were flimg back. This was the last frontal attack upon Warsaw. Von Hinden- burg then determined to attack Warsaw by indirection. Austria was instructed to move forward along the whole Carpathian front, while he himself, with strong forces, undertook to move from East Prussia behind the Polish capital, and cut the communications between Warsaw and Petrograd. If Austria could succeed, Przemysl might be reUeved, Lemberg recaptured, and Russia forced back so far on the south that Warsaw would have to be abandoned. On the other hand if the East Prussia effort were successful, the PoUsh capital would certainly fall. These plans, if they had developed successfully, would have crippled the power of Russia for at least six months. Meantime, troops could be sent to the west front, and perhaps enable Germany to overwhelm France. By this time almost all of Poland west of the Vistula was in the power of the Germans, while three-fourths of Galicia was controlled by Russia. Von Hindenburg now returned to his old battle-ground near the Masurian Lakes. The Russian forces, which, at the end of THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 337 January, had made a forward movement in East Prussia, had been quite successful. Their right was close upon Tilsit, and their left rested upon the town of Johannisburg. Further south was the Russian army of the Narev. Von Hindenbrag determined to surprise the invaders, and he gathered an army of about three himdred thousand men to face the Russian forces which did not number more than a himdred and twenty thousand, and which were imder the command of General Baron Sievers. The Russian army soon found itself in a desperate position. A series of bitter fights ensued, at some of which the Kaiser himself was present. The Russians were driven steadily back for a week, but the German stories of their tremendous losses are obviously unfounded. They retreated steadily until February 20th, fighting courageously, and by that date the Germans began to find themselves exhausted. Russian reinforcements came up, and a counter-attack was begun. The German aim had evidently been to reach Grodno and cut the main line from Warsaw to Petrograd, which passes through that city. They had now reached Suwalki, a Uttle north of Grodno, but were imable to advance fiui;her, though the Warsaw- Petrograd railway was barely ten miles away. The southern por- tion of von Hindenburg's army was moving against the railway fiui;her west, in the direction of Ossowietz. But Ossowietz put up a determined resistance, and the attack was unsuccessful. By the beginning of March, von Hindenburg ordered a gradual retreat to the East Prussian frontier. While this movement to drive the Russians from East Prussia was under way, von Hindenburg had also laimched an attack against the Russian army on the Narev. If he could force the lower Narev from that point, too, he could cut the railroad running east from the Polish capital. He had hoped that the attacks just described further east would distract the Russian attention so that he would find the Narev ill guarded. The advance began on February 22d, and after numerous battles captured Przasnjrsz, and found itself with only one division to oppose its progress to the railroad. On the 23d this force was attacked by the German right, but resisted with the utmost courage. It held out for more than thirty-ax hours, until, on the evening of the 24th, Russian reinforce- ments began to come up, and drove the invaders north through Przasnysz in retreat. 338 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR It was an extraordinary fight. The Russians were unable to supply all their troops with munitions and arms. At Przasnysz men fought without rifles, armed only with a bayonet. All they could do was to charge with cold steel, and they did it so desperatelj that, though they were outnumbered,, they drove the Germans before them. By all the laws of war the Russians should have been defeated with ease. As it was, the German attempt to capture Warsaw by a flank movement was defeated. While the struggle was going on in the north, the Austrian armies in Galicia were also moving. Russia was stiU holding the three great passes in the Carpathian Mountains, but had not been able to begin an offensive in Hungary. The Austrians had been largely reinforced by German troops, and were moving forward to the reUef of Przemysl, and also to drive Brussilov from the Galician mountains. Brussilov's move- ments had been partly miUtary and partly political. From the passes in those mountains Hungary could be attacked, and unless he could be driven away there was no security for the Hungarian cornfields, to which Germany was looking for food supplies. More- over, from the beginning of the Russian movement in Galicia, northern BukoAmia had been in Russian hands. Bukovina was not only a great supply ground for petrol and grain, but she adjoined Roumania which, while still neutral, had a strong sympathy with the Allies, especially Italy. The presence of a Russian army on her border might encourage her to join the Allies. Austria naturally desired to free Roumania from this pressure. The leading Austrian statesmen, at this time, were especially interested in Hungary. The Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs was Baron Stephen Burian, the Hungarian diplomatist, belonging to the party of the Hungarian Premier, Count Tisza. It was his own country that was threatened. The prizes of a victorious campaign were therefore great. The campaign began in January amid the deepest snow, and continued during February in the naidst of blizzards. The Austrians were divided into three separate armies. The fitrst was charged with the relief of Przemysl. The second advanced in the direction of Lemberg, and the third moved upon Bukovina. The first made very little progress, after a number of lively battles. It was held pretty safely by Brussilov. The second army was checked by THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 339 Dmitrieflf. Further east, however, the army of the Bukovina crossed the Carpathian range, and made considerable advances. This campaign was fought out in a great number of battles, the most serious of which, perhaps, was the battle of Koziowa. At that point Brussilov's center withstood for several days the Austrian second army which was commanded by the German General von Idnsengen. The Hussian success here saved Lemberg, prevented the relief of Przemysl and gave time to send reinforcements into Bukovina. The Austrian third army, moving on Bukovina, had the greatest Austrian success. They captured in succession Czemo- witz, Kolomea, and Stanislau. They did not succeed, however, in driving the Russians from the province. The Russians retired slowly, waiting for reinforcements. These reinforcements came, whereupon the Austrians were pushed steadily back. The passes in the Carpathians still remained in Austrian hands, but Przemysl was not relieved or Lemberg recaptured. On March 22d Przemysl feU. The capture of Przemysl was the greatest success that Russia had so far attained. It had been besieged for about four months, and the taking of the fortress was hailed as the first spectacular success of the war. Its captive altered the whole situation. It released a large Russian army, which was sent to reinforce the armies of Ivanov, where the Austrians were vigorously attacked. By the end of March the Russians had captm-ed the last Austrian position on the Lupkow pass and were attacking vigor- ously the pass of Uzzok, which maintained a stubborn defense. Brussilov tried to push his way to the rear of the Uzzok position, and though the Austrians delivered a vigorous coimter-attack they were ultimately defeated. In five weeks of fighting Ivanov captured over seventy thousand prisoners.' During this period there was considerable activity in East Prusda, and the Courland coast was bombarded by the German Baltic squadron. There was every indication that Austria was njar collapse, but all the time the Germans were preparing for a mighty effort, and the secret was kept with extraordinary success. The little conflicts in the Carpathians and in East Prussia were meant to deceive, while a great army, with an enormous number of guns of every caliber, and masses of ammunition, were being 340 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR gathered. The Russian commanddrs were completely deceived. There had been no change in the generals in command except that General Ruzsky, on accoimt of illness, was succeeded by General Alexeiev. The new German army was put under the charge of von Hindenburg's former lieutenant, General von Mackensen. This was probably the strongest army that Germany ever gathered, and could not have numbered less than two millions of men, with nearly two thousand pieces in its heavy batteries. On April 28th, the action began. The Austro-German army lay along the left bank of the Donajetz River, to its junction with the Biala, and along the Biala to the Carpathian Mountains. Von Mackensen's right moved in the direction of Gorlice. General Dmitrieff was compelled to weaken his front to protect Gorlice and then, on Saturday, the 1st of May, the great attack began. Under cover of artillery fire such as had never been seen before bridges were pushed across the Biala and Ciezkowice was taken. The Russian positions were blown out of existence. The Russian armies did what they could but their defense collapsed and they were soon in full retreat.. The German armies advanced steadily, and though the Russians made a brave stand at many places they could do nothing. On the Wisloka they hirng on for five days, but they were attempting an impossibility. From that time on each day marked a new German victory, and in spite of the most desperate fighting the Russians were forced back until, on the 11th, the bulk of their line lay just west of the lower San as far as Przemysl and then south to the upper Dniester. The armies were In retreat, but were not routed. In a fortnight the army of Dmitrieff had fallen back eighty-five miles. The Grand Duke Nicholas by this time imderstood the situa- tion. He perceived that it was impossible to make a stand. The only thing to do was to retreat steadily until Germany's mass of war material should be used up, even though miles of territory should be sacrificed. It should be a retreat in close contact with the enemy, so that the Austro-German troops would have to fight for every mile. This meant a retreat not for days, but perhaps for weeks. It meant that Przemysl must be given up, and Lemberg, and even Warsaw, but the safety of the Russian army was of more importance than a province or a city. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 341 On May 13th the German War Office announced their suc- cesses in the following terms: "The army under General von Mackensen in the course of its pursuit of the Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica. Under the pressm-e of this advance the Russians also retreated from their positions north of the Vistula. In this section the troops under General von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as the region northwest of Kielce. In the Carpathians Austro- Hungarian and German troops under General von Linsingen conquered the hills east of the Upper Stryi, and took 3,660 men prisoners, as well as capturing six machine guns. At the present moment, while the armies under General von Mackensen are approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower San, it is pos- sible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In the battles of Tarno and GorUka, and in the battles during the pursuit of these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69 cannon, and 255 machine guns. In these figures the booty taken by the Alhed troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north of the Vistula, is not included. This amounts to a further 40,000 prisoners. Przemysl smrendered to the Germans on June 3, 1915, only ten weeks after the Russian capture of the fortress, which had caused such exultation." General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital of Galicia. On June 18th, when the victorious German armies were approaching the gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were estimated at 400,000 dead and wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, besides 100,000 lost before Marshal von Hindenburg's forces in Poland and Courland. On June 23d Lemberg fell. The weak- ness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion of her ammunition supplies, but great shipments of such supplies were being constantly forwarded from Vladivostok. When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then German Emperor, v/as present. It is interesting to look back on the scene. Here is a paragraph from the accoimt of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau: "The Emperor had hmried forward to his troops by automobile. On the way he was greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons. On the heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then, 342 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen attention the progress of the battle for the crossing." While the great offensive in Galicia was well under way, the Germans were pushing forward in East Prussia. Finding Uttle resistance they ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, and established themselves firmly in that province. The sweep of the victorious German armies through Galicia was continued into Poland. On July 19th William the War Lord bombastically telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the effect that he had "paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come," and was on the eve of "deUvering a coup on the western front that will make all Europe tremble," It would be futile to recoimt the details of the various German victories which followed the advance into Poland. On July 24th, the German line ran from Novgorod in the north, south of Przasnysz, thence to Novogeorgievsk, then swin^g to the southeast below Warsaw it passed close to the west of Ivangorad, LubUn, Chehn, and then south to a point just east of Lemberg. Warsaw at that time was in the jaws of the German nutcracker. On July 21st, the beUs iu aU the churches throughout Russia clanged a call to prayer for twenty-four hours* continual service of intercession for victory. In spite of the heat the chTu:ches were packed. Hoiu" after hour the people stood wedged together, while the priests and choirs chanted their litanies. Outside the Kamian Cathedral an open-air mass was celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd. But the German victories continued. On August 5th Warsaw was abandoned. Up to July 29th hope was entertained in military quarters in London and Paris that the Germans would stand a siege in their fortresses along the Warsaw saUent, but on that date advices came from Petrograd that in order to save the Russian armies a retreat must be made, and the Warsaw fortresses abandoned. For some time before this the Russian resistance had perceptibly stiffened, and many vigorous coimter-attacks had been made against the German advance, but it was the same old story, the lack of ammimition. The armies were compelled to retire and await the munitions necessary for a new offensive. The last days of Russian rule in Warsaw were dasrs of extraor- dinary interest. The inhabitants, to the number of nearly half THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 343 a million, sought refuge in Russia. All goods that could be useful to the Germans were either removed or burned. Crops were destroyed in the surrounding fields. When the Germans entered they foimd an empty and deserted city, with only a few Poles and the lowest classes of Jews still left. Warsaw is a famous city, fuU of ancient palaces, tastefully adorned shops, finely built streets, and fourscore church towers where the bells are accustomed to ring melodiously for matins and vespers. In the Ujazdowske Avenue one comes to the most charmiug building in aU Warsaw, the LazienM Palace, with its delicious gardens mirrored in a lovely lake. It is a beautiful city. The fall of Warsaw meant the fall of Russian Poland, but Russia was not yet defeated. Von Hindenburg was to be treated as Napoleon was in 1812. The strategy of the Grand Duke was sound; so long as he could save the army the victories of Germany would be futile. It is true that the German armies were not com- pelled, like those of Napoleon, to live on the land. They could bring their supplies from Berlin day by day, but every mile they advanced into hostile territory made their task harder. The German line of communication, as it grew longer, became weaker, and the troops needed for garrison duty in the captm-ed towns, seriously diminished the strength of the fighting army. The Rusdan retreat was good strategy and it was carried on with most extraordinary cleverness. ' It is imnecessary to describe the events which succeeded the fall of Warsaw in great detail. There was a constant succession of German victories and Russian defeats, but never was one of the Russian armies enveloped or destroyed. Back they went, day after day, always fighting; each great Russian fortress resisted until it saw itself in danger, and then safely withdrew its troops. Kovno fell and Novogeorgievsk, and Ivangorad, then Ossowietz was abandoned, and Brest-Litovsk and Grodno. On September 5th the Emperor of Russia signed the following order: Today I have taken supreme command of all the forces of the sea and land armies operating in the theater of war. With firm faith in the clemency of God, with unshakable assurance in final victory, we shall fulfil our sacred duty to defend our country to the last. We will not dishonor the Russian land. 344 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Grand Duke Nicholas was made Viceroy of the Caucasus, a post which took biTn out of the main theater of fighting but gave him a great field for fresh military activity. He had been bearing a heavy burden, and had shown himself to be a great conamander. He had outmaneuvered von Hindenburg again and again, and though finally the Russian armies \mder his command had been driven back, the retreat itself was a proof of his mihtary ability, not only in its conception, but in the way in which it was done. The Emperor chose General Alexieff as his Chief of General Staff. He was the ablest of the great generals who had been lead- ing the Russian army. With this change in command a new spirit seemed to come over Russia. The German advance, however, was not yet completely checked. It was approaching Vilna. The fighting around Vilna was the bitterest in the whole long retreat. On the 18th of September it fell, but the Russian troops were safely removed and the Russian resistance had become strong. Munitions were pouring into the new Russian army. The news from the battle-front began to show improvement. On September 8th General Brussilov, further in the south, had attacked the Germans in front of Tamopol, and defeated them with heavy loss. More than seventeen thousand men were captured with much artillery. Soon the news came of other advances. Dubno was retaken and Lutsk. The end of September saw the German advance definitely checked. The Russian forces were now extended in a line from Riga on the north, along the river Dvina, down to Dvinsk. Then turning to the east along the river, it again turned south and so on down east of the Pripet Marshes, it followed an almost straight line to the southern frontier. Its two strongest points were Riga, on the Gulf of Riga, which lay under the protection of the guns of the fleet, and Dvinsk, through which ran the great Petrograd Railway line. Against these two points von Hindenbm-g directed his attack. And now, for the first time in many months, he met with complete failure. The German fleet attempted to assist him on the Gulf of Riga, but was defeated by the Russian Baltic fleet with heavy losses. A bombardment timied out a failure and the German armies were compelled to retire. A more serious effort was made against Dvinsk but was equally unsuccessful and the German losses were immense. Again and THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 345 /ioad$ fiailfajt ■Qanalt THE GEIIMAN ATTACS ON THE ROAD TO PETROGRAD 346 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR again the attempt was made to cross the Dvina River, but without success; the German invasion was definitely stopped. By the end of October there was complete stagnation in the northern sector of the battle line, and though in November there were a number of battles, nothing happeUed of great importance. During the year 1916 the Russian armies seemed to have had a new birth. At last they were supplied with guns and muni- tions. They waited until they were ready. In March a series of battles was fought in the neighborhood of Lake Narotch, and eight successive attacks were made against the German army, intrenched between] Lake Narotch and Lake Vischenebski. The Germans at first were driven back and badly defeated. Later on, however, the Russian artUlery was sent to another section, and the Germans were able to recover their position. During Jime the Russians attacked aU along the southern part of their line. In three weeks they had regained a whole province. Lutsk and Dubno had been retaken; two hundred thousand men and hun- dreds of guns, had been captured, and the Austrian line had been pierced and shattered. Further south the German army had been compelled to retreat, and the Russian armies were in Bukovina and Gahcia. On the 10th of August Stanislau fell. By this time two Austrian armies had been shattered, over three hundred and fifty thousand prisoners taken, and nearly a million men put out of action. Germany, however, was sending reinforcements as fast as possible, and putting up a desperate defense. Nevertheless everything was encouraging for Russia and she entered upon the winter in a very different condition from her condition in the previous year. Then she had just ended her great retreat. Now she had behind her a series of successes. But a new difficulty had arisen in the loss of the political harmony at home which had marked the first years of the war. Dark days were ahead. CHAPTER iXXin How THE Baucans Decided FOR more than half a century the Balkans have presented a problem which has disturbed the minds of the statesmen of Europe. Again and again, during that period, it has seemed that in the Balkan mountains might be kindled a blaze which might set the world a&e. Balkan politics is a labyrinth in which one might easily be lost. The inhabitants of the Balkans represent many races, each with its own ambition, and, for the most part, military. There were Serbs, and Bulgarians, and Turks, and Roumanians, and Greeks, and their tenritorial divisions did not correspond to their nationalities. The land was largely moun- tainous, with great gaps that make it, in a sense, the highway of the world. From 1466 to 1878 the Balkans was in the dominion of the Tiurks. In the early days, while the Turks were warring against Htmgary, their armies marched through the Balkan hills. The natives kept apart, and preserved their language, religion and customs. In the nineteenth century, as the Turks grew weaker, their subject people began to seek independence. Greece came first, and, in 1829, aided by France, Russia and Great Britain, she became an independent kingdom. Serbia revolted in 1804, and by 1820 was an autonomous state, though still tributary to Turkey. In 1859, Roumania became autonomous. The rising of Bulgaria in 1876, however, was really the beginning of the succession of events which ultimately led to the World War of 1914-18. The Bulgarian insurrection was crushed by the Tm'ks in such a way as to stir the indignation of the whole world. What are known as the "Bulgarian Atrocities" seem mild today, but they led to the Russo-Turkish War in 1877. The treaty of Berlin, by which that war was settled in 1878, was one of those treaties which could only lead to trouble. It deprived Russia of much of the benefit of her victory, and left nearly every racial question unsettled. Roumania lost Bessarabia, 347 348 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR which was mamly mhabited by Roumanians. Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to the administration of Austria. Turkey was allowed to retain Macedonia, Albania and Thrace. Serbia was given Nish, but had no outlet to the sea. Greece obtained Thessaly, and a new province was made of the country south of the Balkans called Eastern Rumelia. From that time on, quarrel after quarrel made up the history of the Balkan peoples, each of whom sought the assistance and support of some one of the great powers. Russia and Austria were constantly intriguing with the new states, in the hope of extending their own domains in the direction of Constantinople. The history of Bulgaria shows that that nation has been con- tinually the center of these intrigues. In 1879 they elected as their sovereign Prince Alexander of Battenburg, whose career might almost be called romantic. A splendid soldier and an accom- plished gentleman, he stands out as an interesting figure in the sordid politics of the Balkans. He identified himself with his new country. In 1885 he brought about a union with Eastern Rumelia, which led to a disagreement with Russia. Serbia, doubtless at Russian instigation, suddenly declared war, but was overwhelmed by Prince Alexander in short order. Russia then abducted Prince Alexander, but later was forced to restore him. H^jwever, Russian intrigues, and his failure to obtain support from one of the great powers, forced his abdication in 1886. In 1887 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became the Prince of Bulgaria. He, also, was a remarkable mian, but not the romantic figure of his predecessor. He seems to have been a sort of a parody of a king. He was fond of ostentation, and full of ambi- tion. He was a personal coward, but extremely cunning. During his long reign he built up Bulgaria into a powerful, independent kingdom, and even assumed the title of Czar of Bulgaria. During the first days of his reign he was kept safely on the throne by his mother, the Princess Clementine, a daughter of Louis Phillippe, who, according to Gladstone, was the cleverest woman in Europe, and for a few years Bulgaria was at peace. In 1908 he declared Bulgaria independent, and its independence was recognized by Turkey on the payment of an indemnity. During this period Russia was the protector of Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian fox was looking also for the aid of Austria. Serbia more and more relied upon Russia. photo hy International Film TRANSPORTING Service. WOUNDED AMID THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FRONT The isolated mounlain positions were only accessible to the bases of opera- tions by these aerial cable cars. This picture, taken during the Austrian retreat, ■■■hows a wounded soldier being taken down the mountain by this means. © Underwood and Uiulerw„od. K. Y. Britixh Uliicuil I'huto THE NERVE-SYSTEM OF THE FIGHTING ARMIES What the nerves are to the human body the signal system was io the armies, transmitting warnings of danger from the outposts to a central brain, and flashing back the thing to be done to meet it. HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 351 The Austrian treatment of the Slavs was a source of constant irritation to Serbia. Roumania had a divided feeling. Her loss of Bessarabia to Russia had caused ill feeling, but in Austria's province of Transylvania there were roillions of Roumanians, whom Roumania desired to bring under her rule. Greece was fearful of Russia, because of Russia's desire for the control of Constantinople. All of these nations, too, were deeply conscious of the Austro-German ambitions for extension of tJieir power through to the East. Each of these principalities was also jealous of the other. Bulgaria and Serbia had been at war; many Bul- garians were in the Roumanian territory, many Serbians, Bulgarians and Greeks in Macedonia. There was only one tie in common, that was their hatred of Turkey. In 1912 a league was formed, under the direction of the Greek statesman, Yenizelos, having for its object an attack on Turkey. By secret treaties arrangements were made for the division of the land, which they hoped to obtain from Turkey. War was declared, and Turkey was decisively defeated, and then the trouble began. Serbia and Bulgaria had been particularly anxious for an outlet to the sea, and in the treaty between them it had been arranged that Serbia should have an outlet on the Adriatic, while Bulgaria was to obtain an outlet on the iSgean. The Triple Alliance positively refused Serbia its share of the Adriatic coast. Serbia insisted, therefore, on a revision of the treaty, which would enable her to have a seaport on the ^gean. An attempt was made to settle the question by arbitration, but King Ferdinand refused, whereupon, in July, 1913, the Second Balkan War began. Bulgaria was attacked by Greece and Serbia, and Turkey took a chance and regained Adrianople, and even Roumania, which had been neutral in the First Baltic War, mobil- ized her armies and marched toward Sofia. Bulgaria surrendered, and on the 10th of August the Treaty of Bucharest was signed by the Balkan States. As a result of this Bulgaria was left in a thoroughly dissatisfied state of Doind. She had been the leader in the war against Turkey, she had suffered heavy losses, and she had gained almost nothing. Moreover she had lost to Roumania a territory containing a quarter of a million Bulgarians, and a splendid harbor on the Black Sea. Serbia and Greece were the big winners. Such a treaty 352 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR could not be a final settlement. The Balkans were left seething with unrest. Serbia, though she had gained much, was still dis- satisfied. Her ambitions, however, now turned in the direction of the Jugoslavs xmdec the rule of Austria^ and it was her agitation in thfe matter which directly brought on the Great War. But Bulgaria was sullen and ready for revenge. When the Great War began, therefore, Roumania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece were strongly in sympathy with Russia^ who had been their backer and friend. Bulgaria, in spite of all she owed to Russia in the early days, was now ready to find protection from an alliance with the Central Powers. Her feeling was well known to the Allies, and every effort was made to obtain her friendship and, if possible, her aid. Viviani, then Premier of France, in an address before the French Chamber of Deputies, said: The Balkan question was raised at the outset of the war, even before it came to the attention of the world. The Bucharest Treaty had left in Bulgaria profound heartburnings. Neither King nor people were resigned to the loss of the fruits of their efforts and sacrifices, and to the conse- quences of the unjustifiable war they had waged upon their former allies. From the first day, the Allied governments took into account the dangers of such a situation, and sought a means to remedy it. Their policy has proceeded in a spirit of jxistice and generosity which has characterized the attitude of Great Britain, Russia and Italy as well as Prance. We have attempted to re-establish the union of the Baltic peoples, and in accord with them seek the realization of their principal national aspira- tions. The equilibrium thus obtained by mutual sacrifices really made by each would have been the best guarantee of future peace. Despite con- stant efforts in which Roumania, Greece and Serbia lent their assistance, we have been unable to obtain the sincere collaboration of the Bulgarian Government. The difficulties respecting the negotiations were always at Sofia. At the be^nning of the war it appears, therefore> that Bul- garia was entering into negotiations with the Allies, hopiag to regain in this way, some of the territory she had lost In the Second Baltic War. Many of her leading statesmen and most distinguished gen- erals favored the cause of Russia, but in May came the great German advance in Galicia, and the Allies' stalemate in the Dardanelles, and the king, and his supporters, found the way clear for a movement in favor of Germany. Still protesting neutrality they signed a secret treaty with Berlin, Vienna and HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 353 Constantinople on July 17th. The Central Powers had promised them not only what they had been asking, in Macedonia, but also the Greek territory of Epirus. This treaty was concealed from those Bulgarian leaders who still held to Russia, and on the 5th of October Bulgaria formally entered into war on the side of Germany, and began an attack on Serbia. The full account of the intrigue which led to this action has never been told. It is not improbable that "King Ferdinand him- sdf never had any other idea than to act as he did, but he dis- sembled for a long time. He set forth his claims in detail to the ADies, who used every effort to induce Romnania, Greece and Serbia to make the concessions that would be necessary. Such concessions were made, but not until it was too late. In a tele- gFam from Milan dated September 24th, an account is given of an interview between Czar Ferdinand and a committee from those Bulgarians who were opposed to the King's policy. "Mind your own head. I shall mind mine!" are the words which the King spoke to M. Stambulivski when he received the five opposition members who had come to warn him of the danger to which he was exposing himself and the nation. The five members were received by the King in the red room at the Royal Palace and chairs had been placed for them aroimd a big table. The King entered the room, accompanied by Prince Boris, the heir apparent, and his secretary, M. Boocovitch. "Be seated, gentlemen," said the King, as he sat down him- self, as if for a very quiet talk. His secretary took a seat at the table, a httle apart to take notes, but the conversation kumediately became so heated and rapid that he was unable to write it down. The first to speak was M. Malinoff, leader of the Democratic party, who said: "The policy adopted by the government is one of adventiu:e, tending to throw Bulgaria into the arms of Germany, and driving her to attack Serbia. This policy is contrary to the aspirations, feeling and interests of the country, and if the govern- ment obstinately continues in this way it will provoke disturbances of the greatest gravity." It was the first allusion to the possi- bility of a revolution, but the King listened without flincMng. M. Malinoff concluded: "For these reasons we beg your Majesty, after having vainly asked the government, to convoke the Chamber immediately, and we ask this convocation for the precise object of 354 HISTORY OP THE WORLD WAR saving the country from dangerous adventures by the formation of a coalition Ministry." The King remained silent, and, with a nod, invited M. Stam- bulivsM to speak. M. StambuUvski was a leader of the Agrarian party, a man of sturdy, rustic appearance, accustomed to speak out his mind boldly, and exceedingly popular among the peasant population. He grew up himself as a peasant, and wore the labor- er's blouse up till very recently. He stood up and looking the King straight in the face said in resolute tones: "In the name of every farmer in Bulgaria I add to what M. Malinoff has just said, that the Bulgarian people hold you personally responsible more than your government, for the disastrous adventure of 1913. If a similar adventiure were to be repeated now its gravity this time would be irreparable. The responsibility would once more fall on your policy, which is contrary to the welfare of our country, and the nation would not hesitate to call you personally to account. That there may be no mistake as to the real wishes of the coimtry I present to your Majesty my coimtry's demand in writing." He handed the King a letter containing the resolution voted by the Agrarians. The King read it and then turned to M. Zanoff, leader of the Radical Democrats, and asked him to speak. M. Zanoff did so, speaking very slowly and impressively, and also looking the King straight in the face: "Sire, I had sworn never again to set foot inside yotur palace, and if I come today it is because the interests of my country are above personal questions, and have compelled me. YoTir Majesty may read what I have to say in this letter, which I submit to you in behalf of our party." He handed the letter and the King read it and still remained silent. Then he said, turning to his former Prime Minister and ablest politician: "Gueshoff, it is now your turn to speak." M. Gueshoff got up and said: "I also am fully in accord with what M. StambulivsH has just said. No matter how severe his words may have been in their simple impolished frankness, which ignores the ordinary formalities of etiquette, they entirely express oiu: unanimous opinion. We all, as representing the opposition, consider the present policy of the government contrary to the sentiments and interests of the country, because by driving it to make common cause with Germany it makes us the enemies of Russia, which was our deliverer, and the adventure into which we HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 355 are thus thrown compromises our future. We disapprove most absolutely of such a policy, and we also ask that the Chamber be convoked, and a Ministry formed with the co-operation of all parties." After M. Gueshoff, the former Premier, M. Daneff, also spoke, and associated himself with what had already been said. The King remained stUl silent for a while, then he, also, stood up and said: "Gentlemen, I have listened to your threats, and will refer them to the President of the Coimcil of Ministers, that he may know and decide what to do." All present bowed, and a chilly silence followed. The King had evidently taken the frank warning given him as a threat to him personally, and he walked up and down nervously for a while. Prince Boris turned aside to talk with the Secretary, who had resumed taking notes. The King continued pacing to and fro, evidently very nettled. Then, approaching M. Zanoff, and as if to change the conversation, he asked him for news about this season's harvest. M. Zanoff abruptly replied: "Your Majesty knows that we have not come here to talk about the harvest, but of something far more important at present, namely, the policy of your govern- ment, which is on the point of ruining our country. We can on no account approve the policy that is anti-Russian. K the Crown and M. Radoslavoff persist in their policy we shall not answer for the consequences. We have not desired to seek out those responsi- ble for the disaster of 1913, because other grave events have been precipitated. But it was a disaster due to criminal folly. It must not be repeated by an attack on Serbia by Bulgaria, as seems contemplated by M. Radoslavoff, and which according to all appearances, has the approval of yotu: Majesty. It would be a premeditated crime, and deserve to be punished." The King hesitated a moment, and then held out his hand to M. Zanoff, saying: "AH right. At all events I thank you for your frankness." Then, approaching M. Stambulivski, he repeated to him his question about the harvest. M. Stambuliviski, as a simple peasant, at first allowed himself to be led into a discussion of this secondary matter, and had expressed the hope that the prohibition on the export of cereals would be removed, when he suddenly remembered, and said: 356 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "But this is not the moment to speak of these things. I again repeat to your Majesty that the country does not want a policy of adventure which cost it so dear in 1913. It was your own policy too. Before 1913 we thought you were a great diplomatist, but since then we have seen what fruits your diplomacy bears. You took advantage of all the loopholes in the Constitution to direct the coimtry according to your own views. Your ministers are nothing. You alone are the author of this policy and you will have to bear the responsibility." _ The King replied frigidly, "The policy which I have decided to follow is that which I consider the best for the welfare of the coimtry." "It is a policy which will only bring misfortune," replied the sturdy Agrarian. "It will lead to fresh catastrophes, and com- promise not only the future of ova country, but that of yoiu* dynasty, and may cost you your head." It was as bold a saying as ever was uttered before a King, and Ferdinand looked astonished at the peasant who was thus speak- ing to him. He said, "Do not mind my head; it is already old. Rather mind your own!" he added with a disdainful smile, and ttirned away. M. Stambulivski retorted: "My head matters little. Sire. What matters more, is the good of our country." The King paid no more attention to him, and took M. Gueshoff and M. Danoff apart, who again insisted on convoking the Chamber, and assured him that M. Radoslavoff's government would be in a minority. They also referred to the Premier's oracular utterances. "Ah!" said the King. "Has Radoslavo£f spoken to you, and what has he said?" "He has said — " replied the leaders, "that Bulgaria would march with Germany and attack Serbia." The King made a vague gesture, and then said: 'Oh, I did not know." This incident throws a strong light upon the conflict which was going on in the Balkan states, between those Kings who were of German orighi, and who believed in the German power, and their people who loved Russia. King Ferdinand got his warning. He did not listen, and he lost his throne. All this, however, took place before the Bulgarian declaration of war., Yet much had HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 357 already shown what King Ferdinand was about to do. The Allies, to be sure, were incredulous, and were doing their best to cultivate the good will of the treacherous King. On September 23d the official order was given for Bulgaria's mobilization. She, however, officially declared that her position was that of armed neutrality and that she had no aggressive intentions. As it has developed, she was acting under the direction of the German High Command. It was at this period that Germany had failed to crush Russia in the struggle on the Vilna, and, in accordance with her usual strategy when one plan failed, another was imdertaken. It seemed to her, therefore, that the punishment of Serbia would make up for other failures, and moreover would enable her to assist Turkey, which needed munitions, besides releasing for Germany supplies of food and other material which might come from Turkey. They therefore entrusted an expedition against Serbia to Field Marshal von Mackensen, and had begun to gather an army for that purpose, north of the Danube. This army of course was mainly composed of Austrian troops, but was stiffened throughout by some of the best regiments from the German army. To assist this new army they counted upon Bulgaria) with whom they had already a secret treaty, and in spite of the falsehoods issued from Sofia, the Bulgarian mobiliza- tion was meant for an attack on Serbia. The condition of affairs was well understood in Russia. On October 2, 1915, M. Sazonov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement. "The situation in the Balkans is very grave. The whole Russian nation is aroused by the imthinkable treachery of Ferdinand and his government to the Slavic cause. Bulgaria owes her independence to Russia, and yet seems willing now to become a vassal of Russia's enemies. In her attitude towards Serbia, when Serbia is fighting for her very existence, Bulgaria puts herself in the class with Turkey. We do not believe that the Bulgarian people sympathize with the action of their ruler; therefore, the Allies are disposed to give them time for reflection. If they persist in their present treacherous course they must answer to Russia." The next day the following ultimatum from Russia was handed the Bulgarian Prime Minister: 358 HISTORY OP THE WORLD WAR Events which axe taking: place in Bulgaria at this moment give evi- dence of the definite decision of King Ferdinand's Government to place the fate of its country in the hands of Germany. The presence of German and Austrian officers at the Ministry of War and on the staffs of the army, the concentration of troops in the zone bordering on Serbia, and the extensive financial support accepted from her enemies by the Sofia Cab- inet, no longer leave any doubt as to the object of the present military preparations of Bulgaria. The powers of the Entente, who have at heart the realization of the aspirations of the Bulgarian people, have on many occasions warned M. Radoslavoff that any hostile act against Serbia would be considered as directed against themselves. The assur- ances given by the head of the Bulgarian Cabinet in reply to these warn- ings are contradicted by facts. The representative of Russia, bound to Bulgaria by the imperishable memory of her liberation from the Turkish yoke, cannot sanction by his presence preparations for fratricidal aggres- sion against a Slav and allied people. The Russian Minister has, there- fore, received orders to leave Bulgaria with all the staffs of the Legation and the Consulates if the Bulgarian Government does not within twenty- four hoittfl openly break with the enemies of the Slav cause and of Russia, and does not at once proceed to send away the officers belonging to the armies of states who are at war with the powers of the Entente. Similar ultimatums were presented by representatives of France and Great Britain. Bulgaria's reply to these ultimatums was described as bold to the verge of insolence. In substance she denied that German officers were on the staffs of Bulgarian armies, but said that if they were present that fact concerned only Bulgaria, which reserved the right to invite whomsoever she liked. The Bulgarian Government then issued a manifesto to the nation, an- noimcing its decision to enter the war on the side of the Central Powers. The manifesto reads as follows: The Central Powers have promised us parts of Serbia, creating an Austro-Hungarian border hne, which is absolutely necessary for Bulgaria's independence of the Serbians. We do not believe in the promises of the Quadruple Entente. Italy, one of the Allies, treacherously broke her treaty of thirty-three years. We believe in Germany, which is fighting the whole world to fulfil her treaty with Austria. Bulgaria must fight at the victor's side. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians are victorious on all fronts. Russia soon wiU have collapsed entirely. Then will come the turn of France, Italy and Serbia. Bulgaria would commit suicide if she did not fight on the side of the Central Powers, which offer the only possibility of realizing her desire for a union of all Bulgarian peoples. The manifesto also stated that Russia was fighting for Con- stantinople and the Dardanelles; Great Britain to destroy Ger- HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 359 many's competition; France for Alsace and Lorraiae, and the other allies to rob foreign countries; the Central Powers were declared to be fighting to defend property and assure peaceful progress. The manifesto filled seven columns in the newspapers, and discussed at some length Bulgaria's trade interests. It attacked Serbia most bitterly, declaring that Serbia had oppressed the Bul- garian population of Macedonia in a most barbarous manner; that she had attacked Bulgarian territory and that the Bulgarian troops had been forced to fight for the defense of their own soil. In fact it was written in quite the usual German manner. Long before this M. Venizelos, the Greek Premier, had per- ceived what was coming. Greece was bound by treaty to assist Serbia if she were attacked by Bulgaria. On September 21st, Venizelos asked France and Britain for a hundred and fifty thousand troops. On the 24th, the Allies agreed to this and Greece at once began to mobilize. His poHcy was received with great enthusiasm in the Greek Chamber, and former Premier Gounaris, amid great applause, expressed his support of the government. On October 6th an announcement from Athens stated that Premier Venizelos had resigned) the King having informed him that he was unable to support the policy of his Minister. King Constantine was a brother-in-law of the German Emperor, and although professing neutrality hq had steadily opposed M. Veni- zelos' policy. He had once before forced M. Venizelos' resignation, but at the general elections which followed, the Greek statesman was retiurned to power by a decisive majority. Intense indignation was caused by the King's action> though the King was able to procure the support of a considerable party. Venizelos' resignation was precipitated by the landing of the Allied troops in Saloniki. They had come at the invitation of Venizelos, but the opposition protested against the occupation of Greek terri- tory by foreign troops. After a disorderly session in which Veni- zelos explained to the Chamber of Deputies the circumstances connected with the landing, the Chamber passed a vote of confi- dence in the government by 142 to 102. The substance of his argument may be found in his conclusion: "We have a treaty with Serbia. If we are honest we will leave nothing undone to insure its fulfilment in letter and spirit. Only if we are rogues may we find excuses to avoid our obligations." 360 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 361 Upon his first resignation M. Zaimis was appointed Premier, and declared for a policy of armed neutrality. This position was sharply criticised by Venizelos, but for a time became the policy of the Greek Government. Meantime the Allied troops were arriving at Saloniki. On October 3d, seventy thousand French troops arrived. A formal protest was made by the Greek command- ant, who then directed the harbor officials to assist in arrangiag the landing. In a short time the Allied forces amoimted to a hundred and fifty thousand men, but the German campaign was moving rapidly. The German Balkan army captured Belgrade on the 9th of October, and by that date two Bulgarian armies were on the Serbian frontier. Serbia foimd herself opposed by two hundred thousand Austro-Germans and a quarter of a million Bulgarians. Greece and Roumania fully mobilized and were watching the conflict, and the small allied contingent at Saloniki was preparing to march inland to the aid of Serbia. The conduct of Greece on this occasion has led to imiversal criticism. The King himself> no doubt, was mainly moved by his German wife and the influence of his Imperial brother-in-law. Those that were associated with him were probably moved by fear. They had been much impressed by the strength of the German armies. They had seen the success of the great German offensive in Russia, while the French and British were being held in the West. They knew, too, the strength of Bulgaria. The national characteristic of the Greeks is prudence, and it cannot be denied that there was great reason to suppose that the armies of Greece would not be able to resist the new attack. With these views Venizelos, the greatest statesman that Greece had pro- duced for many years, did not agree, and the election seemed to show that he was supported by the majority of the Greek people. This was another case where the Allies, faced by a dangerous situation, were acting with too great caution. In Gallipoli they had failed, because at the very begitming they had not used their full strength. Now, again, knowing as they did all that depended upon it, bound as they were to the most loyal support of Serbia, the aid they sent was too small to be more than a drop in the bucket. It must be remembered, however, that the greatest leaders among the AlUes were at all times opposed to in any way scattering their 362 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR strength. They believed that the war was to be won in France. Military leaders in particular yielded under protest to the political leaders when expeditions of this character were undertaken. Certainly this is true, that the world beUeved that Serbia had a right to AUied assistance. The gallant httle nation was fighting for her life, and public honor demanded that she should be aided. It was this strong feeling that led to the action that was taken, in spite of the military opinions. It was, however, too late. In the second week of October Serbia fotmd herself faced by an enemy which was attacking her on three sides. She herself had been greatly weakened. Her losses in 1914, when she had driven Austria from her border, must have been at least two hundred thousand men. She had suffered from pestilence and famine. Her strength now could not have been more than two hundred thousand, and though she was fairly well supplied with munitions, she was so much outnumbered that she could hardly hope for success. On her west she was facing the Austro-German armies; on her east Bulgaria; on the south Albania. Her source of supplies was Salomki and this was really her only hope. If the Allies at Salo- niki could stop the Bulgarian movement, the Serbians might face again the Austro-Germans. They expected this help from the Allies. At Nish the town was decorated and the school children waited outside the station with bouquets to present to the coming reinforcements. But the Allies did not come. Von Mackensen's plan was simple enough. His object was to win a way to Constantinople. This could be done either by the control of the Danube or the Ottoman Raiboad. To control the Danube he had to seize northeastern Serbia for the length of the river. This was comparatively easy and would give hhn a clear water way to the Bulgarian railways connected with Constanti- nople. The Ottoman Railway was a harder route to win. It meant an advance to the southeast, which would clear the Moravo valley up to Nish, and then the Nishava valley up to Bulgaria. The movements involved were somewhat complex, but easily carried out on account of the very great numerical superiority of von Mackensen's forces. On September 19th Belgrade was bombarded. The Serbian positions were gradually destroyed. On the 7th of October the HOW THE BALKANS DECn)ED 363 German annies crossed the Danube, and on the 8th the Serbians began to retreat. There was great destruction in Belgrade and the Bulgarian General, Mishitch, was forced slowly back to the foothills of the Tser range. For a time von Mackensen moved slowly. He did not wish to drive the Serbians too fax south. On the 12th of October the Bulgarian army began its attack. At first it was held, but by October 17th was pushing forward all along the line. On the 20th they entered Uskub, a central point of all the routes of southern Serbia. This practically separated theAllied forces at Salom'ki from the Serb- ian armies f miiher north. Disaster followed dis- aster. On Tuesday, October 26th, a junction of Bulgarian and Austro- German pa- trols was com- pleted in the Dobr avodo mountains. General von Gallwitz annoimced that a mo- ment of world signifi- GEBUAiiTT's Dkeam: "The Brbuen-BbbliN'Bos- pobus-Bagdad-Bahn" cance had come, that the "Orient and Occident had been united, and on the basis of this firm and indissoluble imion a new and mighty vierbimd comes into bdng, created by the victory of our arms." ^ The road from Germany, through Austria-Hungary and Bul- garia to Turkey lay^open. On October 31st, Milanovac was lost, and on November 2d, Kraguyevac surrendered, the decisive battle of the war. On November 7th, Nish was captured. General Jecoff annoimced: "After fierce and sanguinary fighting the for- tress of Nish has been conquered by our brave victorious troops and the Bulgarian flag has been hoisted to remain forever." 364 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Serbian army continued steadily to retreat, xintil on November 8th, advancing Franco-British troops ahnost joined with them, presentiag a line from Prilep to Dorolovo on the Bul- garian frontier. At this time the Bulgarian army suffered a defeat at Izvor, and also at Strumitza. The Allied armies were now reported to nxmaber three himdred thousand men. The Austro- Germans by this time had reached the mountainous region of Serbia, and were meeting with strong resistance. On November 13th, German despatches from the front claimed the capture of 54,000 Serbian prisoners. The aged King Peter of Serbia was in full flight, followed by the Crown Prince. The Serbians, however, were still fighting and on November 15th, made a stand on the western bank of the Morava River, and recap- tured the town of Tatova. At this time the AUied world was watching the Serbian struggle with interest and sympathy. In the House of Lords, Lord Lans- downe in a discussion of the English effort to give them aid said: "It is impossible to think or speak of Serbia without a tribute to the wondrous gallantry with which that Uttle country withstood two separate invasions, and has lately been struggling against a third. She repelled the first two invasions by an effort which I venture to think formed one of the most glorious chapters in the history of this Great War." Serbia, however, was compelled once more to retreat, and their retreat soon became a rout. Their guns were abandoned and the roads were strewn with fainting, starving men. The suf- ferings of the Serbian people diu-ing this time are indescribable. Men, women, and children struggled along in the wake of the armies without food or shelter. King Peter himself was able to escape, with the greatest difficulty. By traveling on horseback and mule back in disguise he finally reached Scutari and crossed to Brindisi and finally arrived at Saloniki on New Year's Day, crippled and ahnost blind, but still full of fight. "I believe," he said, "in the liberty of Serbia, as I believe in God- It was the dream of my youth. It was for that I fought throughout manhood. It has become the faith of the twilight of my life. I live only to see Serbia free. I pray that God may let me live until the day of redemption of my people. On that day I am ready to die, if the Lord wills. I have struggled a great deal HOW THE BALKA.NS DECIDED 365 in my life, and am tired, bruised and broken from it, but I will see, I shall see, this triumph. I shall not die before the victory of my country." The Serbian army had been driven out of Serbia. But the Allies who had come up from Saloniki were still unbeaten. On October 12th, the French General Serrail arrived and moved with the French forces, as has already been said, to the Serbian aid. They met with a nmnber of successes. On October 19th they sdzed the Bulgarian town of Struminitza, and occupied strong positions on the left bank of the Vardar. On October 27th they occupied Krivolak, with the British Tenth Division, which had joined them on their right. They then occupied the summit of Karahodjali, which conmianded the whole section of the valley. This the Bulgarians attacked iu force on the 5th of November, but were badly repulsed. .^ They then attempted to move toward Babuna Pass, twenty-five miles west of Krivolak, where they hoped to join hands with the Serbian column at that point. They were being faced by a Bulgarian army numbering one himdred and twenty-five thousand men, and found themselves in serious danger. They were compelled to fall back into what is called the "Entrenched Camp of Kavodar" without bringing the aid to the Serbian army that they had hoped. The Allied expedi- tion to aid Serbia had failed. It was hopeless from the start, and, if anjrthing, had injured Serbia by raising false expectations which had interfered with their plans. During the whole of this disastrous campaign a desperate poUtical struggle was going on in Greece. On November 3d, the Zarmis Cabinet tendered its resignation to King Constantine. The trouble was over a bill for extra pay to army officers, but it led to an elaborate discussion of the Greek war policy. M. Veni- zelos made two long speeches defending his policy, and condemning the policy of his opponents in regard to the Balkan situation. He said that he deplored the fact that Serbia was being left to be crushed by Bulgaria, Greece's hereditary enemy> who would not scruple later to fall on Greece herself. He spoke of the King in a friendly way, criticising, however, his position. He had been twice removed from the Premiership, although he had a majority behind hiin in the Greek Chamber. "Our State" he said, "is a democracy, presided over by the S66 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR King, and the whole responsibility rests with the Cabinet. I admit that the Crown has a right to disagree with the responsible government if he thinks the latter is not in agreement with the national will. But after the recent election, non-agreement is out of the question, and now the Crown has not the right to disagree again on the same question. It is not a question of patriotism but of constitutional Hberty." < When the vote was taken the government was defeated by 147 to 114. Instead of appointing Venizelos Premier, King Con- stantine gave the position to M. Skouloudis, and then dissolved the Greek Chamber by royal decree. Premier Skouloudis declared his poUcy to be neutrality with the character of sincerest benevo- lence toward the Entente Powers. The general conditions at Athens during this whole time were causing great anxiety in the AUied capitals, and the Allied expedition were in continual fear of an attack in the rear in case of reverse. They endeavored to obtain satisfactory assurances on this poiat, and while assurances were given, during the whole period of Kiag Constantino's reign aggres- sive action was prevented because of the doubt as to what course King Constantine would take. ^ It was not till August 27th, 1916, that Koumania cast aside her r61e of neutral and entered the war with a declaration of hos- tihties on Austria-Hungary. Great expectations were founded upon the supposedly well-trained Roumanian army and upon the nation which, because of its alertness and discipline, was known as "the policeman of Em-ope." The belief was general in Paris and London that the weight of men and material thrown into the scale by Rpimiania would bring the war to a speedy, victoftous end. Germany, however, was confident. A spy system excelling in its detailed reports anything that had heretofore been attempted, made smooth the path of the German army. Scarcely had the Roumanian army launched a drive iq force into Transylvania on August 30th, when the message spread from Bucharest "von Mackensen is coming. Recall the army. Draft all males of military age. Prepare for the worst." And the worst fell upon hapless Roiunania. A vast force of military engineers moving like a human screen in front of von Mackensen's army, followed routes carefully mapped out by German spies during the period of Roumania's neutrality. Mili- BAGDAD THE MAGNIFICENT FALLS TO THE BRITISH General Maude is liere shown making his formal cnlry at. the head of his Irooi s into the ancient city. This occurred on March 11, 1917, and was the most notable exploit of General Maude, commander of the British Mesopotamiaa expedition until bis death by cholera nine months afterwards. HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED 369 tary biidgcB, measured to the inch, had been prepared to carry- cannon, material and men over streams and ravines. Every Romnanian oil well, mine and storehouse had been located and mapped. German scientists had studied Roumanian weather conditions and von Mackensen attacked while the roads were at their best and the weather most favorable. As the Germans swept forward, spies met them giving them military information of the utmost value. A swarm of airplanes spied out the move- ments of the Roumanians and no Roumanian airplanes rose to meet them. General von Falkenhayn, co-operating with von Mackensen, smashed his way through Vulkan Pass, and cut the main line running to Bucharest at Craiova. The Dobrudja region was over-run and the central Roumanian plain was swept clear of all Roumanian opposition to the German advance. The seat of government was transferred from Bucharest to Jassy on November 28, 1916, and on December 6th Bucharest was entered by von Mackensen, definitely putting an end to Roiunania as a factor in the war. ^ The immediate result of the fall of Roumania was to release immense stores of petroleum for German use. British and Rou- manian engineers had done their utmost by the use of explosives to make useless the great Roimaanian oil wells, but German engineers soon had the precious fluid in full flow. This furnished the fuel which Germany had long and ardently desired. The oil-burning submarine now came into its own. It was possible to plan a great fleet of submersibles to attempt execution of von Tirpitz's plan for imrestricted submarine warfare. This was decided upon by the German High Command the day Bucharest fell. It was realized that such a policy would bring the United States into the war, but the Kaiser and his advisers hoped the submarine on sea and a great western front offensive on land would force a decision in favor of Germany before America could get ready. How that hope failed was revealed at Chateau-Thierry and in the humiUation of Germany. CHAPTER XXIV The Campaign in Mesopotamia IN our previous discussion of the British campaign in Mesopo- tamia we left the British forces intrenched at Kuma, and also occupying Basra, the port of Bagdad. The object of the Mesopotamia Expedition was primarily to keep the enemy from the shores of the Gulf of Persia. If the English had been satisfied with that, the misfortune which was to come to them might never have occurred, but the whole expediton was essen- tially political rather than military in its nature. The British were defending India. The Germans, unable to attack the British Empire by sea, were hoping to attack her by land. They had already attempted to stir up a Holy War with the full expectation that it would lead to an Indian revolution. In this they had failed, for the millions of Mohammedans in India cared little for the Turkish Sultan or his proclamations. Through Bagdad, however, they hoped to strike a blow at the English influ- ence on the Persian Gulf. The English, therefore, felt strongly that it was not enough to sit safely astride the Tigris, but that a blow at Bagdad would produce a tremendous political effect. It would practically prevent German communication with Persia, and the Indian frontier. As a matter of fact the Persian Gulf and the oil fields were safe so long as the English held Kuma and Basra, and the Arabs were of no special consequence. The real reason for the expedition was probably that about this time matters were moving badly for the Allies. Serbia was in trouble in the Balkans, GaUipoli was a failure, something it seemed ought to be done to restore the British prestige. Up to this time the Mesopotamia Expedition had been a great success, but it had made no great impression on the world. The Uttle villages in the hands of the British had unknown names, but if Bagdad should be captured Great Britain would have something to boast of; something that would keep up its prestige among its Mohammedan subjects. 370 THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 371 Before the expedition to Bagdad was detennined on, there had been several lively fights between the English forces and the Turks. On March 3d a Turkish force numbering about twelve thousand appeared at Ahwaz where the British had placed a small garrison to protect the pipe line of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The British retirement led to heavy fighting, with severe losses. A number of lively skirmishes followed, and then came the serious attack against Shaiba. The Turkish army numbered about eighteen thousand men, of whom eleven thousand were regulars. The fighting lasted for several days, the Turks being reinforced. On the 14th of April, however, the English attacked in turn and put the whole enemy force to flight. The British lost about seven hundred officers and men, and reported a Turkish loss of about six thousand. In their retreat the Turks were attacked by their Arab allies, and suffered additional losses. From that time till summer there were no serious contests, although there were occar sional skirmishes which turned out favorably to the British. By this time the Turks had collected a considerable army north of Kiu:na, and on May 31st an expedition was made to disperse it. On June 3d the British captured Amara, seventy-five •miles above Kuma, scattering the Turkish army. Early in July a similar expedition was sent against Nasiriyeh, which led to serious fighting, the Turks being badly defeated with a loss of over two thousand five hundred men. Kut-el-Amara stiU remained, and early in August an expedi- tion was directed against that point. The Turks were found in great force, well intrenched, and directed by German officers. The battle lasted for fom: days. The English suffered great hard- ship on accoimt of the scarcity of water and the blinding heat, but on September 29th they drove the enemy from the city and took possession. More than two thousand prisoners were taken. The town was found thoroughly fortified, with an elaborate system of trenches extending for miles, built in the true German fashion. Its capture was the end of the summer campaign. The British now had at last made up their minds to push on to Bagdad. General Townshend, whose work so far had been admirable, protested, but Sir John Nixon, and the Indian military authorities, were strongly in favor of the expedition. By October, Turkey was able to gather a large army. She was fighting in 372 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 373 Transcaucasia, Egypt, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia. Little was going on in the first three of these fronts, and she was able there- fore to send to Mesopotamia almost a quarter of a million men. To meet these, General Townshend had barely fifteen thousand men, of whom only one-third were white soldiers. He was backed by a flotilla of boats of almost every kind, — driver boats, motor laimches, paddle steamers, native punts. The British army was almost worn out by the fighting during the intense heat of the previous simmier. But their success had given them confidence. In the early days of October the advance began. For some days it proceeded with no serious fighting. On the 23d of October it reached Azizie, and was halted by a Turkish force numbering about four thousand. These were soon routed, and the advance continued imtil General Town- shend arrived at Lajj, about seven miles from Ctesiphon, where the Turks were found heavily in- trenched and in great numbers. Ctesiphon was a famous old city which had been the battle ground of Romans and Parthians, but was now mainly ruins. In these ruins, however, the Turks found admirable shelter for nests of machine guns. On the 21st of November General Townshend made his attack. The Turks occupied two lines of mtrenchments, and had about twenty thousand men, the Enghsh about twelve thousand. General Townshend's plan was to divide his army mto three columns. The first was to attack the center of the first Turkish position. A second was directed at the left of that position, and a third was to swing widely around and come in on the rear of the Turkish force. This plan was entu:ely successful, but the Turkish army was not routed, and retreated fightmg desperately to its second line. There it was reinforced and counter-attacked with such vigor that it drove the British back to its old first trenches. Map of Gen. Townshend's Lines of Attack on Kitt-el-Amaka 374 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The next day the Turks were further remforced and attacked again. The British drove them back over and over, but found theiQselves unable to advance. The Turks had lost enormously but the English had lost about one-third of their strength, and were compelled to fall back. They therefore returned on the 26th to Laji, and ultimately, '"after continual rear-guard actions, to Kut. There they found themselves surrounded, and there was nothing to do but to wait for help. By this time the eyes of the world were upon the beleaguered British army. Help was being hurried to them from India, but Germany also was awake and Marshal von Der Goltz, who had been military instructor in the Turkish army, was sent down to take command of the Turkish forces. The town of Kut lies in the loop of the Tigris, making it almost an island. There was an intrenched line across the neck of land on the north, and the place could resist any ordinary assault. The great difficulty was one of supplies. However, as the relieving force was on the way, no great anxiety was felt. For some days there was constant bombard- ment, which did no great damage. On the 23d an attempt was made to carry the place by assault, but this too failed. The reliev- ing force, however, was having its troubles. These were the days of floods, and progress was slow and at times almost impossible. Moreover, the Turks were constantly resisting. The relief expedition was composed of thirty thoxisand Indian troops, two Anglo-Indian divisions, and the remnants of Town- shend's expedition, a total of about ninety thousand men. General Sir Percy Lake was in command of the entire force. The march began on January 6th. By January 8th the British had reached Sheikh Saad, where the Turks were defeated in two pitched battles. On January 22d he had arrived at Umm-el-Hanna, where the Turks had intrenched themselves. After artillery bombardment the Turkish positions were attacked, but heavy rains had converted the ground into a sea of mud, rendering rapid movement impossible. The enemy's fire was heavy and effective, inflicting severe losses, and though every effort was made, the assault failed. For weeks the British troops bivouacked in driving rain on soaked and sodden ground. Three times they were called upon to advance over a perfectly flat country, deep in mud, and abso- THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 375 lutdy devoid of cover against well-constructed and well-plamied trenches, manned by a brave and stubborn enemy, approximately their equal in numbers. They showed a spirit of endurance and self-sacrifice of which their coimtry may well be proud. But the repulse at Hanna did not discom-age the British army. It was decided to move up the left bank of the Tigris and attack the Turkish position at the Dujailah redoubt. This meant a night march across the desert with the great danger that there would be no water supply and that, imless the enemy was routed, the army would be in great danger. General Lake says: "On the afternoon of March 7th, General Ayhner assembled h^ subordinate commanders and gave his final instructions, laying particular stress on the fact that the operation was designed to effect a surprise, and that to prevent the enemy forestalling us, it was essential that the first phase of the operation should be pushed through with the utmost vigor. His dispositions were, briefly, as foUows: The greater part of a division under General Younghusband, assisted by naval gimboats, controlled the enemy on the left bank. The remaining troops were formed into two columns, under General Kemball and General Keary respect- ively, a reserve of infantry, and the cavalry brigade, being held at the corps commander's own disposal. ^^ Kemball's coliunn covered on the outer flank by the cavahy brigade was to make a turning movement to attack the Dujailah redoubt from the south, supported by the remainder of the force, operating from a position to the east of the redoubt. The night march by this large force, which led across the enemy's front to a position on his right flank, was a difficult operation, entailing movement over unknown ground, and requiring most careful arrangement to attain success." Thanks to excellent staff work and good march discipline the troops reached their allotted position apparently imdiscovered by the enemy, but while Keary's colunm was in position at daybreak, ready to support Kemball's attack, the latter's command did not reach the point selected for its deployment in the Dujailah depres- aon until more than an hom: later. This delay was highly preju- dicial to the success of the operation. When, nearly three hours later, Kemball's troops advanced to the attack, they were strongly opposed by the enemy from trenches cleverly concealed in the brushwood, and were unable to S76 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR make further ground for some time, though assisted by Keary's attack upon the redoubt from the east. The southern attack was now reinforced, and by 1 p. M. had pushed forward to within five hundred yards of the redoubt, but concealed trenches again stopped further progress and the Turks made several counter-attacks with reinforcements which had by now arrived from the direction of Magasis. It was about this time that the corps commander received from his engineer officers the unwelcome news that the water supply contained in rain-water pools in the Dujailah depression, upon which he had reckoned, was insufficient and could not be increased by digging. It was clear, therefore, that unless the Dujailah redoubt could be carried that day the scarcity of water would, of itself, compel the troops to fall back. Preparations were accord- ingly made for a further assault on the redoubt, and attacks were laimched from the south and east imder cover of a heavy bombard- ment. The attacking forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in the redoubt. But here they were heavily coxmter-attacked by large enemy reinforcements, and being subjected to an extremely rapid and accurate shrapnel fire from concealed guns in the vicinity of Sinn After, they were forced to fall back to the position from which they started. The troops who had been under arms for some thirty hours, including a long night march, were now much exhausted, and General Aylmer considered that a renewal of the assault during the night could not be made with any prospect of success. Next morning the enemy's position was found to be unchanged and General Aylmer, finding himself faced with the deficiency of order already referred to, decided upon the immediate withdrawal of his troops to Wadi, which was reached the same night. For the next month the English were held in their positions by the Tigris floods. On April 4th the floods had sufficiently receded to permit of another attack upon Umm-el-Hanna, which this time was successful. On April 8th the Turkish position at Sanna-i-yat was attacked, but the English were repulsed. They then determined to make another attempt to capture the Sinn After redoubt. On April 17th the fort of Beit-Aiessa, four miles from Es Sinn, on the left bank, was captxu:ed after heavy bombard- ment, and held against serious counter-attacks. On the 20th THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 377 and 21st the Sanna-i-yat position was bombarded and a vigorous assault was made, whicli met with some success. The Turks, however, delivered a strong coimter-attack, and succeeded in forcing the British troops back. General Lake says: "Persistent and repeated attempts on both banks have thus failed, and it was known that at the outside not more than six days' supplies remained to the Kut garrison. The British troops were nearly worn out. The same troops had advanced time and again to assault positions strong by art and held by a determined enemy. For eighteen consecutive days they had done all that men could do to overcome, not only the enemy, but also exceptional climatic and physical obstacles, and this on a scale of rations which was far from being sufficient in view of the exertions they had undergone. The need for rest was im- perative." On April 28th the British garrison at Kut-el-Amara surrendered imconditionally, after a heroic resistance of a hundred and forty- three days. According to British figures the surrendered army was composed of 2,970 English and 6,000 Indian troops. The Turkish figures are 13,300. The Turks also captured a large amount of booty, although General Townshend destroyed most of his guns and munitions. During the period in which Kut-el-Amara was besieged by the Turks, the British troops had suffered much. The enemy bom- barded the town almost every day, but did little damage. The real foe was starvation. At first the British were confident that a relief expedition would soon reach them, and they amused them- selves by cricket and hockey and fishing in the river. By early February, however, it was foimd necessary to reduce the rations, and a month later they were suffering from hunger. Some little help was ^ven them by airplanes, which brought tobacco and some small quantities of supplies. Soon the horses and the mules were slaughtered and eaten. As time went on the situation grew des- perate; till almost the end, however, they did not lose hope. Through the wireless they were informed about the progress of the relief expeditions and had even heard their guns in the distance. They gradually grew, however, weaker and weaker, so that on the surrender the troops in the first lines were too weak to march back with their kits. 21 378 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Turks treated the prisoners in a chiyalric manner; food and tobacco was at once distributed, and all were interned in Anatolia, except General Townshend and his staff, who were taken to Constantinople. Later on it was General Townshend who was to have the honor of carrying the Turkish plea for an arnaistice in the closing days of the war. The surrender of Kut created a world-wide sensation. The loss of eight thousand troops was, of course, not a serious matter, and the road to India was still hatred, but the moral effect was most imfortunate. That the great British nation, whose power had been so respected in the Orient, should now be forced to yield, was a great blow to its prestige. In England, of course, there was a flood of criticism. It was very plain that a mistake had been made. A commission was appointed to inquire into the whole business. | This committee reported to Parliament on June 26, 1917, and the report created a great sensation. The substance of the report was, that while the expedition was justifiable from a political point of view, it was undertaken with insufficient forces and inadequate preparation, and it sharply criticised those that were responsible. It seems plain that the military authorities in India under- estimated their opponent. The report especially criticised General Sir John Eccles Nixon, the former commander of the British forces in Mesopotamia, who had urged the expedition, in spite of the objection of General Townshend. Others sharing the blame were the Viceroy of India, Baron Hardinge, General Sir Beauchamp Duff, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in India, and, in England, Major-General Sir Edmund Barrow, MUitary Secretary of the India office, J. Austen Chamberlain, Secretary for India, and the War Committee of the Cabinet.'" According to the report, beside the losses incurred by the siurender more than twenty- three thousand men were lost in the reUeving expedition. The general armament and equipment were declared to be not only insufficient, but not up to the standard. In consequence of this report Mr. Chamberlain resigned as Secretary for India. In the House of Commons, Mr. BaKour, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, supported Lord Hardinge, who, at the time of the report, was Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He declared the criticism of Baron Hardinge to be grossly unjust. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 379 After some discussion the House of Commons supported Mr. Balfour's refusal to accept Baron Hardinge's resignation, by a vote of 176 to 81. It seems to be agreed that the civil administration of India were not responsible for the blunders of the expedition. Ten years before, Lord Kitchener, after a bitter controversy with Lord Curzon, had made the military side of the Indian Govern- ment free of all civilian criticism and control. The blunders here were military blunders. The English, of course, were not satisfied to leave the situation in such a condition, and at once began their plans for a new attempt to capture Bagdad. The summer campaign, however, was unevent- ful, though on May 18th a band of Cossacks from the Russian armies in Persia joined the British camp. A few days afterwards the British army went up the Tigris and captured the Dujailah redoubt, where they had been so badly defeated on the 8th of March. ^1 They then approached close to Kut, but the weather was unsuitable, and there was now no object in capturing the city. In August Sir Percy Lake was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, who carefully and thoroughly pro- ceeded to prepare for an expedition which should capture Bagdad. A dispatch from General Maude dated July 10, 1917, gives a full account of this expedition. It was thoroughly successful. This time with a sufficient army and a thorough equipment the British found no difficulties, and on February 26th they captured Kut-el- Amara, not after a hard-fought battle, but as the result of a suc- cessful series of small engagements. The Turks kept up a steady resistance, but the British blood was up. They were remembering General Townshend's surrender, and the Turks were driven before them in great confusion. The captiu-e of Kut, however, was not an object in itself, and the British pushed steadily on up theTigris. The Turks occa- sionally made a stand, but without effect. On the 28th, of February the English had arrived at Azizie, half way to Bagdad, where a halt was made. On the 5th of March the advance was renewed. The Ctesiphon position, which had defied General Townshend, was found to be strongly intrenched, but empty. On March 7th the enemy made a stand on the River Diala, which enters the Tigris eight miles below Bagdad. Some lively fighting followed, the enemy resisting four attempts to cross the Diala. However, 880 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR on March 10th the British forces crossed, and were now close to Bagdad. The enemy suddenly rethed and the British troops found that their main opponent was a dust storm. The enemy retired beyond Bagdad, and on March 11th the city was occupied by the English. The fall of Bagdad was an important event. It cheered the Allies, and proved, especially to the Oriental world, the power of the British army. Those who originally planned its capture had been right, but those who were to carry out the plan had not done their duty. Under General Maude it was a comparatively simple operation, though fuU of admirable details, and it produced all the good effects expected. The British, of course, did not stop at Bagdad. The city itself is not of strategic importance. The surrounding towns were occupied and an endeavor was made to conciHate the inhabitants. The real object of the expedition was attained. CHAPTER XXV Canada's Part in the Great War By Col. Geo. G. Nasmith, C. M. G., Tokonto WHEN, in August, 1914, war burst suddenly upon a peaceful world like distant thunder in a cloudless summer sky, Canada, like the rest of the British Empire, was profoundly startled. She had been a peace-loving, non-military nation, satisfied to develop her great natural resources, and live in harmony with her neighbors; taking Httle interest in European affairs, Canadians, in fact, were a typical colonial people, with Httle knowledge even of the strength of the ties that linked them to the British Empire. Upon declaration of war by Great Britain Canada immediately sprang to arms. The love of country and empire which had been no obvious thing burst forth in a patriotic fervor as deep as it was spontaneous and genuine. The call to action was answered with an enthusiasm the like of which had rarely, if ever, been seen in any British colony. The Canadian Government called for 20,000 volunteers — enough for a single division — as Canada's contribution to the British army. In less than a month 40,000 men had volunteered, and the Minister of Mihtia was compelled to stop the further enrolment of recruits. From the gold fields of the Yukon, from the slopes of the Rockies on the west to the sm-f-beaten shores of the Atlantic on the east; from workshop and mine; from farm, office and forest, Canada's sons trooped to the colors. It will be the everlasting glory of the men of the first Canadian contingent, that they needed no spur, either of victory or defeat: they volunteered because they were quick to perceive that the existence of their Empire was threatened by the action of the most formidable nation-in-arms that the world had ever seen. They had been stirred by the deepest emotion of a race — ^the love of country. 381 382 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR A site for a concentration camp was chosen at Valcartier, nestling among the blue Laurentian hills, sixteen miles from Quebec, and convenient to that point of embarkation. Within four days 6,000 men had arrived at Valcartier; in another week there were 25,000 men. From centers all over Canada troop trains, each carrying hundreds of embryo soldiers, sped towards Valcartier and deposited their burdens on the miles of sidings that had sprung up as though by magic. The rapid evolution of that wild and wooded river valley into a model mihtary camp was a great tribute to the engineering skill and energy of civilians who had never done the like before. One day an army of woodmen were seen felling trees; the next day the stumps were torn out and the hollows filled; on the third day long rows of tents in regular camp formation covered the ground, and on the fourth day they were occupied by civilian soldiers concen- trated upon learning the rudiments of the art and science of war. Streets were laid out; miles of water pipes, sunk in machine- made ditches, were connected to himdreds of taps and shower baths; electric light was installed; three miles of rifle butts com- pleted, and in two weeks the camp was practically finished — the finest camp that the first Canadians were destined to see. The building of Valcartier camp was characteristic of the driving power, vision and genius of the Minister of Militia, General Sir Sam Hughes. Of the 33,000 men assembled at Valcartier, the great majority were civilians without any previous training in warfare. About 7,000 Canadians had taken part in the South African war, fifteen years before, and some of these, together with a few ex-regulars who had seen active service, were formed into the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry. Otherwise, with the exception of the 3,000 regulars that formed the standing army of Canada, the men and most of the officers were amatem-s. It was therefore a feat that the Canadian people could well afford to be proud of, that in the great crisis they were able, through their aggressive Minister of Militia, not only to gather up these forces so quickly but that they willingly and without delay con- verted their industries to the manufacture of all necessary army equipment. Factories all over the country immediately began turning out vast quantities of khaki cloth, uniforms, boots, ammuni- CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 383 tion, harness, wagons, and the thousand and one articles necessary for an anny. Before the end of September, 1914, the Canadian Expeditionary Force had been roughly hewn into shape, battalions had been regrouped and remodeled, officers transferred and re-transferred, intensive training carried on, and all the necessary equipment assembled. On October 3, 1914, thirty-three Atlantic liners, carrying the contingent of 33,000 men, comprising infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, signalers, medical corps, army service supply and ammunition columns, together with horses, guns, ammunition, wagons, motor lerries and other essentials, sailed from Gasp6 basin on the Quebec seaboard to the battle-field of Europe. It was probably the largest convoy that had ever been gathered together. This modem armada in three long lines, each line one and one-half miles apart, led by cruisers and with battleships on the front, rear and either flank, presented a thrilling spectacle. The voyage proved tmeventful, and on October 14th, the convoy steamed into Plymouth, receiving an extraordinary ovation by the sober Engli^ people, who seemed temporarily to have gone wild with enthusiasm. Back of that demonstration was the con- viction that blood had proved thicker than water and that the apparently flimsy ties that bound the colonies to the empire were bonds that were unbreakable. The German conviction that the British colonies would fall away and the British Empire disiategrate upon the outbreak of a great war had proved fallacious. It was, moreover, a great demonstration of how the much-vauHted German navy had already been swept from the seas and rendered impotent by the might of Britain's fleet. A few days later the Canadiaiis had settled down on Salisbury Plain In southern England for the further course of training neces- sary before proceeding to France. There, for nearly four months in the cold and the wet, ra the fog and mud, in crowded, dripping tents and under constantly dripprag skies, they carried on and early gave evidence of their powers of end;u:ance and unquenchable spirit. , _ Lord Roberts made his last public appearance before this division and addressing the men said in part: "Three months ago we found ourselves involved in this war — a war not of our own seeking, but one which those who have studied Germany's 384 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR literature and Germany's aspirations, knew was a war which we should inevitably have to deal with sooner or later. The prompt resolve of Canada to give us such valuable assistance has touched us deeply. . "We are fighting a nation which looks upon the British Empire as a barrier to her development, and has in consequence, long contemplated our overthrow and humiliation. To attain that end she has manufactured a magnificent fighting machine, and is strain- ing every nerve to gain victory. . . . It is only by the most determined efforts that we can defeat her." And this superb German military organization, created by years of tireless effort, was that which Canadian civilians had volun- teered to fight. Was it any wonder that some of the most able leaders doubted whether men and officers, no matter how brave and intelligent, could ever equal the inspired barbarians who, even at that very moment, were battling with the finest British and French regulars and pressing them steadily towards Paris? In a short chapter of this kind attempting to deal with Canada's effort io the great war it is obviously impossible to go into detail or give more than the briefest of historical pictures. Consequently much that is fascinating can be ^ven but a passing glance: for greater detail larger works must be consulted. Nevertheless it is well to try and view in perspective events as they occurred, in order to obtain some idea of their relative importance. In February, 1915, the first Canadian division crossed the Channel to France, and began to obtain front-line experiences in a section of the line just north of Neuve Chapelle. While the first division had been going through its course of training in England a second division had been raised in Canada and arrived in England shortly after the first left it. During that period the conflict in Europe had passed through certain preliminary phases — ^most of them fortunate for the Allies. The unexpected holding up of the German armies by the Belgians had prevented the enemy from gaining the channel ports of Calais and Boulogne in the first rush. Later on the battle of the Mame had resulted in the rolling back of the German waves until they had subsided on a line roughly drawn through Dixmude, Ypres, Armentilres, La Bass^e, Lens, and southward to the French border and the trench phase of warfare had begun. ON VIMY RIDGE, WHERE CANADA WON LAURELS The Canadians took the important position of Vimj' Ridge on Easter INIonday, April 9, 1917. They advanced with brilhance, having taken the whole system of German front-hne trenches between dawn and 6.30 a. m. This shows squads of machine gunners operating from shell-craters in support of the infantry on the plateau above the ridge. photo fTom Western Neimpapfr Union GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CDRRIE Commander of the Canadian forces on the Western Front CANADA'S BART IN THE GREAT WAR 387 The British held the section of front between Ypres and La-Bass6e, about thirty miles in length, the Germans, unfortiinately, occupying all the higher grounds. Shortly after the arrival of the Canadian division the British, concentrating the largest number of guns that had hitherto been gathered together on the French front, made an attack on the Germans at Neuve Chapelle. This attack, only partially successful in gains of terrain, served to teach both belligerents several lessons. It showed the British the need for huge quantities of high explosives with which to blast away wire and trenches and, that in an attack, rifle fire, no matter how accurate, was no match for unlimited numbers of machine guns. It showed the enemy what could be done with concentrated artillery fire— a lesson that he availed himself of with deadly effect a few weeks later. Though Canadian artillery took part in that bombardment the infantry was not engaged in the battle of Neuve Chapelle; it received its baptism of fire, however, imder excellent conditions, and after a month's experience in trench warfare was taken out of the line for rest. The division was at the time under the command of a British general and the staff included several highly trained British staff officers. Nevertheless the commands were practically all in the hands of Canadians — ^lawyers, business men, real-estate agents, newspapermen and other amateur soldiers, who, in civilian life as miHtiamen, had spent more or less time in the study of the theory of warfare. This should always be kept in mind in view of subse- quent events, as well as the fact that these amateiu* soldiers were faced by armies whose officers and men— professionals in the art and science of warfare — ^regarded themselves as invincible. In mid-April the Canadians took over a sector some five thousand yards long in the Ypres salient. On the left they joined up with French colonial troops, and on their right with the British. Thus there were Canadian and French colonial troops side by side. Toward the end of April the Germans reverted to supreme barbarism and used poison gas. Undismayed, though suffering terrible losses, the heroic Canadians fought the second battle of Ypres and held the line in the face of the most terrific assaults. When the news of the second battle of Ypres reached Canada 388 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR her people were profoundly stirred. The blight of war had at last fallen heavily, destroying her first-bom, but sorrow was mixed with pride and exaltation that Canadian men had proved a match for the most scientifically trained troops in Europe. As fighters Canadians had at once leaped into front rank. British, Scotch and Irish blood, with British traditions, had proved greater forces than the scientific training and philosophic principles of the Huns. It was a glorious illustration of the axiom "right is greater than might," which the German had in his pride reversed to read "might is right." It was prophetic of what the final issue of a contest based on such divergent principles was to be. So in those days Canadian men and women held their heads higher and carried on their war work with increased determination, stimulated by the knowledge that they were contending with an enemy more remorseless and implacable than those terrible creatures which used to come to them in their childish drea,ms. It was felt that, a nation which could scientifically and in cold blood resort to poison gases — contrary to all accepted agreements of civilized countries — ^to gam its object must be fought with all the determination, resources and skill which it was possible to employ. Canada's heart had been steeled. She was now in the war with her last dollar and her last man if need be. She had begun to realize that failvu-e in Europe would simply transfer the struggle with the German fighting hordes to our Atlantic provinces and the eastern American states. The famous Princess Patricia's Canadian light Infantry was originally composed of soldiers who had actually seen service and were therefore veterans. Incidentally they were older men and most of them were married but the call of the Empire was insistent. In the winter of 1914-15 the British line in Flanders was very thin and the P. P. C. L. I's. being a trained regiment was sent over to France several weeks before the first Canadian division. It soon earned the name of a regiment of extraordinarily hard- fighting qualities and was all but wiped out before spring arrived. The immortal story of this gallant unit must be read in detail if . one wishes to obtain any clear conception of their deeds of valor — of what it is possible for man to go through and live. However, it was but one regiment whose exploits were later equaled by other Canadian regiments and it would therefore be invidious to select CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 389 any one for special praise. After operating as a separate regiment for nearly two years and having been recruited from the regular Canadian depots in England, it became ia composition like other Canadian regiments and was finally incorporated in the third Canadian division. In the spring of 1915, a Canadian cavalry brigade was formed in France made up of Strathcona's Horse, King Edward's Horse, the Royal Canadian Dragoons and Canadian Mounted Rifles. After the second battle of Ypres, the Canadians after resting and re-organization, were moved to a section of the line near LaBass^e. Here they fought the battle of Festubert — a series of infantry attacks and artillery bombardments, which gained little ground. Shortly afterwards they fought the battle of Givenchy, equally futile, as far as material results were concerned. Both of these battles had the double object of feeling out the strength of the German line and of obtaining the Aubers Ridge, should the attacks prove successful. In both battles the Canadians showed great aptitude for attack, and tenacity in their hold of captured trenches. They also learned the difficult lesson that if an objective is passed by the infantry the latter enter the zone of their own artillery fire and suffer accordingly. . In September, 1915, the Second Canadian Division arrived in Flanders and took its place at the side of the First Canadian Division, then occupjdng the Ploegsteert section in front of the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge. The rest of the winter was spent more or less quietly by both divisions in the usual trench warfare, and battling with mud, water and weather. It was here that the Canadians evolved the "trench raid," a method of cutting off a section of enemy trench, killing or taking prisoners all the enemy inhabitants, destroying it and returning with little or no loss to the attacking party. This method was quickly copied from one end of the Franco-British line to the other; it proved a most valuable method of gaining information,' and served to keep the troops, during the long cold winter months, stimulated and keen when otherwise life would have proved most dull and uninteresting. The Third Canadian Division was formed in January and February, 1916. One infantry brigade was composed of regiments 390 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR which had been acting as Canadian corps troops, including the Princess Patricia's Canadian light Infantry, atid the Royal Canadian Regiment. The second infantry brigade was made up of six Canadian mounted rifle regiments, which had com- prised part of the cavalry brigade. These two brigades, of the Third Division, under the command of General Mercer of Toronto, almost immediately began front-line work. During this period, the Germans, making desperate efforts extending over weeks of time, did their utmost to break through the French line at Verdun and exhaust the French reserves. To offset these objects, a fourth British army was assembled, which took over still more of the French line, while a series of British attacks, intended to pin down the German reserves all along the line, was inaugurated. One of these developed into a fight for the' craters — a terrible struggle at St. Eloi, where, blasted from their muddy ditches, with rifles and machine guns choked with mud and water; with communications lost and lack of artillery support, the men of the Second Canadian Division fought gamely from April 6th to April 20th, but were forced to yield the craters and part of their front line system to the enemy. Notwithstanding this the men of the Second Canadian Division at St. Eloi fought quite as nobly as had their brothers of the First Division just a year before, at the glorious battle of Ypres, a few miles farther north. But it was a bitter experience. The lesson of failure is as necessary in the education of a nation as that of success. On June 2d and 3d, the Third Canadian Division, which then occupied part of the line in the Ypres salient, including Hooge and Sanctuary Wood, was smothered by an artillery bombardment unprecedented in length and intensity. Trenches melted into irregular heaps of splintered wood, broken sand bags and mangled bodies. Fighting gallantly the men of this division fell in large numbers, where they stood. The best infantry in the world is power- less against avalanches of shells projected from greatly superior nxunbers of guns. The Canadian trenches were obliterated, not captured. By this time Britain had thoroughly learned her lesson, and now countless shells and guns were poiiring into France from Great Britain where thousands of factories, new and old, toiled night and day, under the inspiring energy of Mr. Lloyd George. CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 391 On June 13th, in a terrific counter-attack, the Canadians in turn blasted the Huns from the trenches taken from them a few days before. The First Canadian Division recaptured and con- solidated all the ground and trench systems that had been lost. Thus ended the second year of Canadian military operations in the Ypres salient. Each of the three Canadian divisions had been tried by fire in that terrible region, from which,'^it was said, no man ever returned the same as he entered it. Beneath its torn and rifted surface, thousands of Canadians lie, mute testimony to the fact that love of liberty is stiU one of the most powerful, yet most intangible, things that man is swayed by. A very distinguished French general, speaking of the part that Canada was playing in the war, said, "Nothing in the history of the world has ever been known quite like it. My countrymen are fighting within fifty miles of Paris, to push back and chastise a vile and leprous race, which has violated the chastity of beautiful France, but the Australians at the Dardanelles and the Canadians at Ypres, fought with supreme and absolute devotion for what to many must have seemed simple abstractions, and that nation which will support for an abstraction the horror of this war of all wars will ever hold the highest place in the records of human valor." The Fourth Canadian Division reached the Ypres region in August, 1916, just as the other three Canadian divisions were leaving for the Somme battle-field farther south. For a while it occupied part of the line near Kemmel, but soon followed the other divisions to the Somme, there to complete the Canadian corps. It may be stated here that though a fifth Canadian division was formed and thoroughly trained in England, it never reached France. Canada, until the passing of the. Military Service Act on July 6, 1917, depended solely on voluntary enlistment. Up to that time Canada, with a population of less than 9,000,000, had recruited 525,000 men by voluntary methods. Of this number 356,986 had actually gone overseas. Voluntary methods at last, however, failed to supply drafts in suflScient numbers to keep up the strength of the depleted reserves in England, and in consequence conscription was decided upon. By this means, 56,000 men were drafted in Canada before the war ended. In the meantime, through heavy fighting the demand for drafts became so insistent that the 392 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Fifth Canadian Division in England had to be broken up to rein- force the exhausted fighting divisions in France. It would be an incomplete siunmary of Canada's part in the war that did not mention some of the men who have been responsible for the success of Canadian stltms. It is obviously impossible to mention all of those responsible; it is even harder to select a few. But looking backward one sees two figures that stand forth from all the rest — General Sir Sam Hughes in Canada, and General Sir Arthiu" Cmrie commander of the Canadian corps, t To General Sir Sam Hughes must be given the credit of having foreseen war with Germany and making such preparations as were possible in a democracy like Canada. He it was of all others who galvanized Canada into action; he it was whose enthusiasm and driving power were so contagious that they affected not only his subordinates but the coimtry at large. ^ _ Sir Sam Hughes will be remembered for the building of Valcartier camp and the difepatch of the first Canadian contingent. But he did things of just as great importance. It was he who sought and obtained for Canada, huge orders for mmiitions from Great Britain and thereby made it possible for Canada to weather the financial depression, pay her own war expenditures and emerge from the war in better financial shape than she was when the war broke out. It was easy to build up a business once established but the chief credit must go to the man who established it. Sir Sam Hughes was also responsible for the selection of the officers who went overseas with the first Canadian contingent. Among those officers who subsequently became divisional command- ers were General Sir Arthiu- Currie, General Sir Richard Turner, General Sir David Watson, Generals Lipsett, Mercer and Hu^es. Of these generals, Sir Arthur Currie through sheer ability ultimately became commander of the Canadian corps. This big, quiet man, whose consideration, prudence and brilliancy had won the absolute confidence of Canadian officers and men alike, welded the Canadian corps into a fighting force of incomparable effective- ness — a, force which was set the most difficult tasks and, as events proved, not in vain. When Canada entered the war she had a permanent force of 3,000 men. When hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, Canada had sent overseas 418,980 soldiers. In addition to thia CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 393 about 15,000 men had joined the British Royal Air Service, several hundred physicians and veterinarians, as well as 200 nurses, had been supplied to the British army, while many hundreds of uni- veraty men had received commissions in the imperial army and navy. . In September, October and November, 1916, the Canadian corps of four divisions, which had been welded by General Byng and General Currie into an exceedingly efficient fighting machine, took its part in the battle of the Somme — a battle in which the British army assumed the heaviest share of the fighting and casualties, and shifted the greatest burden of the struggle from the shoulders of the French to their own. ** The British army had grown vastly in power and efficiency and in growing had taken over more and more of the line from the French. ^' The battle of the Somme was long and involved. The Franco- British forces were everywhere victorious and by hard and con- tinuous fighting forced the Him back to the famous Hindenburg line. It was in this battle that the tanks, evolved by the British, were used for the first time, and played a most important part in breaking down wire entanglements and rounding up the machine gun nests. The part played in this battle by the Canadian corps was conspicuous, and it especially distinguished itself by the capture of Courcelette. Although the battles which the Canadian corps took part in subsequently were almost invariably both successful and important, they can be merely mentioned here. The Canadian corps now known everywhere to consist of shock troops second to none on the western fronty was frequently used as the spearhead with which to pierce particularly tough parts of the enemy defenses. On April 9th to 13th, 1917, the Canadian corps, with some British support, captured Vimy Ridge, a point which had hitherto proved invulnerable. When a year later, the Germans, north and south, swept the British line to one side in gigantic thrusts they were unable to disturb this key point, Vimy Ridge, which served as an anchor to the sagging line. The Canadian corps was engaged at Arleux and Fresnoy in April and May and was effective in the operations around Lens in June. Again on August 15th, it was engaged at Hill 70 and fought with conspicuous success in that toughest, most difficult, and most heart-breaking of all battles — , Passchendaele. 394 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR In 1918, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade won distinction in the German offensive of March and April. On August 12, 1918, the Canadian corps was engaged in the brilliantly successful battle of Amiens, which completely upset the German offensive plan. On August 26th to 28th the Canadians captured Monchy- le-Preux, and, ia one of the hammer blows which Foch rained on the German front, were given the most difficult piece of the whole line to pierce — the Queant-Drocourt line. This section of the famous Hiadenbm-g line was considered by the enemy to be absolutely impregnable, but was captured by the Canadians on September 3d and 4th. With this Hne outflanked a vast German retreat began, which ended on November 11th with the signing of the armistice. To the Canadians fell the honors of breaking through the first Hindenburg Kne by the capture of Cambrai, on October 1st to 9th. They also took Douai on October 19th, and Dena on October 20th. On October 26th to November 2d they had the signal honor of capturing Valenciennes thereby beiag the first troops to^ break through the fourth and last Hindenberg line. ^ _ It surely was a cmrious coincidence that Mons, from which the original British army — 'the best trained, it is said, that has taken the field since the time of Caesar — ^began its retreat in 1914, should have been the town which Canadian civilians were destiaed to recapture. The war began for the professional British army — the Contemptibles — ^when it began its retreat from Mons in 1914; the war ended for the British army at the very same town four years and three months later, when on the day the armistice was signed the men from Canada re-entered it. Was it coincidence, or was it fate? During the war Canadian troops had sustained 211,000 casualties, 152,000 had been wounded and more than 50,000 had made the supreme sacrifice. Put into different language this means that the number of Canadians killed was just a little greater than the total number of infantrymen in their corps of four divisions. The extent of the work involved ia the care of the wounded and sick of the Canadians overseas may be gathered from the fact that Canada equipped and sent across the Atlantic, 7 general hospitals, 10 stationary hospitals, 16 field ambulances, 3 sanitary sections, 4 casualty clearing stations and advanced and base depots of medical stores: The personnel of these medical units consisted CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 395 FROM THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS TO YPRES Map showine the Northeastern frontiers of France, and neutral Belmum through which the German armies poured in 1914. The battle line Tield straight from Belfort to Verdun, with the exception of the St. Mihiel salient. Above Verdun the line veered to the west, north of Rheims, marking a wide curve toward St. Quentin and Arras and bending back to Ypres, held by the Canadians throughout the war. 396 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR of 1,612 officers, 1,994 nursing sisters and 12,382 of other ranks, or a total of about 16,000. This will give some conception of the importance of the task involved in the caring for the sick and wounded of about 90,000 fighting troops, some 60,000 auxiliary troops behind the lines and the reserve depots in England. The work of the Canadian Red Cross Society included the building and equipping of auxiliary hospitals to those of the Cana- dian Army Medical Corps; providiug of extra and emergency stores of all kinds, recreation huts, ambulances and lorries, drugs, serums and surgical equipment calculated to make hospitals more efficient; the looking after the comfort of patients in hospitals providing recreation and entertainment to the wounded, and dispatching regularly to every Canadian prisoner parcels of food, as well as clothes, books and other necessaries: The Canadian Red Cross expended on goods for prisoners in 1917 nearly $600,000. In all the Canadian Red Cross distributed since the beginning of the war to November 23, 1918, $7,631,100. The approximate total of voluntary contributions from Canada for war purposes was over $90,000,000. The following figures quoted from tables issued by the Depart- ment of PubHc Information at Ottawa, show the exports in certain Canadian commodities, having a direct bearing on the war for the last three fiscal years before the war (1912-13-14), and for the last fiscal year (1918); and illustrates the increase, during this period, in the value of these articles exported : VALUES Average for 1912-1913-1914 1918 Foodstuffs $143,133,374 $617,515,690 Clothing, metals, leather, etc 45,822,717 215,873,357 Total $188,956,091 $833,389,047 As practically all of the increase of food and other materials went to Great Britain, France and Italy, the extent of Canada's effort in upholding the allied cause is clearly evident and was by no means a small one. The trade of Canada for 1914 was one billion dollars; for the fiscal year of 1917-18 it was two and one-half billion dollars. Approximately 60,000,000 shells were made in Canada during the war. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities a shell com- CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR 397 mittee was formed in Canada to really act as an agent for the British war office in placing contracts. The first shells were shipped in December, 1914, and by the end of May, 1915, approxi- mately 400 estabUshments were manufacturing shells in Canada. By November, 1915, orders had been placed by the Imperial Gov- ernment to the value of $300,000,000, and an Imperial Munitions Board, replacing the shell committee, was formed, directly responsible to the Imperial Ministry of Munitions. During the war period Canada purchased from her bank savings $1,669,381,000 of Canadian war loans. Estimates of expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1919, demonstrated the thoroughness with which Canada went to war. They follow; Fay of 110,000 troops in C&naida, and 290,000 in England and France. . . Assigned pay, overseas troops Separation allowances Rations, Canada, 50 cents per day; England, 38)^ cents per day Clothing and necessaries Outfit allowances, officers and nurses . . Equipment, including harness, vehicles, tents, blankets, but not rifles, machine guns, etc Ordnance service Medical services Ammunition Machine guns Ocean transport Railway transport Forage Veterinary service, remounts Engineer works, housing Civilian employees Sundries, including recruiting, censors, customs dues, etc Overseas printing and stationery General expenses overseas Maintenance of troops in France at 9s, 4d. each per day Total Expenditure Expenditure Total in Canada. Overseas. Expenditures. $50,187,500 $70,312,500 $120,500,000 54,000,000 54,000,000 21,750,000 6,000,000 27,750,000 20,075,000 21,000,000 41,075,000 19,080,000 19,080,000 1,000,000 700,000 1,700,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 1,800,000 1,800,000 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000 2,000,000 2,000,000 4,612,500 4,612,500 11,062,500 450,000 11,512,500 450,000 450,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 2,750,000 1,250,000 4,000,000 2,920,000 750,000 3,670,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 300,000 300,000 1,800,000 1,800,000 115,000,000 115,000,000 $217,887,500 $225,162,500 $443,050,000 CHAPTER XXVI Immortal VEUDtrN 'RANGE was revealed to herself, to Germany and to the world as the heroic defender of civilization, as a defender defying death in the victory of Verdun. There, with the gateway to Paris lying open at its back, the French army, in the longest pitched battle in all history, held Hke a cold blue rock against the uttermost man power and resources of the German army. General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff and military dictator of the Teutonic allies, there met disaster and disgrace. There the mettle of the Crown Prince was tested and he was foimd to be merely a thing of straw, a weak creature whose mind was xmder the domination of von Falkenhayn. For the tremendous offensive which was planned to end the war by one terrific thrust> von Falkenhayn had robbed all the other fronts of effective men and munitions. Field Marshal von Hindenburg and his crafty Chief of Staff, General Ludendorf, had planned a campaign against Russia designed to put that tottering military Colossus out of the war. The plans were upon a scale that might well have proved successful. The Kaiser, influenced by the Crown Prince and by von Falkenhayn, decreed that the Russian campaign must be postponed and that von Hindenburg must send his crack troops to join the army of the Crown Prince fronting Verdim. Ludendorf promptly resigned as Chief of Staff to von Hindenburg and suggested that the Field Marshal also resign. That grim old warrior declined to take this action, pre- ferring to remain idle in East Prussia and watch what he predicted would be a useless effort on the western front. His warning to the General Staff was explicit, but von Falkenhayn coolly ignored the message. Why did Germany select this particular point for its grand offensive? The answer is to be found in a demand made by the great Junker associations of Germany in May, 1915, nine months 398 IMMORTAL VERDUN 399 IMMORTAL VKRDtlW, WHERE THE FRENCH HELD THE GERMANS WITH THE INSPIRING SLOGAN VTHEY SHALL NOT PASS" 4:00 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR before the attack was undertaken. That demand was to the effect that Verdun should be attacked and captured. They declared that the Verdun fortifications made a menacing salient thrust into the rich iron fields of the Briey basin. From this metalliferous field of Lorraine came the ore that supplied eighty per cent of the steel required for German and Austrian guns and munitions. These fields of Briey were only twenty miles from the great guns of Verdun. They were French territory at the beginning of the war and had been seized by the army of the Crown Prince, co-operating with the Army of Metz because of there immense value to the Germans in war making. As a preliminary to the battle, von Falkenhayn placed a Bemicircle of huge howitzers and rifles around the field of Briey. Then assembhng the vast forces drained from all the fronts and having erected ammunition dumps covering many acres, the great battle commenced with a siu'prise attack upon the village of Hau- mont on February 21, 1916. . The first victory of the Germans at that point was an easy one. The great fort of Douaumont was the next objective. This was taken on February 25th after a concentrated bombardment that for intensity surpassed anything that heretofore had been shown in the war. Von Falkenhayn, personally superintending the disposition of guns and men, had now penetrated the outer defenses of Verdun. The tide was running against the French, and shells, more shells for the guns of all caliber ; men, more men for the earthworks surround- ing the devoted city were needed. The narrow-gauge railway con- necting Verdun with the great French depots of supplies was totally inadequate for the transportation burdens suddenly cast upon it. In this desperate emergency a transport system was bom of necessity, a system that saved Verdun. It was fleet upon fleet of motor trucks, all sizes, all styles; anything that could pack a few shells or a handful of men was utilized. The backbone of the system was a greet fleet of trucks driven by men whose average daily rest was foiu: hours, and upon whose horizon-blue uniforms the stains of snow and sleet, of dust and mud, were indelibly fixed through the winter, spring, summer and fall of 1916, for the glori- ous engagement contiaued from February 21st until November 2d, when the Germans were forced into full retreat from the field of IMMORTAL VERDUN 401 honor, the evacuation of Fort Vaux putting a period to Germany's disastrous plan and to von Falkenhayn's military career. Lord Northcliffe, describing the early days of the immortal battle, wrote: "Verdim is, in many ways, the most extraordinary of battles. The mass of metal used on both sides is far beyond all parallel; the transformation on the Douaumont Ridge was more suddenly dramatic than even the battle of the Mame; and, above all, the duration of the conflict already looks as if it would surpass any- thing in history. More than a month has elapsed since, by the kindness of General Joflfre and General P6tain, I was able to watch the struggle from various vital viewpoints. The battle had then been raging with great intensity for a fortnight, and, as I write, four to five thousand guns are still thundering round Verdun. Impossible, therefore, any man to describe the entire battle. The most one can do is to set down one's impressions of the first phases of a terrific conflict, the end of which cannot be fore- seen. , "My chief impression is one of admiration for the subtle powers of mind of the French High Command. General Joffre and General Castelnau are men with especially fine intellects tempered to terrible keenness. Always they have had to contend against superior numbers. In 1870, when they were subalterns, their country lost the advantage of its numerous population by abandoning general military service at a time when Prussia was completely realiziag the Idea of a nation in arms. In 1914, when they were conmianders, France was inferior to a still greater degree in point of numbers to Prussianized Germany. In armament, also, France was inferior at first to her enemy. The French High Command has thus been trained by adversity to do all that human intellect can against almost overwhelming hostile material forces. General Joffre, General Castelnau — ^and, later. General P^tain, who at a moment's notice displaced General Herr — ^had to display genius where the Germans were exhibiting talent, and the result is to be seen at Verdun. They there caught the enemy in a series of traps of a kind hitherto unknown in modem warfare — something elemental, and yet subtle, neo-primitive, and befitting the atavistic character of the Teuton. They caught him in a web of his own unfulfilled boasts. 402 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "The enemy began by massing a surprising force on the western front. Tremendous energy and organizing power were the marks of his supreme efforts to obtain a decision. It was usually reckoned that the Germans maintain on all fronts a field army of about seventy-four and a half army corps, which at full strength mmiber three million men. Yet, while holding the Rus- sians from Riga to the south of the Pripet Marshes, and main- taining a show of force in the Balkans, Germany seems to have succeeded in bringing up nearly two millions and a half of men for her- grand spring offensive in the west. At one time her forces in France and Flanders were only ninety divisions. But troops and guns were 'withdrawn in increasing numbers from Russia and Serbia in December, 1915, until there were, it is estimated, a hundred and eighteen divisions on the Franco-British-Belgian front. A large number of six-inch and twelve-inch Austrian howitz- ers were added to the enormous Krupp batteries. Then a large proportion of new re(3ruits of the 1916 class were moved into Rhine- land depots to serve as drafts for the fifty-nine army corps, and it is thought that nearly all the huge shell output that had accumu- lated during the winter was transported westward. "The French Staff reckoned that Verdun would be attacked when the ground had dried somewhat in the March winds. It was thought that the enemy movement would take place against the British front in some of the sectors of which there were chalk undulations, through which the rains of winter quickly drained. The Germans skilfully encouraged this idea by making an appai'ent preliminary attack at Lihons, on a five-mile front, with rolling gas-clouds and successive waves of infantry. During this feint the veritable offensive movement softly began on Saturday, Feb- ruary 19, 1916, when the enormous masses of hostile artillery west, east, and north of the Verdun salient started registering on the French positions. Only in small numbers did the German guns fire, in order not to alarm their opponents. But even this trial bombardment by shifts was a terrible display of power, calling forth all the energies of the outnumbered French guimers to main- tain the artillery duels that continued day and night until Monday morning, February 21st. "The enemy seems to have maintained a bombardment all round General Herr's lines on February 21, 1916, but this general IS*- •mmfwm'm!^"'" ' fa AMMUNITION FOR THE GUNS Canadian narrow-gauge line taking ammunition up the line through a shattered village HOW VERDUN WAS SAVED The motor transport never faltered when the railroads were put out of action. IMMORTAL VERDUN 405 battering was done with a thousand pieces of field artillery. The grand masses of heavy howitzers were used in a different way. At a quarter past seven in the morning they concentrated on the small sector of advanced intrenchments near Brabant and the Meuse; twelve-inch shells fell with terrible precision every few yards, according to the statements made by the French troops. I afterwards saw a big German shell, from at least six miles distant from my place of observation, hit quite a small target. So I can well believe that, in the first bombardment of French positions, which had been photographed from the air and minutely measured and re^tered by the enemy gunners in the trial firing, the great, destructive shots went home with extraordinary effect. The trenches were not bombarded — ^they were obHterated. In each small sector of the six-naile northward bulge of the Verdun saUent the work of destruction was done with surprising quickness. "After the line from Brabant to Haumont was smashed, the main fire power was directed against the other end of the bow at Herbebois, Omes, and Maucourt. Then when both .ends of the bow were severely hammered, the central point of the Verdun salient, Caiu-es Woods, was smothered in shells of aU sizes, poured in from east, north and west. In this manner almost the whole enormous force of heavy artillery was centered upon mile after mile of the French front. "When the great guns lifted over the lines of craters, the lighter field artillery, placed row after row in front of the wreckage, maintained an unending fire curtain over the com- municating saps and support intrenchments. "Then came the second surprising feature in the new German system of attack. No waves of storming infantry swept into the battered works. *f Only strong patrols at first came cautiously forward, to discover if it were safe for the main body of troops to advance and reorganize the French line so as to allow the artillery to move onward. There was thus a large element of truth in the marvelous tales afterwards told by German prisoners. Their commanders thought it would be possible to do all the fighting with long-range artillery, leaving the infantry to act as squatters to the great guns, and occupy and rebuild line after line of the French defenses without any serious hand-to-hand struggles. All they had to do was to protect the gunners from surprise attack, while the guns made an easy path for them. 406 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "But, ingenious as was this scheme for saving the man-power of Germany by an unparalleled expenditure of shell, it required for full success theco-operation of the French troops. But the French did not co-operate. Their High Command had continually improved their system of trench defense in accordance with the experiences of their own hurricane bombardments in Champagne and the Carency sector. General Castelnau, the acting Com- mander-in-Chief on the French front, was indeed the inventor of hurricane fire tactics, which he had used for the first time in February, 1915, in Champagne. When General Joffre took over the conduct of all French operations, leaving to General Castelnau the immediate control of the front in France, the victor of the battle of Nancy weakened his advance lines and then his support lines, until his troops actually engaged in fighting were very little more that a thin covering body, such as is thrown out towards the fron- tier while the main forces connect well behind. "We shall see the strategical effect of this extraordinary meas- ure in the second phase of the Verdun battle, but its tactical effect was to leave remarkably few French troops exposed to the appalling tempest of German and Austrian shells. The fire-trench was almost empty, and in many cases the real defenders of the French line were men with machine guns, hidden in dug-outs at some dis- tance from the photographed positions at which the German gun- ners almed.^' The batteries of light guns, which the French handled with the flexibility and continuity of fire of Maxims, were also concealed in widely scattered positions. The main damage caused by the first intense bombardment was the destruction qf all the telephone wires along the French front. In one hour the German guns plowed up every yard of ground behind the observing posts and behind the fire trench. Communications could only be slowly re-established by messengers, so that many parties of men had to fight on their own initiative, with little or no combination of effort with their comrades. "Yet, desperate as were their circumstances, they broke down the German plan for capturing trenches without an infantry attack. They caught the patrols and annihilated them, and then swept back the disillusioned and reluctant main bodies of German troops. First, the bombing parties were felled, then the sappers as they came forward to repair the line for their infantry, and at last IMMORTAL VERDUN 407 the infantry itself in wave after wave of field-gray. The small French garrison of every center of resistance fought^jvith cool, deadly courage, and often to the death. "^ "Artillery fire was practically useless against them, for though their tunnel shelters were sometimes blown ia by the twelve-inch shells, which they regarded as their special terror by reason of their penetrative power and wide blast, even the Germans had not suflicient shells to search out all their underground chambers, every one of which have two or three exits. 'The new organization of the French Machine-gun Corps was a fine factor in the eventual success. One gun fired ten thousand rounds daily for a week, most of the positions selected being spots from which each German infantry advance would be enfiladed and shattered, i Then the French 75's which had been masked druing the overwhelming fire of the enemy howitzers, came unexpectedly into action when the German infantry attacks increased m strength. Near Haimiont, for example, eight succes- sive furious assaults were repulsed by three batteries of 75's. One battery was then spotted by the Austrian twelve-iach guns, but it remained in action until all its ammimition was exhausted. The gunners then blew up their guns and retired, with the loss of only one man. "Von Falkenhayn had increased the Crown Prince's army from the fourteen divisions — that battled to Douaimaont Fort — to twenty-five divisions. In April he added five more divisions to the forces aroimd Verdun by weakening the effectives in other sectors and drawing more troops from the Russian front. It was rumored that von Hindenburg was growing restive and complaming that the wastage at Verdun would tell agaiost the success of the campaign on the Riga-Dvinsk front, which was to open when the •Baltic ice melted. "Great as was the wastage of life, it was in no way immediately decisive. But when the expenditure of shells almost outran the highest speed of production of the German miinition factories, and the wear on the guns was more than Krupp and Skoda could make good, there was danger to the enemy in beginning another great offensive likely to overtax his shellmakers and gunmakers." Immortal and iadomitable France had won over her foe more power than she had possessed even after the battle of the Marne, 408 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Throughout the entire summer Verdun, with the whole popu- lation of France roused to the supreme heights of heroism behind it, held like a rock. Wave after wave of Germans in gray-green lines were sent against the twenty-five miles of earthworks, while the French guns took their toll of the crack German regiments. German dead lay upon the field until the exposed flesh became the same ghastly hue of their uniforms. No Man's Land around Verdun was a waste and a stench. General Joffre's plan was very simple. It was to hold out. As was afterwards revealed, much to the satisfaction of the Frejich people, Sir Douglas Haig had placed himself completely at the service of the French Commander-in-Chief, and had suggested that he should use the British army to weaken the thrust at Verdun. But General Joffre had refused the proffered help. No man knew better than he what his country, with its exceedingly low birth- rate, was suffering on the Meuse. He had but to send a telegram to British Headquarters, and a million Britons, with thousands of heavy guns, would fling themselves upon the German lines and compel Falkenhayn to divide his shell output, his heavy artillery, and his millions of men between Verdun and the Somme. But General Jofifre, instead of sending the telegram in question, merely dispatched ofl&cers to British Headquarters to assure and calm the chafing Scotsman commanding the military forces of the British Empire. Throughout that long^Summer the battle cry of Verdun, "Nepasseront pas!" {"They shallnot pass!"), was an inspiration to the French army and to the world. Then as autumn drifted its red foliage over the heights surroimding the bloody field, the French struck back. General Nivelle, who had taken command at Verdun imder Joffre, commenced a series of attacks and a per- sistent pressure against the German forces on both sides of the' Meuse. These thrusts culminated in a sudden sweeping attack which, on October 24th, resulted in the recapture by Nivelle's forces of Fort Douaumont and, on November 2d, in the recapture of Fort Vaux. Thus ended in glory the most inspiring battle in the long and splendid history of France. M CHAPTER XXVIl MmRDBRS AND MaRTTRS ANY examples might be cited to show that the Central empires were dead to the humanities. There were ap- parently no limits to the brutality of the German war- makers. Among the outstanding deeds of the Teutons that sickened the world was the killing of Miss Edith Cavell, an English nurse working in Belgian hospitals. A shudder of horror circled the world when announcement was formally made that this splendid woman was sentenced to death and murdered by a German firing squad at two o'clock on the morning of October 12, 1915. The killing of this gentle-natured, brave woman typified to the world Germany's essentially brutal militarism. It placed the German military command in a niche of dishonor unique in all history. The specific charge against Miss Cavell was that she had helped English and French soldiers and Belgian young male civilians to cross the border into Holland. The direct evidence against her was in the form of letters intercepted by the Germans in which some of these soldiers and civilians writing from England thanked her for the aid she had given to them. Upon the farcical trial that resulted in the predetermined sentence of death, Miss Cavell courageously and freely admitted her assistance in the specified cases of escape. When she was asked why she did it, she declared her fear that if she had not done so the men would have been shot by the Germans. Her testimony was ^ven in a clear conversational tone that betrayed no nervous- ness and her entire bearing was such as to win the sympathy of everyone exeept her stony-hearted judges. The German officers in command at Brussels made it impossible for Miss Cavell to see coimsel before the trial, and a number of able lawyers who were solicited to undertake her defense declined to do so because of their fear of the Germans. 409 410 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR^ Sentence was imposed upon her at five o'clock on the afternoon of October 11th. In accordance with its terms, she was taken from her cell and placed against a blank wall at two o'clock the following morning — ^the darkness of the hour vying with the blackness of the deed. Mr. Gahan, the English clergyman connected with the prison, was permitted to see her a short time before her murder. He gave her Holy Communion at ten o'clock on the night of October 11th. To him she declared she was happy in her contemplation of death; that she had no regret for what she had done; and that she was glad to die for her country. Brand Whitlock, American Minister to Belgium, and Hugh Gibson, Secretary of the Legation, did all that was humanly possible to avert the crime, but without avail. They were told that, "the Emperor himself could not intervene." Defending the murder. Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, German Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, callouslyr.disposed of the matter thus: "I see from the English and American press that the shooting of an Englishwoman and the condemnation of several other women in Brussels for treason has caused a sensation, and capital against us is being made out of the fact. Men and women are equal before the law, and onlyithe de^ee of guilt makes a diflference in the sentence for the crime and its consequences." Monuments to Edith Cavell were reared in widely scattered commimities. A mountain was named in her honor. Her murder multiplied enlistments and fed the jfires of patriotism throughout the Allied countries. In the end, Germany lost heavily. The Teutons aimed to strike terror into the hearts of men and women. They only succeeded in arousing a righteous anger that ultimately destroyed the Imperial government. Another instance equally flagrant of the utter callousness of the men who at that time ruled Germany, was the murder of Captain Fryatt, a gallant British seaman, who had dared to attack the pirates of the under-seas. Captain Charles Fryatt was the master of the steamship Brussels, a merchant vessel owned by the Great Eastern Railway. It was captured by the Germans on June 23, 1916. Captain Fryatt was taken to Zeebrugge. A court-martial went through the motions of a trial at Bruges on July 27th. The charge against MURDERS AND MARTYRS 411 Captain Fryafct was that of attempting to ram the German sub- marine U-33. Mute testimony against Captain Fryatt was a gold watch foimd upon his person. This carried an inscription testifying that the watch had been presented by the mayor and people of Harwich in recognition of the Captain's bravery in attempting to ram a submarine, and his successful escape when the U-boat called upon him to surrender. The prisoners who were captured with Captain Fryatt were sent to the prison camp at Ruhlaben, but Captain Fryatt was condemned to death as a "franc-tireur." The news of the murder was sent to the world through a German communique dated July 28th. It stated: ( The accused was condemned to death because, although he was not a member of a combatant force, he made an attempt on the afternoon of March 20, 1913, to ram the German submarine U-33 near the Maas lightship. The accused, aa well as the first officer and the chief engineer of the steamer, received at the time from the British Admiralty a gold watch as a reward of his brave conduct on that occasion, and his action was mentioned with praise in the House of Commons. On the occasion in question, disregarding the U-boat's signal to stop and show his national flag, he turned at a critical moment at high speed on the submarine, which escaped the steamer by a few meters only by imme- diately diving. He confessed that in so doing he had acted in accordance vdth the instructions of the Admiralty. One of the many nefarious franc-tireur proceedings of the British merchant marine against our war vessels has thus found a belated but merited expiation. , This brutal action by Germany coming after the murder of Edith Cavell created intense indignation throughout the world. It ranked with the poison gas at Ypres, the Lusitania, the Belgian atrocities, the killing of Edith Cavell and the unrestricted submarine sinkings, as a factor in arousing the democratic peoples of the world to a fightrag pitch. Germany sowed its seeds of destruction in the wind that bore the fumes of poison gas, and in the ruthless brutality that decreed the sioking of the Lusitania and the murders of Edith Cavell and Captain Fryatt. -^:C\ It reaped the whirlwind in the world-wide wrath that brought America into the war, and that visited disgrace and defeat upon the German Empire. ^ CHAPTER XXVIII The Second Battle of Ypbes FIRST to feel the effects of German terrorism through poison gas were the gallant Canadian troops on the afternoon of April 22, 1915, at Ypres, Belgium. Gas had been used by the Germans previously to this, but they were mere experi-. mental clouds directed against Belgian troops. Before the battle, the English and Canadians held a line from Broodseinde to half a mile north of St. Julien on the crest of the Grafenstafel Ridge. The French prolonged the line to Steenstraate on the Yperlee Canal. The Germans originally planned the attack for Tuesday, April 20th, but with satanic ingenuity the oJEfensive was postponed until between 4 and 5 o'clock on the afternoon of Thm-sday, the 22d. During the morning the wind blew steadily from the north and the scientists attached to the German Field Headquarters predicted that the strong wind would continue at least twelve hours longer. The Canadian division held a line extending about five miles from the Ypres-Roulers Railway to the Ypres-Poelcapelle road. The diAosion consisted of three infantry brigades, in addition to the artillery brigades. Upon this unsuspecting body of men the poison fumes were projected by means of pipes and force pumps. The immediate consequences were that the asphyxiating gas of great intensity rendered immediately helpless thousands of men. The same gas attack that was projected upon the Canadians also fell with mm-derous effect upon the French. The consequences were that the French division on the left of the Canadians gave way and the Third brigade of the Canadian division, so far as the hit was concerned, was "up in the air," to use the phrase of its commanding officer. It became necessary for Brigadier-General Turner, commanding the Third brigade, to throw back his left flank southward to protect his rear. This caused great confusion, and the enemy, advancing rapidly, took a number of guns and many prisoners, penetratmg to 412 THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES 413 the village of St. Julien, two miles in the rear of the original French trenches. The Canadians fought heroically, although greatly outnumbered and poimded by artillery that inflicted tremendous losses. The Germans, as they came through the gas clouds, were protected by masks moistened with a solution containiag bi-car- bonate of soda. The tactics of General Turner off-set the nimierical superiority of the enemy, and prevented a disastrous rout. General Curry, commanding the Second brigade of Canadians, repeated this successful maneuver when he flimg his left flank southward and, presenting two fronts to the enemy, held his line of trenches from Thiu-sday at 5 o'clock imtil Sunday afternoon. The reason the trenches were held no longer than Sunday afternoon was that they had been obliterated by heavy artillery fire. The Germans finally succeeded ia capturing a line, the forward point of which was the village of St. Julien. Reinforcements under General Alderson had come up by this time and the enemy's advance was suddenly checked. Enemy attacks upon the line running from Ypres to Passchendaele completely broke down imder the withering fire of the reinforced and re-formed artillery and infantry brigades. The record officer of the Canadians makes this comment of the detailed fighting: The story of the second battle of Ypres is the story of how the Canadian division, enormously outniunbered — ^for they had in front of them at least four divisions, supported by immensely heavy artillery, with a gap still existing, though reduced, in their lines, and with dispositions made hxuriedly under the stimulus of critical danger, fought through the day and through the night, and then through another day and night; fought under their officers until, as happened to so many, those perished gloriously, and then fought from the impulsion of sheer valor because they came from fighting stock. The enemy, of comrse, was aware — ^whether fully or not may perhaps be doubted — of the advantage his breach in the line had given him, and nnmediately began to push a formidable series of attacks upon the whole of the newly-formed Canadian salient. The attack was everyrvhere fierce, but developed with particular intensity at this moment upon the apex of the newly-formed line, running in the direction of St. Julien. 23 414 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR It has already been stated that some British guns were taken in a wood comparatively early in the evening of the 22d. In the course of that night, and under the heaviest machine-gun fire, this wood was assaulted by the Canadian Scottish, Sixteenth battalion of the Third brigade, and the Tenth battalion of the Second brigade, which was intercepted for this purpose on its way to a reserve trench. The battaUons were respectively commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Leckie and Lieutenant-Colonel Boyle, and after a most fierce strug- gle in the hght of a misty moon they took the position at the point of the bayonet. At midnight the Second battalion, under Colonel Watson, and the Toronto regiment, Queen's Own, Third battalion, under lieutenant-Colonel Rermie, both of the First brigade, brought up much-needed reinforcement, and though not actually engaged in the assault, were in reserve. AH through the following days and nights these battalions shared the fortunes and misfortunes of the Third brigade. An officer who took part in the attack describes how the men about him fell under the fire of the machine guns, which, in his phrase, played upon them "like a watering pot." He added quite simply "I wrote my own life off." But the fine never wavered. "When one man fell another took his place, and with a final shout the survivors of the two battalions flung themselves into the wood. The German garrison was completely demoraUzed, and the impetuous advance of the Canadians did not cease until they reached the far side of the wood and intrenched themselves there in the position so dearly gained. They had, however, the disappointment of finding that the guns had been blown up by the enemy, and later on in the same night a most formidable concentration of artillery fire, sweeping the wood as a tropical storm sweeps the leaves from a forest, made it impossible for them to hold the position for which they had sacrificed so much. The fighting continued without intermission all through the night, and, to those who observed the indications that the attack was being pushed with ever-growing strength, it hardly seemed possible that the Canadians, fighting in positions so difiicult to defend and so little the subject of deliberate choice, could maintain their resistance for any long period. At 6 a. m. on Friday it became apparent that the left was becoming more and more involved, and a powerful German attempt to outflank it developed rapidly. The THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES 415 consequences, if it had been broken or outflanked, need not be insisted upon. They were not merely local. , It was there decided, formidable as the attempt imdoubt- edly was, to try and give relief by a counter-attack upon the first mer' ,j8T£ENST^AAT£ >LlZei?NT [fviaheniy , \^ J^ 0fiven bacH Ftftich I yJy tothe south of ^// PA3SCHENDALB \ ITJULIEM IfNGHE a( ^.. ElOERDJNGE '4^- CiHeluveIt^ V^>lTJCA^ 70NMEBEK J^CK£BU5C t«NV00i2P& ,M>c*ee KXMMEL Cominej The Town of Ypbeb is Full of Memobebs fob the Canadians line of German trenches, now far, far advanced from those originally occupied by the French. This was carried out by the Ontario First and Fourth battaUons of the First brigade, under Brigadier- General Mercer, acting in combination with a British brigade. It is safe to say that the youngest private in the rank, as he 416 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR set his teeth for the advance, knew the task in front of him, and the youngest subaltern knew all that rested upon its success. It did not seem that any human being cotild live in the shower of shot and shell vvhich began to play upon the advancing troops. They suffered terrible casualties. For a short time every other man seemed to fall, but the attack was pressed ever closer and closer. The Fourth Canadian battalion at one moment came under a particularly withering fire. For a moment — ^not more — ^it wavered. Its most gallant commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Burchill, carrying, after an old fashion, a light cane, coolly and cheerfully raUied his men and, at the very moment when his example had in- fected them, fell dead at the head of his battaUon. With a hoarse cry of anger they sprang forward (for, indeed they loved him), as if to avenge his death. The astonishing attack which followed — ^pushed home in the face of direct frontal fire made in broad daylight by bat- talions whose names should live forever in the memories of soldiers — ^was carried to the front line of the German trenches. After a hand-to-hand struggle the last German who resisted was bayoneted, and the trench was won. The measTire of this success may be taken when it is pointed out that this trench represented in the German advance the apex in the breach which the enemy had made in the original line of the Allies, and that it was two and a half miles south of that line. This charge, made by men who looked death indifferently in the face (for no man who took part in it could think that he was likely to live) saved, and that was much, the Canadian left. But it did more. Up to the point where the assailants conquered, or died, it secured and maintained during the most critical moment of all the integrity of the allied Hne. For the trench was not only taken, it was held thereafter against all comers, and in the teeth of every conceivable projectile, until the night of Sunday, the 25th, when all that remained of the war-broken but victorious battalion waa relieved by fresh troops. CHAPTER XXIX Zeppelin Raids on France and England THE idea of warfare in the air has been a dream of romancers from a period long before Jules Verne. Indeed, balloons were used for observation purposes in the eighteenth century by the French armies. The crude balloon of that period, in a more developed form, was used iq the Franco-Prussian War, and during the siege of Paris by its assistance communication was kept up between Paris and the outside world. Realizing its possi- bilities inventors had been trying to develop a balloon which could be propelled against the wind and so guided that explosives could be dropped upon a hostile army. Partially successful dirigible balloons have been occasionally exhibited for a number of years. The idea of such a balloon took a strong hold upon the imagina- tion of the German army staff long before the Great War, and Coimt Ferdinand ZeppeUn gave the best years of his life to its development. From the beginning he met with great difficulties. His first ships proved mechanical failures, and after these diffi- culties were overcome he met with a series of accidents which almost put an end to his efforts. By popular subscription, and by government support, he was able to continue, and when the war began Germany had thirty-five dirigible balloons of the Zeppelin and other types, many of them as much as 490 feet long. The Zeppelin balloon, called the Zeppelin from the name of its inventor, was practically a vast ship, capable of carrying a load of about fifteen thousand pounds. It would carry a crew of twenty men or more, fuel for the engines, provisions, a wireless installation, and armament with ammunition. For a journey of twenty hours such a vessel would need at least seven thousand pounck of fuel. It would probably be able to carry about two tons of explosives. These Zeppelins could travel great distances. Before the war one of them flew from Lake Constance to Berlin, a continuous flight of about one thousand miles, in thirty-one hours 417 418 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR These great aerial warships were given a thorough trial by the Germans. They disliked to admit that they had made a costly mistake in adding them to their armament. It soon turned out, however, that the Zeppelins were practically useless in battle. Whatever they could do, either for scouting purposes or in dropping explosives behind the enemy's lines, could be better done by the airplane. The French and the English, who before the war had decided that the airplane was the more important weapon, were right. But the Germans did not give up their costly toy so easily, and they determined to use it in the bombardment of cities and districts situated far away from the German line, in dropping bombs, not upon fortifications, or armed camps where they might meet with resistance, but upon peaceful non-belligerents in the streets of great unfortified cities. It was their policy of frightfuhiess once again. And once again they had made a mistake. The varied expeditions of the Zeppelin airships sent from Germany to bombard Paris, or to cross the Channel and, after dropping bombs on seaside resorts, to wander over the city of London in the hope of spreading destruc- tion there, did little real damage and their net effects, from a mili- tary point of view, were practically nil. The first Zeppelin raid upon England took place on January 19, 1915. The Zeppelins passed over the cities of Yarmouth, Cromer, Sherringham and King's Lynn. On this expedition there were two Zeppelins. They reached the coast of Norfolk about 8.30 in the evening and then steered northwest across the country toward King's Lynn, dropping bombs as they went. In these towns there were no military stations and the damage suffered was very slight. Nine persons were killed, all civilians. This raid was followed by many others, which at first usually wasted their ammunition, dropping their bombs on small country towns or in empty fields. On the 31st of May an expedition reached London and killed six persons in the east end. The result of this raid was to stir the English to intense indignation. Mobs gathered in the London streets, and persons suspected of being Germans, or with German sympathies, were attacked. Other raids followed, none of them doing serious military damage, but usually killing or wounding innocent non-combatants. The stupid policy of secrecy which they maintained during the first year of the war unfortunately ZEPPELIN RAIDS 419 permitted great exaggeration of the real damages which they had suffered. During the first year, according to Mr. Balfour, in eighteen Zeppelin raids there were only seventy-one civilian adults and eighteen children killed, one hundred and eighty-nine civilian adults and thirty-one children wounded. No soldier or sailor was killed and only seven wounded. In France similar attacks had been made on Paris and Calais. On the 20th of March two Zeppelins dropped bombs on Paris, but Paris, unlike London, was a fortified city, and the sky soldiers were driven off by the anti-aircraft guns. The French also devised an eflBcient method of defense. On the appearance of an airship great searchlights flashed into the air and the enemy was made at once a target, not only for the guns of all the forts, but also for airplane attack. In order to attack successfully a Zeppelin it was necessary that an airplane should attain a position above the enemy. For an airplane to rise to such a height time was required, as the airplane rises slowly. The French, therefore, devised a scheme by which two or more airplanes were kept constantly circling at a very great height above the city. . Relays were formed which relieved each other at regular intervals. When an airship approached it would therefore be compelled in the first place to pass through the fire of the guns on the great forts, and then would find in the air above airplanes in waiting. The Germans, there- fore, practically gave up attacks upon Paris. They were dangerous. London, practically unarmed, seemed to them an easy mark. But the British Lion was now awake. The English had been taken by surprise. They attempted at first, in an unorganized way, to protect their city, and, though occasionally successful in destroying an airship through the gallantry of some individual hero, they soon found that their defense must be organized, and Admiral Sir Percy Scott was entrusted with the task. Lights were extinguished on the streets and screened on the water front. Illununation for advertising purposes was forbidden; windows were covered, so that London became at night a mass of gloom. The Zeppelins, compelled to fly at a very great height, because of anti-aircraft guns, were blinded. As in Paris airplanes were con- stantly kept on the alert and searchlights and anti-airship guns placed at every convenient point. 420 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The suggestion was made that the English should undertake reprisals, but the suggestion was strongly opposed on the ground that the British should not be a "party to a line of conduct con- demned by every right-thinking man of every civilized natiok" The effect cf the Enghsh improved defenses was soon obvious, when the German expeditions began to lose airship after airship. Under the new regime, when such an attack was signaled, the whole city immediately received warning and the sky was swept by dozens of searchlights. Safe retreats were ready for those who cared to use them, but ordinarily the whole population rushed out to watch the spectacle. Airplanes would dash at the incoming foe; the searchlights would be switched off and the guns be silent to avoid hindering the aviators. Then would come the attack and Zeppelin after Zeppelin would be seen falling, a great mass of flames, while their companions would hurry back across the7Channel. Even there they would not be safe, for many an airship was brought down on English fields, or on the waters of the sea. The Germans, however, did not confine their policy of fright- fulness in the air to the performances of their Zeppelins. Before the Zeppelins had crossed the Channel their airplanes had visited England. On Christmas Day, 1914, an airplane attacked Dover, doing, however, no damage. Other airplanes also visited the British Isles from time to time, dropping bombs, and as the Germans began to lose faith in the efficacy of their Zeppelin fleets they began more and more to substitute airplanes for their airships. On some of these expeditions much more damage was done than had ever been done by the Zeppelins. j^ The airplane expedi- tion grew serious in the year 1917; between May 23d and June 16th of that year there were five such aerial attacks. The air- planes could not only move with greater speed but with better direction. An attack on May 25th resulted in the killing of seventy- six persons and the injuring of one hundred and seventy-four, the^principal victims being women and children. This was at the town of Folkestone on the southeast coast. In this attack there were about sixteen airplanes, and the time of the attack was not more than three minutes. Scarcely any part of Folkestone escaped injury. The attack was methodically organized. Four separate squadrons passed over the city, following each other at short intervals. It was impossible to tell when the attack would end, GUARDING PARIS FROM THE HUN Observation post fitted with instruments lot gauging the height and speed of enemy aircraft, a giant 9«iar<;hlig;bt, a listemng post aod » "7,5 guu inBteJlled on the outskirts of Pans, ZEPPELIN RAIDS 423 and people in shelters or cellars were kept waiting for hours without being able to feel certain that the danger had passed. It is probable that one of the motives of these raids was to keep at home fleets of English airplanes which might be more useful on the front. Indeed, many Englishmen, alarmed by the damage, urged such a policy, but the good sense of the English leaders prevented such a mistake from being made. Pitiful as must have been the sxiffering in individual cases, the whole of the damage caused by the German frightfulness was but a trifle as compared with the usefulness of the English air-fleets when directly sent against the German armies. Nevertheless, every squadron of German airplanes sent to England was attacked by The First German Abmt ■which Invaded Fkancb (1 ,200,000) ■would have Stretched "i. FROM Paris into Russia (1,200 miles) ip Marching in Single File British aviators, and ia those attacks the Germans suffered many losses. The worst raid of all those made was one on June 13th, which was directed upon the city of London. On that occasion niuety- seven persons were killed and four hundred and thirty-seven wounded. These airplane operations differed from the Zeppelia expeditions in being carried on in the daytime, and this raid took place while the schools were in session and large numbers of people were in the street. Only one of the attacking airplanes was brought down. The raiding machines were of a new type, about three times the size of the ordinary machine, and there were twenty- two such machines in the squadron. The battle in the air was a striking spectacle and in spite of the danger was watched by mil- lions of the population. The raiders were easily seen and their 424 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR flight seemed like a flight of swallows as they dived and swerved through the air. The raids on England were not the only raids conducted by the Germans during the war. Paris suffered, but as soon as the warn- ing sounded, the sky over the city was alive with defense airplanes. An attack on the French capital took place on the 27th of July and began about midnight. The German airmen, however, never got further than a submrban section of the city, and their bombard- ment caused but little damage. In one of the suburbs, however, a German flyer dropped four bombs on a Red Cross Hospital, killing two doctors, a chemist and a male nurse, and iajuring a number of patients. •■ The raider was flying low and the distinguish- ing marks of the hospital were plainly apparent. Almost every day during the bitter fighting of 1918, reports came in that Allied hospitals had been bombed by German raiders. Attacks on hospitals were, of course, strictly forbidden by the Hague Convention, and they caused bitter indignation. Such attacks were of a piece with those upon hospital ships which were made from time to time. From the very begiiming of the war the Germans could not understand the psychology of the people of the Allied countries. They were not fighting with slaves, ready to cower under the lash, but with free people, ready to fight for liberty and roused to fury by lawlessness. CHAPTER XXX Red Rbvoltjtion in Russia THE Russian Revolution was not a sudden movement of the people. Long before the war it had raised its head. The Diuna itself came into existence as one of its fruits; but when the war began all parties joined in patriotic support of the Russian armies and laid aside for the time their cherished grievances. The war was immensely popular. Slavonic nationalism turned against Austria-Hungary and Germany who were bent upon crushing the Slavonic sister state, Serbia. The liberal elements saw in Germany the stronghold of reaction and of militarism, and trusted that its downfall would be followed by that of Russian autocracy. But so glaring was the incapacity of the old regime, that a union was formed during the war by all the Liberal parties. This group united on the single aim of pushing on the war, and silently preparing for the moment when the catas- trophe to Czarism was to come. This was long before the revolution. But a conviction of the necessity of immediate change gradually came to all. The Czar himself brought matters to an issue. His vacillation, his appointment of ministers who were not only reactionary, but were suspected of being German tools, were too much for even honest supporters of the Imperial regime. Some of these reactionaries, it is true, were easily driven from power. In 1915 Sukhomlinov and Maklakov were overthrown by the influence of the army and the Duma. But in 1916 the parasites came to life again. M. Boris Stuermer became Prime Minister, and appointed as Minister of the Interior the notorious Protopopov. On November 14, 1916, Miliukov, the leader of the Constitutional Democrats, or Cadet Party, attacked the Premier in one of the fiercest speeches ever made in the Russian Duma. Stuermer was compelled to resign, but his successor, M. Trepov, though an honest man with high ambitions, was forced to retain Protopopov at the Interior. For a moment there was calm. But it was the calm before the storm. 425 426 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Russian Revolution, now recognized as the most bloody revolution in history, began with the assassination of a single man. This man was Gregory Novikh, known throughout the world under the name of Rasputin. A Siberian peasant by birth, immoral, filthy in person, untrained in mind, he had early received the nick- name of Rasputin, which means "ne'er-do-well," on account of his habits. A drunkard, and a libertine always, he posed as a sort of saint and miracle worker, let his hair grow long, and tramped about the world barefoot. Rasputin had left his district of Tobolsk and at Moscow had started a new cult, where mystical stances were mingled with debauchery. Through Madame Verubova he had been introduced to the Empress herself. ^ He became the friend of Count Witte, of Stuermer, and Protopopov was his tool. Rumor credited him with exercising an extraordinary influence upon the Czarina, and through her upon the Czar. This influence was thought to be responsible for many of the Czar's unpopular policies. In times of great public agitation the wildest rumors are easily taken for truth and the absurd legends which were easily associated with his name were greedily accepted by people of every rank. The influ- ence of Rasputin over the Imperial family was denied again and again. It has been said from authoritative sources that the Czar did not know him by sight, and that the Czarina knew him only as a superstitious and neiu:otic woman might know some fortune teller or other charlatan. Nevertheless the credulous public believed him to be the evU spirit of the Imperial circle, and every false move, every unpopular act, was ascribed to his baneful influ- ence. But such a career could not last long, and the end became a tragedy. Several times Rasputin had been attacked, but had escaped. At last, on the 29th of December, 1916, Prince Yusapov, a yoimg man of wealth and position, invited him to dine with him at his own home. The Prince came for him in his own car. Entering the dining-room, they found there the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlo- vitch. M. Ptnishkevitch, a member of the Duma, had acted as chauffeur, and he followed him in. The three told him that he was to die and he was handed a pistol that he might kill himself; instead of doing so, he shot at the Grand Duke, but missed, and then was shot in turn by his captors. The noise attracted the RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 427 attention of the police who inquired what had happened. "I have just killed a dog," was the reply. His body was taken in an automobile to the Neva River, a hole cut in the ice, and weighted with stones, it was dropped into the waters. Qn the next day his executioners notified the police of what they had done, and the news was announced at the Imperial Theatre, whose audience went wild with enthusiasm, and sang the National Hymn. No legal action was ever taken against Rasputin's executioners. His body was recovered and given honorable bmial. The Czarina, according to report, following the coffin to the grave. And so disappeared from the Imperial Court one evil force. But his tool, Alexander Protopopov, still survived. Pro- topopov was an extraordinary man. In 1916 he had visited Eng- land and France and made a splendid impression. His speeches, full of fire and patriotism, were regarded as the best made by any deputation that had come from Russia. But on his return to Petrograd he fell completely into the hands of the Court party* He became associated with Rasputin, and his wild talk and rest- less conduct suggested to many that his mind had become affected. After the death of Rasputin, the meeting of the Duma, which should have taken place on January 25, 1917, was postponed for a month. The censorship was drawn tighter, the members of the secret police were greatly increased, and a deliberate endeavor, under tiie direction of Protopopov was made to encourage an abor- tive revolution, so that its overthrow might establish the reaction- aries in power. But the attempt failed. During January and February the people were calm. No one wanted revolution then. On February 9th, the labor members of the War Industry Committee were arrested. This was regarded as plainly provocative, and M. Miliukov wrote appeals to the people for patience. These were suppressed, but no distm-bance ensued. A British Commission, then on a visit to Russia, reported that there was no danger of revolution. But the people were hungry. Speakers in the Duma discussed the food problem. It became harder and harder to procure bread, and little that was practical seemed to be done to improve the situation, though in some parts of the country there were large surplus stocks. On March 8th crowds gathered around the bakery shops, and looted 428 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR several of them. The next day the crowds In the streets increased. Groups of Cossacks rode here and there, fraternizmg with the peo- ple. They, too, were hungry. In the afternoon two workmen were arrested for disorder by the police. A band of Cossacks freed them. Street speakers began to appear here and there, and crowds gathered to listen to their fiery denunciations of the government. On March 11th, General Kliabalov, military governor of the city, issued a proclamation announcing that the police had orders to disperse all crowds, and that any workman who did not return to work on Monday morning would be sent to the trenches. The main streets of the city were cleared and guarded by the police and soldiery. The crowds were enormous, and disorderly, and more than two hundred of the rioters were killed. Yet it seemed as if the government had the situation in a firm grasp, though an ominous incident was that the Pavlovsk regiment on being ordered to fire upon the mob, mutinied and had to be ordered to their quarters. Meantime Rodzianko, the President of the Duma, had tele- graphed to the Czar: Situation serious. Anarchy reigns in Capital. Government is paralyzed. Transport food and fuel supplies are utterly disorganized. General discontent is growing. Disorderly firing is going on in streets. Various companies of soldiers are shooting at each other. It is absolutely necessary to invest someone, who enjoys the confidence of the people, with powers to form a new government. No time must be lost, and delay may be fatal. I pray to God. that in this hour responsibility may not fall on the wearer of the crown. The Prime Minister, Prince Golitzin, acting under powers which he had received ^from the Czar, prorogued the Duma. But the Duma refused to be prorogued. Its President, Rodzianko, holding in his hand the order for dissolution, announced that the Duma was now the sole constitutional authority of Russia. Dming the night following, the soldiers at the Capital> and the Socialists, decided upon their course. The soldiers deter- mined that they would not fire upon their civilian brothers. The Socialists planned an alternative scheme of govermnent. On March the 12th, the city was taken possession of by a mob. The Preo Crajenski Guards refused to fire upon the crowd. The Volynsky regiment, sent to coerce them, joined in the mutiny. RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 429 Followed by the mob, the two regiments seized the arsenal. A force of 25,000 soldiers was in the revolt. At 11 A. m., the Courts of Law were set on fire and the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul was seized. The poUce, fighting desperately, were hunted from their quarters, their papers destroyed and the prisoners, political and criminal, released from the jails. During the day the Duma kept in constant session, awaiting the Emperor, who did not come. Telegram after telegram was sent him, each more urgent. There is reason to believe that these telegrams never reached the Czar. When information finally did come to him it was too late. Meantime the Duma appointed an executive committee. Their names were Rodzianko, Nekrasov, Konovalov, Dmitrikov, Lvov, Rjenski, Karaulov, Mihukov, Schled- lovski, Schulgin, Tcheidze and Kerensky. The workmen and soldiers also formed a committee, which undertook to influence the troops now pouring into Petrograd. But the center of the revolution was still the Duma, and crowds gathered to listen to its speeches. In the evening Protopovo surrendered to the Russian guards, but General Khabalov stiU occupied the Admiralty build- ing with such forces as were faithful. On March 13th it became evident that the army in the field were accepting the authority of the provisional government. The Duma committee was composed mainly of men of moderate political views. They moved slowly, fearing on the one hand the Reactionaries who still preserved their loyalty to the Czar, and on the other hand the Council of Labor, with its extreme views, and its influence with the troops. The siege of the Admiralty building was ended by the surrender of General Khabalov. The police, however, were still keeping up a desultory resistance, but the mob were hunting them like wild beasts. On Wednesday, the 14th of March, the revolution was over. The Executive Committee of the Duma and the Council of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, now universally known as the Soviet, were working in harmony. Every hour proclamations were issued, some of them foolish, some of them, it is thought, inspired by German agents, and some of them wise and patriotic. One of the most unfortunate of these proclamations was one to the army directing that "the orders of the War Committee must be obeyed, saving only on those occasions when they shall contravene the 430 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR orders and regulations of the labor deputies and military delegates." This same proclamation abolished saluting for private soldiers off duty. It was the beginning of the destruction of the Russian roilitary power. The proclamation of the Duma committee itgielf was admirable: Citizens: The Provisional Executive Committee of the Duma, with the aid and support of the garrison of the capital and its inhabitants, has now triumphed over the baneful forces of the old regime in such a manner as to enable it to proceed to the more stable organization of the executive power. With this object, the Provisional Committee will name mioisters of the first national cabinet, men whose past public activity assures them the confidence of the country. The new cabinet will adopt the following principles as the basis of its poHcy: 1. An immediate amnesty for all political and religious offenses, including miUtary revolts, acts of terrorism, and agrarian crimes. 2. Freedom of speech, of the press, of associations and labor organiza- tions, and the freedom to strike; with an extension of these Uberties to officials and troops, in so far as military and technical conditions permit. 3. The abolition of social, religious, and racial restrictions and privileges. 4. Immediate preparation for the summoning of a Constituent Assem- bly, which, with universal suffrage as a basis, shall establish the govern- mental regime and the constitution of the coimtry. 5. The substitution for the police of a national militia, with elective heads and subject to the self-governing bodies. 6. Communal elections to be carried out on the basis of universal suffrage. 7. The troops that have taken part in the revolutionary movement shall not be disarmed, but they are not to leave Petrograd. 8. While strict military discipline must be maintained on active service, all restrictions upon soldiers in the enjoyment of social rights granted to other citizens are to be abolished. Meantime the Emperor, "the Little Father," at first thoroughly incredulous of the gravity of the situation, had at last become alarmed. He appointed General Ivanov Commander-in-Chief of the army, and ordered him to proceed to Petrograd at the head of a division of loyal troops. General Ivanov set out, but his train was held up at Tsarkoe Selo, and he returned to Pskov. The Czar himself then started for the city, but he, too, was held up at the little station of Bologoi, where workmen had pulled up the track, and he returned to Pskov. RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 431 He sent for Ruzsky and declared that he was ready to yield to the Duma and grant a responsible ministry. Ruzsky advised him to get in touch with Rodzianko, and as a result of a telephone communication with Rodzianko and with several of his trusted generals, it became clear that there was no other course than abdication. Guchkov and Shulgiti, messengers from the Duma, arrived on the evening of March 15th, and found the Emperor alone, except for his aide-de-camp, Count Fredericks. ~ "What do you want me to do?" he asked. "You must abdicate," Guchkov told him, "in favor of your son, with the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch as Regent." The Emperor sat for a long time silent. "I cannot be separated from my boy," he said. "I will hand the throne to my brother." Taking a sheet of paper he wrote as follows: By the Grace of God, We, Nicholas II, Emperor of aU the'Russias, to all our faithful subjects: In the course of a great struggle against a foreign enemy, who has been endeavoring for three years to enslave our country, it has pleased God to send Russia a further bitter trial. Internal troubles have threatened to compromise the progress of the war. The destinies of Russia, the honor of her heroic army, the happiness of her people, and the whole future of our beloved country demand that at aU costs victory shall be won. The enemy is making his last efforts, and the moment is near when our gallant troops, in concert with their glorious Allies, will finally overthrow him. In these da3rs of crisis we have considered that om* nation needs the closest union of all its forces for the attainment of victory. In agreement with the Imperial Duma, we have recognized that for the good of our land we should abdicate the throne of the Russian state and lay down the supreme power. Not wishing to separate ourselves from our beloved son, we bequeath our heritage to oiur brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, with our blessing upon the future of the Russian throne. We bequeath it to him with the charge to govern in full unison with the national repre- sentatives who may sit in the legislature, and to take his inviolable oath to them in the name of our well-beloved country. We call upon all faithful sons of our land to fulfil this sacred and patriotic duty m obeying their Emperor at this painful moment of national trial, and to aid him, together with the representatives of the nation, to lead the Russian people in the way of prosperity and glory. May God help Russia. So ended the reign of Nicholas the Second, Czar of all the RuBsias. The news of the Czar's abdication spread over the world 432 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ■with great rapidity, and was received by the Allies with mixed feelings. The Czar had been scrupulously loyal to the alliance. He was a man of high personal character, and his sympathies on the whole, liberal; but he was a weak man ia a position in which even a strong man might have failed. He was easily iofluenced, especially by his wife. Warned again and again of the danger before him, he constantly promised improvement, only to fail in keeping his promises. He deeply loved his wife, and yielded continually to her unwise advice. The Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is but another instance of a devoted queen who dethroned her consort. She beUeved in Diviae Right and looked with suspicion upon popular leaders. Her one object in Hfe was to hand on the Russian crown to her son, with no atom of its power diminished. She surrounded herself and her husband with scoundrels and charlatans. On the whole, the feeling among the Allies was one of relief. There was a general distrust of the influences which had been sur- rounding the Czar. The patriotism of the Grand Duke Michael was well known, and a government conducted by him was sure to be a great improvement. But it was not to be. Before the news of the abdication reached Petrograd a new ministry had been formed by the Duma. Miliukov annoimced their names and explained their credentials. The Prime Minister was Prince George Lvov.' Miliukov was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guchkov Minister of War and Marine, Kerensky, a new name in the govern- ment. Minister of Justice. The ministry included representatives of every party of the left and center. Miliukov declared that their credentials came from the Russian revolution: "We shall not fight for the sake of power. To be in power is not a reward or pleasure but a sacrifice.?;! ^ ^^°^ as we are told that the sacrifice is no longer needed, we shall give up our places with gratitude for the opportunity which has been accorded us." He concluded by informing his hearers that the despot who had brought Russia to the brink of ruin would either abdicate of his free will, or be deposed. He added that the Grand Duke Michael would be appointed Regent. This announcement at once produced an explosion. A min- istry of moderates and a continuance of the Imperial government RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 433 under a regency stirred the delegates of the workmen and soldiers to revolt. For a time it seemed as if the new government would disappear in the horrors of mob rule. But Kerensky saved the situation. Making his way into the meeting of the Soviet he burst into an impassioned speech. "Comrades!" he cried, "I have been appointed Minister of Justice. No one is a more ardent Republican than I, but we must bide om? time. Nothing can come to its full growth at once. We shall have our Republic but we must first win the war. The need of the moment is organization and discipline and that need will not wait." His eloquence carried the day. The Soviet passed a resolu- tion supporting the provisional government with only fifteen dis- senting votes. But it had been made clear that the people did not approve of the regency, and on the night of the 15th of March, Prince Lvov, Kerensky and other leaders of the Duma sought out the Grand Duke Michael and informed him of the situation. The Grand Duke yielded to the people, and on Friday, March the 16th, issued a declaration which ended the power of the Rbmanovs in Russia: I am firmly resolved to accept the supreme power only if this should be the desire of our great people, who must, by means of a plebiscite through their representatives in the Constituent Assembly, establish the form of government and the new fundamental laws of the Russian state. Invoking God's blessing, I, therefore, request all citizens of Russia to obey the provisional government, set up on the initiative of the Duma, and invested with plenary powers, until within as short a time as possible the Constituent Assembly elected on a basis of equal, universal and secret suffrage, shall enforce the will of the nation regarding the future form of the constitution. With this declaration the sacred monarchy had disappeared. In one week the people had come to their own and Russia was free. But what form of new government was to replace the old rlgboae was still the question. There were two rival theories as to the principles to be followed, one that of the Moderates, the other of the Extremists. The Moderates, who controlled the provisional government were practical men. They realized that Russia was at war and that efficient administration was the great need. The Extremists of the Soviet were a different type of men. 434 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR They were profoundly ignorant of all practical questions of govern- ment; their creed was socialism. The Socialistic party in Russia may be divided into three different groups. The first, the Social Revolutionary party, came into prominence in Riissia about 1900. It was composed of followers of the Russian Lavrov who believed in the socialist state, but a state which should not be a tyrant overriding the individual. Liberty was his watchword and he made his appeal not only to the workmen in the shops but with a special force to the peasant. He did not preach class war in the ordinary sense, and believed in the value of national life. To this party belonged Kerensky, more and more becoming the leader of the revolutionary movement. The second group of the Socialist party were the Bolsheviki. This group were followers of the German Karl Marx. The revo- lution which they sought was essentially a class revolution. To the Bolsheviki the fate of their country mattered not at all. They were eager for peace on any terms. The only war in which they were interested was a class war; they recognized no political boun- daries. The leader of this group was Yladimir Iljetch Uljanov, who, under his pen name of Lenine, was already widely known and who had now obtained the opportunity which he had long desired. The third group were the Mensheviki. The Mensheviki believed in the importance of the working classes, but they did not ignore other classes. They were Avilling to use existing forms of government to carry out the reforms they desired. They saw that the Allied cause was their own cause, the cause of the work- man as well as the intellectual. The Soviet contained representatives of these three groups. It did not represent Russia, but it was in Petrograd and could exert its influence directly upon the government. The attitude of the provisional government toward the Imperial family was at first not unkmdly. The Czar and the Czarina were escorted to the Alexandrovsky Palace in Tsarskoe- Selo. The Czar for a time lived quietly as plain Nicholas Romanov. The Czarina and her children were very ill with measles, the case of the little Prince being complicated by the breaking out of an old wound in his foot. The Grand Duchess Tatiana was in a serious condition and oxygen had been administered. As his family improved in health the Czar amused himself by strolls RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 435 in the palace yard, and even by shoveling snow. Later on Nicholas was transferred to Tobolsk, Siberia, and then, in May, 1918, to Yekaterinberg. . His wife and his daughter Marie accompanied him to the latter place, while Alejds and his other three daughters remained in Tobolsk. On July 20th a Russian government dis- patch aimoimced his assassination. It read as follows: At the first session of the Central Executive Committee, elected by the Fifth Congress of the CouncUs, a message was made public that had been received by direct wire from the Ural Regional Council, concerning the shooting of the ex-Czar, Nicholas Romanov. Recently Yekaterin- berg, the Capital of the Red Urals, was seriously threatened by the approach of Czecho-Slovak bands, and a counter-revolutionary conspiracy wag discovered, which had as its object the wresting of the ex-Czar from the hands of the Council's authority. In view of this fact the President of the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot the ex-Czar, and the decision was carried out on July 16th. The wife and the son of Nicholas Romanov had been sent to a place of security. In a detailed account of the execution, published in Berlin, it appeared that the Czar had been awakened at JElve o'clock iu the morning, and informed that he was to be executed in two hours. He spent some titne with a priest in his bedroom and wrote several letters. According to this account, when the patrol came to take him out for execution he was found in a state of collapse. His last words, uttered just before the executioners fired, are reported to have been "Spare my wife and my innocent and unhappy children. May my blood preserve Russia from ruin." The Russian press, including the Socialist papers, condemned the execution as a cruel and imnecessary act. The charges of conspiracy were utterly unproven, and were merely an excuse. The Central Executive Committee, however, accepted the decision of the Ural Re^onal Soviet as being regular, and a decree by the Bolshevist Government declared all the property of the former Emperor, his wife, his mother and all the members of the Imperial house, forfeit to the Soviet Republic. Meantime the provisional government, which had taken power on the 16th of March, seemed as if it might succeed. Miliukov, whose announcement of the Regency had made him unpopular, declared for a Republic. The great army commanders for the most part accepted the revolution. The Grand Duke Nicholas 436 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR was removed from his command and the other Grand Dukes were ordered not to leave Petrograd. Alexiev became commander-in- chief; Ruzsky had the northern group of armies, Brusilov the southern; Komilov was in command of Petrograd, and the cen- tral group was put under the command of Lechitsky. Reports came that discipline was improving everywhere on the front. The plans of the government, too, met with general approval. Their policy was announced by Prince Lvov. "The new govern- ment considers it its duty to make known to the world that«,the y^_P ETROG FtAD Capitaii op the New Rbpttblig op EtrssiA object of free Russia is not to dominate other nations and forcibly to take away their territory. The object of independent Russia is a permanent peace and the right of all nations to determine their own destiny." Kerensky, in inspiring speeches, encoiiraged the coimtry to war, and declared against a separate peace. Tfie new government announced that Poland was to receive complete independence, with a right to determine its ewn form of government, and its relation, if any, to Russia. In Finland the Governor, Sein, was aemoved. A Liberal was appointed Governor and the Finnish RED liEVOLUTION IN RUSSIA 437 Diet was convened. A manifesto was issued on March 21st, completely restoring the Finnish constitution. To the Armenians Kerensky expressed himself as in favor of an autonomous govern- ment for them, under Russia's protection, and on March 25th, absolute equaUty of the Jews was proclaimed by the new govern- ment. A number of Jews were made officers in the army, and two Jewish advocates were appointed members of the Russian Senate and of the Supreme Court. On April 4th full reUgious liberty was proclaimed, and on the same date the Prime Minister promised a delegation of women that women would be given the right to vote. These acts caused a general subsidence of imrest, and public good feeling was increased by the return of the poUtical exiles and prisoners from Siberia. A full himdred thousand of such pris- oners were released, and their progress across Siberia to Russia was one grand triumphal march. The most celebrated of these political prisoners were two women, Catherine Breshkovskaya and Marie Spiridonova. Cath- erine Breshkovskaya W£is known as the grandmother of the revolu- tion. Forty-four years of her life were spent in exile. When she reached Petrograd she was met at the railroad depot by a mihtary band, and carried in procession through the streets. Equally popular was Marie Spiridonova, who, though still young, had suffered martyrdom. She had been tortxired with cruelty that is unprintable. Her face had been disfigured for life. The agents who had inflicted the torture were assassinated by the revolutionists. \ It was a great day for Russia, and the outlook seemed full of promise. CHAPTER XXXI The Descent to Bolshevism THE hopes entertained for the new RepubUc of Russia were doomed to disappointment. For a short time, under the leadership of Lvov, the Russians marched along the path of true democracy. But the pace became too rapid. The government prospered in Petrograd, and the economic organization of the coimtry proceeded with great speed. An eight- hour day was introduced in the capital and in many other cities throughout the republic. The fever of organization spread even to the peasants. They formed a Coimcil of Peasants' Deputies, modeled after the Council of Workmen and Soldiers. On the 13th of April, 1917, came the first meeting of the All-Russia Congress of Soviets, and with it a revival of the differences of opinion which ultimately were to destroy thq goverimient. The great majority were for war, but the minority, led by Lenine and the Bolsheviki element, demanded an immediate peace. They declared that the enemies of the Revolution were not the Central Powers, but the capitahsts in all countries, and not least the Provisional Govern- ment of Russia. Some clew to the meaning of the Bolsheviki movement in Russia is to be found in the life of Lenine, its leading spirit. It has been charged that he was the tool of the German Government. He undoubtedly received facilities from the German Government to return to Russia from Switzerland immediately after the Revo- lution in March. His whole career, however, suggests that he was not a tool, but a fanatic. He was born in Simbirsk, in Central Russia, in the year 1870. Leniae was only one of the several aUases that he had found it necessary to adopt at various times. He was of good family, and received his education at the Petrograd University. From the very beginning he took an active interest in the political and social problems of the day. In 1887 his brother, A. Uljanov, was arrested, and after a secret trial condemned to death and hanged as a partici- 438 Underwood and Underwood, N . Y . THE WOMEN'S "BATTALION OF DEATH" IN NATIONAL DANCE A unique outgrowth of the Russian revolution was Ihis orpani/ation of women which came into prominence at the beginnin}; of the Russian front's break-up. O Underwood and Underwood, N. T. DEMONSTRATION OF CITIZENS BEFORE THIS WINTER PALACE The formation of the Red Guard adopting the propagandft of the Bolshevists fesultedo which drove Eusaia into % chao* of Rp-D-Aliitioitu 0£ Jig" •9 .. I a CO g ta go I o £ ft till ia§a ,■£ bo's O a o3 c3 , One of the most picturesque episodes oi this phase of the war was the formation of a woman's regiment, known as the "Command of Death," which was reviewed at Petrograd Jime 21st, by Minister of War, Kerensky. In front of the barracks assigned to this regiment a visitor found posted at the gate a little blue- eyed sentry in a soldier's khaki blouse, short breeches, green forage cap, ordinary woman's black stockings and neat shoes. The sentry was Mareya Skridlov, daughter of Admiral Skridlov, former commander of the Baltic fleet and Minister of Marines. In the courtyard three hundred ^Is were drilling, mostly between 18 and 25 years old, of good physique and many of them pretty. They wore their hair short or had their heads entirely shaved. They were drilling under the instruction of a male sergeant of the Volynsky regiment, and marched to an exaggerated goose step. The girl commander^ Lieutenant Buitchkarev, explained that 444 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR most of the recruits were from the higher educational academies, with a few peasants, factory girls and servants. Some married women were accepted, but none who had children. The Battalion of Death distinguished itself on the field, setting an example of courage to the mutinous regiments during the retreat of Brusilov. With the army thus demoralized the Russian Revolution encountered a perilous period toward the end of July, 1917, and civil war or anarchy seemed almost at hand, when out of the depths of the national spirit there arose a new revolution to save the- situation and to maintain order. The country was every- where the scene of riotous disturbances. Anarchists, radicals, and monarchists seemed to be worktag hand-in-hand to precipitate a reign of terror, when once more Kerensky saved the situation. On July 20th, it was announced that the Premier, Prince Lvov, had resigned, and that Alexander Kerensky had been appointed Premier, but would also retain his portfolio as Minister of War. A new government was quickly formed. Kerensky was made practical Dictator, and his government received the complete endorsement of a joint Congress of the Soviets and the Council of peasant delegates. Kerensky acted with the utmost vigor. Orders were given to fire on deserters and warrants issued for the arrest of revolutionary agitators whoever they might be. Rear-Admiral Verdervski, commander of the Baltic fleet, was seized for com- municatiQg a secret government telegram to sailors' committees. Agitators from the Soviet were arrested, charged with inciting the Peterhof troops against the Federal Government. On July 22d, the following resolution was passed by the joint Congress. sRecogmzing that the country is menaced by a military debacle on the front and by anarchy at home, it is resolved: 1. That the country and the revolution are in danger. 2. That the Provisional Government is proclaimed the Government of National Safety. 3. That unlimited powers are accorded the government for re-estab- lishing the organization and discipline of the army for a fight to a finish against the enemies of pubUc order, and for the realization of the whole program embodied in the governmental program just announced. The reorganization of the Councils of the All-Russia, and Workmen's and Peasants' Organizations on the 23d, issued a ringing address to the army denouncing its mutinous spirit and THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 445 warning it of the inevitable result. The Provisional Government also issued a proclamation on July 22d, charging that the dis- orders were precipitated to bring about a counter-revolution by the enemies of the country. But the army was demoralized. It disregarded discipline and refused to recognize military rule. A general retreat followed. The Germans and Austrians steadily advanced through Galicia and crossed the frontier before the Rus- sian armies could be forced to make a stand. The death penalty for treason or mutiny was restored in the army on July 25th, when Kerensky threatened to resign unless this was done. On that same date the government authorized the Minister of the Interior to suspend the publication of periodicals that incite to insubordination or disobedience to orders given by the military authorities. By July 28th the situation had become more hopeful. On that day General Rxizsky, formerly commander- in-chief of the northern armies of Russia, and General Gurko, ex-commander on the Russian southwestern front, were sum- moned, to Petrograd. Each had retired on account of the inter- ference of the Council of Workmen and Soldiers' delegates. Their return to the service was a hopeful sign. The Soviet also passed by an overwhelming majority a resolution censiuing Lenine, and demanding that he should be publicly tried. Charges had been made that Lenine and his associates were working under German direction and financed by Germans. On August 2d, Komilov became Commander-iu-Chief of the Russian army. A disagree- ment in the Cabinet led to its reorganization. In the new Cabinet appeared again representatives of the Constitutional Democratic party. Conditions began to showimprovement from this time forth. __ An extraordinary National Coimcil met at Moscow August 26th, 1917. This conference consisted of 2,500 delegates repre- senting the Duma, the Soviets, the Zemstvos, and indeed all organized Russia. Kerensky opened the conference in a speech of great length in which he reviewed the general situation, declar- ing that the destructive period of the Revolution had past and that the time had come to consolidate its conquests. Perhaps the most important address before the Council was that made by General Komilov, Commander-in-Chief of the army. General Komilov was received with prolonged cheers, which in 446 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the light of his subsequent action were especially significant. General Komilov described with much detail the disorganization and insubordination in the army, and continued: "We are implacably fighting anarchy in the army. Undoubt- edly it will finally be repressed, but the danger of fresh debacles is weighing constantly on the country. The situation on the front is bad. We have lost the whole of Gahcia, the whole of Bukowina, and all the fruits of our recent victories. If Russia wishes to be saved the army must be regenerated at any cost." General Komi- lov then outhned the most important of the reform measures which he recommended, and concluded: "I believe that the genius and the reason of the Russian people will save the country. I believe in a brilliant future for our army. I beUeve its ancient glory will be restored." General Kaledines, leader of the Don Cossacks, mounted the tribune and read a resolution passed by the Cossacks demanding the continuation of the war until complete victory was attained. He defied the extreme Radicals. "Who saved you from the Bol- sheviki on the 14th of July?" he asked contemptuously. "We Cossacks have been free men. We are not made drunk by our new-found Hberties and are unblinded by party or program. We tell you plainly and categorically, 'Remove yourselves from the place which you have neither the ability or the courage to fill, and let better men than yourselves step in, or take the consequences of your folly.' " The conference took no definite action, being invested with no authority, but it served to bring out clearly the line of cleavage between the Radical or Socialistic element represented by Kerensky and the Conservatives represented by the generals of the army. Immediately on the heels of the Moscow conference an impor- tant German advance was made in the direction of Riga, the most important Russian Baltic port. la spite of a vigorous defense the Germans captured the city. The loss of Riga intensified the political excitement in Russia, and produced a profound crisis. A wave of unrest spread through- out the country. The Grand Duke Michael, and' the Grand Duke Paul with their families, were arrested on a charge of conspiracy. The Provisional Government was charged with responsibility of the collapse of the army. THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 447 It was on September 9th, that the storm broke, and General Komilov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, raised the flag of revolt against the Provisional Government. The details of the revolt are as follows: At one o'clock Saturday afternoon, Deputy Lvov, of the Duma, called upon Premier Kerensky, and declared that he had come as the representative of General Komilov to demand the surrender of all power into Komilov's hands. M. Lvov said that this demand did not emanate from Kornilov only but was supported by an organization of Duma members, Moscow industrial interests, and other conservatives. This group, said M. Lvov, did not object to Kerensky personally, but demanded that he transfer the Portfolio of War to M. Savinkov, assistant Minister of War, who all along had supported Kornilov. "If you agree," M. Lvov added, "we Invite you to come to headquarters and meet General Komilov, giving you a solemn guarantee that you will not be arrested." Premier Kerensky replied that he could not believe Komilov to be guilty of such an act of treason, and that he would commu- nicate with him directly. In an exchange of telegrams Komilov confirmed fully to the Premier his demands. Kerensky promptly placed Lvov imder arrest, denounced Komilov as a traitor and deposed him from his position as Commander-in-Chief, General Klembovsky being appointed in his place. General Komilov responded to the order of dismissal by moving an army against the Capital. Martial law was declared in Moscow and in Petrograd. Kerensky assinned the functions of Commander-in-Chief and took military measures to defend Petrograd and resist the rebels. On the 12th it was clear that the Komilov revolt had failed to receive the expected support. KomUov advanced toward Petrograd, and occupied Jotchina, thirty miles southwest of the Capital, but there was no bloodshed. On the night of the 13th, General Alexief demanded Komilov's unconditional surrender, and the revolt collapsed. Kornilov was arrested and_theProvisional Government reconstituted on stronger lines. After the so-called Komilov revolt, the Russian Revolution assumed a form which might almost be called stable. A democratic congress met at Moscow, September 27th, and adopted a resolu- 448 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR tion providing for a preliminary parliament to consist of 231 members, of whom 110 were to represent the Zemstvos and the towns. The congress refused its sanction to a coalition cabinet in which the Constitutional Democrats should participate, but Kerensky practically defied the congress, and named a coaUtion cabinet, in which several portfoUos were held by members of the Constitutional Democratic Party. The new government issued a statement declaring that it had three principal aims: to raise the fighting power of the army and navy; to bring order to the country by fighting anarchy; to call the Constitu- ent Assembly as soon as possible. The Constituent Assembly was called to assemble in December. It was to consist of 732 delegates to be elected by popular vote. Meantime agitation against the Coahtion Government con- tinued. On November 1st, the Premier issued a statement through the Associated Press, to all the newspapers of the Entente, which conveyed the information that he almost despaired of restoring civil law in the distracted coimtry. He said that he felt that help was needed urgently and that Russia asked it as her right. C" Russia has fought consistently since the beginniug," he said. "She saved France and England from disaster early in the war. She is worn out by the strain and claims as her right that the AlUes now shoulder the burden." "^ On November 7th, an armed insurrection against the Coali- tion Government and Premier Kerensky was precipitated by the Bolsheviki faction. The revolt was headed by Leon Trotzky, President of the Central Executive Committee of the Petrograd Council, with Nicholas Lenine, the Bolsheviki leader. The Revo- lutionists seized the offices of the telephone and telegraph com- panies and occupied the state bank and the Marie Palace where the preliminary ParUament had been sittiag. The garrison at Petrograd espoused the cause of the Bolsheviki and complete control was seized with comparatively little fighting. The govern- ment troops were quickly overpowered, except at the Winter Palace, whose chief guardians were the Woman's Battalion, and the Military Cadets. The Woman's Battahon fought bravely, and suffered terribly, and with the Military Cadets who also remained true, held the Palace for several hours. The Bolsheviki brought up armored cars and the cruiser Aurora, and turned the guns of THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 449 the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul upon the Palace before its defenders would surrender. That evening the Revolutionary Committee issued a char- acteristic proclamation, denouncing the government of Kerensky as opposed to the government and the people, and calling upon the soldiers in the army to arrest their ofl&cers if they did not at once join the Revolution. They announced the following program: First: The offer of an immediate democratic peace. Second: The immediate handing over of large proportional lands to the peasants. Third: The transmission of all authority to the Coimcil of Work- men's and Soldiers' Delegates. Fourth: The honest convocation of the Constituent Assembly. At a meeting of the Council, Trotzky declared that the govern- ment no longer existed, and introduced Lenine as an old comrade whom he welcomed back. Lenine was received with prolonged cheers, and said: "Now we have a Revolution. The peasants and workmen control the government. This is only a pi'eliminary step toward a similar revolution everywhere." Proclamation after proclamation came from the new govern- ment. In one of them it was stated "M. Kerensky has taken flight, and all military bodies have been empowered to take all possible measures to arrest Kerensky and bring him back to Petrograd. AU complicity with Kerensky will be dealt with as high treason," A Bolsheviki Cabinet was named. The Premier was Nicholas Leniae; the Foreign Minister, Leon Trotzky. The other Cabinet members were all Bolsheviki, including Bibenko, a Kronstadt sailor, of the Committee on War and Marine, and Shliapnikov, a laborer, who was Minister of Labor. Lenine's personality has already been described. Trotzky, the chief aid of Lenine's rebel- lion, had been Uving in New York City three months before the Czar was overthrown, but he had previously been expelled from Germany, France, Switzerland and Spaia. His real name was Leber Braunstein, and he was bom in the Russian Government of Kherson, near the Black Sea. When the insurrection occurred, Kerensky succeeded in escap- ing from Petrograd, and persuaded about two thousand Cossacks, 2S 150 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Geveral hundred Military Cadets, and a contingent of Artillery, to fight under his banner. He advanced toward Petrograd, but his forces were greatly outnumbered by the Bolsheviki. At Tsarskoe-Selo a battle took place, the Kerensky troops met defeat, and its leader saved himself by flight. J^ At Moscow the entire city passed into the control of the Bolsheviki but not without severe fighting in which more than three thousand people were slain. On the collapse of the Kerensky government conditions throughout Russia became chaotic. Ukraine declared its independence, and Finland also severed its connection with Russia. General Kaledines declared against the Bolsheviki, and organized an army to save the country. Siberia, Bessarabia, Lithuania, the Caucasus and other districts declared their complete independence of the Central Government./* The Bolsheviki, in control at Petrograd, opened negotiations with the Central Powers for an armistice along the entire front from the Baltic to Asia Minor, and on December 17th, such an armistice went into effect. Meanwhile they began negotiations for a treaty of peace. General Dukholin, the Commander-in-Chief, on November 20th, was ordered by Lenine to propose the armistice. To this request he made no reply, and on November 21st, he waa deposed and Ensign Krylenko was appointed the new Commander- in-Chief. General Dukholin was subsequently murdered, by being thrown from a train after the Bolsheviki^ seized the general headquarters. Trotzky sent a note to tlie representatives of neutral powers in Petrograd, informing them of his proposal for an armistice, and stating "The consummation of an immediate peace is demanded in all countries, both belligerent and neutral. The Russian Govern- ment coimts on the firm support of workmen in all countries in this struggle for peace." . Lenine, however, declared that Russia did not contemplate a separate peace with Germany, and that the Russian Government, before agreeing to an armistice, would communicate with the Allies and make a certain proposal to the unperiaHstic governments of France and England, rejection of which would place them in open opposition to the wishes of their own people. A period of turmoil followed. In the meantime elections for the Constituent Assembly were held. The result in Petrograd THE DESCENT_TO BOLSHEVISM 451 was announced as 272,000 votes for the BolsheviM, 211,000 for the Constitutional Democrats, and 116,000 for the Social Revolution- aries, showing that the BolsheviM failed to attain a majority. Notwithstanding the prevailing chaos, the Lenine-Trotzky Govern- ment persisted in negotiations for an armistice, and it was arranged that the first conference be held at the_Geraian headquaitos^at Brest-Litovsk. The Russian delegates were Kamenev,^hose real name was Itosenfelt, a well known Bolshevist leader; Sokolnikov, a sailor; Bithenko, a soldier, and Mstislasky, who had formerly been libra- rian to the General Staff, but who was now a strong Socialist. Repre- sentatives were pr esent of Gem agy, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. ' ~ After many interchanges oi opinion a suspension of hostilities foi- ten days was authorized, to be utilized in bringing to a con- clusion negotiations for an armistice. On December 7th it was announced from Petrograd that for the first time since the war not a shot was fired on the Russian front.^ Foreign Secretary Trotzky, on the 6th of December, notified the allied embassies in Petrograd of these negotiations and added that the armistice would be signed only on condition that the troops should not be trans- ferred from one front to another.^: He annoimced that negotia- tions had been suspended to afford the Allied Governments oppor- tunity to define their attitude toward the peace negotiation; that is, their willingness or refusal to participate in negotiations for an armistice and peace. In case of refusal they must declare clearly and definitely before all mankind the aims for which the peoples of Europe had been called to shed their blood during the fourth year of the war. ' No official replies were made" to this note."f On December 7th, Generals Kaledines and Komilov raised the standard of revolt, but reports indicated that the BolsheviM were extending their control over all Russia. A meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on December 11th. Less than 50 of the 600 delegates attended. Meanwhile the negotiations for an armistice continued. On December 16th an agreement was reached and an armistice dgned, to continue from December 17th to January 14th, 1918. Within the first month in which the BolsheviM conducted the government nimaerous edicts of a revolutionary character were 452 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 453 issued. Class titles, distinctions and privileges were abolished; the corporate property of nobles, merchants and burgesses was to be handed over to the state, as was all church property, lands, money and precious stones; and religious instruction was to cease in the schools. Strikes were in progress everywhere, and disorder was rampant. Korrulov, Terestchenko and other~associates of Kerensky, were imprisoned in the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul; the Cadet Party was outlawed by decree and the houses of its leaders raided. On January 8, 1918, it was announced that the Bolsheviki had determined that all loans and Treasury bonds held by foreign subjects, abroad or in Russia, were repudiated. During this periodthe Bolsheviki's Foreign Secretary aston- ished the world by making public the secret treaties between Russia and foreign governments in the early years of the war. These treaties dealt with the proposed annexation by Russia of the Dardanelles, Constantinople and certain areas in Asia Minor; with the French claim on Alsace-Lorraine and the left bank of the Rhine; with offers to Greece, for the purpose of inducing her to assist Serbia; with plans to alter her Western boundaries, with the British and Russian control of Persia; and with Italy's desire to annex certain Austrian territories. These treaties had been seized upon the Bolsheviki assumption of power, and were now repudiated by the new government. During the period of the armistice Lenine began his move for a separate peace, in~epite of the^ formal protests of the Allied representatives at Petrograd. The first sitting took place on Satiu-day, December 22, 1917. Among the delegates were Dr. Richard von Kuhhnann, Foreign Minister,! and General Hoffman, of Germany; Count Czemin, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary; Minister Kopov, of Bulgaria; Nesimy Bey, former Foreign Minister of Turkey, and a large delegation from Russia, composed of Bolshevist leaders. Dr. von Kuhlmann was chosen as the presiding officer and made the opening speech. The Russian peace demands and the German counter-proposals were then read, and considered. The German proposals proved unacceptable to Russia, and a second session of the peace conference was held at Brest-Litovsk on January 10, 1918. Trotzky himself attended this meeting as 454 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR one of the representatives from Russia, and there was also a repre- sentative from Ukraine, which had declared its independence, and was allowed to join the conference. General Hoffman protested strongly against the Russian endeavor to make appeals of a revo- lutionary character to the German troops. The armistice having expired, it was agreed it should be con- tinued to February 12th. After a long and acrimonious debate the Conference broke up in a clash over the evacuation of the Russian provinces. On January 24th it was announced that the ■ ^ ir' RirssiA AS Partitioned by the Beest-Litovbk Theatt Russian delegates to the peace conference had unanimously decided to reject the German terms. They stated that when they asked Germany's final terms General Hoffman of the German delegation had replied by opening a map and pointing out a line from the shores of the Gulf of Finland to the east of the Moon Sound Islands, to Valk, to the west of Minsk, to Brest-Litovsk, thus eliminating Courland and all the Baltic provinces. Asked the terms of the Central Powers in regard to the terri- tory south of Brest-Litovsk General Hoffman replied that was a question which they would discuss only with Ukraine. M. Earn- THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM 455 inev asked: "Supposing we do not agree to such condition, what are you going to do?" General Ho£fman's answer was, "Within a week we would occupy Reval." On January 27th, Trotzky made his report to the Soviets at Petrograd. After a thorough explanation of the peace debates, he declared that the Government of the Soviets could not sign Genbkaii Map op the Baltic Sea With the collapse of Russia German forces advanced from Riga, along the Gulf of Finland occupying Reval and threatening Petrograd. such a peace. It was then decided to demobilize the Russian army and withdraw from the war. Final sessions of the peace congress were resumed at Brest- Litovsk January 29th; a peace treaty was piade between the Central Powers and the Ukraine, and the BoMieviki yielded to the German demands without signing a treaty. Meanwhile the Russian Constituent Assembly which met at Petrograd on Janu- ary 19th, was dissolved on January 20th, by the Bolsheviki Council. 456 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Disorders continued throughout all Russia and counter-revo- lutionary movements were started at many places. On Febru- ary 18th, the day when the armistice agreement between Russia and the Central Powers expired, German forces began a new invasion of Russia. The next day the Bolshevist Government issued a statement, announcing that Russia would be compelled to sign a peace. The German advance went on rapidly, and many important Russian cities were occupied. On February 24th, the Bolshevist Government announced that peace terms had been accepted, and a treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk on March 3d. On March 14th the All-Russia Council of Soviets voted to ratify the treaty, after an all-night sitting. Lenine pronounced himself in favor of accepting the German terms; Trotzky stood for war, but did not attend the meetings of the Council. Lenine defended the step by pointing out that the country was completely unable to offer resistance, and that peace was indispensable for the completion of the social war in Russia. - ■ '-^' - ^ The new treaty dispossessed Russia of territories amounting to nearly one-quarter of the area of Eiu-opean Russia, and inhabited by one-third of Russia's total population. Trotzky resigned on account of his opposition to the treaty and was succeeded by M. Tchitcherin. ' He became Chairman of the Petrograd Labor Commune. The treaty between Russia and the Central Powers was formally denounced by the Premiers and Foreign Ministers of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and was not recognized by the Allied nations. A final revocation of its provisions by both sides did not put an end to the military operations of the Central Powers in Russia, nor did the Russians cease to make feeble and sporadic attempts at resistance. Germany was forced to keep large bodies of troops along the Russian front, but formally Russia's part in the war had come to an end. CHAPTER XXXII Germany's Object Lesson to the United States. DURING the first two years of the war many Americans, especially those in the West, observed the great events which were happening with great interest, no doubt, but *, with a feeling of detachment. The war was a long way off. The Atlantic Ocean separated Europe from America, and it seemed almost absurd to think that the Great War could ever affect us. In the year 1916, however, two events happened which seemed to bring the war to our door. The first was the arrival at Baltimore, on July 9th, of the Deutschland, a German submarine of great size, built entirely for commercial purposes, and the second was the appearance, on the 7th of October, of a German war submarine in the harbor at Newport, Rhode Island, and its exploit on the follow- ing day when it sunk a number of British and neutral vessels just outside the three-mile line on the Atlantic coast. The performances of these two vessels were equally suggestive, but the popular feeling with regard to what they had done was very divergent. The voyage of the Deutschland roused the widest admiration but the action of the U-53 stirred up the deepest indigna- tion. Yet the voyages of each showed with equal clearness that, however much America might consider herself separated from the Great War, the new scientific invention, the submarine, had anni- hilated space, and America, too, was now but a neighbor of the nations at war. The voyage of the Deutschland was a romance ia itself. It was commanded by Captain Paul Koenig, a German officer of the old school. He had been captain of the Schleswig of the North German Lloyd, and of other big liners. When the power of the British fleet drove German commerce from the seas, he had found himself without a job, and, as he phrased it, "was drifting about the country like a dereUct." One day, in September, 1915, he was asked to meet Hen Alfred Lohmann, an agent of the North German 459 460 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Lloyd Line, and surprised by an offer to navigate a submarine cargo ship from Germany to America. Captain Koenig, who seems to have been in every way an admirable personage, at once consented. He has told us the story of his trip iQ his Jnterestiag book called "The Voyage of the Deutschland." The Deutschland itself was three hundred feet long, thirty feet wide, and carried one thousand tons of cargo and a crew of twenty-nine men. It cost a half a million dollars, but paid for itself in the first trip. According to Captain Koenig the voyage ' on the whole seems to have been most enjoyable, j^^ He xmderstood his boat well and had watched its construction."^ Before setting out on his voyage he carefully trained his crew, and experimented with the Deutschland imtil he was thoroughly familiar with all its peculiarities. The cargo was composed of dye stuffs, and the ship was well supplied with provisions and comforts, 't In his description of the trip he lays most emphasis upon the discomfort resulting from heavy weather and from storms. He was able to avoid all danger from hostile ships by the very simple process of diving. No English ship approached him closely as he was always able to see them from a distance, usually observing their course by means of their smoke^' One of Lis liveliest adventures, however, " occurred when attempting to submerge suddenly during a heavy sea on the appearance of a destroyer. The destroyer apparently never observed the Deutschland, but in the endeavor todive quickly the submarine practically stood on its head, and dived down into the mud, where it foimd itself held fast. Captain Koenig however was equal to the emergency, and by balancing and trimming the tanks he finally restored the center of gravity and released his boat. A considerable portion of his trip was passed upon the surface as he only submerged when there was suspicion of danger. Accord- ing to his story his men kept always in the highest spirits. They had plenty of music, and doubtless appreciated the extraordinary nature of their voyage? An amusing incident during the trip was the attempt to camou- flage his ship by a frame work, made of canvas and so constructed as to give the outline of a steamer. One day a hostile steamer appeared in the distance and Captain Koenig proceeded to test his disguise. After great diflBculties, especially in connection with the GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON 461 production of smoke, he finally had the whole construction fairly at work. The steamer, which had been peacefully going its way, oa seeing the new ship suddenly changed her course and steered directly toward the Deutschland. It evidently took the Deutschland for some kind of a wreck and was hurrying to give it assistance. Cap- tain Koenig at once pulled off his super-structure and revealed himself as a submarine, and the strange vessel veered about and hurried off as fast as it could. On the arrival of the Deutschland in America Captain Koenig and his crew found their difficulties over. All arrangements had been made by representatives of the North German Lloyd for their safety and comfort. As they ran up Chesapeake Bay they were greeted by the whistles of the neutral steamers that they passed. The moving-picture companies immortalized the crew and they were treated with the utmost hospitality. The Allied governments protested that the Deutschland was really a war vessel and on the 12th of July a commission of three American naval officers was sent down from Washington to make an investigation. The investigation showed the Deutschland was absolutely unarmed and the American Government decided not to interfere. The position of the Allies was that a submarine, even though without guns or torpedoes, was practically a vessel of war from its very nature, and for it to pretend to be a merchant vessel was as if some great German man-of-war should dismount its guns and pass them over to some tender and then undertake to visit an American port. They argued that if the submarine would come out from harbor it might be easily fitted with detachable torpedo tubes, and become as dangerous as any U-boat. Even without arms it might easily sink an unarmed merchant vessel by ramming. But the United States was not convinced, and American citizens rather admired the genial captain. His return was almost as uneventful as his voyage out. At the very beginning he had trouble in not being able to rise after an experimental dive. This misadventure was caused by a plug of mud which had stopped up the opening of the manometer. But the difficulty was overcome, and he was able to pass under water between the British ships which were on the lookout. His return home was a triumph. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the 462 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR banks of the Weser, filled with the greatest enthusiasm. Poems were written in his honor and his appearance was everyTvhere greeted with enthusiastic applause. The Germans felt sure that through the Deutschland and similar boats they had broken the British blockade. Captaki Koenig made a second voyage, landing at New London, Connecticut, on November 1st, where he took on a cargo of rubber, nickel and other valuable commodities. On November 16th, in attempting to get away to sea, he met with a collision with the tug T. A. Scott, Jr., and had to return to New London for repairs. He concluded his voyage, however, without difficulty. In spite of his success the Germans did not make any very great attempt to develop a fleet of submarine cargo boats. The other German act which brought home to Americans the possibihties of the submarine, the visit of the U-53, was a very different sort of matter. U-53 was a German submarine of the largest type. On October 7, 1916, it made a sudden appearance at Newport, and its captain, Lieutenant-Captain Hans Rose, was entertained as if he were a welcome guest. He sent a letter to the German Ambassador at Washington and received visitors in his beautiful boat* The U-53 was a war submarine, two hundred and thirteen feet long, with two deck guns and four torpedo tubes. It had been engaged in the war against Allied commerce in the Medi- terranean. Captain Rose paid formal visits to Rear-Admiral Austin Knight, Commander of the United States Second Naval District, stationed at Newport, and Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander of the American destroyer flotilla at that place, and then set out secretly to his destination. On the next day the news came in that the U-53 had sunk five merchant vessels. These were the Strathdene, which was tor- pedoed; the West Point, a British freighter, also torpedoed; the Stephano, a passenger liner between New York and Halifax, which the submarine attempted to sink by opening its sea valves but was finally torpedoed; the Blommersdijk, a Dutch freighter, and the Christian Knudsen, a Norwegian boat. The American steamer Kansan was also stopped, but allowed to proceed. When the submarine began its work wireless signals soon told what was happening, and Admiral Knight, with the Newport destroyer flotilla, hiiimpiiril to the rescue. These destroyers picked up two GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON 463 hundred and sixteen men and acted with such promptness that not a single life was lost. The action of the U-53 produced intense excitement in America. The newspapers were filled with editorial denunciation, and the people were roused to indignation. The American Government apparently took the ground that the Germans were acting according to law and according to their promise to America. They had given warning in each case and allowed the crews of the vessels which they sunk to take to their boats. This was believed to be a fulfihnent. of their pledge "not to sink merchant vessels without warning and without saving human lives, imless the ship attempts to escape or offers resistance," The general feeling, however, of American public opinion was that it was a brutal act. In the case of the Stephano there were ninety-four passengers. These, together with the crew, were placed adrift in boats at eight o'clock in the evening, in a rough sea sixty miles away from the nearest land. If the American destroyer fleet had not rushed to the rescue it is extremely likely that a great many of these boats would never have reached land. The German Government did not save these hmnan Hves. It was the American navy which did that. But, technicalities aside, the pride of the American people was woimded. They could not tolerate a situation in which American men-of-war should stand idly by and watch a submarine in a leisurely manner sink ships engaged iu American trade whose passengers and crews contained many American citizens. It was another one of those foolish things that Germans were constantly doing, which gave them no appreciable military advan- tage, but stirred up against them the sentiment of the world. The Germans perhaps were anxious to show the power of the submarines, and to give America an object lesson in that power. They wished to make plain that they could destroy overseas trade, and that if the United States should endeavor to send troops across the water they would be able to sink those troops. The Germans probably never seriously contemplated a blockade of the American coast. The U-53 returned to its base and the danger was ended. American commerce went peacefully on, and the net result of the German audacity was in the increase of bitter- ness in the popular feeling toward the German methods. CHAPTER XXXm America Tbansfobmed bt War WHEN Germany threw down the gauge of battle to the civilized world, the German High Command calcu- lated that the long, rigorous and thorough military training to which every male German had submitted, would make a military force invincible in the field. The High Command believed that a nation so trained would carve out vic- tory after victory and would end the World War before any nation could train its men suflSciently to check the Teutonic rush. To that theory was opposed the democratic conception that the free nations of earth could train their young men intensively for six months and send these vigorous free men into the field to win the final decision over the hosts of autocracy. These antagonistic theories were tried out to a finish in the World War and the theory of democracy, developed in the training camps of America, Canada, Australia, Britain, France and Italy, triimiphed. Especially in the training camps of America was the German theory disproved. There within six months the best fighting troops on earth were developed and trained in the most modem of war-time practices. Everything that Germany could devise fotmd its answer in American ingenuity, American endurance and American skill. The entrance of America into the tremendous conflict on April 6, 1917 was followed immediately by the mobilization of the entire nation. Business and industry of every character were represented in the Council of National Defense which acted as a great central functioning organization for all industries and agencies connected with the prosecution of the war. Executives of rare talent commanding high salaries tendered their services freely to the government. These were the "dollar a year men" whose productive genius was to bear fruit in the clothing, arming, pro- visioning, munitioning and transportation of four million men and the conquest of Germany by a veritable avalanche of war material. 464 AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 465 Out of the ranks of business and science came Hurley, Schwab, Piez, Coonley to drive forward a record-breaking shipbuilding program, Stettioius to speed up the manufacture of munitions, John W. Ryan to coordinate and accelerate the manufacture of airplanes, Vance C. McCormick and Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor to solve the problems of the War Trade Board, Hoover to multiply food production, to conserve food supplies and to place the army and citizenry of America upon food rations while maintaining the morale of the Allies through scientific food distribution and a host of other patriotic civilians who put the resources of the nation behind the miUtary and naval forces opposed to Germany. Every available loom was put at work to make cloth for the army and the navy, the leather market was drained of its supplies to shoe our forces with wear adapted to the drastic requirements of modern warfare. German capital invested in American plants was placed imder the jurisdiction of A. Mitchell Palmer as Alien Property Cus- todian. German ships were seized and transformed into American transports. Physicians over military age set a glorious example of patriotic devotion by their enUstment in thousands. Lawyers and citizens generally in the same category as to age entered the office of the Judge Advocate General or the ranks of the Four Minute Men or the American Protective League which rendered great service to the coimtry in exposing German propaganda and in placing would-be slackers in military service. Bankers led the mighty Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamp drives and imsel- fishly placed the resoxu-ces of their institutions at the service of the government. Women and children rallied to the flag with an intensity of pur- pose, sacrifice and effort that demonstrated how completely was the heart of America in the war. Work in shops, fields, hospitals, Red Cross work rooms and elsewhere was cheerfidly and enthud- astically performed and the sacrifices of food rationing, higher prices, Ughtless nights, gasolineless Sundays, diminished steam railway and trolley service were accepted with a multitude of minor inconvenience without a murmur. Congress had a free hand in making appropriations. The country approved without a minute's hesitation bUls for taxation that in other days would have brought ruin to the political party proposing themi Billions were voted to departments where hundreds of thousands had been the rule. 466 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 467 The true temper of the American people was carefully hidden from the German peoj^e by the German newspapers acting imder instructions from the Imperial Government. Instead of the truth, false reports were printed in the newspapers of Berlin and else- where that the passage of the American conscription law had been followed by rioting and rebelUon in many places and that fuUy fifty per cent of the American people was opposed to the declara- tion of war. The fact that the selective service act passed in May, 1917, was accepted by everybody in this coimtry as a whoUy equitable and satisfactory law did not permeate into Germany imtil the first American Expeditionary Force had actually landed in France. America's fighting power was demonstrated conclusively to the Germanic intellect at Seicheprey, Bouresches Wood, Belleau Wood, Chdteau-Thierry, and in the Forest of the Argonne. Especially was it demonstrated when it came to fighting in smaU imits, or in in- dividual fighting. The highly disciplined and highly trained Ger- man soldiers were absolutely unfitted to cope with Americans, Canadians and AustraHans when it came to matching individual against individual, or small group against small group. This was shown in the wild reaches of the Forest of the Argonne. There the machine-gun nests of the Germans were iso- lated and demolished speedily. Small parties of Germans were stalked and run down by the relentless Americans. On the other hand, the Germans could make no headway against the American troops operating in the Forest. The famous "Lost Battalion" of the 308th United States Infantry penetrated so far in advance of its supports that it was cut off for four days without food, water or suppUes of munitions in the Argonne. The enemy had cut its line of communication and was enforced both in front and in the rear. Yet the lost battalion, comprising two companies armed with rifles and the French automatic rifle known as the Chauchat gun, called by the doughboys "Sho Sho," held out against the best the overpowering forces of the Germans could send against them, and were ultimately rescued from their dangerous position. The training of the Americans was also in modem efficiency that made America prominent in the world of industry. The reduction of the German salient at St. Mihiel was an object lesson to the Germans in American methods. General Pershing com- 468 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR manding that operation in person, assembled the newspaper cor- respondents the day before the drive. Maps were shown, giving the extent and locale of the attack. The correspondents were invited to follow the American troops and a time schedule for the advance was given to the various corps commanders. In that operation, 152 square miles of territory and 72 villages were captured outright. For the reduction of the German defenses and for the creeping barrage precediag the American advance, more than 1,500,000 shells were fired by the artillery. Approximately 100,000 detail maps and 40,000 photographs pre- pared largely from aerial observations, were issued for the guidance of the artillery and the infantry. These maps and photographs detailed all the natural and Artificial defenses of the entire salient. More than 5,000 miles of telephone wire was laid by American engineers immediately preceding the attack, and as the Americans advanced on the morning of the battle, September 12, 1918, 6,000 telephone instruments were connected with this wire. Ten thous- and men were engaged in operating the hastily constructed tele- phone system; 3,000 carrier pigeons supplemented this work. During the battle American airplanes swept the skies clear of enemy air-craft and signaled instructions to the artillery, besides attacking the moving infantry, artillery and supply trains of the enemy. So sure were the Americans of their success that moving-picture operators took more than 10,000 feet of moving picture film showing the rout of the Germans. Four thousand eight hundred trucks carried food, men and munitions into the lines. MUes of American railroads, both of standard and narrow gauge, carrying American-made equipment, assisted in the trans- portation of men and supplies. Hospital faciUties including 35 hospital trains, 16,000 beds in the advanced sector, and 55,000 other beds back of the fighting line, were prepared. Less than ten per cent of this hospital equipment was used. As the direct consequence of this preparation, which far out- stripped anything that any other nation had attempted in a similar ofifensive, the Americans with a remarkably small casualty list took 15,188 prisoners, 111 guns, many of them of large caliber, immense quantities of munitions and other supplies, and inflicted heavy death losses upon the fleeing Germans. Two selective service laws operated as manhood conscription. AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 469 The first of these took men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one years inclusive. June 5, 1917, was fixed as registration day. The total number enrolled was 9,586,508. The first selec- tive army drawn from this number was 625,000 men. The second selective service legislation embraced all citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 inclusive, not included in the first draft. Over 13,000,000 men enrolled on September 12, 1918. The grand total of registrants in both drafts was 23,456,021. Youths who had not completed their 19th year were set apart ia a group to be called last and men between thirty-six and forty-five were also put ia a deferred class. The government's plan was to have 'approximately 5,000,000 men under arms before the sum- mer of 1919. The German armistice on November 11th found 4,000,000 men actually imder arms and an assignment of 250,000 made to the trainiag camps. A most important factor in the trainiag plans of the United States was that incorporated in the organization of the Students' Army Trainiag Corps, by which 359 American colleges and uni- versities were taken over by the government and 150,000 yoimg men entered these institutions for the purpose of becoming traiaed soldiers. The following are the conditions under which the S. A. T. C. was organized: The War Department tmdertook to furnish officers, uniforms, rifles, and equipment, and to assign the students to military duty, after a few months, either at an officers' trainiag camp or in some technical school, or ia a regular anny cantoimient with troops as a private, accordiag to the degree of aptitude shown on the college campus. _ At the same time a circular letter to the presidents of colleges arranged for a contract under which the government became responsible for the expense of the housiag, subsistence, and instruc- tion of the students. The preliminary arrangement contained this provision, among others: The per diem rate of $1 for subsistence and housing is to govern temporarily, pending examination of the conditions in the individual institution and a careful working out of the costs involved. The amount so fixed is calculated from the experience of this committee during the last five months in contracting with over 100 collegiate institutions for the housing and subsistence of over 100,000 soldiers in the National 470 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Army Training Detachment. This experience indicates that the average cost of housiag is 15 to 20 cents per day; subsistence (army ration or equivalent), 70 to 80 cents per day. The tuition charge is based on the regular per diem tuition charge of the institution in the year 1917-18, A permanent contract was arranged later under these govern- ing principles: The basis of payment will be reimbursement for actual and necessary costs to the institutions for the services rendered to the government in the maintenance and instruction of the soldiers with the stated limitation as to cost of instruction. Contract price will be arrived at by agreement after careful study of the conditions in each case, in conference with authorities of the institution. The War Department will have authority to specify and control the courses of instruction to be given by the institution. The entity and power for usefulness of the institutions will be safe- guarded so that when the contract ends the institutions shall be in condi- tion to resume their fimctions of general education. The teaching force will be preserved so far as practicable, and this matter so treated that its members shall feel that in changing to the special intensive work desired by the government they are rendering a vital and greatly needed service. The government will ask from the institutions a specific service; that is, the housing, subsistence, and instruction along specified lines of a certain nimiber of student soldiers. There will be no interference with the freedom of the institution in conducting other courses in the usual way. The contract will be for a fixed term, probably nine months, subject to renewal for a further period on reasonable notice, on terms to be agreed upon and subject to cancellation on similar terms. The story of the life of the Araerican army behind the lines in France would fill a volume. The hospitality of the French people had something pathetic in it. They were expecting miracles of their new Allies. They were war sick. Nearly all of them had lost some father, or brother, or husband, and here came these big, heartyy joyous soldiers, full of ardor and confident of victory. It put a new spirit into all France. Their reception when they first landed was a scene of such fervor and enthusiasm as had never been known before and probably wiU not be known again. Soon the American soldier, in his khaki, with his wide-brimmed soft hat, became a common sight. The villagers put up bunting, calico signs, flags and had stocks of American canned goods to show in their shop windows. The children, when bold, played with the American soldiers, and AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 471 the children that were more shy ventured to go up and touch an American soldier's leg. Very old peasant ladies put on their Sunday black, and went out walking, and in some mysterious way talking with American soldiers. The, village mayors tinned out and made speeches, utterly incomprehensible to the American soldiers. The engineering, building and machinery works the Americana put up were astonishing. Gangs of workers went over in thousands; many of these were college men. They dug and toiled as efficiently as any laborer. One American major told with glee how a party of these young workers arrived straight from America at 3.30 p. m. and started digging at 5 A. M. next morning, "and they liked it, it tickled them to death." Many of these draftees, in fact, were sick and tired of inaction in ports before their departure from America, and they welcomed work in France as if it were some great game. Perhaps the biggest work of all the Americans performed was a certain aviation camp and school. In a few months it was completed, and it was the biggest of its kind in the world. The number of airplanes used merely for training was in itself remarkable. The flying men — or boys' — ^who had, of course, already been broken- in in America, did an additional course in France, and when they left the aviation camp they were absolutely ready for air-fighting at the front. This was the finishing school. The aviators went through eight distinct courses in the school. They were perfected in flying, in observation, in bombing, in machine-gun firing. On even a cloudy and windy day the air overhead buzzed with these young American ffiers, all getting into the piok of condition to do their stunts at the front. They lived in the camp, and it required moving heaven and earth for one of them to get leave to go even to the nearest little quiet old town. An impression of complete businesslike determination was what one got when visiting the Americans in France. A discipline even stricter than that which apphed in British and French troops was in force. In towns, officers, for instance, were not allowed out after 9 p. m. Some towns where subalterns discovered the wine of the country were instantly put "out of bounds." No officer, on any pretext whatsoever was allowed to go to Paris except on official business. 472 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The postal censors who read the letters of the American Expeditionary Force were required to know forty-seven languages I Of these languages, the two least used were Chinese and German. The announcement of the organization of the first American Field Army was contained in the following dispatch from France, August 11, 1918: v ._. "The first American field army has been organized. It is imder the direct command of General John J. Pershing, Commander- in-Chief of the ^ American forces. J^ The corps commanders thus 1. — ^ ».-*-f^ S >•.. Tbe state ot Germao elTlUan moTale. Variations In Germany's milltarir position. Degree ot politioal nnlty In Germanr. Tbe Food sltnatlon In North Germany. Condition of Anstrla.Hnnsary. IJ-Boat sinkinss. (Montlily reports ot tonnage snalC) Tbb Sucbetabt 07 Wab's Official Chabt This reproduction of Secretary Baker'a chart, vrhich hung in hia office at Washington, illuBtrateB graphically Germany's success and failure in the war. far announced are Major-Generals Liggett, Bullard, Bundy, Read, and Wright. "The creation of the first field army is the first step toward the coordination of all the American forces in France. This does not mean the immediate withdrawal from the British and French commands of all American units, and it is probable that divisions will be used on the French and British fronts for weeks yet. It is understood, however, that the policy of organizing other armies will be carried out steadily." This announcement marked a milestone in the miUtary effort of the United States. When the American troops first arrived in France, they were associated in small units with the French to get primary training. Gradually regiments began to function AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 473 under French division commanders. Then American divisions were fonned and trained under French corps commanders. Next, American corps began to operate imder French army commanders. Finally, the first American army was created, because enough divisions and corps had been graduated from the school of experience. An American division numbers 30,000 men, and a corps con- sists of six divisions, two of which play the part of reserves. With auxihary troops, air squadrons, tank sections, heavy artillery, and other branches, a corps numbers from 225,000 to 250,000 men. The main line in tlil3 grapli — ^tlie Jieavy broken line — represents the state of ciTilian morale in Germany. German morale is arbitrarily regarded as standi n g at 100% in Ansnst. Ifl4. Zero, for the same line, is tiUsen to lie the point at witich an eSective major- ity of the German people will refuse longer to support the war. The degree of xnoTeinent of this line Is determined mainly by a consideration of the deflections of the secondary lines which represent the forces ezertinc the greatest influence on tlie Qerman state of mind. SHowiNa Gebmant's Roao to Defeat Austria's fluctuations are indicated, as well as the morale, military position, political and food conditions and undersea enterprises of Germany. The following were the general officers temporarily assigned to command the first five corps: First corps — Major-General Hunter Liggett. Second corps — ^Major-General Robert L. Bullard. Third corps — ^Major-General William M. Wright. Fourth corps — ^Major-General George W. Read. Fifth corps — ^Major-General Omar Bundy. Seven divisions and one separate regiment of American troops participated in the counter-offensive between Ch&teau-Thierry and Soissons and in resisting the German attack in the Champagne, it was officially stated on July 20. The 42d, or "Rainbow" Division, composed of National Guard troops from twenty-six 474 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR states and the District of Columbia, including the New York 69th Infantry, now designated as the 165th Infantry, took part in the fighting in the Champagne east of Rheitns. The six other divisions were associated with the French ia the counter-offensive between Chdteau-Thierry and Soissons. These divisions were the 1st, ,2d, 3d and 4th of the Regular Army, the 26th National 'Guard Division, composed of troops from the six New England States, and the 28th, composed of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Marines were iacluded in this number. The separate regiment that fought in the Champagne was a negro imit attached to the new 93d Division, composed entirely of negro troops. It 'was also announced that the 77th Division was "in the line near Lun^ville" and was "operating as a division, complete under its own commander." The 42d Division had the distinction. General March an- nounced on August 3d, of defeating the 4th Division of the crack Prussian Guards, professional soldiers of the German standing army, who had never before failed. General March also disclosed the fact that another American division had been sent into that part of the RheLms salient where the Germans showed resistance. This was the 32d Division. "The American divisions in the Rheims salient," General March said, "have now been put in contiguously and are actually getting together as an American force. Southeast of F6re-en-Tardenois our 1st Corps is operating, with General Liggett in actual command." The organization of twelve new divisions was announced by General March, Chief of Staff, in statements made on July 24th and July 31st. These divisions were numerically designated from 9 to 20, and organized at Camps Devens, Meade, Sheridan, Custer, Funston, Lewis, Logan, Kearny, Beauregard, Travis, Dodge, and Sevier. Each division had two infantry re^ments of the regular army as nucleus, the other elements being made up of drafted men. The new divisions moved into the designated camps as the divisions already trained there moved out. The composition of an American division is as follows: Two brigades of infantry, each consisting of two regiments of infantry and one machine-gun battalion. One brigade of artillery, consisting of three regiments of field artillery, and one trench mortar battery. I International Film Service . SAFE ON SHORE AT LAST Arrival of American troops in Liverpool after defying the perils of the submarine. Note the bulk of the packs carried by each soldier in heavy marching order. © Intemailonal Film Serxice. THE FIRST OF THE TIDAL WAVE OF KHAKI Beginning with the handful of American soldiers who landed in France on June 8 1917 the flood of troops poured across the ocean in ever-increasing volume' until 'at the end of the war more than two milhon soldiers had been transported to France. AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR 477 One regiment of engineers. One field signal battalion. The following trains: Headquarters and military police, sanitary, supply, engineer, and ammunition. The following division imits: Headquarters troop and one machine-gun battalion. , A general order of the War Departanent providing for the consoUdation of all branches of the army into one army to be known as the "United States Army" was promulgated by General March on August 7th. The text of the order read: 1 _ ^ _^ 1. This country has but one army — the United States Army. It includes all the land forces in the service of the United States. Those forces, however raised, lose their identity in that of the United States Army. Distinctive appellations, such as the Eegular Army, Reserve Corps, National Army, and National Guard, heretofore employed in administration command, will be discontinued, and the single term, the United States Army, will be exclusively used. 2. Orders liaving reference to the United States Army as divided in separate and component forces of distinct origin, or assuming or con- templating such a division, are to that extent revoked. 3. The iosignia now prescribed for the Regular Army shaU hereafter be worn by the United States Army. 4. All effective commissions purporting to be, and described therein, as commissions in the Regular Army, National Guard, National Army, or the Reserve Corps, shall hereafter be held to be, and regarded as, com- missions in the United States Army — ^permanent, provisional, or tem- porary, as fixed by the conditions of their issue; and all such commissions are hereby amended accordingly. Hereafter during the period of the existing emergency all commissions of officers shall be in the United States Army and in staff corps, departments, and arms of the service thereof, and shall, as the law may provide, be permanent, for a term, or for the period of the emergency. And hereafter during the period of the existiag emer- gency provisional and temporary appointments in the grade of second lieutenant and temporary promotions in the Regular Army and appoint- ments iu the Reserve Corps will be discontinued. 6. While the number of commissions in each grade and each staff corps, department, and arm of the service shall be kept within the limits fixed by law, officers shall be assigned without reference to the term of their commissions solely in the interest of the service; and officers and enlisted men will be transferred from one organization to another as the interests of the service may require. 6. Except as otherwise provided by law, promotion in the United States Army shall be by selection. Permanent promotions in the Regular Army will continue to be made as prescribed by law. CHAPTER XXXIV How Food Won the War FOOD won the war. Without the American fanner the Entente Allies must have capitulated. Wheat, beef, com, foods of every variety, hermetically sealed in tins, were thrown into the scales on the side of the Entente Allies in sufficient quantities to tip the balance toward the side of civiliza- tion and against autocracy. Late in the fall of 1918 when victory was assured to America and the Allies, there was received this message of appreciation from General Pershing to the fanners of America, through Carl Vrooman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture: American Expeditionary Forces, , Office of the Commander-in-Chief, France, October 16, 1918. Honorable Carl Vrooman, Assistant Secretary of Agricultvre: Dear Mr. Vrooman: — ^Will you please convey to farmers of America our profound appreciation of their patriotic services to the coimtry and to the Allied armies in the field. They have furnished their full quota of fighting men; they have bought largely of Liberty Bonds; and they have increased their production of food crops both last year and this by over a thousand million bushels above normal production. Food is of vital military necessity for us and for our Allies, and from the day of our entry into the war America's armies of food producers have rendered invaluable service to the Allied cause by supporting the soldiers at the front through their devoted and splendidly successful work in the fields and furrows at home. Very sincerely, John J. PERsmNO. This tribute to the men and women on the farms of America from the head of the American forces in France is fit recognition of the important part played by American food producers in the war. It was early recognized by all the beUigerent powers that final victory was a question of national morale and national endurance. Morale could not be maintained without food. The bread lines in 478 HOW FOOD WON THE WAR 479 Petrograd gave birth to the revolution, and Russian famine was the mother of Russian terrorism. German men and women, starved of fats and sweets, deteriorated so rapidly that the crime ratio both in towns and country districts moimted appallingly. Condi- tions in AustriarHungary were even worse. Acute distress arising from threatening famine was instrumental in driving Bulgaria out of the war. The whole of Central Europe indeed was in the shadow of fa min e and the masses were crying out for peace at any price. On the other hand, Germany's greatest reliance for a victorious decision lay in the U-boat blockade of Great Britain, France and Italy. Though some depredations came to these countries, the submarine blockade never fully materialized and with its failure Germany's hopes faded and died. The Entente AlHes and the United States were fortunate in eecuring Herbert C. Hoover to administer food distribution through- out their lands and to stimulate food production by the farmers of the United States. After his signal success in the administration of the Belgian Relief Commission, Mr. Hoover became the unani- mous choice of the AlHes for the victualing of the militant and civilian populations after America's entrance into the World War. His work divided itself into three heads: First, stimulation of food production. Second, elimination of food wastage in the homes and public eating places of the country. Third, education of food dealers and the public in the use of such foods as were substitutes for wheat, rye, pork, beef and sugar. After long and acrimonious debates in Congress, Mr. Hoover, as Federal Food Administrator, was clothed with extraordinary powers enabling liim to fulfil the purposes for which he was appointed. The ability with which he and his associates performed their work was demonstrated in the complete debacle of Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Germany. These coimtries were starved out quite as truly as they were fought out. The concrete evidence of the Food Administration's success is shown in the subjoined table which indicates the increase over normal in export- ing of foodstuffs by the United States since it became the food reser- voir for the world on account of the war. 480 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR TOTAL EXPOETS 3-year pre- 1916-17 fiscal 1917-18 fiscal July, 1917, to July, 1918, to war average. year. year. Sept. 30, 1917. Sept. 30, 1918. Total beef produoto, lbs. . 188.375,372 405,427,417 665,462,445 03,962.477 171,986.147 Total pork products, lbs. . 996,230,627 1.498,302,713 1,691,437,435 196,266,750 640.946,324 Total daily products, lbs. . 26,037,790 351,968,336 690,798,274 130,071,165 161.246,029 Total vegetable oils, lbs. . 332,430,537 206,708,490 151,029,893 27,719,653 26,026,701 183,777,331 395,140,238 ♦349,123,235 66,383,084 121,668,823 Total sugar, pounds 621,745,607 3,034,390,281 2,149,787,050 1,108,559,619 1,065,398.247 Upon the eame subject Mr. Hoover himself after the harvest of 1918 said: It is now possible to sunamarize the shipments of foodstuffs from the United States to the allied comitries during the fiscal year just closed — practically the last harvest year. These amounts include all shipments to aUied countries for their and our armies, the civilian population, the Belgium relief, and the Red Cross. The figures indicate the measure of effort of the American people in support,of allied food suppUes. The total value of these food shipments, which were in the maia purchased through, or with the collaboration of the Food Administration, amounted to, roundly, $1,400,000,000 during the fiscal year. The shipments of meats and fats (including meat products, dairy products, vegetable oils, etc.) to allied destinations were as follows: \ POTJNTja Fiscal year 1916-17 .' 2,166,600,000 Fiscal year 1917-18 3,011,100,000 Increase * 844,600,000 Our slaughterable animals at the beginning of the last fiscal year were not appreciably larger in number than the year before; and particularly in hogs, there were probably less. The increase in shipments is due to conservation and the extra weight of animals added by our farmers. The full effect of these efforts began to bear their best results in the last half of the fiscal year, when the exports to the Allies were 2,133,100,000 poimds, as against 1,266,600,000 pounds in the same period of the year before. This compares with an average of 801,000,000 pounds of total exports for the same half years of the three-year pre-war period. In cereals and cereal products reduced to terms of cereal bushels, our shipments to alHed destinations have been: BnsHsijg Fiscal year 1916-17 259,900,000 Fiscal year 1917-18 340,800,000 Increase 80,900,000 • Wheat harvest 1917-18 was 200,217,333 bushels below the average of the three previous yeara. HOW FOOD WON THE WAR 481 Of these cereals our shipments of the prime breadstuffs in the fiscal year 1917-18 to allied destinations were: Wheat, 131,000,000 bushels and lye 13,900,000 bushels, a total of 144,900,000 bushels. The exports to allied destinations during the fiscal year 1916-17 were: Wheat, 135,100,000 bushels and rye, 2,300,000 bushels, a total of 137,400,000 bushels. In addition, some 10,000,000 bushels of 1917 wheat are now in port for alUed destinations or en route thereto. The total shipments to allied coimtries from our last harvest of wheat will be, therefore, about 141,000,000 bushels, or a total of 154,900,000 bushels of prime breadstuffs. In addition to this we have shipped some 10,000,000 bushels to neutrals dependent upon us and we have received some imports from other quarters. A large part of the other cereals exported has also gone into war bread. It is interesting to note that since the urgent request of the Allied Food Controllers early in the year for a further shipment of 75,000,000 bushels from our 1917 wheat than origiaally planned, we shall have shipped to Europe, or have en route, nearly 85,000,000 bushels. At the time of this request our surplus was already more than exhausted. This accomplishment of our people in this matter stands out even more clearly if we bear in mind that we had available in the fiscal year 1916-17 from net carry over and a siuplus over oiu: normal consumption about 200,000,000 bushels of wheat which we were able to export that year without trenching on om: home loaf. This last year, however, owing to the' large failure of the 1917 wheat crop we had available from net carry over and production and imports only just about our normal con- sumption. Therefore our wheat shipments to allied destinations represent approximately savings from our own wheat bread. ' These figures, however, do not fully convey the volume of the effort and sacrifice made during the past year by the whole American people. Despite the magnificent effort of our agricultm-al population in planting a much increased acreage in 1917, not only was there a very large failiure in wheat, but also the com failed to mature properly, and com is our dominant crop. We calculate that the total nutritional production of the country for the fiscal year just closed was between seven per cent and nine per cent below the average of the three previous years, oiu* nutritional surplus for export in those years being about the same amoimt as the shrinkage last year. Therefore the consumption and waste in food have greatly reduced in every direction diuring the year. I am sure that the millions of our people, agricultural as well as urban, who have contributed to these results, shoiild feel a very definite satis- faction that, in a year of universal food shortage in the Northern Hemisphere, all of these people joined together against Germany have come through into sight of the coming harvest not only with health and «t,renerth fully maiDtaiued, but with only temporary periods of hardship 482 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The European Allies have been compelled to sacrifice more than our own people, but we have not failed to load every steamer since the delays of the etorm months of last winter. Our contributions to this end could not have been accomplished with- out effort and sacrifice, and it is a matter for further satisfaction, that it had been accomplished voluntarily and individually. It is difficult to distinguish between various sections of our people — ^the homes, public eating places, food trades, urban or agricultural populations — ^in assessing credit for these results, but no one will deny the dominant part of the American woman. But the work of the Food Administration did not come to an end with the close of the war. Insistent cries for food came from the members of the defeated Teutonic alliance, as well as from the suflfering Allied and neutral nations. To meet those demands, Mr. Hoover sailed for Europe to organize the food relief of the needy nations. The State Department, explaining his mission, stated that as the first measm-e of assistance to Belgiimi it was necessary to increase immediately the volxmie of foodstuffs formerly supplied, so as to physically rehabilitate this under-nourished population. The relief commission during the four years of war sent to the 10,000,000 people in the occupied area over 600 cargoes of food, comprising 120,000,000 bushels of breadstuffs and over 3,000,000,000 pounds of other foodstuffs besides 20,000,000 gar- ments, the whole representing an expenditure of nearly $600,000,000. The support of the commission came from the Belgian, British, French and American governments, together with public charity. In addition to this some $350,000,000 worth of natiye produce was financed internally in Belgium by the relief organization. The second portion of Mr. Hoover's naission was to organize and determine the need of foodstuffs to the liberated populations in Southern Europe — the Czecho-Slovaks, the Jugo-Slavs, and Ser- bians, Roimianians and others. To meet the conditions in Europe following the armistice of November 11, 1918, the employment service of the United States set to work laying far-reaching plans for meeting the problem of world food shortage. The demands after the war were greater than they had been during the conflict but the nation that had fed the allies of civilization in war time performed the task of feeding the world, friend and foe alike, when peace at length came upon the earth. CHAPTER XXXV The United States Navy in the War C'G before war was declared the United States Govenmient had been engaged in preparation. It had realized that unrestricted submarine warfare was sure to lead to war, and though for a time it was preserving what it was pleased to call "an armed neutrality" the President doubtless was well aware what such an "armed neutrality" would lead to. Merchant ships were being armed for protection against the submarine, and crews from the Navy assigned to work the guns. The first collision was sure to mean an active state of war. The Naval Department, therefore, was working at full speed, getting the Navy ready for active service as soon as war should be declared. Secretary Daniels made every effort to obtain the crews that were necessary to man the new ships which were being fully com- missioned with the greatest possible speed and called upon news- papers all through the country to do their utmost to stimulate enlistment. On March 26th President Wilson issued an order increasing the enlisted strength of the United States Marine Corps to 17,400 men, the limit allowed under the law. On March 29th a hundred and three ensigns were graduated from the Naval Academy three months ahead of their time, and on April 6th, as soon as war was declared, the Navy was mobilized. Within a few minutes after Secretary Daniels had signed the order for this purpose one hundred code messages were sent out from the office of Admiral W. S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, which placed the Navy on a war basis, and put into the control of the Navy Department the naval militia of all the states as well as the Naval Reserves and the Coast Guard Service. In the Naval Militia were about 584 officers, and 7,933 men. These were at once assembled and assigned to coast patrol service. All of the ships that were in active commission in the Navy were already ready for duty. But there were reserve battleships and reserve 483 484 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR destroyers, besides ships which had been out of commission which had to be manned as quickly as possible. At the beginning of the war there were 361 vessels ready for service, including twelve first-line battleships, twenty-five second- line battleships, nine armored cruisers, twenty-four other cruisers, seven monitors, fifty destroyers, sixteen coast torpedo vessels, seventeen torpedo boats, forty-four submarines, eight tenders to torpedo boats, twenty-eight gunboats, four transports, four supply ships, one hospital ship, twenty-one fuel ships, fourteen converted yachts, forty-nine tugs, and twenty-eight minor vessels. There were about seventy thousand regularly enlisted men, besides eight thousand five hundred members of the naval militia. Many yachts together with their volunteer crews had been offered to the govern- ment by patriotic citizens. For the complete mobilization of the Navy, as it then stood, 99,809 regularly enlisted men and 45,870 reserves were necessary. About twenty-seven thousand of these were needed for coast defense, and twelve thousand at the various shore stations. Retired oflScers were called out, and assigned to duty which would permit officers on the active list to be employed in sea duty. The Navy therefore still lacked thirty-five thoxisand men to bring it up to its full authorized strength at the beginniTig, but after the declaration of war an active recruiting campaign brought volunteers by thou- sands. The service was a popular one and recruits were easily obtained. . _ _ __ _ One of the first phases of the mobilization was the organization of a large fleet of mosquito craft to patrol the Atlantic Coast, and keep on the watch for submarines. Many of these boats had been private yachts, and hundreds of young men volunteered from the colleges and schools of the country for this work. Many boat builders submitted proposals to construct small boats for this kind of patrol duty, and on March 31st a coast patrol fleet was organized by the government under the command of Captain Henry B. Wilson. The Navy took possession immediately on the declaration of war of all wireless stations in the United States dismantling all that could not be useful to the government. War zones were established along the whole coast line of the United States, making a series of local barred zones extending from the larger harbors in American THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 486 486 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR waters all along the line. These harbors were barred at night to entering vessels in order to guard against surprise by German submarines. Contracts were awarded for the construction of twenty-four destroyers even before war was declared, and many more were already under construction. __^ -^^. The growth of the Navy in one year may give some idea of the efficiency of the Navy Department. In April, 1917, the regular Navy contained 4,366 officers and 64,680 men. In AprU, 1918, it contained 7,798 officers and 192,385 men. In the Marine Corps in 1917 there were 426 officers and 13,266 men. In one year this ^aa increased to 1,389 officers and 38,629 men. In the organization of the Naval Reserves, naval volunteers and coast guards there were in 1917, 24,569 men; in 1918, 98,319 men, and 11,477 officers. While personnel of the Navy was thus expanding the United States battle fleet had grown to more than twice the size of the fleet before the war. When war was declared there were imder construction 123 new naval vessels. These were completed and contracts made for 949 new vessels. Among the ships completed are fifteen battleships, six battle cruisers, seven scout cruisers, twenty- seven destroyers, and sixty-one submarines. About eight hundred craft were taken over and converted into transports, patrol service boats, submarine chasers, mine sweepers and mine layers. The government also seized 109 German ships which had been interned in American ports. The Germans ^Jiad attempted to damage these ships so that they would be useless, but they were all repaired, and carried American troops and supplies in great quantities to France. i As the fleet grew the training of the necessary officers and crews was conducted on a grand scale. Naval camps were estab- lished at various points. The main ones were those at Philadelphia, (League Island) ; Newport, Rhode Island; Cape May, New Jersey; Charleston) South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Key West, Florida; Mare Island, Califomia; Puget Sotmd, Washington; Hingham, Massachusetts; Norfolk, Virginia; New Orleans, San Diego, New York Navy Yard; Great Lakes, Illinois; Pelham, New York; Hampton Roads, Virginia; and Gulfport, Mississippi. Schools in gunneryjpd engineering were established and thousands of gunners and engineers were trained, not only for the Navy but for the armed merchant vessels. THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 487 The training of gun crews by target practice was a feature of thig work. Long before the war began systematic training of this kind had been done, but mainly in connection with the big guns, and great efficiency had been obtained by the steady practice. With the introduction of the submarine, it became necessary to pay special attention to the traimng of the crews of guns of smaller caliber, and it was not long before the officers of our Navy were congratulating themselves on the efficiency of their men. It is not easy to hit so small a mark as the periscope 6f a submarine, but it could be done and many times was done. Twenty-eight days after the declaration of war a fleet of United States destroyers under the command of Admiral "William S. Sims reported for service at a British port. The American destroyer squadron arrived at Queenstown after a voyage without incident. The water front was lined with an excited crowd carrying small American flags, which cheered the destroyers from the time they were first seen mitil they reached the dock. They cheered again when Admiral Sims went ashore to greet the British senior officer who had come to welcome the Americans. It was a most informal function. After the usual handshakes the British commander congratulated the Americans on their safe voyage and then asked: "When will you be ready for business?" "We can start at once," was the prompt reply of Admiral Sims. This rather took the breath away from the British commander and he said he had not expected the Americans to begin work so soon after their long voyage. Later after a short totir of the destroyers he admitted that the American tars looked prepared. "Yes," said the American commander, "we made preparations on the way over. That is why we are ready." Everything on board the destroyers was in excellent condition. The only thing lacking was heavier clothing. The American uniforms were too light for the cool weather which is common in the English waters. This condition, however, was quickly remedied, and the American ships at once put out to sea all in splendid con- dition and filled with the same enthusiasm that the Marines showed later at Chdteau-Thierry. "They are certainly a fine body of men, and what's more, their craft looked just as fit," declared the British commander. 488 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR One of the American destroyers, even before the American fleet had arrived at Queenstown, had begun war duty. It had picked up and escorted through the danger zone one of the largest of the Atlantic liners. The passengers on board the liner sent the commander of the destroyer the following message: British passengers on board a steamer, bound for a British port, under the protection of an American destroyer, send their hearty greetings to her commander and her officers and crew, and desire to express their keen appreciation of this practical co-operation between the government and people of the United States and the British Empire, who are now %hting together for the freedom of the seas. Moving pictm-es were taken by the official British Government photographer as the American flotilla came into the harbor, and sailors who received shore leave were plied with English hospitaUty. The streets of Queenstown were decorated with the Stars and Stripes. As soon as American residents in England learned that American warships were to cross the Atlantic they held a conference to provide recreation buildings, containing sleeping, eating, and recreation accommodations for the comfort of the American sailors. The destroyer flotilla was the first contribution of American military power to the Entente Alliance against Germany. Admiral Sims is one of the most energetic and efficient of American naval officers and to him as much as to any other man is due the efficiency of the American Navy. During the period just before the Spanish-American War Lieutenant Sims was Naval Attach^ at Paris, and rendered invaluable services in buying ships and supplies for the Navy. In 1900 he was assigned to duty on the battleship Kentucky, then stationed in the Orient. In 1902 he was ordered to the Navy Department and placed in charge of the Office of Naval Practice, where he remained for seven years and devoted his attention to the improvement of the Navy in gunnery. During that time he made constant trips to England to consult with English experts in gunnery and ordnance, and became inti- mately acquainted with Sir Percy Scott, who had been knighted and made Rear-Admiral for the improvements he had introduced in connection with the gunnery of the British warships. In 1909 he was made commander of the battleship Minnesota, and in 1911 was a member of the college staff at the Naval War College. In 1913 he was made commander of the torpedo flotilla of the Atlantic THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 489 fleet and in 1905 assigned to cottunand the Dreadnaught Nevada. In 19ib he was President of the Naval War College. He was made Rear-Admiral in 1916 and Vice-Admiral in 1917 and assigned to the command of all American war vessels abroad. Immediately upon their arrival the American vessels began operation in the submarine zone. Admiral Beatty then addressed the following message to Admiral Henry T. Mayo of the United States Atlantic Fleet: The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic fleet will now share in preserving the Uberties of the world and in maintaining the chivalry of the sea. Admiral Mayo replied: The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the British fleet and welcomes opportunities for work with the British fleet for the freedom of the seas. It may also be noted, as a fact which is not without significance, that the losses by submarine which had reached their highest mark in the last week in April began from that time steadily to diminish. One of the main duties of the Navy was to convoy transports and supplies across the Atlantic. This was done with the assistance of Allied vessels with remarkable success. For a long period it seemed as if the U-boats would not be able to penetrate through the Allied convoy, but during 1918 four transports were torpedoed. The first was the Tuscania which was sunk in February off the north coast of Ireland, with 1,912 officers and men of the Michigan and Wisconsin guardsmen, of whom 204 were lost. The Oronsa, which was torpedoed in April, contained 250 men and all were saved except three of the crew. The Moldavia came nest with five hundred troops, of whom fifty-five were lost. On September 6th the troopship Persic with 2,800 American soldiers was torpedoed but American destroyers rescued all on board, and the Persic, which was prevented from inking by its water-tight bulkheads, was afterwards beached. Several American ships, including the troop transport Moimt Vernon, were torpedoed on return trips and a nxunber of the men of their crews were lost, and several naval vessels were lost, including the destroyer Jacob Jones, and the patrol vessel Alcedo. The Casein was torpedoed, but reached port under its own steam and later returned to service. 490 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR In September and Octbber three more American transporta were added to the list of American losses. On September 26th the United States steamer Tampa was torpedoed and sank with all oh boardj losing 118 men. On September 30th the Ticonderoga was also torpedoed, eleven naval officers and 102 enlisted men being lost. In addition to these submarine losses several ships and a number of men were lost through collision. The United States steamer Westgate was sunk in a collision with the steamer American on October 7th, with the loss of seven men. On October 9th the United States destroyer Shaw lost fifteen men in a collision, though she later succeeded in reaching port. On October 1 1th the American steamer Otranto was sunk in a collision with the British liner CashmCTe.. Of seven hxmdred American soldiers who were on board 365 were lost. At this time about three thousand anti- submarine craft were in operation day and night around the British Isles, and about five thousand working in the open sea. TMs was what made it possible for the Allies to win the war. (inasmuch as the illegal use of the submarine by Germany brought America into the war it was extremely appropriate that she should take an active part in the suppression of the submarine menace. The methods which were used in fighting the submarines differed much in different cases. The action of the government in arming merchantment and in providiag them with trained gun crews did much to lower the number of such ships sunk by the U-boats. The submarine, which had formerly been able to stop the imarmed merchantman and sink him at leisure, after a few com- bats with an armed merchantman began to be very wary and to depend almost entirely upon his torpedoes. It was not always easy for the submarine to get in a position where her torpedo would be effective, and the merchantman was carefully directed, if attacked, to pursue a ziz-zag irregular course, and at the same time endeavor to hamper the submarine by shooting as near her periscope as possible/h Along the sea coasts and at certain pomts in the English Channel great nets were used effectively. Submarines, however, toward the end of the war were made sufficiently large to be able to force their way through these nets, and net-cutting devices were THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 491 also used by them with considerable effect. The best way to destroy the submarines eeemed to be in a direct attack by flotillas of destroyers. By the end of the war the whole process of sinking or destroy- ing submarines had been thoroughly organized. Practically every portion of the seas near Great Britain and France was carefully watched and the appearance of a submarine immediately reported. As the submarine would only travel at a certain well-understood speed during a given time, it was possible to calculate, after the locality of one was known, about how far from that point it would be found at any later period. Destroyers were therefore sent circling around the point where the submarine had been discovered, enla rgi ng their distance from the center every hour. In the course of time the submarine would be compelled to come'up for air, and then, if luck were with the destroyer, it might find its foe before it was seen itself. Having discovered the submarine the destroyer ioomediately endeavored to ram, dropping depth bombs at the point where they supposed the aiemy to be. These bombs were so constructed that at a certain depth in the water they would explode, and the force of the explosion was so great that even if they did not strike the submarine they would be sure to damage it seriously, sometimes throwing the submarine to the surface partly out of water, and at other times driving her to come to the surface herself ready to surrender. In many cases it was not necessary to use the depth bomb at all. The gunners on board the destroyers had become extraordi- narily expert, and though a shot might destroy the periscope of a submarine without doing much damage, most submarines carrying extra periscopes to use if necessary, yet it was soon found that it was possible by the use of plimgmg shells to do effective damage. Plunging shells are somewhat similar in their operation to bombs. Such a shell falling just short of a periscope and fused to burst both on contact and at a certain depth was extremely likely to do damage. In the pursuit of the U-boat the airplane was also extremely effective. These were sent out to patrol large districts near the Allied coast, and also, in some cases, from ships themselves. It is possible in certain weather conditions for the observer on an air- plane to detect a submarine even when it is submerged and the 492 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR airplane can not only attack the submarine by dropping depth bombs, but it can signal, at once the location of the enemy to the hurrying destroyers. Indeed, as the submarine warfare proceeded the main difficulty of the Allies was to locate the submarines. Many ingenious devices were used for this purpose, and many of the English vessels had listening attachments under water which were intended to make it possible to hear a submarine as it moved. These, however, do not seem to have been very effective. The submarine itself seems at times to have been fitted out in a similar way and to have thus been able to hear the sound of an approach- ing ship. Many thrilling reports of naval actions against German sub- marines were given out officially by the British admiralty from time to time. In most of these cases the submarine was both rammed and attacked by depth bombs. In nearly all of them the only proof of success was the oil and air bubbles which came to the surface. One interesting encounter was that iu which a British submarine sighted a German U-boat, while both were on the surface. The British submarine dived and later was able to pick up the enemy through the periscope and discharge a torpedo in such a way as to destroy the German vessel. When the British submarine arose it found a patch of oil in which German^ were swimming. Ordinarily, however, a submarine was of little service in a fight against another for the radius of sight from a periscope is so short that it is practically blind so far as another periscope is con- cerned. This blindness of the submarine was taken advantage of by the Allies in every possible way. ! J Merchant ships were camouflaged, that is painted in such a way that they could not be easily distinguished at a distance. In the great convoys ships were often hidden by great masses of smoke to prevent a submarine from finding an easy mark. At night all lights were put out or else so shaded as not to be seen by the enemy. The result of these methods was the gradual destruc- tion of the U-boat menace. In the summer of 1918, while occasionally some ship was lost, the production of new ships was much greater than those that were sunk. During the month of June it was announced that the completion of new tonnage by the Allies had outstripped the losses -° a. THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 495 by thousands of tons. During this period the United States had attained its full stride in building ships, airplanes and ordnance. [^Archibald Hurd, the English naval expert, said: "When the war is over the nation will form some conception of the debt which we owe the American Navy for the manner in which it has co-oper- ated, not only in connection with the convoy system; "^ut in fighting the submarines. If the nav^ position is improving today, as it is, it is due to the fact that the British and American fleets'are working in closest accord, supported by an immense bod;^ of skilled workers on both sides of the Atlantic, who are turning out destroyers and other craft for dealing with the submarine, as well as mines and bombs. Some of the finest battleships of the United States Navy are now associated with the British Grand fleet. They are not_^ only splendid fighting ships but they are well oflScered and manned."-^ On May 13, 1918, in appreciation of some remarks which had been made by Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the British Admiralty, Josephus Daniels, the American Secretary of the Navy, addreasei^ a letter to him in the following termor "Your reference to the splendid spirit of co-operation between the navies of our countries, and your warm praise of the officers and men of our navy, havf been most grateful to me and to all Americans. The brightest spot in the tragedy of this war is this mutual appreciation of the men in the naval service. Our officers who have returned confirm the statements of Admiral Sims of the courteaes and kindness shown in every way by the admiralty and the officers of the British fleet. I had hoped to have the pleasure of visiting Great Britain and of personally expresdng this feeling of mutual working together, but the task here of m a ki ng ready more and more units for the fleet is a very serious one, and my duty chains me here. The order in all the Navy is 'Full speed ahead' in the construction of destroyers and other craft, and the whole service is keyed up to press this program forward. Therefore I ph ftll not have the pleasure, until this program shall materialize, of a personal acquaintance and a conference which would be of such interest and value." ... Sur Eric Geddes replied: "I am exceedingly grateful for your letter. As youlmow we, all of,, us here, have great admiration for your officers and men, and for the splendid help they are giving in European waters. Further, w^ find Admiral Simfcinvaluable in 496 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR council and in co-operation. I fully appreciate how onerous your office must be and much though I regret that you do not see your way to visiting this country in the near future, I hope we may some day have the pleasure of welcoming you here." Su: Eric afterward himself visited the United States and hia visit was made the occasion of a general expression of the high regard which the United States felt for the splendid assistance which the great British Navy had rendered in convoying its armies across thcv eas. \ Secretary Daniels, in his report of December, 1918, said that Arfl^iican sea forces i^ European waters comprised 338 vessels, with 75,000 men and officers — a force larger than the entire Navy was before the war begaE? From August, 1914,"fo September, 1918, German submarines sank 7,157,088 deadwdght tons of shipping in excess of the tonnage tinned out in that period by the allied and neutral nations. That total does not represent the depletion of the fleets at the command of the allied and neutral nations, however, as 3,795,000 deadweight tons of enemy ships were seized ia the^eantime. Actually, the allied and neutral nations on September 1, 1918, had only 3,362,088 less tons of shipping in operation than ia August, 1914. These details of the shipping situation were issued by the United States Shipping Board along with figures to show that, with American and allied yards under full headwajO^urope's danger of being starved by the German submarine was apparently at an end. The United States took the lead of all nations in shipbuilding7 In all, the allied and neutral nations lost 21,404,9l3dead- weight tons of shipping since the beginning of the war, showing that Germany maintained an average destruction of about 445,000 deadweight tons^monthly. During the latter months, however, the s inkin gs fell considerably below the average, and allied con- struction passed destruction for the first time in May, 1918. The losses of the aUied and neutral shipping in August, 1918,' amounted to 327,676 gross tonnage, of which 176,401 was British and 151,275 allied and neutral, as compared withvthe adjusted figures for July of 323,772, and 182,524 and 141,248, respectively. British losses from all causes during August were 10,887 tons higher than ia June, which was the lowest month since the intro- duction of unrestricted submarine warfare. THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR 497 An oflBcial statement of the United States Shipping Board, issued September 21, 1918, set forth the following facts: STATUS OF WORLD TONNAGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1918 (Germany and Austria excluded) Deadweight Tons Total losses (allied and neutral) August, 1914-September 1, 1918 21,404,913 Total conBtruction (allied and neutral) August, 1914r^ptember 1, 1918 . . . 14,247,825 Total enemy tonnage captured (to end of 1917) 3,795,000 Excess of losses over gains 3,362,088 Estimated normal increase in world's tonnage if war had not occurred (based on rate of increase, 1905-1914) 14,700,000 Net deficit due to war 18,062,088 In August, deliveries to the Shipping Board and other seagoing construction in the United States for private parties passed allied and neutral destruction for that month. The figures: Grosa (Actual) Tons T)eliv«ries to the Shipping Board 244,121 Other construction over 1,000 gross 16,913 Total 261,039 Losses (allied and neutral) 259,400 America alone surpassed losses for month by 1,630 Note. — ^World's merchant tonnage, as of June 30, 1914, totaled 49,089,552 gross tons, or, roughly, 73,634,328 deadweight tons. (Lloyd's Register.) The climax to Germany's piratical submarine adventure took place a few days after the armistice, when a moumful procession of shamefaced-looking U-boats sailed between lines of English cruisers to be handed over to the tender mercies of the Allied govermnents. CHAPTER XXXVI China Joins the Fighting I)emocracie8 THE circumstances connected with the entrance of the Republic of China into the World "War were as follows: On February 4, 1917, the American Minister, Dr. Reinsch, requested the Chinese Government to follow the United States in protesting against the German use of the submarine against neutral ships. On February 9th Pekin made such a protest to Germany, and declared its intention of severing diplomatic relations if the protest were ineffectual. The immediate answer of Germany was to torpedo the French ship Atlas in the Mediterranean on which were over seven hundred Chinese laborers. On March 10th the Chinese ParHament empowered the government to break with Germany. On the same afternoon a reply was received from the German Government to the Chinese protest, of a very mild char- acter. The reply produced a great deal of surprise ia China. A Chinese statesman made this comment on the German change of attitude: "The troops under Count Waldersee leaving Germany for the relief of Pekin were instructed by the War Lord to grant no quarter to the Chinese. On the other hand, the latter were to be so disciplined that they would never dare look a German in the face again. The whirligig of time brings its own revenge, and today, after the lapse of scarcely seventeen years, we hear the Vossiche Zeitung commenting on the diplomatic rupture between Cluna and Germany, lamenting that even so weak a state as the Far Eastern Republic dares look defiantly at the German nation." The breaking off of relations with Germany led to trouble between the President of the Republic and the Premier. The Premier desired to break off relations without consulting Parliament. The President insisted that Parliament should be consulted, which was actually done. The next move was to declare war, but here the Chinese statesmen hesitated, and their hesitation arose through their feeling toward Japan. They sympathized with the Allies, but to Chinese eyes Japan 498 CHINA JOINS THE DEMOCRACIES 499 has stood for all that Germany, as depicted by its worst enemies, stood for. The Japanese Government was professing friendliness to China, but that profession the Chinese could not reconcile with Japan's action in the Chino-Japanese War, and ^ m^y other occaaons since that war. In Chinese hearts there was a strong feeling of distrust, fear' and hatred for their Japanese neighbor. There were -other reasons also why they hesitated to declare war. Indeed the devotion to peace, which is^deep-ipoted in the nation, would be a sufficient reason in itself. Moreover, China, -like other neutral nations, was a strong center for German propaganda. German consuls and diplomatic officers, who were scholars in Chinese literature and philosophy, and who also had sufficient funds to entertain Chinese officials as they liked to be entertained, were actively endeavoring to influence Chinese statesmen. The Chinese Government, however, was determined to declare war, and to secure support^ the Chinese Premier summoned a council of military governors to consider the qu&tion. The majority of tiie conference agreed with the Premier, but a vigorous opposition b^an to develop. On^May 7th the President sent a formal request to Parliament to approve of a declaration of war. Parlia- ment delayed and was threatened by a mob. The Premier was accused of having instigated the riot and support began to gather for Parliament, and an attack was made on the Premier as beiag willing to sell China. Day by day the differences between the militants and demo- crats became more bitter. The question of war was almost lost in the differences of opinion as to the comparative powers of Parliament and the Executive. A demand was made that the Premier resign. He refused to resign and was dismissed from office bj^the President, who was supported in his action by the Parliament. This was practically a success of the Parliamentary party, when suddenly several of the northern generals and governors declared their independence, and the movement gradually developed into a revohition in favor of the restoration (rf^the Manchu Dynasty. This revolution was finally suppressed. The Japanese declared themselves, not the enemies, but the protectors of China in terms that suggested the appearance of a Monroe Doctrine for Asia. They pledged themselves not to violate 500 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the political independence or territorial integrity of China, and declared strongly in favor of the piiuciple of the open door and eqnal^opportunity. On August 14th China formally joined the Allies and declared war on Austria and Germany. She took no great part in the war, except to invade the German and Austrian settlements in Tientsin and Hankow, ^l^ich were taken over by the Chinese authorities. The Chinese officials also seized the Deutsche Asiatiche Bank which had been the financing agent in China for the German Government, and fourteen German vessels which had been interned in Chinese ports. Thousands of Chinese coolies were sent to Europe to work in the Allied interests behind the battle lines, and China has in all respects been faithful to her pledges. The official war proclamation of China which was signed by President Feng-kuo-chang reviewed China's efforts to induce Germany to, modify her submarine policy. It declared that China had been forced to sever relations with Germany and with Austro- Himgary to protect the lives and property of Chinese citizens. It promised that China would respect the Hague Convention, regarding the humane conduct of the war, and asserted that China's object was to hasten peace. On July 22d Siam officially entered the war and all German and Austrian subjects were interned and German ships seized. The Prince of Songkla, brother of the reigning monarch, declared that natural necessity and moral pressure forced Siam into the war on the side of the Entente. Neutrality had become increasingly diffi- cult, and it had become apparent that freedom and justice in states which were not strong from a military standpoint were not to be secured through the policy of the Central Powers. Sympathy for Belgimn and the popular aversion to Teutonic methods had left no doubt as to the duty of Siam. The motive of Siam had a curious fitness, though there was a certain quaintness in her expression of a desire to make, "the world safe for democracy." The native name of Siam is Muang-Thai, which means the Kingdom of the Free. Siam is about as large as France, and has a population of about eight millions. Its people, who are of many shades of yellowish-brown, have descended into this comer of Asia from the highlands north of Burma and east of Tibet. The tradition among these people was that the further south they descended the CHINA JOINS THE DEMOCRACIES 601 shorter they would grow, that when they reached the southern plains they would be no larger than rabbits, and that when they came to the sea they would vanish altogether. As a fact the northern tribes are much taller than the southern. The original population of the Siamese peninsula was a racte of black dwarfs, remnants of whom stiU dwell in caves and nests of palm leaves, so shy that it is almost impossible to catch a glimpse of them. The Uterary and reUgious culture of Siam comes mainly from southern India. Buddhism is the dominant reUgion, but there are many Mohammedans also. The accession of Siam to the ranks of the Allies did not make any great difference from a mihtary point of view, but it was another evidence of the general world feeling with regard to the Germans and their encroachments in all parts of the world. Germany had tried its best to keep these nations from participation in the war, but not only had her propaganda failed but the feeling of these Oriental peoples was strongly anti-German. Much of this feeling, it is readily seen from their statements and their private letters, comes from a personal resentment of the boorish attitude of the individual German. By the end of 1918 the Teuton influence in the Orient had completely disappeared. CHAPTER XXXVIl Tbh Defeat and Recoveby of Italy NONE of the surprises of the World -War brought such sudden and stunning dismay to the Entente Allies as the news of the Italian disaster beginning October 24, 1917, and terminating in mid-November. It is a story in which propaganda was an important factor. It taught the Allies the dangers lying in fraternization between opposing armies. During the summer of 1917 the seccmd ItaUan army was confronted by Austrian regiments composed largely of war-weary Socialists. During that summer skilful German propagandists operating from Spain had sown the seeds of pacificism throughout Italy. This was made easy by the distress then existing particu- larly in the villages where food was scanty and complaints against the conduct of the war were numerous. The propaganda extended from the civilian population to the army, and its chaimel was directed mainly toward the second army encamped along the Isonzo River. As a consequence of the pacifists' preachments both by word of mouth and document, the"*second army was ready for the friendly approaches that came from the front lines of the Austrians only a few hundred yards away. Daily conamunication was estab- lished and at night the opposing soldiers fraternized generally. The Russian doctrine that an end of the fighting would come if the soldiers agreed to do no more shooting, spread throughout the Italian trenches. This was all part of a plan carefully mapped out by the Ger- man High Coromand. When the infection had spread, the fra- ternizing Austrian troops were withdrawn from the front trenches and German shock troops took their places. On October 24th these troops attacked in force. The Italians in the front line, mistaking them for the friendly Austrians, waved a greeting. German machine guns and rifles replied with a deadly fire, and the great flanldng moVement commenced. So well had 602 THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY 503 the Gennans played their game the Italians lost more than 250,000 prisoners and 2,300 guns in the first week. The attack began in the Julian Alps and continued along the Isonzo south- westward into the plain of Venice. The Italian positions at Tol- naino and Plezzo were captured and the whole Italian force was compelled to retreat along a seventy-mile front from the Camic Alps to the sea. The most important point gained by the enemy in its early assault was the village of Caporetto on the Upper Abba op the Flow and Ebb ot Italt's Militabt SuccBsa From the Carso plateau to the Piave line. Isonzo where General Cadoma held a great series of dams which could have drained the Isonzo River dry within twelve hours. The Italian retreat at places degenerated into a rout and it was not until the Italians, reinforced by French and British, reached the Piave River, that a stand was finally made. The defeat cost Cadoma his command, and he was succeeded by General Armando Diaz, whose brilliant strategy during the remainder of the war marked him as a national hero and one of the outstanding military geniuses of the war. The order for a general retreat was issued on October 27th. 504 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Poison gas shells rained blindness and death upon the retreating Italians and upon the heroic rear-guards. The city of TJdine and its environs were emptied of their inhabitants; and Goritzia, which had been wrested after a desperate effort from the Austrians, was retaken on October 28th. That the entire Italian army escaped the fate that had come to the Russians at the Masurian Lakes was due mainly to the third army commanded by the Duke of Aosta. During the long running fight, it faced about from time to time and drove the Germans back ui bloody encounters. By November 10th the Italian forces had come to the hastily prepared entrenchments on the west bank of the Piave River. The Austrians and the Germans dug in on the east bank from the village of Susegana in the Alpine foothills to the Adriatic Sea. Here a long-drawn-out battle was fought, resulting in enormous losses to the Germans and Austrians. By this time reiaforcements had come up from the French front and every attempt by the_ enemy to gain ground met a bloody check. The hardest fighting was on the Asiago Plateau. There, although the Italians were greatly outnimibered, the concentration of their artillery in the hills overlooking the great field completely dominated the situation. I A factor that was of the utmost value in checking the Aus- trians was the system of lagoon defenses running from the lower Piave to the Gulf of Venice. From November 13th, when the Austrians in crossing the lower Piave in their headlong rush to Venice were suddenly checked by the Italian lagoon defenses, the entire Gulf of Venice, with its endless canals and marshes, with islands disappearing and reappearing with the tide, was the scene of a continuous battle. A correspondent described the fighting as absolutely without pre- cedent. The Teutons were desperately trying to turn the Italian right wing by working their way around the northern Umits of the Venetian Gulf. The Italians inundated the region and sealed all the entrances into the gulf by mine fields. The gulf, therefore, was converted into an isolated sea. Over this inland waterway the conflict raged bitterly. The Italians had a "lagoon fleet" ranging from the swiftest of motor boats, armed with machine guns, small cannon, and torpedo tubes, to huge, cumbersome, flat-bottomed British monitors, mounting the biggest guns. THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY 505 The Italian vessels navigated secret channels dug in the bottom of the shallow lagoons. Only the Italian war pilots knew these courses. Even gondolas straying out of the channels were instantly and hopelessly stranded. Not only this, but as the muddy flats and marshy islands did not permit of artillery emplacements the Italians developed an immense fleet of floating batteries. The guns ranged from three-inch fieldpieces to great fifteen-inch mon- sters. Each was camouflaged to represent a tiny island, a garden patch, or a houseboat. Floating on the glasslike surface of the lagoons, the guns fired a few shots and then changed position, mak- ing it utterly impossible for the enemy to locate them. The entire auxiliary service of supplying this floating army was adapted to meet the lagoon warfare. Munition diunps were on boats, con- stantly moved about to prevent the enemy spotting them. Gon- dolas and motor boats replaced the automobile supply lorries customary in land warfare. Instead of motor ambulances, motor boats carried o£f the dead and wounded. Hydro-airplanes replaced ordinary fighting aircraft. Along the northern limit of the Venetian Gulf, where the Austrians, having filtered into the Piave Delta, sought to cross both the Sile and the Piave, the enemy each night hooked up pontoons. At daybreak every morning one end of a hugh pon- toon structure was anchored to the east bank of the Piave and the other flimg out to the strong current, which soon stretched the makeshift bridge across. The moment this happened, the enemy infantry madly dashed across. Simultaneously the Itahan floating batteries opened a terrific fire. Practically every morning the Austrians tried the trick, and every morning they failed, with heavy losses, to effect a crossing. At last they gave up the attempt as hopeless, and the armies remained locked on the Piave for several months. CHAPTER XXXVin Redemption op the Holt Land FROM the beginmng of the war the German General Staff and the British War Ofl&ce planned the occupation of Palestine and Macedonia. Germany wanted domination of tiiat territory because through it lay the open road to Egypt and British prestige in the East. Turkey was the cat's paw of the Hun in this enterprise. German officers and German guns were supplied to the Turks, but the terrible privations necessary in a long campaign that must be spent largely in the desert, and the inevitable great loss in hiiman life, were both demanded from Tmrkey. Great Britain made no such demands upon any of its Allies. Unflinchingly England faced virtually alone the rigors, the disease and the deaths consequent upon an expedition having as its object the redemption of the Holy Land from the unspeakable Turk. Volunteers for the expedition came by the thousands. Canada, the United States, Australia and other coimtries furnished whole regiments of Jewish youths eager for the campaign. The inspiration and the devotion radiating from Palestine, and particu- larly from Jerusalem and Bethlehem, drew Jew and Gentile, hardy adventurer and zealous churchman, into Allenby's great army. It was a long campaign. On February 26, 1917, Kut-el- Amara was recaptured from the Turks by the British expedition under command of General Sir Stanley Maude, and on March 11th following General Maude captured Bagdad. From that time forward pressure upon the Turks was continuous. On September 29, 1917, the Turkish Mesopotamian army commanded by Ahmad Bey was routed by the British, and historic Beersheba in Palestine was occupied on October 31st. The untimely death of General Maude, the hero of Mesopotamia, on November 18, 1917, tem- porarily cast gloom over the Allied forces but it had no deterrent effect upon their successful operations. Siege was laid to Jerusalem and its environs late in November, and on December 8, 1917, the 606 REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND 507 Holy City which had been held by the Turks for six hundred and seventy-three years surrendered to General AHenby and his British army. Thus ended a struggle for possession of the holiest of shrines both of the Old and New Testaments, that had cost mil- Ho"W THE Two WiNOB oj" THH BBmaH Aemt Trapped thb Tubks. lions of lives during fruitless crusades and had been the center of relig^ua aspirations f ov ages. General Allenby's official report follows: "I entered the city officially at noon, December 11th, with a 508 HISTORY OF THE" WORLD WAR few of my staff, the commanders of the French and Italian detach- ments, the heads of the political missions, and the military attaches of France, England, and America. "The procession was all afoot, and at Jaffa gate I was received by the guards representing England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, India, France and Italy. The population received me well. "Guards have been placed over the holy places. My military governor is in contact with the acting custodians and the Latia and Greek representatives. The governor has detailed an officer to supervise the holy places. The Mosque of Omar and the area around it have been placed under Moslem control, and a military cordon of Mohammedan officers and soldiers has been established aroimd the mosque. Orders have been issued that no non-Moslem is to pass within the cordon without permission of the military governor and the Moslem in charge." A proclamation in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, Italian Greek and Russian was posted in the citadel, and on all the walls proclaiming martial law and intimating that all the holy places would be maintained and protected according to the customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they were sacred. The proclamation read: PROCLAMATION^ To the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Blessed and the People Dwelling ia Its Vicinity. The defeat inflicted upon the Turks by the troops under my command has resulted in the occupation of your city by my forces. I, therefore, proclaim it to be imder martial law, under which form of adminis- tration it will remain so long as military consideration makes necessary. However, lest any of you be alarmed by reason of your experience at the hands of the enemy who has retired, I hereby inform you that it is my desire that every person should pursue his lawful business without fear of interruption. Futhermore, since your city is regarded with affection by the adherents of three of the great religions of mankind and its soil has been consecrated by the prayers and pilgrimages of multitudes of devout people of these three religions for many centuries, therefore, do I make it known to you that every sacred building, monument, holy spot, shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or customary place of prayer of whatso- ever form of the three religions will be maintained and protected accordmg fco the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faith they are sacred. REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND 509 Guardians have been established at Bethlehem and on Rachel's Tomb. The tomb at Hebron has been placed mider exclusive Moslem control. The hereditary custodians at the gates of the Holy Sepulchre have been requested to take up their accustomed duties in remembrance of the magoanimous act of the Caliph Omar, who protected that church., Jerusalem was now made the center of the British operations against the Turks in Palestine. Mohammed V, the Sultan of Turkey, died July 3, 1918, and many superstitious Turks looked upon that event as forecasting the end of the Turkish Empire. The Turkish army in Palestine was left largely to its fate by Ger- many and Austria, and although it was numerically a formidable opponent for General Allenby's forces, that distinguished strategist fairly outmaneuvered the Tmrkish High Command in every encounter. The beginning of the end for Turkish misnde in Palestine came on September 20th when the ancient town of Nazareth was captured by the British. A military net was thereupon closed upon the Turkish army. The fortified towns of Beisan and Afule followed the fate of Nazareth. In one day's fighting 18,000 Turkish prisoners, 120 guns, four airplanes, a munber of locomotives and cars, and a great quan- tity of military and food supplies were bagged by the victorious British. So well did Allenby plan that the British losses were far the smallest suffered in any large operation of the entire war. It was the swiftest and most decisive victory of any scored by the Allies. It ended the grandiose dream of Germany for an invasion of Egypt in stark disaster, and swept the Holy Land clear of the Turks. This great battle on the Biblical field of Armageddon was remarkable in that it was virtually the only engagement during the entire war offering the freest scope to cavalry operations. British cavalry commands operated over a radius of sixty miles between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, sweeprag the Turks before them. By September 25th the total bag of Turkish prisoners exceeded 40,000. Munition depots covering acres of ground were taken. Whole companies of Turkish soldiers were found sitting on their white flags waiting for the British to accept their terms. Two hundred sixty-five pieces of artillery were captured. 510 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Damascus was captured on Tuesday, October 1st, after an advance of 130 miles by General Allenby since September 1st, the day of his surprise attack north of Jerusalem. During that period a total of 73,000 prisoners was captured. Palestine's delivery from the Turks was complete. Official announcement was made by the British War Office that the total casualties from all sources in this final campaign was less than 4,000. Plans for the government of the people of Palestine were annoimced Immediately. Their general scope was outlined in an agreement made between the British, French and Russian govern- ments in 1916. Under that arrangement Republican France was charged with the preparation of a scheme of self-government. The town of Alexandretta was fixed upon as a free port of entry for the new nation. ) Underwood and Underwood^ N. Y. British Ojffbcial i^hoio. JERUSALEM DELIVERED On December 11, 1917, the Holy City was entered by the British forces. Following the custom of the Crusaders, General Allenby, commander of the British and Alb'ed forces, made his entry, with his staff and Allied officers, through the Jaffa Gate, on foot. CHAPTER XXXIX America's Transportation Problems WHEN America entered the war there was a very great increase in the volume of business of the railroads of the country. The roads were already so crowded by what the Allies had done in purchasing war supplies, that a great deal of confusion had resulted. The Allies had expended more than three billion dollars in the United States, and as nearly all of their purchases had to be sent to a few defiiiite points for shipment to Europe, the congestion at those points had become a serious diffictdty. Thousands of loaded cars had to stand for long periods awaiting the transfer of their contents to ships. This meant that thousands of cars which had been taken from lines in other parts of the country would be in a traffic blockade for weeks at a time. The main difficulty appeared to be that of getting trains miloaded promptly. The declaration of war by the United fcJtates made the situation very much worse. Not only did the railroads have to handle the freight destined for the Allies, but there was a very large addition to the passenger movement on accoimt of the thousands of men that were being sent to the various training camps, and the immense masses of supplies that had to be sent to these camps. This included not only the ordinary supplies to the men but thousands of carloads of lumber. Moreover, all over the country mills and factories were now being handed over to the government for war work; and to them, too, great quantities of raw material had to be sent, and the finished product removed to its destination. A vigorous endeavor to meet the new difficulties was instituted by the railroads themselves. They themselves named a war board, which was to co-operate with the government and which was to have absolute authority. But this arrangement soon proved unsatisfactory. Each government official would do his best to obtain preferraice for what his department required, and to obtain that preference a system of priority tags was established which 613 514 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR became a great abuse. The result was that priority freight soon began to crowd out the freight which the raikoada could handle according to their own discretion, thus seriously interfering with business all over the country.^ Natiu-ally, the railroad executives and the government author- ities studied the question with the greatest care, but they could not reach an imderstanding among themselves, nor with the Administration. At last the President settled the matter by annotmcing his decision to have the government take over com- plete control of the roads. The President derived his power from an Act of Congress dated August 29, 1916, which reads as follows: The President in time of war is empowered, through the Secretary of War, to take possession and assume control of any system or systems of transportation, or any part thereof, and to utilize the same to the exclusion, as far aa may be necessary, of all other traffic thereon, for the transfer or transportation of troops, war material and equipment, or for such other purooses connected with the Rinereency as may be needful or desirable. The proclamation went into effect on December 28, 1917, and the President declared that it appUed to "each and every system of transportation and the appurtenances thereof, located, wholly or in part, within the boimdaries of the Continental United States, and consisting of railroads and owned or controlled systems of coastwise and inland transportation, engaged in general trans- portation, whether operated by steam, or by electric power, includ- ing also terminals, terminal companies, and terminal associations, sleeping and parlor cars, private cars, and private car lines, elevators, warehouses, telegraph and telephone lines, and all other equipment and appurtenances commonly used upon or operated as a part of such rail or combined rail and water systems of transportation. . . . That the possession, control, operation, and utilization of such transportation systems shall be exercised by and through William G. McAdoo, who is hereby appomted, and designated Director General of Railroads. Said Director may perform the duties imposed upon him so long and to such an extent as he shall determine through the boards of directors, receivers, officers and employees, of said system of transportation." President Wilson issued an explanation with this proclamation in which he said: TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 515 This is a war of resourcea no less than of men, perhaps even more than of men, and it is necessary for the complete mobilization of our resources that the transportation systems of the coimtry should be organ- ized and employed imder a single authority and to simplify methods for coordination which have not proved possible under private manage- ment and control. A committee of railway executives who have been co-operating with the government in this all-important matter, have done the utmost that it was possible for them to do, but there were differ- ences that they could neither escape nor neutralize. Complete unity of administration in the present circumstances involves upon occasion, and at many points, a serious disloca,tion of earnings, and the committee was, of course, without power or authority to rearrange charges or effect proper compensations in adjustments of earnings. Several roads which were willingly and with admirable public spirit accepting the orders of the committee, have already suffered from these circimostances, and should not be required to suffer further. In mere fairness to them, the full authority of the government must be substituted. The public interest must be first served, and in addition the financial interests of the govern- ment, and the financial interests of the railwajrs, must be brought under a conunon direction. The financial operations of the railway need not, then, interfere with the borrowings of the government, and they them- selves can be conducted at a great advantage. Investors in railway securities may rest assured that their rights and interests will be as scrupulously looked after by the government as they could be by the directors of the Beveral railway systems. Immediately upon the reassem- bling of Congress I shall recommend that these different guarantees be given. The Secretary of War and I are agreed that, all the circumstances being taken into consideration, the best results can be obtained under the immediate executive direction of the Honorable William G. McAdoo, whose practical experience peculiarly fits him for the service, and whose authority as Secretary of the Treasury will enable him to coordinate, as no other man could, the many financial interests which will be involved, and which might, unless systematically directed, suffer very embarrassing entanglements. President Wilson's proclamation stirred up great excitement on the stock market. Speculators rushed to buy back railroad stocks which they had previously sold short, and the market value of such stocks was raised more than three hundred and fifty million dollars as a result. The Federal Government's assiunption of control of the railroads was generally recognized as the proper act under existing circumstances, and the guarantee of pre-war earnings made them a good investment. The railroad system in the United States consists of 260,000 miles of raikoad, owned by 441 distinct corporations, with about 516 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 660,000 shareholders. It employs 1,600,000 men and represents a property investment of $17,600,000,000. The outstanding capital in round numbers is $16,000,000,000, $9,000,000,000 of which is represented by a funded debt. The rolling stock comprises 61,000 locomotives, 2,250,000 freight cars, 62,000 passenger cars and 95,000 service cars. All this was now under the charge of William G. McAdoo. On January 4, 1918, President Wilson explained his plan to Congress, and recommended legislation to put the new system of control into effect, and to guarantee to the holders of railroad stocks and bonds a net annual income equal to the average net income for the three years ending June 30, 1917. The wise recommendations of President Wilson were at once approved by Congress; provision was made for guaranteeing the railroads the income which he recommended, and for financing the roads. The railroads' war board was abolished and Mr. McAdoo appointed an advisory board to assist him. This board consisted of John Skelton Williams, Controller of the Currency; Hale Holden, President of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad; Henry Walters, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Coast Line; Edward Chambers, Vice-President of the Santa F6 Railroad and head of the transportation division of the United States Food Administration; Walter D. Hines, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Santa F^. Specific duties were assigned to the various members of this committee. Mr. Williams was to deal with the financial problem; Mr. Holden to assume direction of committees and sub-committees, and other phases of the work were allotted to other members. Mr, Walter D. Hines was made assistant to the Director General. Mr. McAdoo's first order was to pool all terminals, ports, locomotives, rolling stock and other transportation faciUties. Another order had as its object to end the congestion of traffic in New York City and Chicago. It gave all lines entering these centers equal rights in trackage and water terminal facilities. This wiped out the identity of the great Pennsylvania Terminal Station in New York, and gave all railroads the use of the Permsylvania tubes under the Hudson River. The effect of government control of the railroads was felt from the very first. Coal was given the right of way, giving great, relief to such sections as were suffering from fuel shortage. Many TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 617 passenger trains were taken off, more than two hundred and fifty of such trains being dropped from the schedules of the eastern roads. This permitted a great increase in the freight traffic. Orders were also ^ven that all empty box cars were to be sent to wheat-producing centers, so that wheat could be moved to the Atlantic sea coasts for diipment to England and France. These orders preceded the adoption of the railroad control bill, which was not passed by Congress until March 14th. A feature of the bill is the proviso that government control of the railroads shall not continue more than twenty-one months after the war. After the passing of the bill plans were made to make contracts with each railroad company for government compensation on the basis provided in the bill. The action of the government in thus assuming control of the railroads very naturally led to wide differences of opinion, some of which were sharply expressed in the Congress of the United States. On the whole, however, public opinion decided that the government acted wisely. Certain inconveniences to the traveling public were easily excused when it was realized that the movement of troops throughout the country to the camps, or from the camps to the ports which were to take them across the sea, from "Texas to Toul," was being accomplished with great success; that the move- n^t of war material was now possible, and that the gigantic rail- road system was working without a hitch. Many details, in connection with the railroad management, were not at once -w^orked out, and many months passed without complete agreements regarding the railway operating contracts. But this was a matter of greater interest to the owners than it was to patriotic citizens, anxious for the winning of the war. Govern- mental control of the railroads, was only a beginning. On July 16th President Wilson took control, for the period of the war, of all telegraph, telephone, cable and radio lines, signing a bill on that day passed by Congress authorizing such action. The transportation of the American army across the ocean was the greatest military feat of its kind ever accomplished in history. The transportation of EngUsh troops during the Boot War meant a longer journey, but the number of troops sent on that journey was but a small fraction of America's army. The railroads in existence were not sufficient. The ships that 518 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR were necessary could not be found in America's navy. It waa necessary to build new roads, new docks, new tenninals, new bases of suppUes in America, and to send abroad thousands of trained workmen and experienced railroad engineers to build similar necessi- ties in France. To convey the millions of men across the water England had to come to the rescue, and though himdreds of American ships were built with a speed that was almost miraculous, they were in constant need of the assistance of the Allies. But wonderful men were put in charge of the work, wonderful organizers with wonderfxd assistants, and the great task was accomplished. As soon as the army was traiaed it was sent across — ^fixst by thousands, then by tens of thousands, then by hundreds of thour sands, until before the war was over more than two million men had made the great trip "over there." And throughout that whole trip they were watched over as carefully as if they were at home. Every want was supplied; food, clothing, muniticois were all where they were needed. Even their leisure hours were looked after, their health attended to. Books, games, theaters, classes for those who cared to study, all were there. It was a wonderful performance, and the whole movement was conducted with clock-like precision. On such a day at such an hour the trained soldier would start. At such an hour he would report in some Atlantic port. At such an horn* and such a minute he would board ship, and with equal precision that ship would sail upon the appointed moment. Perhaps on the joiuney over some submarine naight delay the ship, but the destroyers were there on the alert, and the submarine was but an amusing episode. On the other side the process 'sp.s carried on with equal efficiency. Before the American doughboy could realize that he was in France he was in his quarters, just like home, in the base camps behind the fighting line, and it was this miracle of transportation that won the war. A study of transportation construction in other countries showed that actual construction of railroads had been suspended in some cases, and in others retarded, but in not a few instances hastened by the war. Brazil experienced a more nearly complete suspension of railroad building than any of the other countries, but preparation was made for prompt resumption of construction) with the return of more normal conditions. The Chinese building program also had been affected unfavov- TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS 519 ably by the war. Nevertheless, there were important additions made, aggregating approximately 800 miles during the war. Of the lines completed in 1917, two are of especial significance. One of these, a 140-mile section of the Canton-Hankow line, a link in the route between South China and Peking. ■^: The other is a 60-mile feeder of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Manchuria. A line was extended from South Manchuria into Mongolia, the first railroad to penetrate this territory. ' Financial arrangements were made for the early construction of a line across Southern Manchuria and for another connecting the Peking-Hankow and Tien^in-Pukow lines. Construction in Siberia proceeded rapidly. The completion, in 1915, of the Amur River division of the Trans-Siberian in the east, together with the extension in 1913 of the Ekaterinburg- Tiumen line to Omsk in the west, gave virtually a dpuble track from Eiiropean Russia to Vladivostok. The notable achievement in Africa was the continuation of the southern rail link in the Cape-to-Cairo route. This line was com- pleted to Bukama on the navigable Congo, 2,600 miles from Cape- town. The railway in German East Africa, was extended to Lake Tanganyika on the eve of the war, making a rail-water line across the center of the continent.*^ The railroad from Lobito Bay was extended eastward to Katanga, a rich mineral region of the Belgian Congo, and, with the road already reaching the Indian Ocean at Beira, gave a second east and west transcontinental line. A permanent standard gauge railroad was laid by the British Expeditionary; Forces from Egypt into Palestine. Despite the magnitude of the Australian contribution to the Allied military and naval forces, the east and west transcontinental railway, begun in 1912, was completed in 1917. In all, more than 3,500 miles of track were built in the commonwealth in the years 1916-17. In Canada, the work of providing two transcontinental railroads was completed; feeders were added, and a line from La Pas to Hudson Bay was under construction. From 1912 to 1916 more than 10,000 miles of track were put in operation, nearly 7,000 of which were added in the first two years of the w;ar. CHAPTER XL Ships and the Men_Who Made Them^ WHEN the United States of America entered the World War she was confronted at once by a serious question. The great Allied nations were struggling against the attempt of the Germans, through the piratical use of submarines, to blockade the coast of the Allied coxmtries. It was this German action which had led America to take part in the war. It is;<.true that America had other motives. Few wars ever take place among democratic nations as a result of the calculation of the nation's leaders. The people must be iuterested, and the people must sympathize with the cause for which they are going to fight. The people of America had sympathized with Belgiign, and had become indignant at the brutal treatment of that inoffensive nation. They had sympathized with France in its gallant endeavor to protect its soil from the inroads of the Hun. This feeling had become a personal one as they reviewed the lists of Americans lost in the sinking of the Lusitania, and this sympathy had gradually grown into indignation when the Germans, after having promised to conduct submarine warfare according to international law, again and again violated that promise. When, then, the Germans declared that they would no longer even pretend to treat neutral shipping according to the laws of maritime warfare the people with one accord approved the action of the President of the United States in declaring war. The Germans at this time were making a desperate effort to starve England, by destroying its commerce, and it was in the endeavor to accomplish this purpose that they thought it necessary to attack American ships. The first effort of Americans, therefore, was naturally to use every power of the navy to destroy the lurking Submarines, and in the E^econd place to use every means in their power to supply the Allies with food. But America had for many years neglected to give encouragement to her merchant fleets. Her commerce was very largely carried in foreign bottoms. 520 SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 521 Ships were needed, and needed urgently, and one of the very first acts of the American Government was to authorize their pro- duction. Congress therefore appropriated for this purpose what was then the extraordinary sum of $1,135,000,000 and General Goethals, recently returned from his work ia building the Panama Canal, was appointed manager of the Emergency Fleet Corporation and entrusted with the execution of the government's ship-building program. The Emergency Fleet Corporation, however, was then inde- pendent of the United States Shipping Board, of which Mr. William Demnan was made chairman, and friction between General Goethals and Mr. Demnan at the very start caused long delay. The difference of opinion between them arose over the comparative merits of wooden and steel ships. The matter was finally laid before President Wilson and ended in the resignation of both men and the complete reorganization of the board and the Fleet Corporation, in which reorganization the Fleet Corporation was made subordinate to the Shipping Board but given entire control of construction. Rear-Admiral Capps succeeded General Goethals, but was compelled to resign on accotmt of ill health. Rear-Admiral Harris, who had been chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, then had the job for two weeks, but resigned because in his opinion he had not enough authority. Then came Mr. Charles Piez, who held the position for a longer period. Mr. Edward N. Hurley had been made chairman of the United States Shipping Board, and under the direction of these two men much progress was made. In the spring of 1918 the boards themselves were not satisfied Tdth their progress, and on April 16, 1918, Mr. Charles M. Schwab, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bethlehem Steel Corpora- tion, was made Director General of the Emergency Fleet Corporar tion. Mr. Schwab was one of the most prominent business menjn the United States and one of the best known, and his appointment was received all over the coimtry with the greatest satisfaction. BKs wonderful work in building up the Bethlehem steel plant not only showed his great abiUty, but especially fitted him for a task in which the steel industry bore such a vital pai-t. The official statement issued from the White House read as follows: Edward N. Hurley, Charles M. Schwab, Bainbridge Colby and Charles Piez were received by the President at the White House today. It was » 522 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR started that the subject discussed was the progress and condition of a national ship-building program. The carrying forward of the construction work in the one hundred and thirty shipyards now in operation is so vast that it requires a reinforcement of the ship-building organization through- out the country. Later in the day Chairman Hurley of the Shipping Board annovmced that a new office with wide powers had been created by the Trustees of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. The new position is that of Director General and Mr. Schwab has been asked, and has agreed, to accept this position in answer to the call of the nation. Charles Kez, Vice-President of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, recommended that the post of General Manager of the corporation be at once abolished, so that Mr. Schwab as Director General should be wholly unhampered in carrying on the large task entrusted to him. Mr. Piez, since the retirement of Admiral Harris, has been filling both the position of Vice-President and that of General Manager. Mr. Schwab will have complete supervision and direction of the work of ship-building. He agreed to take up the work at the sacrifice of his personal wishes in the matter. His services were virtually commandeered. His great experience as a steel maker and builder of ships has been drafted for the nation. Although the fact that production during the month of March had not been as great as had been hoped probably brought about this change, it should also be said that those who had been respon- sible deserved much credit for what had actually been done. They had been handicapped constantly by poor transportation and shortage of materials, but had worked faithfully and with what under ordinary circumstances would be regarded as remarkable success. The call upon Mr. Schwab was simply an effort to draft into the service of the country its very highest executive ability. Mr. Schwab's name had been mentioned before for more than one government post, and it was thought that here was the place where his talents could have the fullest play. It was stated in Washington that he would receive a salary of one dollar a year. Mr. Schwab at once proceeded to "speed up" the shipping program. It took him just one day to arrange his own business affairs and then he began his work. His first day was spent in going over the details of his task with Chairman Hurley and Mr. Piez. He then received newspaper men, beginning the campaign of publicity which turned out to be so successful. He was full of compliments for the work which had already been done. "It is prodigious, splendid, magnificent!" he said. "It is far greater than any man who hasn't seen the inside of things can appreciate. The SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 523 foundation is laid. That task is well done. We are going to get the results which are needed and I should be proud if I could have any part in the accomplishment. All I can say for myself is that I am filled with enthusiasm, energy and confidence. Mr. Hurley and I are in full accord on everything, and we are going to work shoulder to shoulder to make the work a success, but the large burden must fall upon the people at the yards, and they are entitled to any credit for success. I do not want to have any man in the shipyards working for me. I want them all working with me. Nothing is going to be worth while imless we win this war, and every one must do the task to which he is called." One of the first steps that Mr. Schwab took to speed up ship production was to eatabhsh his headquarters in Philadelphia, as the center of the ship-building region. Chairman Hurley remained at Washington, and the operating department, which included agencies such as the Inter-Allied Ship Control Committee, was removed to New York City. It was. stated that nearly fifty per cent of the work iu progress was within a short radius of Philadelphia. The year before the war the total output of the United States shipyards was only two hundred and fifty thousand tons. The program of the shipping board contemplated the construction of one thousand one hundred and forty-five steel ships, with a tonnage of eight million one hundred and sixty-four thoiisand five hundred and eight, and four himdred and ninety wooden ships, with a toimage of one million seven hundred and fifteen thousand. These of course could not be built in the shipyards then in existence. New shipyards had to be buHt in various parts of the coimtry. In the first year after the shipping board took control, one hundred and eighty-eight ships were put in the water and through requisition and by building, one hundred and three more were added to the American merchant fleet. By April, 1918, the govern- ment had at its service 2,762,605 tons of shipping. During the month of May, the first month after Mr. Schwab began his work, the record of production had moimted from 160,286 tons to 263,571. American shipyards had completed and delivered during that month forty-three steel ships and one wooden ship. Mr. Hurley, in an address on June 10th, said: On June 1st, we had increased the American built tonnage to over 3,500,000 dead-weight tons of shipping. This gives us a total of more 524 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR than one thousand four hundred ships with an approximate total dead- weight tonnage of 7,000,000 now under the control of the United States Shipping Board. In round numbers and from all sources we have added to the American flag since our war against Germany began, nearly 4,600,000 tons of shipping. Our program calls for the building of 1,856 passenger, cargo and refrigerator ships and tankers, rangiag from five thousand to twelve thousand tons each, with an aggregate dead-weight of thirteen million. Exclusive of these we have two himdred and forty-five com- mandeered vessels, taken over from foreign and domestic owners which are being completed by the Emergency Fleet Corporation. These will aggregate a total dead-wight tonnage of 1,715,000. This makes a total of two thousand one hundred and one vessels, exclusive of tugs and barges which are being built and will be put on the seas in the course of carrying out the present program, with an aggregate dead-weight tonnage of 14,715,000. Five billion dollars will be required to finish our program, but the expenditure of this enormous sum will give to the American people the greatest merchant fleet ever assembled in the history of the world. American workmen have made the expansion of recent months possible, and they will make possible the successful conclusion of the whole program. In the wonderful work that followed his appointment Mr. Schwab constantly came before the public, mainly through his addresses to the working men of the diEEerent yards. His main endeavor was to stimulate enthusiasm and rivalry among the men. A ten-thousand-dollar prize was offered to the yard producing the largest surplus above its program, and he traveled throughout the coimtry urging the employees at all the great yards to break their records. The result of his work was that it was not long before it was announced that the monthly tonnage of ships completed by the Allies exceeded the tonnage of those sunk by the German submarine. The menace of the submarine, which had seemed so formidable, had disappeared. The most important of the great shipyardswhich were pro- ducing the American cargo ships was at Hog Island in the southwest part of Philadelphia. This shipyard may indeed be called the greatest shipyard in the world. Before Mr. Schwab became Director General much criticism had been launched at the work that was going on there, and an investigation had been made which resulted in a favorable report. On August 5th the new shipyard launched its first ship, the 7,500 ton freight steamer, Quistconck, in the presence of a distinguished throng among whom were the President of the United States and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. The SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 525 ship was christened by Mrs. Wilson, and the President swung his hat and led the cheers as the great ship glided down the ways. The name "Quistconck" is the ancient Indian name of Hog Island. The crowd numbered more than sixty thousand people, and special trains from Washington and New York brought many notable guests. President and Mrs. Wilson were escorted by Mr. Hurley and Mr. Schwab, and apparently thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. An enormous bouquet was presented to Mrs. Wilson by Foreman McMillan, who had driven the first rivet in the Quistconck's keel. Shortly after the armistice it was announced that the Hog Island plant would be acquired by the United States Government. The real estate, valued at $1,760,000, was owned by the American International Ship Building Company, and the government had invested about $60,000,000 in equipping the plant. At the time the war ended thirty-five thousand persons were at work and a hundred and eighty ships were in various stages of completion. An interesting feature in connection with the endeavor to "speed up" was the competition in riveting. Early in the year in yard after yard expert riveters were reported as making extraor- dinary records, and prizes were offered to the winners of such records. Later, however, such contests^ were discouraged by Chairman Hurley and by others. The best record was made by John Omir, who drove twelve thousand two hundred and nine rivets in nine hours at the Belfast Yards of Workman and Clark. In the accomplishment of this feat on two occasions he passed the mark of one thousand four hundred rivets an hour. In his best minute he drove twenty-six rivets. The ships constructed by the Shipping Board were of steel, of wood and of concrete, and at times considerable difference of opinion existed with regard to which form of ship should receive the most attention. The policy of the government seemed finally to favor the steel as it was claimed that the wooden type was not only more expensive, but that it was less efficient. However until the very end wooden ships in great numbers were being built. On May 31st the steamship Agawam, described as the first fabricated ship in the world, was launched in the yards of the Submarine Boat Corporation at Newark. This was essentially a standardized steel cargo ship. "Fabricated" is the technical term applied to ships built from numbered shapes made from patterns. 526 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR President Carse, of the Submarine Boat Corporation, said that the Agawam was the first of a hundred and fifty vessels of that type which would be constructed in the yard. The parts were made, he said, in bridge and tacik shops throughout the coimtry and were assembled at the yard. "Ninety-five per cent of the work in forming the parts entering into the hull of this vessel, and punching rivet holes, is done at shops widely separated, from drawings fur- nished by this company, and these drawings have been of such exac- titude, and the work has been so carefully performed by the different bridge shops that when they are brought together at this yard they fit perfectly and the ship as you see is absolutely fair. The con- struction of the hull of this vessel requires the driving of over four hundred thousand rivets, and by our method more then one quarter of these rivets are driven at the distant shops, the different parts being brought to the yard in sections asjarge as can be transported on the railroad. Each part is numbered and lettered and as they are shaped perfectly all that is necessary is to place them in position, bolt them, and finally fasten them with rivets." Officials of the company said that they expected to launch in the course of time two such vessels in each week. A standard ship of this type has a dead-weight carrying capacity of five thousand five hundred tons. It is three himdred and forty-three feet long and forty-six feet wide and is expected to show an average speed of ten and a half knots. Fuel oil is used to generate steam, to drive a turbine operatiug three thousand six hundred revolutions a minute. The oil is carried in compartments of the double bottom of the ship in sufficient quantity for more than a round trip to Europe. Twenty-seven" steel mills, fifty-six fabricating plants, and two hundred foundries and equipment shops were drawn upon to construct the ship. In addition to the steel and wood vessels the Emergency Fleet Corporation also constructed a number of concrete ships. The first step in this direction was taken on April 3d, when the con- struction of four 7,500-ton concrete ships at a Pacific coast shipyard was authorized. This action was taken as a result of a report on the trials made with the concrete ship. Faith, which was built in San Francisco by private capital. The test of this ship had been satisfactory and Mr. R. J. Wig, an agent of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, who had made a careful inspection of the Faith and SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM 527 watched the tests, reported his confidence m the new caxgo carrier. The successful trial trip of the Faith led, on the 17th of May, to the government order that fifty-eight more such ships be constructed. Sites for yards were leased and contracts awarded. The concrete ship turned out to be a great success. The extraordinary success of the American ship-building pro- gram during the World War was due to the enthusiasm of the workmen employed at the govermnent plants, and that same enthusiasm was ioxmd in connection with their work in every industry on which the Government made demands. American labor was thoroughly loyal. It recognized that in the war for democracy against autocracy it had a vital concern. The attitude of the great American labor imions must however be sharply distinguished from that of the extreme socialists who refused to take any part in helping to win the war. From the very beginning, the American Federation of Labor took a patriotic stand. Its leader was Mr. Samuel Gompers, and it was fortunate for America that the leadership of this great organization was in such patriotic hands. Mr. Gompers had been for many years president of this great labor organization, and was so often called in consultation by the President of the United States in connection with labor affairs that he naight almost be called an unofficial member of the President's cabinet. Mr. Gompers was by birth an Englishman, but he had left his home when still a boy and was thoroughly fiUed with true American patriotism. From the beginning he devoted himself with the greatest enthusiasm not only to the protection of the interests of which he was in charge, but to the prosecution of a successful war. He had to contend, as labor leaders in other countries had been compelled to contend, with socialistic and anarchistic organizations. During the period of America's participation in the war there were certain disturbances caused by the I. W. W., but from such movements the American Federation of Labor held itself aloof. Occasional strikes, on accoimt of special conditions, were easily settled. The governmental assimiption of control over railroads and other essential industries had much to do with the peaceful attitude of the workmen. The very high wages which were offered to the workmen at munitions works, ship-building plants and other governmental enterprises enabled the workmen there to live in 528 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR reasonable comfort, though it caused a great deal of trouble in private industry, and compelled an increase in pay to labor all over the land. In the latter part of the war Mr. Gompers traveled abroad, as a representative of American labor, and was greeted everywhere with the utmost enthusiasm, while his influence was strongly felt in favor of moderate and sane views a^ to labor's rights. The American situation with regard to labor was made much simpler by the organization of the United States Employment Service. This wAs made an arm of the Department of Labor, with branch oflSces in nearly all the large cities of every state. It had a large corps of traveling examiners, men skilled in determining the fitness of workers for particular jobs, and it undertook to recruit labor for the various war industries in which they were needed. During the last year of the war from a hundred and fifty thousand to two himdred thousand workers of aU kinds were given work each month. In addition to this the Employment Service was a clearing house of information for manufacturers. The Director General of this service was Mr. John B. Densmore. Labor throughout the country, except when influenced by men of foreign birth who were not in touch with the spirit of America, was universally loyal, and its share in the wiiming of the war will always remain a matter for pride. CHAPTER XU Gekmant's Dying Dbspebate Effort IN THE spring of 1918 it must have been plain to the German High Command that if the war was to be won it must be won at once. In spite of all their leaders said of the impossibility of bringing an American anny to France they must have been well informed of what the Americans were doing. They knew that there were already more than two miUion men in active training in the American army, and while at that time only a small proportion . of them were available on the battle front, yet every day that pro- portion was growing greater and by the middle of the summer the little American army would have become a tremendous fighting force. Their own armies on their western front had been enormously increased in size by the removal to that front of troops from Russia. Hundreds of thousands of their best regiments were now withdrawn from the east and incorporated under the command of their great Generals, Hiiidenburg and Ludendorf, in the armies of the west. They must, therefore, take advantage of this increased force and win the war before the Americans could come. The problem of the Allies was also simple. It was not nec- essary for them to plan a great offensive. AH they had to do was to hold out until, through the American aid which was coming now in such numbers, their armies would be so increased that German resistance would be futile. Under such circumstances began the last great offensive of the German army. ', _ At that time it seems probable that the armies of Great Britain and France numbered about three million five hundred thousand men, and that, of these, six hundred and seventy thousand were on the front lines when the German attack began, leaving an army of reserve of about two million eight himdred and fifty thousand men. A considerable number of these were probably in England on leave. The number of French soldiers must have been between four and five million, of whom about one million five hundred 631 532 HISTORY OF, T HE WORLD WAR HOW GEEMANY ATTEMPTED TO DIVIDE THE ALLIED AKMIES The map shows the ground covered by the Germans in the terrific Picar(fy drive of March, 1918, which had for its object the capture of Amiens and the push forward along the Somme to the channel, thus dividing the British army in the north from the French and Americana in the south. GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 533 thousand were on the front line. Adding to these the American, Belgian, Portuguese, Russian and PoUsh troops the Allied forces could not have been short of eight million five hundred thousand men. The strength of the Germans on the western front before the Russian Revolution was probably about four million five hundred thousand men, and the withdrawal of Russia from the war had added to that number probably as many as one miUion five hundred thousand men, making an army of six million men to oppose that of the Allies. The Allies, therefore, must have considerably out- numbered the Germans. In spite of this fact in nearly all the engagements in the early part of the great offensive the Allied forces were outnumbered in a ratio varying from three to one to five to three. This was possible, first, because in any offensive the attacking side naturally con- centrates as many troops as it can gather at the point from which the offense is to begin, and second, since the Allies were not under one command it was with great difficulty that arrangements could be made by which the forces of one nation could reinforce the armies of another. The first diflaculty of course could not be obviated, but the solution of the second difficulty was the appointment of General Foch as Conunander-in-Chief of all the AUied .forces. The appointment was made on March 28th and all the influence of the United States had been exerted in its favor. General Pershing at once offered to General Foch the unrestricted use of the American force in France and it was agreed that a large part of the American army should be brigaded with the Allied troops wherever there were weak spots. Foch was aheady famous as the greatest strategist in Europe. He comes of a Basque family and was bom in the town of Tarbes, in the Department of the Hautes-Pyren^es, which is on the border of Spain, on October 2, 1851. Foch served as a subaltern in the Franco-Prussian War and at twenty-six was made captain in the artillery. Later he became Professor of Tactics in the Ecole de Guerre, where he remained for five years. He then returned to regi- mental work and won steady promotion until he became brigadier- general. He was sent back to the War College as Director and wrote two books, "The Principles of War" and "Conduct of War," 534 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR which have been translated into English, German and Italian and are considered standard works. He was now recognized as a man of unusual ability and was appointed to the command first, of the Thirteenth division, then of the Eighth corps at Bourges, and then to the command of the Twentieth corps at Nancy. Unlike Marshal Joffre who was cool, carefvd, slow moving, Marshal Foch is full of daring and impetuosity. Everything is calculated scientifically but his strategy is full of dash. Many of his sayings have been passed from mouth to mouth among the Allies. "Find out the weak point of your enemy and deliver your blow there," he said once at a staff banquet. "But suppose, General," said an officer, "that the enemy has no weak point?" "If the enemy has no weak point," replied tl^e Commander, "make one." It was he who telegraphed to Joffre during the first battle of the Mame: "The enemy is attacking my flank. My rear is threatened. I am therefore attacking in front." Foch is a great student, an especial admirer of Napoleon, whose campaigns he had thoroughly studied. Even the campaigns of Caesar he had found valuable and had gathered from them practical suggestions for his own campaigns. He is the hero of the Mame, the man who on September 9th marched his army between Von Billow and Von Hansen's Saxons, drove the Prussian Guards into the marshes of St. Gond and forced both Prussians and Saxons into their first great retreat. Later his armies fought on the Yser while the British were battling at Ypres. During the battle of the Somme he was on the English right pressing to Peronne. For a time he became Chief of the French Staff, until he was called into the field again to his great command. Foch was one of those French officers who had felt that war was sure to come, and had constantly urged that France should be kept in a state of preparedness. The appointment of General Foch to the Supreme Command was largely the result of American urgency. General March, the American Chief of Staff, in one of his weekly announcements, stated: "One of the most striking things noticeable in the situation as it is shown on the western front is the supreme importance of having a single command. The accep- GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 535 tance of the principle of having a single command, which was advocated by the President of the United States and cairied through imder his constant pressure, is one of the most important single miUtary things that has been done as far as the Allies are concerned. The unity of command which Germany has had from the start of the war has been a very important military asset, and we already see the supreme value of having that central command which now has been concentrated in General Foch." General March, who had earlier been appointed Chief of Staff of the United States army, was sending a steady stream of American troops to Europe, a fact whose importance was well understood by the new Commander-in-Chief. On General March's promotion General Foch sent him the following message: I hear with deep satisfaction of your promotion to the rank of General. I associate myseK to the just pride which you must feel in evoking the names of your glorious predecessors, Grant and Sheridan. I convey to you my sincere congratulations and I am happy to see you assume per- manently the huge task of Chief of Staff of the United States army which you are already performing in so brilliant a way. General March rephed: Your message of congratulation upon my promotion to the grade of General CHef of Staff, United States army, was personally conveyed to me by General Vignal, French Military Attache I appreciate deeply your most kindly greetings and in expressing my most siacere thanks, avail myself of the opportunity to assure you of every assistance and constant support which may lie in my power to aid you in the furtherance and successful accomplishment of your great task. General Foch took command at a very critical time. The Germans had prepared the most formidable drive in the history of the war. They had gathered immense masses of munitions and supplies. Their great armies had been refitted and they were in hopes of a victory which would end the war. Their great offensive had many phases. It resulted in the development of three great salients, the first in Picardy and in the direction of Amiens along the Somme, which was launched on March 21st; the second on the Lys, which was launched on April 9th; and the third which is called the Oise-Mame salient, launched on May 27th. Between the attacks which developed these salients there were also some imsuecesful attacks of almost equal power. On 536 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR March 28th there was a desperate struggle to capture Arras, pre- ceded by a bombardment as great as any during the whole offensive, but this attack was defeated with enormous losses to the German troops, i A fourth phase of the German offensive took place on Jime 9th, on a front of twenty miles between Noyon and Mont- didier, which gained a few miles at an enormous cost. Thb Last Dbbferatb Drives of thu Germans On July 15th came the last of the great offensives. It was a smash on a sixty-mile line from Ch^eau-Thierry up the Mame, around Rheims, and then east to a few miles west of the Argonne forest. This offensive at the start made a penetration of from three to five miles, but was held firmly and much of the gain lost, through the counter-attacks of the Allies. It was at this point that the American troops first began to be seriously felt, and it GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 537 was at this point that General Foch took up the story, and began the great series of Allied drives which were to crush the German power. But there had been many days of great anxiety before the turn of the tide. The objects of the German drives were doubtless more or less dependent upon their success. The first drive in Picardy, in the direction of Amiens had apparently as its object to drive a wedge between the French and British and the object was so nearly attained that only the heroic work of General Carey saved the Allies from disaster. The Fifth British army, which had borne the brunt of the German attack, had found itself almost crushed by the sheer weight of nxmibers. The whole Hne was broken up and it seemed as if the road was open to Amiens. French reinforcements could not come up in time; bridges could not be blown up because the engineers were all killed. Orders came to General Carey at two o'clock in the morning, March 26th, to hold the gap. He at once proceeded to gather an extemporized army. Every available man was roimded up, among others a body of American engineers. Laborers, sappers, raw recruits as well as soldiers of every arm. There were plenty of machine guns, but few men knew how to handle them. With this scratch army in temporary trenches, he lay for six days, and as Lloyd George said, "They held the German army and closed that gap on the way to Amiens." During this fight General Carey rode along the lines shouting encouraging words to his hard-pressed men. He did not know whether he would get supplies of ammunition and provisions or not, but he stuck to it. Later on the regular troops arrived. The American engineers, who had been fighting, immediately returned to their base, and resumed work laying out trenches. General Rawlinson, Commander of the British army at that point, sent the commanding officer of the Americans engaged, the following letter: The army Commander wishes to record officially his appreciation of the excellent work your regiment has done in assisting the British army to resist the enemy's powerful offensive during the last ten days. I fully realize that it has been largely due to your assistance that the enemy has been checked, and I rely on you to assist us still further during the few 538 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR days that are still to come before I shall be able to relieve you in the line. I consider your work in the line to be greatly enhanced by the fact that for six weeks previous to your taking your place in the front line your men had been working at such high pressure erecting heavy bridges on the Somme. My best congratulations and warm thanks to all. Rawlinson. The demoralization of General Gough's Fifth army, which had thus left an eight-imie gap on the left, and which had been saved at that point by General Carey, permitted also the opening of another gap between its right wing and the Sixth French army. Here General FayoUe did with organized troops what Carey had done with his volimteers further north. The reason for the success of both Carey and Fayolle appears to have been that the German armies had been so thoroughly battered that they were unable to take advantage of the situation. Their regiments had been mixed up, their officers had been separated from their men in the rush of the attack, and before they could recover the opportunity was lost. The first days of April saw the end of the drive toward Amiens. The Germans claimed the capture of ninety thousand prisoners and one thousand three hundred guns. They had penetrated into the AlUes' territory in some points a distance of thirty-five miles. Their new line extended southwest from Arras beyond Albert to the west of Moreuil, which is about nine miles south of Amiens, and then went on west of Pierrepont and Montdidier, cmrving out at Noyon to the region of the Oise. The first part of April was a comparative cahn, when suddenly there developed the second drive of the German offensive. This drive was not so extensive as the first one, and its object appeared to be to break through the British forces in Flanders and reach the Channel ports. It resulted in a salient embracing an area about three hundred and twenty square miles, and the Germans claimed the captiu-e of twenty thousand prisoners and two hundred guns. It was at this point that General Haig issued his famous order in which he described the British armies as standing with their "backs to the wall." It reads as follows: Three weeks ago today the enemy began his terrific attacks against us on a fifty-mile front. Its objects are to separate us from the French, to take the Channel ports, and to destroy the British army. In spite of throwing already one hundred and six divisions into the battle and enduring GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 539 the most reckless sacrifice of hxunan life, he has yet made little progress toward his goals. We owe this to the detennined fightiag and self-sacrifice of our troops. Words fail me to express the admiration which I feel for the splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our army imder the most trying circumstances. Many among us now are tired. To those I would say that victory wiU belong to the side which holds out the longest. The French army is moving rapidly and in great force to our support. There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man. There mi^t be no retiring. With om: backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of om* homes, and the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment. The British commander's order made the situation clear to the British people and to the world. The Germans had given up for the moment their attempt to divide the British and French armies, and were now attempting to seize the Channel ports, and the British were fighting with true British pluck with their "backs to the wall." One can imagine the anxiety in the villages of Flanders where they watched the German advance and heard the terrible bombard- ment which was destroying their beautiful Httle cities, and threaten- ing to put them under the dominion of the brutal conquerors of Belgium. Town after town fell to the enemy until at last the German attack began to weaken. Counter-attacks on April 17th recaptured the villages of Wytschaete and Meteren. At other points German attacks were repulsed, and the attack on the Lys had reached its limits. It had not only failed to reach the coast but it had not even reached so far as to force the evacuation of Ypres or to endanger Arras. On the contrary the Germans had paid for their advance by such terrible losses that the ground that they had gained meant almost nothing. They then made, on April 30th, a vigorous endeavor to broaden the Amiens saUent in the region of Hangard and Noyon. This attack also failed. On May 27th Ludendorf made his next move. This was in the south, and was preceded by the most elaborate preparations over a forty-mile front. At first it met with great success. German troops from a point northwest of Rheims to Montdidier were moving apparently with the purpose of breaking the French lines and clearing the way for a drive to Paris. Consternation reigned among 640 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Allied observers as the Germans carried, apparently with ease, first the formidable Chemin des Dames, which was believed invul- nerable, and then the south bank of the Aisne, with its great forti- fications at SoissohS. Criticism began to appear of General Foch, who was thought at first to have been taken by siu-prise. The Germans were using four hvmdred thousand of their best troops, and the greatest force of tanks, machine guns and poison-gas projectors which they had ever gathered. They captured over- forty-five thousand prisoners and took four hundred guns. They penetrated thirty miles and gained six hundred and fifty square miles of territory, but they were held on the River Marne. It is now apparent that General Foch knew exactly what he was about. He might easily, by sending in reinforcements, have put up the same desperate resistance to the German offensive which they were now meeting in other sectors. But he preferred to retreat and lead the enemy on to a position which would make them vulnerable to the great counter-attack he was preparing for them on their flank. The Germans reached the Mame, but they paid for it iu the terrible losses which they incurred. The German line now from Montdidier, the extreme point of the Amiens saUent, to Chdteau-Thierry, the point of the new Marne salient, was in the form of a bow, and on June 9th General Luden- dorf attempted to straighten out the line. His new attack was made on a twenty-mile front between Montdidier and Noyon in the direction of Compi§gne. This was another terrific drive and at first gained about seven miles. French counter-attacks, however, not only held him in a vise but regained a distance of about one mile. This battle was probably the most disastrous one fought by the Germans during their whole offensive. Nearly four hundred thousand men were completely used up, without gaining the slightest strategic success. Then followed a period without battles of major importance, during which General Foch by periodic assaults on the Lys, the Somme, on the flanks of Montdidier and Soissons, on the Chdteau- Thieray sector and southwest of Rheims, captured many important positions and kept the enemy in constant anxiety. During the great German offensives the Germans had lost at least five hvmdred thousand men, while the casualties of the GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 541 Allies were barely one hundred and fifty thousand. The Germans also were beginning to lose their morale. They were finding that however great might be their efforts, however terrible might be their losses, they were still being constantly held. Their troops were now apparently made of inferior material, and included boys, old men and even convicts. The system of making attacks by means of shock troops was producing the inevitable result. The shock regiments were com- posed of selected men, picked here and there, from the regular troops. Their selection had naturally weakened the regunents from which they were taken. After three months of great offensives these shock troops were now in great part destroyed, and the German lines were being held mainly by the inferior troops which had been left. Moreover, in other parts of the world, the allies of Germany were being beaten. In Italy and Albania and Mace- donia there was danger. The Germans prepared for one more effort. On June 18th they had made a costly attempt to carry Rheims. On July 15th they made their last drive. Ludendorf took almost a month for prep- aration. He gathered together seventy divisions and great masses of munitions, and then drove in from Chateau-Thierry on a sixty-mile line up on the Mame, and then east to the Argonne forests. His line made a sort of semicircle around Rheims and then pushed south to the east and west of that fortress. Once again he had temporary success. West of Rheims he penetrated a distance of five miles, and on the first day, had crossed the Mame at Dormans, but was held sharply by the Americans east of Chateau-Thierry. On the second day he made further gains, but with appalling losses. On the 17th he was still struggling on with minor successes but on July 18th the French and Americans launched the great counter-offensive from Chdteau-Thierry along a twenty-five mile front, between the Mame and the Aisne. The Germans everywhere began their retreat and the war tide had turned. The German attack east of Rheims had been a failure from the start. The Allied forces retired about two miles and then held firm. The country there is flat and sandy and gave little shelter to the attacking forces which lost terribly. In this sector, too, there were many American troops, who behaved with distinguished bravery. 542 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR By this time nearly seven hundred thousand men of the American army were on the battle hne. They had been fighting here and there among the French and English but on June 22d General March made the announcement that five divisions of these troops had been transferred to the direct com- mand of General Pershing as a nucleus for an American army. In glancing back at the great German drives which have now been described, one is impressed by the terrific character of the fighting. This struggle undoubtedly was the greatest exertion of military power in the history of the world. Never before had such masses of munitions been used; never before had scientific knowledge been so drawn on in the service of war. Thousands of airplanes were patrolling the air, sometimes scouting, sometimes dropping bombs on hostile troops or on hostile stores, sometimes flying low, firing their machine guns into the faces of marching troops. Thousands upon thousands of great guns were sending enormous projectiles, which made great pits wherever they fell. Swarms of machine gims were pouring their bullets like water from a hose upon the charging soldiers. One of the most noticeable artillery developments was the long-range gun which off and on during this period was bombard- ing Paris. This bombardment began on March 23d, when the nearest German line was more than sixty-two miles away. For a time the story was regarded as pure fiction, but it was soon estab- lished that the great nine-inch shells which were dropping into the city every twenty minutes came from the forests of St. Gobain, seven miles back of the French trenches near Laon, and about seventy-five miles from Paris. This was another of those futile bits of frightfulness in which the Germans reveled. Military advan- tage gained by such a gun was almost nothing, and the expense of every shot was out of all proportion to the damage inflicted. It only roused intense indignation and stirred the Allies to greater determination. The first day's casualties in Paris were ten killed and fifteen wounded. By the next day one would not have been able to tell from the Paris streets that such a bombardment was going on at all. The subway and surface cars were running, the streets were thronged and traffic was going on as usual. About two dozen shells were thrown into Paris every day, mainly in the GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT 543 Montmartre district, in a radius of about a mile. This seemed to show that the gun was immovable. On March 29th, however, a shell struck the church of St. Gervais during the Good Friday service, killing seventy-five persons and woxmding ninety, rifty-foiu" of those killed were women. The church had been struck at the moment of the Elevation of the Host. This outrage aroused special indignation, and Pope Benedict sent a protest to Berlin. An examination of exploded shells indicated that the new German gun was less than nine inches in caliber, and that the pro- jectiles, which weighed about two hundred poxmds, contained two charges, in two chambers connected by a fuse which often exploded more than a miaute apart. It took three minutes for each shell to travel to Paris and it was estimated that such a shell rose to a height of twenty miles from the earth. Three of these guns were used. One of these guns exploded on March 29th, killing a German lieutenant and nine men. The Kaiser was present when the gun was first used. It was said by American scientists that seismographs in the United States felt the shock of each discharge. On April 9th French aviators discovered the location of the new guns, and French artillery began to drop enormous shells weighing half a ton each near the German monsters. A few days later a French shell fell on the barrel of one of these guns and put it out of commission. Great craters were made around the other, interfering with its use, and toward the end of the period it was only occasionally that the remaining gun was fired, and no great damage resulted. Another feature of the great German drives was the tremendous destruction that accompanied them. Not only were chiu-ches, public buildings, and private houses throughout almost the whole district turned into ruins, but the very ground itself was plowed up into craters and shell holes, and the trees smashed into mere splinters. During the whole campaign poison gas of various kinds was used in immense quantities, and it was constantly necessary for the troops to wear gas masks. Sometimes after a town had been evacuated by the enemy it was so filled with gas that it was impos- sible for victorious troops to enter. One of the fiercest bombard- ments was that directed against the Portuguese during the fighting along the Lys. The enemy made a special attempt to crush the Portuguese contingent which behaved with the utmost gallantry. 544 HISTORY OF THE WOEXD WAR It was the season of the year when the orchards were covered with blossoms and the fields with flowers, but the horrors of war destroyed the beauty of the spring. In these battles men fought until they were completely exhausted and one could see troops staggering as they walked and leaniag on each other from pure exhaustion. These were days when wonders were performed by the Medical Departments of the AUied armies, and the work of the Red Cross was ahnost a,s important as the work of the soldiers. Relief for the wounded had to be undertaken and carried on on a mammoth scale. Many of the doctors, nurses, orderlies and ambulance men lost theb lives while making efforts to rescue the wounded. These were days when the German leaders were filled with the pride of victory. They were talking now about a hard German peace. On June 17th the German Kaiser celebrated the thirtieth amuversary of his accession to the throne. He talked no more of a war of self-defense, but declared the war to be the struggle of two world views wrestling with each other. "Either German principles of right, freedom, honor and morality must be upheld, or Anglo- Saxon principles with their idolatry of Mammon must be vic- torious." He sent congratulations to Field Marshal von Hinden- burg, to General Ludendorf and to the Crown Prince. Von Hin- denburg assured the Kaiser of the unswerving loyalty until death of Germany's sons at the front, and concluded "May our old motto 'Forward with God for King and Fatherland, for Kaiser and Empire' result in many years of peace being granted to your Majesty after our victorious return home." But the terrific attacks which the German commanders directed upon the Americans at Chdteau-Thierry and at other points upon the southern lines show well that they knew that there was another danger rising to confront them; that during their great drives a million and a half American soldiers had been learning the art of war, and that every moment of delay meant a new danger. By the end of this period the Americans had arrived. CHAPTER XLII Chateau-Thierry, Field of Glort NOWHERE in American history may be foimd a more glorious record than that which crowned with laurel the American arms at Chdteau-Thierry. Here the American Marines and divisions comprising both volunteers and selected soldiers, were thrown before the German tide of invasion like a huge khaki-colored breakwater. Germany knew that a test of its empire had come. To break the wall of American might it threw into the van of the attack the Prussian Guard backed by the most formidable troops of the German and Austrian empires. The object was to put the fear of the Hun Into the hearts of the Yankees, to overwhelm them, to drive straight through them as the prow of a battleship shears through a heavy sea. If America could be defeated, Germany's way to a speedy victory was at hand. If America held — ^well, that way lay disaster. And the Americans held. Not only did they hold but they counter-attacked with such bloody consequences to the German army that Marshal Foch, seizing the psychological moment for his carefully prepared counter-offensive, gave the word for a general attack. With Chdteau-Thierry and the Mame as a hinge, the clamp of the Allies closed upon the defeated Germans. From Switzer- land to the North Sea the drive went forward, operating as huge pincers cutting like chiUed steel through the Hiadenburg and the Kriemhild lines. It was the beginning of autocracy's end, the end of Der Tag of which Germany had dreamed. The matchless Marines and the other American troops suffered a loss that staggered America. It was a loss, however, that was well worth while. The heroic young Americans who held the might of Germany helpless and finally rolled them back defeated from the field of battle, and who paid for that victory with their lives, made certain the speedy end of the world's bloodiest war. The story of the American army's effective operations in France 545 546 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR from Cantigny to the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient, is one long record of victories. To the glory of American arms must be recorded the fact that at no time and at no place in the World War did the American forces retreat before the German hosts. In the latter days of May, 1918, the Allied forces in France seemed near defeat. The Germans were steadily driving toward Paris. They had swept over the Chemin des Dames and the papers from day to day were chronicling wonderful successes. The Chemin des Dames had been regarded as impregnable, but the Germans passed it apparently without the slightest difficulty. They were advancing on a forty-mile front and on May 28th had reached the Aisne, with the French and British steadily falling back. The anxiety of the Allies throughout the world was indescribable. This was the great German "Victory Drive" and each day registered a new Allied defeat. Newspaper headlines were almost despairing. On May 29th, however, in quiet type, under great headlines announcing a German gain of ten miles in which the Germans had taken twenty-five thousand prisoners and crossed two rivers, had captured Soissons, and were threatening Rheims, there appeared in American papers a quiet little despatch from General Pershing. It read as follows: "This morning in Picardy our troops attacked on a front of one and one-fourth miles, advanced our lines, and captm-ed the village of Cantigny. We took two hundred prisoners, and inflicted on the enemy severe losses in killed and wounded. Our casualties were relatively small. Hostile counter-attacks broke down tmder our fire." This was the first American offensive. The American troops had now been in Europe almost a year. At first but a small force, they had been greeted in Paris and in London with tremendous enthusiasm. Up to this point they had done little or nothing, but the small force which passed through Paris in the summer of 1917 had been growing steadily. By this time the American army numbered more than eight hundred thousand men. They had been getting ready; in camps far behind the lines they had been trained, not only by their own officers, but by some of the greatest experts in the French and the British armies. Thousands of officers and men who, but a few months before, had been busily engaged in civilian pursuits, had now learned CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 549 something of the art of war. They had been supplied with a splendid equipment, with great guns and with all the modem requirements of an up-to-date army. For some months, here and there, on the Frraich and British lines, small detachments of American troops flanked on both sides by the Allied forces, had been learrdng the art of war. Here and there they had been under fire. At Cantigny itself they had resisted attack. On May 27th General Pershing had reported "In Picardy, after violent artillery preparations, hostile infantry detachments succeeded ia penetrating our advance positions in two points. Our troops counter-attacked, completely expelling the enemy and entering his lines." They had also been fighting that day in the Woevre sector where a raiding party had been repulsed. There had been other skirmishes, too, in which many Americans had won honors both from Great Britain and France. But the attack at Cantigny was the first distinct American advance. The Ameriqans penetrated the German positions to the depth of nearly a mile. Their artillery completely smothered the Germans, and its whirr could be heard for many miles in the rear. Twelve French tanks supported the American infantry. The artillery preparation lasted for one hour, and then the lines of Americans went over the top. A strong xmit of flame throwers and engineers aided the Americans. The American barrage moved forward a hundred yards in two minutes and then a hundred yards in foxu" minutes. The infantry followed with clock-like precision. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting occurred in Cantigny, which contained a large tunnel and a number of caves. The Americans hurled hand grenades like baseballs into these shelters. The attack had been carefully planned and was rehearsed by the infantry with the tanks. In every detail it was under the direction of the Superior French Command, to whom much of the credit for its success was due. The news of the American success created general satisfaction among the French and English troops. The operation, of course, was not one of the very greatest importance. It was a sort of an experiment, but coming as it did, in the middle of the great Gemian Drive, it was ominous. America had arrived. On May 30th General Pershing announced the complete repulse of fmiiher enemy attacks from the new American positions near 550 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Cantigny. This time he says: "there was considerable shelling with gas, but the results obtained were very small. The attempt was a complete failure. Our casualties were very light. We have consolidated our positions." The London Evening News commenting on this fact says: "Bravo the young Americans! Nothing in today's battle narrative from the front is more exhilarating than the account of their fight at Cantigny. It was clean cut from beginning to end, like one of their countrymen's short stories, and the short story of Cantigny is going to expand into a full-length novel which will write the doom of the Kaiser and Kaiserism. Cantigny will one day be repeated a thousand fold." The Germans, in reporting this fight, avoided mention of the fact that the operation had been conducted by American troops. This seemed to indicate that they feared the moral effect of such an admission in Germany. Up to this time, with the exception of small brigades, the American army had been held as a reserve. After the Cantigny fight they were hurried to the front. The main point to which they were sent at first was Chdteau-Thierry, north of the Mame, the nearest point to Paris reached by the enemy. There, at the very critical point of the great German Drive, they not only checked the enemy but, by a dashing attack, threw him back. This may be said to be the turning point in the whole war. It not only stopped the German Drive at this point, but it gave new courage to the Allies and took the heart out of the Germans. The troops were rushed to the battle front at Thierry, arriving on Saturday, Jime 1st. They entered the battle enthusiastically, almost immediately after they had arrived. . A despatch from Picardy says: "On their way to the battle lines they were cheered by the crowds in the villages through which they passed; their victorious stand with their gallant French Allies, so soon after entering the line, has electrified all France." General Pershing's terse account of what happened reads as follows: "In the fighting northwest of ChdteaurThierry our troops broke up an attempt of the enemy to advance to the south through Veuilly Woods, and by a counter-attack drove him back to the north of the woods." The American troops had gone into the action only an hour or CHATEAU-THIEIIRY, FIELD OF GLORY 551 so after their arrival on the banks of the River Marne, Scarcely- had they alighted from their motor trucks when they were ordered into ChAteau-Thierry with a battalion of French-Colonial troops. The enemy were launching a savage drive, and at first succeeded in driving the Americans out of the woods of Veuilly-la-Poterie. But the Americans at once coimter-attacked, driving their oppo- nents from their position, and regaining possession of the woods. On the same day the Germans laimched an attack of shock troops, ^ sS^^^^""*^ £ 2 Wyg^E-V^ 1 • (\ x^SS-v Eirflisb Mlla> S ^ x^_J.^H!: ^M ^( s ' JEUUSSJ "v^L^^^ts =JS^Re iZoa* '®''*y 1.*)^^ TiBrtf&Bi^ftx. j^^^^ M ^ jpjMt\ /v\ ^ A f*^T*'™W' if ^, \ \ 1 ^ 1 ^^pf p^/.;5'^SiS «-,t's **^wr ^m rs ^ Where thb "Yanks" Fottght the Second Battle of the Mabnb attempting to gain a passage across the Marne at JJaulgonne. They obtained a footing on the southern bank but another Ameri- can counter-attack forced them back across the river. The American soldiers were fighting with wonderful spirit, and the French papers were filled with praise of their work. As they came up to go into the line they were singing, and they charged, cheering. On June 6th came a climax of the American fighting. It was the attack of the American Marines in the direction of Torcy. This gained more than two miles over a two and a half mile front. On the next day the advance continued over a front of nearly six 552 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR miles, and during the night the Americans captured Bouresches and entered Torcy. , The fighting at Torcy was characteristically American; the Marines advanced yelling like Indians, using bayonet and rifle. From Torcy the Marines set forward and took strong ground on either side of Belleau Wood. They had reached aU the objectives and pushed beyond them. : The Germans were on the run, and surrendering right and left to the Americans. The attack by the Marines forestalled an attack by the enemy. German reports now noticed the Americans. Their report on June 9th referring to this attack, says: "Americans who attempted to attack north- west of Chdteau-Thierry were driven back beyond their positions of departure with heavy losses and prisoners were captured." The Americans had lost heavily, and the hospitals were filled with their wounded, but the thorough American organization was giving the wounded every care, and the Americans were still moving forward. On June the 10th, another attack was made on the German lines in the Belleau Wood, which penetrated for about two-thirds of a naile, leaving the Germans in possession of only the northern fringe of the Wood. On June 11th the official statement of the French War Office declared: " South of the Omrcq River the Ameri- can troops this morning brilliantly captured Belleau Wood, and took three hundred prisoners." Belleau Wood had been considered an almost impregnable position, but the vaUant fighting of the American Marines had carried them past it. Fighting here was not merely a series of exciting engagements, but an important action, which may have turned, and very probably did turn, the whole tide of battle. The Americans put three German divisions out of business, and caused a change in the German plans, by preventing an extending move- ment to Meaux, which was the German objective. From this time on the confidence shown in all reports from the AlUes in France was strengthened. They had found that the Americans were all that they had hoped for, and they were sure now that they could hold on until the full American strength could be brought to bear. General Pershing himself was full of optimism and his fine example stimulated his troops. From this time on all dispatches show that the Americans were more and CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 553 more getting in the game. Repeated German attacks against their forces, on the Belleau-Bouresches line were repulsed, in spite of the fact that crack German divisions, who had been picked especially to punish them, had been found on then- front. It was later found that these divisions had been suddenly ordered to that point "in order to prevent at all costs the Americans being able to achieve success." The German High Command was apparently anxious to prevent American success from stimulating the morale of the AUied army. During the rest of the summer the Americans took an active part in Foch's great offensive which ultimately crushed the German army. They were heard from at widely divergent points: in Alsace, about Chdteau-Thierry, at Montdidier, and in the British lines. Most of the fighting during June indicated a slow advance at Chdteau-Thierry. On Jime 19th the Americans crossed the Mame, near that city. But Chdteau-Thierry itself was not captured until the middle of July. On June 29th they participated in a raid near Montdidier and on July 2d captiu-ed Vaux. In the week of July 4th news came of American success ia the Vosges. On July 18th they advanced close to Soissons. On August 3d the Americans captvired Fismes, and then for nearly a month made little actual progress, though bitter fighting went on in the country around Fismes and near Soissons. On August 29th after a furious battle they captured the plain of Juvigny, north of Soissons. In all these battles the Americans were doing their part at difficult points, dxuirig the great French drive which was clearing out the Mame sahent. On the 12th of September, the first American army, assisted by certain French units, and under the direct command of General Pershing, launched an attack against the St. Mihiel saUent. This was the most important operation of the American troops ia the Great War. It was a complete success. September 12th was the fourth anniversary of the estabhshment of the salient, which reached out from the German line ia the direction of Verdun. The attack was fighting on a grand scale, and that such an operation should be intrusted to the American army indicated an entirely new phase of America's participation in the war. It was preceded by a barrage lasting four hours. The German troops, k^ 554 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR though probably suspecting that such an attack was coming, were nevertheless surprised. The American attack was on the southern leg of the salient along a distance of twelve miles. The French attacked on the western side from a front of eight nules. Each attack was eminently successful. On the southern front the Ameri- cans reached their first objectives at some points an hour ahead of schedule time. Thiaucourt was captured early in the drive; AMERICAN LINE HINDEMP.URG LIME. ®©o»© OLD BATTIE LIHE. ramBSEi The Gbeat St. Mihiel Salient Established in 1914 was Obliterated BY THB AhEBICANS IN SepTBMBBE. JlftlS later the Americans gained possession of Nonsard, Pannes, and BouUlonville. j At first the resistance of the Germans, without being tame, was not actually stiff, and the doughboys were able to sweep toward the second line of any position without difficulty. There, however, the Germans began to defend themselves sharply, which delayed, but did not stop the American advance. The attack was made in two waves and C9.rried the American forces a distance of about five miles. The next day the attack continued, and General Pershing's dispatch stated: "In the St. Mihiel sector we have achieved further CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 555 successes. The junction of our troops advancing from the south of the sector with those advancing from the west has given us possession of the whole saUent to poiats twelve miles northeast of St. Mihiel, and has resulted in the capture of many prisoners. Forced back by our steady advance the enemy is retiring, and is destroying large quantities of material as he goes. The number of prisoners counted has risen to 13,300. Our Hne now includes Herbeville, Thillet, Hattonville, St. Benoit, Xammes, Jaulny, Thiaucoiu:t and Vieville." The salient was wiped out, and the St. Mihiel front reduced from forty to twenty miles. Secretary Newton D. Baker, accom- panied by Generals Pershing and P^tain, visited St. Mihiel a few hoiu-s after its capture. They walked through the streets of the city, and heard many stories of the long German occupation. As the attack proceeded it became more and more evident that the German defense had lost heart. Thousands of them surrendered, declaring they did not care to fight any more. It was also noted that a surprisingly large nxunber of officers were among those captm-ed. The only serious resistance was to the attack south of Fresnes, which was obviously for the purpose of protecting the German retreat. The first American regiment stationed in the St. Mihiel sector was the 370th Infantry, formerly the Eighth Illinois, a Negro regiment officered entirely by soldiers of that race. This regiment was one of the three that occupied a sector at Verdim when a penetration there by the Germans would have been disastrous to the Allied cause. The St. Mihiel salient had no great military value to the Ger- mans, and was probably held by them from a sentimental motive. It represented the desperate efforts made by the Crown Prince in his early drive against Verdun. Its destruction, however, was of great importance to the French. It was not only a removal of a menace to the French citizens of Verdun, but it released the French armies at that point for active offensive operation. It also liber- ated the railway line from Verdun to Nancy, which was of the utmost value to General Pershing and the French armies to his left. It also later developed that the French command regarded the reduc- tion of the St. Mihiel salient as the comer stone of a great encircling movement aimed at the German fortress of Metz. The moral 556 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 557 effect of its reduction was also notable as it was one more sign of the weakening of the Germans. History usually concerns itself with the deeds of humanity in the mass and with the leaders of these masses. It is eminently fitting, however, that this history should record the impressions made upon the mind of an American soldier by a modem battle. The United States Government singled out of all the letters received from the front, that written by Major Robert L. Denig, of Philadelphia, to his wife. The letter is now part of the archives of the War Department, and occupies the highest place of literary honor in the records of the Mariaes. It describes the operation against the Germans on the Mame on July 18th, 1918. This was the coimter-attack led by the Marines which broke the back of the German invasion. Major Denig wrote: The day before we left for this big push we had a most interesting fight between a fleet of German planes and a French observation balloon, right over our heads. We saw five planes ckcle over our town, then put on, what we thought afterwards, a sham fight. One of them, after many fancy stunts, headed right for the balloon. They were all painted with oiu- colors except one. This one went near the balloon. One kept right ou. The other four shot the balloon up with incendiary bullets. The observers jumped into their parachutes just as the outfit went up in a mass of flame. The next day we took oiu" positions at various places to wait for camions that were to take us somewhere in France, when or for what purpose we did not know. Wass passed me at the head of his company — we made a date for a party on our next leave. He was looking fine and was as happy as could be. Then Himt, Keyser and a heap of others went by. I have the battalion and Holcomb the regiment. Our turn to en-btiss did not come until near midnight. We at last got under way after a few big "sea bags" had hit nearby. Wihner and I led in a touring car. We went at a good cHp and nearly got ditched in a couple of new shell holes. Shells were falling fast by now, and as the tenth truck went under the bridge a big one landed near with a crash, and wounded the two drivers, killed two marines and woundedf five more. We did not know it at the time, and did not notice anything wrong till we came to a crossroad when we found we had only eleven cars aJl told. We found the rest of the convoy after a hunt, but even then were not told of the loss, and did not find it out until the next day. We were finally, after twelve hours' ride, dumped in a big field and after a few hours' rest started our march. It was hot as Hades and we had had nothing to eat since the day before. We at last entered a forest; troops seemed to converge on it from all points. We marched some six 558 HISTORY OP THE WORLD WAR miles in the forest, a finer one I have never seen — deer would scamper ahead and we could have eaten one raw. At 10 that night without food, we lay down in a pouring rain to sleep. Troops of all kinds passed us in the night — a, shadowy stream, over a half-milUon men. Some French officers told us that they had never seen such concentration since Verdun, if then. The next day, the 18th of July, we marched ahead through a jam of troops, trucks, etc., and came at last to a ration dump where we fell to and ate our heads off for the first time in nearly two days. When we left there, the men had bread stuck on their bayonets. I lugged a ham. All were loaded down. Here I passed one of Wass' lieutenants with his hand woimded. He was pleased as Punch and told us the drive was on, the fiirst we knew of it. I then passed a few men of Hunt's company, bringing prisoners to the rear. They had a colonel and his staff. They were well dressed^ cleaned and polished, but mighty glum looking. We finally stopped at the far end of the forest near a dressing station, where Holcomb again took command. This station had been a big fine stone farm but was now a complete ruin — ^wounded and dead lay all about. Joe Murray came by with his head all done up — ^his helmet tad saved him. The lines had gone on ahead so we were quite safe. Had a fine aero battle right over us. The stunts that those planes did cannot be described by me. Late in the afternoon we advanced again. Our route lay over an open field covered with dead. We lay down on a hillside for the night near some captured German guns, and until dark I watched the cavalry — ^some four thousand, come up and takfe positions. At 3.30 the nejct morning Sitz woke me up and said we were to attack. The regiment was soon under way and we picked our way mider cover of a gas infested vaUey to a town where we got om: final instructions and left our packs. I wished Sumner good luck and parted. We formed up in a sunken road on two sides of a valley that was perpendicular to the enemy's front; Hughes right, Holcomb left, Sibley support. We now began to get a few wounded; one man with ashen face came charging to the rear with shell shock. He shook all over, foamed at the mouth, could not speak. I put him under a tent, and he acted as if he had a fit. I heard Overton call to one of his friends to send a certain pin to his mother if he should get hit. At 8.30 we jumped off with a line of tanks in the lead. For two "kilos" the four lines of Marines were as straight as a die, and their advance over the open plain in the bright sunlight was a picture I shall never forget. The fire got hotter and hotter, men fell, bullets sung, shells whizzed-banged and the dust of battle got thick. Overton was hit by a big piece of shell and fell Afterwards I heard he was hit in the CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY 559 heart, so his death was without pain. He was buried that night and the pin found. A man near me was cut in two. Others when hit would stand, it seemed, an hour, then fall in a heap. I yeUed to Wilmer that each gun in the barrage worked from right to left, then a rabbit ran ahead and I watched him wondering if he would get hit. Good rabbit — it took my mind off the carnage. Looked for Hughes way over to the right; told Wilmer that I had a hundred dollars and be sure to get it. You think all kinds of things. About sixty Germans jumped out of a trench and tried to surrender, but their machine guns opened up, we fired back, they ran and our left company after them. That made a gap that had to be filled, so Sibley advanced one of his to do the job, then a shell lit in a machine-gim crew of ours and cleaned it out completely. At 10.30 we dug in^ — ^the attack just died out. I found a hole or old tr'ench and when I was flat on my back I got some protection. Holcomb wa^ next me; Wilmer some way off. We then tried to get reports. Two companies we never cou^d get in touch with. Lloyd came in and reported he was holding some trenches near a mill with six men. Gates, with his trousers blown off, said he had sixteen men of various companies; another officer on the right reported he had and could see forty men, all told. That, with the headquarters, was aU we could find out about the battalion of nearly 800. Of the twenty company officers who went in, three came out and one. Gates, was slightly wotmded. From then on to about 8 p. m. life was a chance and mighty imcom- fortable. It was hot as a furnace, no water, and they had our range to a " T." Three men lying in a shallow trench near me were blown to bits. I went to the left of the line and foimd eight wotmded men in a shell hole. I went back to Gates' hole and three shells landed near them. We thought they were killedj but they were not hit. You could hear men calling for help in the wheat fields. Their cries would get weaker and weaker and die out. The German planes were thick in the air; they were in groups of from three to twenty. They would look us over and then we would get a poundBng. One of our planes got shot down; he fell about a thousand feet, like an arrl (jq CHAPTER XLVII The CENTRAii Empires Whine for Peace THE Allied victories in France during the months of August and September of 1918, led to a new peace offensive among the Central Powers. It was very plain to the German High J Command, as well as to the Allied leaders, that Germany's great ambitions had now been definitely thwarted. It seems clear that, in spite of the hopeful and encouraging words which they addressed to their own armies, the expert soldiers, who were controlling the destinies of Germany, understood well the conditions they were facing. Putting aside all sentiment, therefore, they deliberately set out to obtain a peace which would leave them an opportunity to gain by diplomacy what they were sure that they were about to lose on the field of battle. They had made pleas for peace before, but their pleas had been rejected. The Allied leaders were fighting for a principle. They could not be satisfied with a draw. They could not be satisfied if Ger- many were left in a position which would enable her after a rest of a few years to renew her effort to impose her will upon the world. It was unanimously recognized that the war must be carried on to the very end. The Allies took this position when the fortunes of war seemed to have gone against them, when Russia was defeated, Roumania and Serbia crushed, and the German lines in France were approaching the capital. It was unlikely that now, when Germany was suffering defeat and every day was yielding the Allied armies encouraging gains, there should be any change in the strong determination of the Allied leaders. Nevertheless, it was necessary to make the attempt. On September 15th, the Austro-Himgarian Government addressed a communication to the Allied Powers and to the Holy See suggesting a meeting for a confidential and non-binding dis- cussion of war aims, with a view to the possible calling of a peace conference. The official communication from the Austro-Hungarian Gov- 608 604 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ernment was handed to Secretary of State Lansing in Washington at 6.20 o'clock on September 16th. At 6.45 the following abbreviated reply of the United States Government was made public, by the Secretary of State: I am authorized by the President to state that the following will be the reply of this government to the Austro-Himgarian note proposing an unofficial conference of beUigerents. > "The Government of the United States feels that there is only one reply which it can make to the suggestion of the Austro-Hungarian Government. It has repeatedly and with entire candor stated the terms upon which the United States would con- sider peace, and can and will entertain no proposal for a conference upon the matter concerning which it has made its position and purpose so plain." Arthur J. Balfour," the British Foreign Secretary, in a state- ment made September 16th said: "It is. incredible that anything can come of this proposal.,. ^ ., This cynical proposal of the Austrian Government is not a "genuine attempt to obtain peace. It is an attempt to divide the Allies." Premier Clemenceau in France took similar grounds, and stated in the French Senate: "We will fight until the hoxir when the enemy comes to understand that bargaining between crime and right is no longer possible. We want a just and a strong peace, protecting the future against the abominations of the past." Italy joined with her Allies and declared that a negotiated peace was impossible. V The refusal on the part of the Allies to respond to the Austrian peace proposal evidently greatly disturbed the German leaders. The continued German reverses,*and the surrender of Bulgaria had taken away all hope. They were anxious to conclude some kind of peace beforezmeeting irretrievable disaster. They there- fore determined to appoint as Chancellor of the Empire some statesman who might be represented as a supporter of an honest peace', and Count von Hertling, whose previous utterances might put under suspicion any peace move coming from him, was removed and Prince Maximilian of Baden appointed as his successor on September 30th. Prince Maxiinilian was put forward as a Moderate, in accord- ance with the evident purpose of the government to continue peace proposals. He was the heir apparent to the Grand Ducal throne of Baden, and was the first man in public life in Germany to declare that the Empbe could not conquer by the sword alone. He did CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE 605 this in an address to the Upper Chamber in Baden, of which he was President, on December 15, 1917. "Power alone can never secure our position," he said, "and our sword alone will never be able to tear down the opposition to us." X At the same time he made an attack upon the ideals set up by President Wilson. "President Wilson," he continued, "after three years of war gathers together all the outworn slogans of the Entente of 1914, and denounces Germany as the disturber of the peace, proclaiming a crusade for humanity, liberty and the rights of small nations." Then, forgetting that the United States had entered the war nearly a month after the abdication of the Czar of Russia, he added: "President Wilson has no right to speak in the name of democracy and liberty, for he was the mighty war ally of Russian Czardom, but he had deaf ears when the Russian democracy appealed to him to allow it to discuss peace conditions." The Baden address created a great sensation all over Germany, which was increased when, in an interview in January, he declared that all ideas of conquest must be abandoned, and that Germany must serve as a bulwark to prevent the spread of Bolshevism among the western nations. > There can be no doubt that the appointment of Prince Maximilian was a definite attempt to seek peace. It was thought that he would be recognized by the Allied leaders as an honest friend of peace, and that any effort he would make would be treated with respect. He was, however, a vigorous supporter of the Kaiser and of German autocracy, and while his appointment might mean that Germany was desirous of peace it did not mean that she had changed her ways. Three days before the appoint- ment of Prince Maximilian, President Wilson, in an address delivered in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, had restated the issues of the war, declaring (1) for unpartial justice, (2) settlement to be made in the common interests of all, (3) no leagues within the common family of the league of nations, (4) no selfish economic combination within that league, and (5) all international agree- ments and treaties of every kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of the world. Prince Maximilian, coming into power undoubtedly for the purpose of arranging a peace, proceeded at once to make a new peace offer. He based his action on President Wilson's speech 606 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR and on October 4th sent to President Wilson, through the Swiss Government, the following note: The German Government requests the President of the United States to take ia hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent states with this request, and invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening negotiations. It accepts the program set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8th, and in his later pronouncements, especially his speech of September 27th, as a basis for peace negotiations. With a view to avoiding further blood- shed the German Government requests the im mediate conclusion of an armistice on land and on water and in the air.f^"" He followed this note on October 5th with an address before the German Reichstag, of which the following are the most impor- tant points:. In accordance with the Imperial decree of September 30th, the German Empire has undergone a basic alteration of its pohtic leadership. As successor to Coimt George F. von Hertling, whose services in behalf of the Fatherland deserve the highest acknowledgment, I have been sum- moned by the Emperor to lead the new govermnent. In accordance with the governmental method now introduced I submit to the Reichstag, pubHcly and without delay, the principles by which I propose to conduct the grave responsibihties of the office. These principles were firmly established by the agreement of the federated governments and the leaders of the majority parties in this honorable House before I decided to assume the c^Uties of Chancellor. They contain therefore not only my own confession of political faith, but that of an overwhelming portion of the German people's representatives — ^that is, of the German nation — which has constituted the Reichstag on the basis of a general, equal, and secret franchise and according to their wUl. Only the fact that I know the conviction and wiU of the majority of the people are back of me, has given me strength to take upon myself conduct of the Empire's affairs in this hard and earnest time in which we are hving. One man's shoulders would be too weak to carry alone the tremendous responsibility which falls upon the government at present. Only if the people take active part in the broader sense of the word in deciding their destinies, in other words, if responsibility also extends to the majority of their freely elected political leaders, can the leading states- man confidently assume Ms part of the responsibihty in the service of folk and Fatherland. My resolve to this has been especially lightened for me by the fact that prominent leaders of the laboring class have found a way in the new government to tiie highest offices of the Empire. I see therein a sure guarantee that the new government will be supported by the confidence CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE 607 of the broad masses of the people, without whose trae support the whole undertaking would be compelled to failure in advance. Hence what I say today is not only in my own name, and those of my official helpers, but in the name of the German people. The program of the majority parties, upon which I take my stand, contains first, an acceptance of the answer of the former Imperial Govern- ment to Pope Benedict's note of August 1, 1916, and an imconditional acceptance of the Reichstag resolution of July 19th, the same year. It further declares willingness to join the general league of nations based on the foundation of equal rights for all, both strong and weak. It considers the solution of the Belgian question to lie in the complete rehabilitation of Belgium, particularly of its independence and territorial integrity. An effort shall also be made to reach an understanding on the question of indemnity. The program will not permit the peace treaties hitherto concluded to be a hindrance to the conclusion of the general peace. Its particular aim is that popular representative bodies shall be formed immediately on a broad basis in the Baltic provinces, in Lithuania and Poland. We will promote the realization of necessary preliminary conditions therefore without delay by the introduction of civilian rule. All these lands shall regulate their constitutions and their relations m^h neighboring peoples without external interference. He went on to point out the progressive political developments in Prussia and declared that the "message of the King of Prussia promising the democratic franchise must be fulfilled quickly and completely." President Wilson did not find Prince Maximilian's proposal wholly satisfactory, and on October 8th, he inquired of the Imperial Chancellor whether the meaning of the proposal was that the German Government accepted the terms laid down in his ad- dress to the Congress of the United States and in subsequent ad- dresses; and whether its object in entering into discussions would be only to agree upon the practical details of their application. He also suggested that so long as the armies of the Central Powers were upon the soil of the governments with which the United States was associated, he would not feel at liberty to propose a cessation of arms to those governments. He also inquired whether the Imperial Chancellor was speaking merely for the constituted authorities of the Empire, who had so far conducted the war. President Wilson's reply aroused much difference of opinion among the Allies, but on the whole was regarded as a clever dip- lomatic mov» These hospitals were not the last step in the return of the wounded soldiers to civil life. When the soldiers were able to take up industrial training, further provision was ready. Arrangements were made by the Department of Military Orthopedics to care for soldiers, so far as orthopedics (the pre- vention of deformity) was concerned, continuously until they were returned to civil life. Orthopedic surgeons were attached to the medical force near the firing line and to the different hospitals back to the base orthopedic hospital which was established within one huaidred miles of the firing line. In this hospital, in addi- HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE FORCES 629 tion to orthopedic surreal care, there was equipment for surgical reconstruction work and "curative workshops" in which men ac- quired ability to use injured members while doing work interesting and useful in itself. This method supplanted the old and tiresome one of prescribing a set of motions for a man to go through with no other pmpose than to re-acquire use of his injured part. Instructors and examiners for all the troops were furnished by the Department of Military Orthopedic Surgery. A number of older and more experienced surgeons acted as instructors and supervisors for each of the groups into which the army was divided. A peculiar conditionarising from the use of heavy art.illery in the war was that called "shell-shock."/ The most pathetic wrecks of war were soldiers suffering from shattered nerves. Paris had many of them. They appeared to be normal. But they were hmnan wrecks. Shell-shock or the aftermath of illness from woxmds left them in weakened health, subject to violent heart attacks. Most of them lacked energy and perseverance. ' They became awkward, like big children. If employment was iound for them — ^for many had large families to support — ^they_quickly lost their jobs through apathy or coUapse. A society in Paris did everything possible to relieve the suf- ferings of these victims of the war. It operated with the authoriza- tion of the French Government under the name "L' Assistance aux Blesses Nerveux de la Guerre." American hospitals after the war contained many of these tases. Some of the victims became incurably insane. Besides the noble work done by the great army of American physicians, surgeons and nurses, in caring for soldiers and sailors, a service of scarcely less magnitude was rendered to the civilian populations of France, Belgium and Italy. Tuberculosis in France was a real plague, taking a toU of 80,000 lives every year. American physicians and nm"ses preached the doctrine of fresh air, care of the teeth and proper food for children. Almost imme- diately this campaign of sanitation had its effect in a decreasing death-rate from tuberculosis. European nations generally were benefited by the stay of the American army overseas. The straightforward manner in which the social evil was attacked had direct benefits. The important 630 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR detail of dental care also received an interest through the advent of the American soldier. ^ The London Daily Mail made this comment on that question: "One thing about the American^oldierajiand sailors must strike English people when they see these gallant fighters, and that is the soundness and general whiteness of their tqeth. From child- hood the 'Yank' is taught to take care of his teeth. He has 'tooth drill' thrice daily and visits his dentist at fixed periods, eay, every three or four months. If by chance a tooth does decay, the rot is at once arrested by gold or platinum filling. American dentists never extract a tooth. No matter how badly decayed it may be, they save the molar by crowning it with gold. ( "The United States soldiers have set us a splendid example in this matter. They fairly shame the ordinary 'Tommy' by the brilliance of their molars, but they will do so no longer if young English mothers will only wake up to the fact that bad teeth cause bad health, and that doctors'' and dentists' bills will be saved by the regular use of the tooth-brush." CHAPTER L The Pirates of the Under-Seas GERMANY relied upon the submarine to win the war. This in a nut-shell explains the main reason why the United States was drawn into the World War. Von Tirpitz, the German Admiral, obsessed with the theory that no effective answer could be made to the submarine, con- vinced the German High Command and the Kaiser that only through unrestricted submarine warfare could England be starved and the war brought to an end with victory for Germany. Since August, 1914, the theory held by von Tirpitz and his party of extremists had been combated by Prince MaximiUan of Baden and by Chancellor von Bethmann-HoUweg and by others high in the council of the Kaiser. These men pointed gut that, leaving out such questions as piracy on the high seas, the drowning of women and children, the destruction of the property of neutrals, there still remained the question of expediency. America, they asserted, was certain to enter the war if unrestricted submarine warfare was decreed. These men were denounced as cowards and von Tirpitz finally triumphed. The submarine employed by the Germans was of the type designed by Simon Lake, an American. The Germans bought two submarines built by Mr. Lake at Kronstadt for the Russians during the Russian-Japanese war. Various improvements upon the Diesel engine and special training for submarine crews enabled the German navy to strike temble blows during the early part of the war. Little by little, however^ the AUies discovered the answer to the submarine menace. One of these was the convoy: fleets of merchant vessels surroimded by fast destroyers made life a misery for the submarine crews. In the early days vessels of all char- acter fled from the approach of the submarine. The destroyers of the convoys, however, adopted a different method. They rushed at the periscopes in efforts to ram the submarine, and as 631 632 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR they raced over the spot where the submarine had been at the rate of twenty-two knots or more an hour, they dropped huge containers, dubbed "ash cans", containing depth charges of trini- trotoluol. Sea planes carrying bombs, small dirigible balloons known as "blimps," observation balloons moored on the decks of warships, steel nets, and especially devised anti-submarine mines, were also factors in the general work of submarine destruction. In addition to all these, every ship, both cargo carrier and war vessel, had its well-trained gun crew, and hundreds of thousands of keen-eyed mariners daily and nightly swept the seas with binoculars watching for anything that resembled a periscope. As a consequence of this combination of destructive agencies the British Admiralty was enabled to announce at the close of the war that more than 150 German submarines had been destroyed. The names of the commanding ofl&cers of the German sub- marines which had been disposed of were given out by the govern- ment in order to substantiate to the world the statement made by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on August 7th, and denied in the German papers, that "at least 150 of these ocean pests had been destroyed." The statement included no officers commanding the Austrian submarines, of which a nimiber had been destroyed, and did not exhaust the list of Germansubmarines put out of action. The fate of the officers was given> and of these the majority (116) were dead; twenty-seven were prisoners of war, six were interned in neutral countries where they took refuge, and one succeeded in returning to Germany. Further Hght on the subject of German submarines was given on September 18, 1918, by Senator William H. Thompson of Kansas in a speech in which he told the Senate: The submarine is no longer a serious menace to transportation across the seas. It is, of course, an annoyance and a great hindrance, and as long as there is a single submarine in the waters of the sea every effort must be made by the allied powers to destroy it, for it is an outlaw and must not exist. The truth is that Germany never had more than 320 sub- marines all told, including all construction before and since the war. We have positive knowledge of the destruction of more than one-half of these submarines, and we also know that it is practically impossible for Germany to keep in operation more than 10 per cent of those remain- IHE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS 633 ing. It is therefore reduced to a negligible quantity so far as its ultimate effect upon the result of the war is concerned. I saw a reliable statement in France to the effect that there is one ship of some character leaving the eastern shores of America for the war zone every six minutes, and it is only a few vessels which are ever torpedoed, estimated at about one per cent. This is less than the loss by storm and accident in the earher days of transportation and is not much greater than such loss now. We fnust bear in mind that we read only of the ships which have been torpedoed and see but little accovmt of the himdreds of ships which pass over the ocean safely and undisturbed. Three hundred thousand soldiers are conveyed across the Atlantic every thirty days, and an average of about 500,000 tons of freight carried to the French coast. There are warehouses in only one of the many ports of France with a capacity of over 2,000,000 tons. It is to the navy that the credit for the destruction of this outlaw seagoing craft is due. The navy is and has been the backbone of this war, the same as it has been of almost every great war in history. Without the allied navy the submarine would have perhaps accomplished its nefar- ious purpose in starving the European allies and in preventing them from securing the necessary munitions of war to defend themselves. It has utterly failed in this respect. The Allies are amply supplied with food, and there are provisions enough on hand now, if every ship should be sunk, to last the Allies and armies for months. The destroyer is the ship which has brought Germany to her knees in submarine warfare and will keep her there. We have not enough destroyers, and it is for this reason we are obliged in this great transportation problem to run risks which would not be taken under ordinary conditions. If every ship was escorted by a sufficient number of destroyers I doubt if there would be a single ship of any consequence sunk, except by the merest accident. Upon the same subject, Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the British Admiralty, on October 14th, reviewing the British effort in the war said that during 1918 the casualties of the British on the western front equaled those of all the Allies combined. The British navy, he said, since the beginning of the war had lost in fighting ships of all classes a total of 230, more than tvdce the losses in war vessels of all the Allies. In addition to these, Great Britain had lost 450 auxiliary craft, such as mine-sweepers and trawlers, making a total of 680. He revealed the fact that the effective warship barrage, which had been drawn between the Orkneys and Norway against German submarines and surface craft, was, during the later months of the war, maintained largely by ships of the United States. The British merchant ships lost since 1914 exceeded 2,400^ 634 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR representing a gross tonnage of 7,750,000, nearly three times the aggregate loss of all other allied and neutral countries. In his statement on the submarine situation' he said: In February, 1917, the ruthless submarine warfare confronted us, whUst the armies in France at that time were feeling a sense of superiority over the enemy which was illustrated by the successes of the battle of Arras, the taking of Vimy Eidge, the advance between the Ancre and the Somme, the offensive in Champagne, Chemin des Dames, Messines and Passchendaele Eidges. Thus we felt, and rightly felt, that the weakest front at that time was the sea — ^not on the surface, but under water. The whole of the available energies of the Allies were consequently thrown into overcoming the submarine and the menace which threatened to destroy the lines of communication of the Alliance. The reduced sinkings which have been published since that period show how we grad- ually overcame that menace — ^and today most men say that ^the sub- marine menace is a thing of the past. iv. ., ^ ^ __ • Thit it is a thing of the past in so far as it can never win'the war for the enemy or enable the enemy to prevent us from winning the war, provided we do not underrate the danger but take adequate steps against it, I affirm now as the opinion of the British Admiralty; but it is a menace that comes and goes. The end of the great submarine menace came on November 20th, when twenty German submarines were officially surrendered to Rear-Admiral Tyrwhitt of the British Navy, thirty miles off Harwich, England, 'j- Within the following week more than eighty other German submarines and a number of Austrian craft were also surrendered to the British. The spectacle of the surrender was most impressive, i ' ___ After steaming some twenty miles across the North Sea, the Harwich forces, which consisted of five light cruisers and twenty destroyers, were sighted. The flagship of Admiral Tyrwhitt, the commander, was the Curagao. High above about the squadron hung a big observation balloon. The squadron, headed by the flagship, then steamed toward the Dutch coast, followed by the Coventry, Dragoon, Danal and Centaur. Other ships followed in line with their navigation lights showing. The picture was a noble one as the great vessels, with the moon still shining, plowed their way to take part in the sur- render of the German U-boats. Soon after the British squadron started the "paravanes" were dropped overboard. These devices are shaped like tops and THE PIRATES OF THE DNDER-SEAS 635 divert any mines which may be encountered, for the vessels were now entering a mine field. Ahnost everyone on board donned a life belt and just as the red sun appeared above the horizon the first German submarine appeared in sight. Soon after seven o'clock twenty submarines were seen in line, accompanied by two German destroyers, the Tibania and the Sierra Ventana, which were to take the~ Submarine crews back to Germany after the transfer. All the submarines were on the surface with then- hatches open and their crews standing on deck. The vessels were flying no flags whatever and their guns were trained fore and aft, in accord- ance with the terms of surrender. A bugle sounded on the Curasao and all the gun' crews took up their stations, ready for any possible treachery. The leading destroyer, in response to a signal from the admiral, turned and led the way towards England and the submarines were ordered to follow. They immediately did so. The surrender had been accompUshed. __ _ _ _ Each cruiser turned, and, keeping a careful lookout, steamed toward Harwich. On the deck of one of the largest of the sub- marines, which carried two 5.9 guns, twenty-three officers and men were coimted. The craft was estimated to be nearly 300 feet in length. Its number had been painted out. Near the Ship Wash lightship three large British seaplanes, followed by an airship, were observed. One of the submarines was seen to send up a couple of carrier pigeons and at once a signal was flashed from the admiral that it had no right to do this. When the ships had cleared the mine field and entered the war channel the "paravanes" were hauled aboard. On reaching a point some twenty miles off Harwich the ships dropped anchor and Captain Addison went out on the warship Maidstone. British crews were then put on board the submarines to take them into harbor. With the exception of the engine staffs all the German sailors remained on deck. The submarines were then taken through the gates of the harbor and the German crews were transferred to the transports and taken back to Germany. As the boats went through the gates a white signal was run up on each of them with the German flag underneath. 636 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Each Gennan submarine commander at the transfer was required to sign a declaration to the effect that his vessel was in running order, that its periscope was intact, that its torpedoes were unloaded and that its torpedo heads were safe. Orders had been issued forbidding any demonstration and these instructions were obeyed to the letter. There was complete silence as the submarines surrendered and as the crews were transferred. . On November 21st, the German High Seas fleet that had been protected by the submarines surrendered to the combined fleet consisting of British, American and French battleships. The British admiralty's terse statementcouceming the historic spectacle follows: The commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet has reported that at 9.30 o'clock this morning he met the first and main instaUment of the German high seas fleet, which is surrendering for internment. Admiral Sir David Beatty is Commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet. On the same day another flotilla of German U-boats also was surrendered to a British squadron. There were nineteen sub- marines in all; the twentieth broke down on the way. The Grand Fleet, accompanied by five American battleships and three French cruisers, steamed out at 3 o'clock on the morning of November 21st, from its Scottish base to accept the surrender. The vessels moved in two long columns. The German fleet which surrendered consisted of nine battle- ships, five cruisers, seven light cruisers and fifty destroyers. Seventy-one vessels in all. There remained to be surrendered two tattleships, which were under repair, and fifty modem torpedo- boat destroyers. One German destroyer while on its way across the North Sea with the other ships of the German High Seas fleet to surrender struck a mine. It was so badly damaged that it sank. Describing the surrender of the Gennan warships to Sir David Beatty, the Commander-in-Chief of the grand fleet, correspondents said that after all the German ships had been taken over, the British admiral went through the line on the Queen EUzabeth, every Allied vessel being manned and greeting the admiral and the flag- ship with loud and ringing cheers. The British grand fleet put to sea in two single lines six milea Courtesy of Joseph A. Sieinniftz, Pldla. THE EYE OF THE SUBMARINE Diagram of a periscope, showing how, when its tip ia lifted out of water, a picture of the sea's surface is reflected downward from a prism, through lenses, and then a lower prism, hence to the officer's eye. It turns in any direction. THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS 639 apart, and so formed as to enable the surrendering fleet to come up the center. The leading ship of the German line was sighted between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning. It was the Seydhtz, flying the German naval ensign. A telegram received in Amsterdam from Berlin gave this list of surrendered warships, which includes one more battleship than later reports showed: Battleships — Kaiser, 24,113 tons; Kaiserin, 24,113 tons; Koenig Albert, 24,113 tons; Kronprinz Wilhehn, 25,000 tons; Prinzregent Luitpold, 24,113 tons; Markgraf, 25,293 tons; Grosser Kurfuerst, 25,293 tons; Bayem, 28,000 tons; Koenig, 25,293 tons, and Friedrich der Grosse, 24,113. Battle Cruisers— Hindenburg, 27,000 tons ; Derflinger, 28,000 tons; Seydlitz, 25,000 tons; Moltke, 23,000 tons, and Von Der Tann, 18,800 tons. Light Cruisers — ^Bremen, 4,000 tons; Brummer, 4,000 tons; Frankfurt, 5,400 tons; Koeln, tonnage uncertain; Dresden, toimage uncertain; and EnadeQ; 5,400 tons. CHAPTER LI Approaching the Final Stage THE might and pride of Germany were smashed and humbled by Foch in frontal attacks divided roughly into three great sectors. The first of these attacks was delivered by the French and Americans in the southern sector which included Verdun and the Argonne. The second smash was delivered by British, French and Americans in the Cambrai sector. The third was delivered by British, Belgians, French and Americans in the Bel^an sector on the north of the great battle line. The Cambrai operation had as its first objectives the possession of the strategic railways both of which ran from Valenciennes, one to the huge distribution center at Douai; the other to Cambrai itself. To reach these objectives the Allies were obliged to cross the Sens6e and the Escaut canals imder infantry and artillery fire. Besides these natural obstacles, there was the famous Himding line of fortifications erected by the Germans between the Scarpe and the Oise River. The attack was opened in force on September 18, 1918, by the Fourth British army under General Rawlinson and the First French army under General Debeney. The assault was successful northwest of St. Quentin and determined German counter-attacks were broken down by French and British artillery fire. The Third British army under General Byng and the Thirtieth American division co-operating with the First British army under Sir Henry Home, attacked furiously over a fourteen-mile front toward Cambrai. The net result of this operation was the possession of the Canal du Nord, the taking of several villages, and 6,000 prison- ers. This was on September 27th. The following day the same forces captured Fontaine-Notre Dame, Marcoing, Noyelles, and Cantaing. More than 200 guns were captured and 10,000 prisoners. On September 29th the Americans took Bellecourt and Nauroy, and invested the suburbs of Cambrai. The British crossed the Escaut 610 APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGE 641 canal and the Canadians penetrated some of the environs of Cambrai. The resolution and ferocity of the attack thoroughly dismayed the Germans, and the salient produced by the smash forced the Teutons to evacuate the greatly prized Lens coal fields on October 3d. Home and Byng continued their advance, the former occu- pying Biache-St. Vaast southwest of Douai, and the latter reaching a position five miles northwest of Cambrai. Caught between the jaws of the pincers, the German forces occupying Cambrai made haste to escape outright capture. The city that had been the objective of British hopes and thrusts for two years, fell into the hands of the Allies. The German retreat extended over a thirty-mile front and included 'both St. Quentin and Cambrai. Simultaneously the German forces between Arraa and St. Quentin fell steadily backward. Le Cateau and Zazeuel fell into the hands of the British October 17th, three thousand prisoners and a quantity of war material being included in the bag. In the meantime General Mangin attacking in the Laon sector, drove the Germans from the strategic Chemia des Dames and with General Berthelot captured Berry-au-Bac, the St. Gobain massif and completed contact with Generals Pershing and Gouraud on the right and with Generals Rawlinson and Debeney on the left. The Allied advance now became a huge steel broom, sweeping the Germans irresistibly before it. The operation extended from the Oise southeast to the Aisne, broadening thence until it included the entire front. The Hindenburg line, the Somme battle-field, the Hunding line, were all quickly overrun. The fortress of Maubeuge, fifty miles northeast of St. Quentin, which was con- nected with that city by a triple railway connection, was evacuated as a direct result of this operation. When St. Quentin itself fell into the hands of Debeney, it was found that the Germans had deported the entire civilian popu- lation of 50,000. This was the crux of the operations by Foch. Germans were given no rest; night and day the pressiu^ continued. Every clash showed the increasing superiority of the Allies both in men and material and the corresponding deterioration of the German forces. This demoralization of the Germans extended from the High Com- mand to the private soldier. Prisoners poured into the hands of 642 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR the Allies. Evacuation of Lille was commenced on October 2d and Roubaix and Turcoing also fell. It was the beginning of Germany's military debacle. The time was ripe for the coup-de-grdce soon to be delivered by Ameri- cans co-operatiag with the Allies on a seventy-one mile front. The Kaiser, Ludendorf and von Hindenburg abandoned hope. The command went forth from the German general headquarters to retreat, retreat, retreat, while Prince Maximilian of Baden appealed to America for an armistice. The sword in Germany's hand was broken. Autocracy, defeated in the eyes of its deluded subjects and discredited in the eyes of the world, was in headlong flight. Its only concern was to save as much as possible from the ruins of the ostentatious temple it had reared. CHAPTER LII Last Days op the War FROM November 1st until November 11th, the day when the armistice granting terms to Germany was signed, the collapse of the German defensive was complete. The army that imder von Hiadenbm-g and Ludendorf had smashed its way over Poland, Roumania, Serbia, Belgimn, and into the heart of France, was now a military machine in full retreat. It is only justice to that machine to say that the great retreat at no place degenerated into a rout. Von Hindenbiu"g and the German General Staff had planned a series of rear-guard actions that were effective in protecting the main bodies of infantry and artillery. Machine-gun nests and airplane attacks were the main reliance of the Germans in these maneuvers of delay, but the German field artillery also did its share. Immense quantities of material and many thousands of prisoners were captmred by the British, Canadians and AustraUans ia the north, and by the French and Americans in the south. Simultaneously with this wide and savage drive upon the Germans along the Belgian and French fronts, came the heaviest Italian attack of the war. Before it the Austrians were swept in a torrent that was irresistible. ^ French, English and American troops co-operated in this thrust that extended from the plains of the Piave into Trentino. The immediate effect of the Italian offensive was to force Austria to her knees in abject surrender. An armis- tice, humiliating in its terms, was signed by the Austrian repre- sentatives, and the back door to Gejmany was opened to the Allies. Germany's frantic plea for an armistice followed. There were those in the AlUed countries who maintained that nothing short of imconditional surrender should be permitted. Cooler counsel prevailed, and an armistice was offered to the German High Command through General Foch, the terms of which far exceeded in severity those granted to Turkey and Austria. These -643 644 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR were read for the first time by Germany's representatives on Friday, November 8th. General Foch, when he gave the document to the German delegation, declared that Germany's decision must be made within seventy-two hours. Eleven o'clock on Monday, November 11th, was the time limit permitted to Germany. The armistice was signed by General Foch and the German repre- sentatives on the morning of November 11th, but fighting did not actually cease until eleven o'clock, several hours after the terms had been agreed to. " This was in accordance with arrangement made between the signers. ' Sedan, where Marshals McMahon and Bazaine, commanding the armies of Napoleon III, surrendered to the King of Prussia in 1870, marked the last notable victory of the American forces in France. The Sedan of 1870 marked the birth of German milita- rism. The Sedan of 1918 marked its death, -pv^ «| ^ i"^d ' ) Preceding the advance of the Americans upon Sedan, came a cloud of aviators in pursuit and bombing planes, headed by the famous"aces of the American forces. The First and Second divisions of the First army led the way. In the van of the Second division were the Marines, whose heroism in Belleau Wood marked the beginning of Germany's end. The famous Rainbow division made the most savage thrust of the action, pursuing the foe for ten roiles and sweeping the Freya Hills clear of machine nests and German artillery/ The last action of the war for the Americans followed imme- diately on the heels of the battle of Sedan. It was the taking of the town of Stenay. The engagement was dehberately planned by the Americans as a sort of battle celebration of the end of the war. The order fixing eleven o'clock as the time for the conclusion of hostilities, had been sent from end to end of the American lines. Its text follows: 1. You are informed that hostilities will cease along the whole front at 11 o'clock A. M., November 11, 1918, Paris time. 2. No Allied troops will pass the line reached by them at that hour in date until further orders. 3. Division commanders will immediately sketch the location of their line. This sketch will be returned to headquarters by the courier bearing these orders. 4. All commimication with the enemy, both Before and after the termination of hostilities, is absolutely forbidden. In case of violation of LAST DAYS OF THE WAR 645 this order severest discipjinary measures will be immediately taken. Any officer offending will be sent to headquarters under guard. 5. Every emphasis will be laid on the fact that the arrangement is an armistice only and not a peace. 6. There must not be the slightest relaxation of vigilance. Troops miist be prepared at any moment for further operations. •^ 7. Special steps will be taken by all commanders to insure strictest discipline and that all troops be held in readiness fully prepared for any eventuality. 8. Division and brigade coromanders' will personally communicate these orders to all organizations. Signal corps wires, telephones and runners were used in carry- ing the orders and so well did the big machine work that even patrol commanders had received the orders well in advance of the hour. Apparently the Germans also had been equally diligent in getting the orders to the front line. Notwithstanding the hard fighting they did Simday to hold back the Americans, the Ger- mans were able to bring the firing to an abrupt end at the scheduled hour. The staff and field officers of the American army were disposed early in the day to approach the hour of eleven with lessened activity. The day began with less firing and doubtless the fight- ing would have ended according to plan, had there not been a sharp resumption on the part of German batteries. The Americans looked upon this as wantonly useless. It was then that orders were sent to the battery commanders for increased fire. Although there was no reason for it, German ruthlessness was still rampant Sunday, stirring the American artillery in the region of Dun-sur-Meuse and Mouzay to greater activity. Six hundred aged men and women and children were in Mouzay when the Germans attacked it with gas. There was only a small detach- ment of American troops there and the town no longer was of strategical value. A However, it was made the direct target of shells filled with phosgene.*"^ Every street reeked with gas. Poorly clad and showing plainly evidences of malnutrition, the inhabitants crowded about the Americans, kissing their hands and hailing them as deUverers. They declared they had had no meat for six weeks. They virtually had been prisoners of war for four years and were overwhelmed with joy when they learned that an armistice was probable. 646 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The last French town to fall into American hands before the armistice went into effect was Stenay. Patrols reported they had found it empty not more than a quarter of an hour before eleven o'clock. American troops rushed through the town and in a few minutes Allied flags were beginning to appear from the windows. As the church bell solemnly tolled the hour of eleven, troops from the Ninetieth division were pouring into the town. The inhabitants told the usual stories of German, treatment. They were forced to work at all sorts of tasks from seven in the morning until six at night. In return they received paper bills with which they were unable to purchase milk and similar necessi- ties. The majority, however, were so overjoyed at their deliver- ance that they were almost incoherent in discussing the enemy occupation. The inhabitants of Stenay remained hiding in their cellars even after the Americans had entered the town. They came out hesitatingly and in small groups. HostiHties along the American front ended with a crash of cannon. The early forenoon had been marked by a falling off in fire all along the line, but an increasing bombardment from the retreat- ing Germans at certain points stimulated the Americans to a quick retort. From their positions north of Stenay to southeast of the town the Americans began to bombard fixed targets. The firing reached a volume at times almost equivalent to a barrage. Two minutes before eleven o'clock the firing dwindled, the last shells shrieking over No Man's Land precisely on time. There was little celebration on the front line, where American routine was scarcely distiu-bed over the cessation of fighting. In the areas behind the battle zone there were celebrations on all sides. Here and there there were Uttle outbursts of cheering, but even those instances were not on the immediate front. Many of the French soldiers went about singing. "Well, I don't know," drawled a Ueutenant from Texas while the artillery was sending its last challenge to the Germans, "but somehow I can't help wondering if we have Hcked them enough." The Germans were manifestly so glad over the cessation of hostilities that they could not conceal their pleasure. Prisoners taken at Stenay grinned with satisfaction. Their demeanor was in LAST DAYS OF THE WAR 647 sharp contrast to that of the American doughboys who took the matter philosophically and went about their appointed tasks. In the front line it was the same. The Americans were happy, but quiet. They made no demonstrations. The Germans, on the other hand, were in a regular hysteria of joy. They waited only vmtil nightfall to set off every rocket in their possession. In the evening the sky was ablaze with red, green, blue and yellow flares all along the Une. _ Flags appeared like magic over the shell-torn buildings of Verdun, French and American colors flying side by side. In every village, even those from which the Germans had been driven, there were flags and decorations which were brought up to the front by the soldiers. In the villages back of the line there were impromptu celebrations and the civilians in holiday spirit saluted the Americans, shouting "the war is finished." Northeast of Verdun, just before 11 o'clock, American artillery- men in loading a six-inch howitzer, wrote "good luck" on a ninety- pound shell and "let 'er go." , The shot was aimed at the cross- road at Omas, just ahead of the American lines. While the bells of the ancient Verdun Cathedral were ringing the news of peace the fortress city was illuminated and a mihtary procession headed by the drum corps of the Twenty-sixth American division swimg along the crowded streets accompanied by a French detachment of buglers representing the famed defenders of Verdun. Only a half hour before the Germans had thrown large shells within the city walls, apparently as a reminder that Verdun was stUl within the range of their guns to the hills to the northeast. Monday afternoon and night virtually was the first time that Verdun had not been shelled in many hours almost since the war began. CHAPTER LIII The Drastic Terms op Stjrrender ^ I ^HE end of the war came with ahnost the dramatic sudden- I ness of its beginning. Bulgaria, henomed in by armies J[ through which no relief could penetrate, asked for terms. The reply came in two words, "Unconditional Surrender." Turkey, witnessing the rout of her army in Palestine by the great strategist. General AUenby, and a British army, asked for 'an armistice. * The Porte signed without hesitation an agreement comprising twenty-five severe requirements. The surrender of Bulgaria and Turkey forced Austria's hand. The terms under which it was permitted to capitulate were even harder than those granted to Turkey. They comprised eighteen requirements divided into military and naval clauses. Germany, proud, imperial Germany, met the greatest humilia- tion of all the Teutonic allies when the Kaiser and the German High Command were brought to their knees. Thirty-five clauses, the most severe and drastic ever demanded from a great power, were included in the armistice agreement. Only the imminent menace of an invasion of Germany would have sufficed to compel the German representatives to sign such a document. Following are the drafts of the Turkish, Austrian and German armistice agreements. THE TURKISH AGREEMENT 1. The opening of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus and access to the Black Sea. Allied occupation of the Dardanelles and Bosporus forts. 2. The positions of all mine fields, torpedo tubes and other obstruc- tions in Turkish waters are to be indicated, and assistance given to sweep or remove them, as may be required. 3. All available information concerning mines in the Black Sea is to be commimicated. 4. All Allied prisoners of war and Armenian interned persons and prisoners are to be collected in Constantinople and handed over uncon- ditionally to the Allies. 648 THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 649 5. Immediate demobilization of the Turkish anny, except such troops as are required for sxuTreillance on the frontiers and for the maintenance of internal order, i The number of effectives and their disposition to be determined later by the Allies. 6. The surrender of all war vessels in Turkish waters or waters occupied by Turkey. These ships will be interned in such Turkish port or ports as may be directed, except such small vessels as are required for police and similar purposes in Turkish territorial waters. 7. The Allies to have the right to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the secm-ity of the Allies. 8. Use by Alhed ships of all ports and anchorages now in Turkish occupation and denial of their use by the enemy. ' Similar conditions are to apply to Turkish mercantile shipping in Turkish waters for the purposes of trade, and the demobilization of the army. 9. Allied occupation of the Taurus Tunnel system. 10. Immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Persia to behind the pre-war frpntier already has been ordered and will be carried out. "^' . 11. A part of Transcaucasia already has been ordered to be evacuated by Turkish troops. The remainder to be evacuated, if required by the Allies, after they have studied the situation. 12. Wireless, telegraph and cable stations to be controlled by the Allies. Turkish Government messages to be excepted. 13. Prohibition against the destruction of any naval, military or commercial material. "' ~ 14. Facilities are to be given for the purchase of coal, oil, fuel and naval material from Turkish sources, after the requirements of the coun- try have been met. None of the above materials are to be exported. 15. The surrender of all Turkish ofiSces in Tripolitania and Cyre- naica to the nearest Italian garrison. Turkey agrees to stop supplies and communication with these officers if they do not obey the order to surrender. ^ 16. The surrender of all garrisons in Hedjaz, Assir, Yemen, Syria and Mesopotamia to the nearest Allied commander, and withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cilicia, except those necessary to maintain order, as will be determined imder Clause 6. 17. The use of all ships and repair facilities at all Turkish ports and arsenals. 18. The surrender of all ports occupied in Tripolitania and Cyre- naica, including Mizurata, to the nearest AUied garrison. . __ 19. All Germans and Austrians, naval, military or civilian, to be evacuated within one month from Turkish dominions, and those in remote districts as soon after that time as may be possible. 20. Compliance with such orders as may be conveyed for the disposal of eqtiipment, arms and anamunition, including the transport of that portion of the Turkish army which is demobilized under Clause 5. 650 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 21. An Allied representative to be attached to the Turiiish Ministry of Supplies in order to safeguard Allied interests. This representative to be furnished with all aid necessary for this purpose. 22. Turkish prisoners are to be kept at the disposal of the Allied Powers. The release of Turkish civilian prisoners and prisoners over military age is to be considered. 23. An obligation on the part of Turkey to cease all relations with the Central Powers. 24. In case of disorder in the six Armenian vilayets the Allies reserve to themselves the right to occupy any part of them. 25. Hostilities between the Allies and Turkey shall cease from noon, local time, Thursday, the 31st of October, 1918. THE AUSTRIAN AGBEEMENT Military Clauses 1. The immediate cessation of hostilities by land, sea and air. 2. Total demobilization of the Austro-Hungarian army and inune- diate withdrawal of all Austro-Himgarian forces operating on the front from the North Sea to Switzerland. Within Austro-Himgarian territory, limited as in Clause 3 below, there shall only be maintained as an organized military force reduced to pre-war effectiveness. Half the divisional, corps and army artillery and equipment shall be collected at points to be indicated by the Allies and United States of America for delivery to them, beginning with all such material as exists in the territories to be evacuated by the Austro-Himgarian forces. 3. Evacuation of aU territories invaded by Austro-Hxmgary since the beginning of the war. Withdrawal within such periods as shall be deter- mined by the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces on each front of the Austro-Hungarian armies behind a line fixed as follows:—' From Pic Umbrail to the north of the Stelivo it will follow the crest of the Rhetian Alps up to the sources of the Adige and the Eisach, passing thence by Mounts Reschen and Brenner and the heights of Oetz and Zoaller. The line thence turns south, crossing Moimt Toblach and meeting the present frontier Camic Alps. It follows this frontier up to Mount Tarvis and after Mount Tarvis the watershed of the Julian Alps by the Col of Predil, Mount Mangart, the Terglou and the watershed of the Cols di Podberdo, Podlaniscam and Idria. From this point the line turns southeast towards the Schneeberg, excludes the whole basin of the Save and its tributaries. From Schneeberg it goes down -towards the coast in such a way as to include Castua, Mattuglia and Volosca in the evacuated territories. It will also follow the administrative limits of the present province of Dalmatia, including the north Lisarica and Trivania and, to the south, territoiy limited by a line from the Semigrand of Cape Planca to the summits of the watersheds eastwards, so as to include in the evacuated area all the valleys and water course flowing towards Sebenaco, such as the THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 651 Cicola, Kerka, Butisnica and their tributaries. It will also include all the islands in the north and west of Dalmatia from Premuda, Selve, Ulbo, Scherda, Maon, Paga and Puntadiu-a in the north up to Meleda in the south, embracing Santandrea, Busi, Lisa, Lesina, Tercola, Curzola, Cazza and Lagosta, as well as the neighboring rocks and islets and pressages, only excepting the islands of Great and Small Zirona, Bua, Solta and Brazza. All territory thus evacuated shall be occupied by the forces of the Allies and of the United States of America. All military and railway equipment of all kinds, including coal belong- ing or within those territories, to be left in situ and surrendered to the AlUes, according to special orders given by the commander-in-chief of the forces of the associated Powers on the different fronts. No new destruction, pillage or requisition to be done by enemy troops in the territories to be evacuated by them and occupied by the forces of the associated Powers. 4. The Allies shall have the right of free movement over all road and rail and waterways in Austro-Hungarian territory and of the use of the necessary Austrian and Hungarian means of transportation. The armies of the associated Powers shall occupy such strategic points in Austria- Hungary at times as they may deem necessary to enable them to conduct military operations or to maintain order. They shall have the right of requisition on payment for the troops of the associated Powers whatever they may be. 5. Complete evacuation of all German troops within fifteeqi dajrs not only from the Italian and Balkan fronts, but from all Austro-Hungarian territory. Internment of all German troops which have not left Austro- Hungary within the date. , 6. The administration of the evacuated territories of Austria-Hungary 'will be entrusted to the local authorities imder the control of the Allied and associated armies of occupation. 7. The immediate repatriation without reciprocity of all Allied prisoners of war and internal subjects and of civil populations evacuated from their homes on conditions to be laid down by the commander-in-chief of the forces of the associated Powers on the various fronts. Sick and wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by Austria-Hungary persormel, who will be left on the spot with the medical material required. Naval Clauses 1. Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of aU Austro-Hungarian ships. Notification to be made to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and mercantile marine of the Allied and associated Powers, all questions of neutrality being waived. 2. Surrender to Allies and the United States of fifteen Austro- Hungarian submarines completed between the years 1910 and 1918 and 652 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR of all German submarines which are in or may hereafter enter Austro- Hungarian territorial waters. All other Austro-Hungarian submarines to be paid off and completely disarmed and to remain under the super- vision of the Allies and United States. 3. Surrender to Allies and United States with their complete armament and equipment of three battleships, three light cruisers, nine destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, one mine layer, six Danube monitors, to be designated by the Allies and United States of America. All other surface warships, including river craft, are to be concentrated in Austro-Hungarian naval bases to be designated by the Allies and United States of America and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of Allies and United States of America. 4. Freedom of navigation to all warships and merchant ships of Allied and associated Powers to be given in the Adriatic and up the River Danube and its tributaries in the territorial waters and territory of Austria- Hungary. The Allies and associated Powers shall have the right to sweep up all mine fields and obstructions, and the positions of these are to be indicated. In order to insure the freedom of navigation on the Danube, the Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy or to dismantle all fortifications or defense work. 5. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and associated Powers are to remain unchanged and all Austro-Himgarian merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture, save exceptions may be made by a commission nominated by the Allies and the United States of America. _ 6. All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and impactionized in Austro-Himgarian bases to be designated by the Allies and United States, of America. 7. Evacuation of all the Italian coasts and of all ports occupied by Austria-Hungary outside their national territory and the abandonment of all floating craft, naval materials, equipmentjand m ateria ls for inland navigation of all kinds. ,. J7 ' 8. Occupation by the Allies and the United States of America of the land and sea fortifications and the islands which form the_defenses and of the dockyards and arsenal at Pola. 9. All merchant vessels held by Austria-Hungary belonging to the Allies and associated Powers to be returned. 10. No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender or restoration. 11. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of the Allied and associated Powers in Austro-Hungarian hands to be returned without reciprocity. THE GERMAN AQHBBMENT 1. Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after the signature of the armistice. THE DRASTIC _TERMS OF SURRENDER 653 2. Immediate evacuation of Invaded countries: Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered as to be completed within fourteen days from the signatiure of the armistice. German troops which have not left the above-mentioned territories within the period fixed will become prisoners of war. Occupation by the Allied and United States forces jointly will keep pace with evacuation in these areas. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance with a note annexed to the stated terms. 3. Repatriation beginning at once and to be completed within fifteen days of all inhabitants of the countries above mentioned, including hostages and persons under trial or convicted, 4. Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the follow- ing equipment: Five thousand guns (two thousand five himdred heavy, two thousand five hundred field), "twenty-five thousand machine guns, three thousand minenwerfers, seventeen himdred airplanes. The above to be delivered in situ to the AJlieg and the United States troops in accord- ance with the detailed conditions laid down in the annexed note. 5. Evacuation by the German armies of the coimtries on the left bank of the Rhine. '''■ These countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be administered by the local troops of occupation under the control of the Allied and United States armies of occupation. The occupation of these territories will be carried out by Allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings of the Rhine, Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne, together with bridgeheads at these points in thirty kilometer radius on the right bank and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the regions. A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right of the Rhine between the stream and a line drawn parallel to it forty kilometers (twenty-six miles) to the east from the frontier of Holland to the parallel of Gemsheim and as far as practicable a distance of thirty kilometers (twenty miles) from the east of stream from this parallel upon Swiss frontier. Evacuation by the enemy of the Rhine lands shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of sixteen days, in all thirty-one days after the signature of the armistice. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated according to the note annexed. S. In all territory evacuated by the enemy there shall be no evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property of the inhabitants. No destruction of any kind to be committed. Military establishments of all kinds shall be delivered as well as military stores of food, munitions, equipment not removed during the periods fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left in situ. Industrial establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel shall not be moved. Roads and means of communication of every kind, railroad, waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired. No person shall be prosecuted for offenses of participation in war measures prior to the signing of the armistice. 654 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 7. All civil and military personnel at present employed on them shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, one hmidred fifty thousand wagons and five thousand motor lorries in good working order with all necessary spare parts and fittings shall be delivered to the associated Powers within the period fixed for the evacuation of Belgium and Luxem- burg. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within thirty- six days, together with all pre-war personnel and material. Further material necessary for the working of railways in the country on the left bank of the EMne shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and material for the upkeep of permanent ways, signals and repair shops left entire in situ and kept in an efficient state by Germany during the whole period of armistice. All barges taken from the Allies shall be restored to them. All civil and military personnel at present employed on such means of conmiunication and transporting including waterways shall remain. 8. The German command shall be responsible for revealing within forty-eight hours all mines or delay acting fuses disposed on territory evacuated by the German troops and shall assist in their discovery and destruction. The Gennan command shall also reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or polluting of si)rings, wells, etc.) under penalty of reprisals. ^','^9. The nght of requisition shall be exercised by the Allies and the United States armies in all occupied territory, "subject to regulation of accounts with those whom it may concern." The upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhine land (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged to the German Government. 10. An immediate repatriation without reciprocity according to detailed conditions which shall be fixed, of all Allied and United States prisoners of war. The Allied Powers and the United States shall be able to dispose of these prisoners as they wish. This condition annuls the previous conventions on the subject of the exchange of prisoners of war, including the one of July, 1918, in course of ratification. However, the repatriation of German prisoners of war interned in Holland and in Switzer- land shall continue as before. The repatriation of German prisoners of war shall be regulated at the conclusion of the preliminaries of peace. 11. Sick and wounded, who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by German personnel who will be left on the spot with the medical material required. 12. All German troops at present in any territory which before the war belonged to Roumania, Turkey or Austria-Hungary shall immediately withdraw within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August 1, 1914. German troops now in Russian territory shall withdraw within the frontiers of Germany, as soon as the Allies, taking into accoimt the intemail situation of those territories, shall decide that the time for this has come. 13. Evacuation by German troops to begin at once and all German instructors, prisoners and civilian as well as military agents^ now on the territoiy of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be recalled. M 1^ cc o m s SB o B „ B S-^-^ ,5 B SO O B 5= 0-- S!" I-5' B d"5 • 2 g^B"B- g a X o S «> ffi. B-!>s.r 3 ^3 c . . •* CS 5 SMgg-- g.?:H: -■ O- B I— ip,D^ai , B hH° ErcB~< - B B B B B g:S- s-sag£-Ts| "S'-g 3 ;^e. .- p — 'C S S CD r'J^ Cr^ M-^ , sT ep „ , c+ CO I Press IllustriUiKu Scrnrv. GERMANS FLEEING BEFORE ALLIED ADVANCE To speed their relreat the German engineers buiU. a temjiorary bridge using a British tank as a foundation. O /Vf.s-s Illnstralin.j S.rri,;. THE GERMAN GOOSE-STEP The Kaiser reviews liis troops marching with the, goose-step. This pholo- graph shows the jjick of the German arnij'. Most, of these men were killed bv the end of the first year of the war. THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 657 14. Gennan troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and any other undertakings with a view to obtaiaiag supplies intended for Germany in Roumania and Russia (as defined on Augifst 1, 1914). 15. Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and of the supplementary treaties. 16. The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated by the Germans on their eastern frontier either through Danzig or by the Vistula in order to convey supphes to the populations of those territories and for the purpose of maintaining order. 17. Evacuation by aU German forces operating in East Africa within a period to be fixed by the Allies. 18. Repatriation, without reciprocity, within maximum period of one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed, of all civilians interned or deported who may be citizens of other Allied or associated states than those mentioned in clause three, paragraph nineteen. 19. The following financial conditions are required: Reparation for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public seciuities shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the AUies for the recovery or repatriation of the cash deposit, in the National Bank of Belgium, and in general immediate retmn of all documents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money together with plant for the issue thereof, touching pubhc or private interests in the invaded countries. Restitution of the Russian and Roumanian gold yielded to Germany or taken by that Power. This gold to be deUvered in trust to the Allies until the signature of peace. 20. Iminediate cessation of all hostihties at sea and definite informa- tion to be given as to the location and movements of all German ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the naval and merchant marines of the Allied and associate Powers, all questions of neutraUty being waived. 21. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the Allied and associated Powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity. 22. Surrender to the Allies and the United States of America of aU German submarines now existing (including all submarine cruisers and mine-laying submarines), with their complete armament and equipment, in ports which will be specified by the Allies and the United States of America. Those which cannot take the sea shall be disarmed of the material and personnel and shall remain under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. All the conditions of the article shall be carried into effect within fourteen days. Submarines ready for sea shall be prepared to leave German ports immediately upon orders by wireless, and the remainder at the earliest possible moment. 23. The following German surface warships which shall be designated by the Allies and the United States of America shall forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, to be designated by the Allies and the United States of America and placed under the surveillance of the <558 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Allies and the United States of America, onlj^ caretakers being left on board, namely: Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers, including two mine layers, fifty destroyers of the most modem type. All other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in naval bases to be designated by the Allies and the United States of America, and are to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of the Allies and the United States of America. All vessels of the auxiliary fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, etc.) are to disarmed. Vessels designated for internment, shall be ready to leave German ports within seven days upon directions by wireless, and the military armament of all vessels of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on shore. 24. The Allies and the United States of America shall have the right to sweep all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be indicated. 25. Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the naval and mercantile marine of the Allied and associated Powers. To secure this Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to'occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries and defense works of all kinds ia all the entrances from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters without any question of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are to be indicated. . .^J '26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allies and asso- ciated Powers are to remain unchanged and all German merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The Allies and the United States shall give consideration to the provisioning of Germany during the armistice to the extent recognized as necessary. 27. All naval akcraft are to be concentrated and immobilized in German bases to be specified by the Alhes and the United States. 28. In evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports, Germany shall aban- don all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes and all other harbor mate- rials, all materials for iuland navigation, all aircraft and all materials and stores, all arms and armaments, and all stores and apparatus of all kinds. 29. AH Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany, all Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are to be handed over to the Allies and the United States of America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those parts are to be returned and German materials as specified in clause twenty-eight are to be abandoned. 30. All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the Allied and associated Powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the Allies and the United States of America without reciprocity. 31. No destruction of ships or materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender or restoration. THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER 659 32. The Gennan Government will notify neutral governments of the world, and particularly the governments of Norway, Sweden, Den- mark and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their vessels with the Allied and associated countries, whether by the German Government or by private German interests, and whether in return for specific concessions such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately canceled. _. 33. No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after signatinre of the armistice. ~_ 34. The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with option to extend. During this period, on faili^e of execution of any of the above clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties on forty-eight hours' previous notice. It is understood that the execution of Articles 3 and 18 shall not warrant the denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insufficient execution within a period fixed, except in the case of bad faith in carrying them into execution. In order to aesume the execution of this convention imder the best conditions, the principle of a Permanent International Armistice Commission is admitted. This commission shall act under authority of the Allied military and naval commanders-in-chief. 35. This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within seventy-two hours cf notification. CHAPTER UV Peace at Last WAR came upon the world in August, 1914, with a sud- denness and an impact that dazed the world. When it seemed, in 1918, that mankind had habituated him- self to war and that the bloody struggle would contmue until the actual exhaustion and extinction of the nations involved, peace suddenly appeared. - The debacle of the Teutonic alliance was both dramatic and unexpected, except to those who knew how desperate were the conditions in the nations that were battling for autocracy. Bulgaria was first to crumble, then Turkey fell, and Austria-Hungary deserted Germany. The Kaiser and his military advisers, left alone, appealed to the Allies through President Wilson, for an armistice during which peace terms might be negotiated. Prince Maximilian of Baden, a statesman whose hberal ideas were rumored rather than demonstrated, was chosen to open negotiations. President Wilson, acting in concert with the Allies, referred Prince Maximilian to Marshal Foch. While negotiations were pending, a cabled message was received on November 7th to the effect that the armistice had been signed and that all soldiers would cease fighting on two o'clock of that afternoon. It was a false report, but it spread with incredible speed throughout the coimtry. Celebrations which included virtually every American, made the country a gala place for twenty-four hours. The American people with characteristic good nature laughed at the hoax next day and settled down' in patience to await the inevitable declaration of an armistice. The true report arrived about three o'clock, Eastern time, in the morning of November 11th. Shrieks of whistles, the booming of cannon, and the clangor of bells, awoke millions of sleeping persons, many of whom trooped into the streets to mingle their rejoicings with those of their neighbors. For a day there was high carnival in town and country throughout the land, then the nation settled down to face the imminent problems of reconstruction. 660 PEACE AT LAST 661 One of these had to do with the immediate reduction of govern- mental expenditures during the approaching year. President Wilson had appealed to the voters to elect a Democratic Congress as an evidence of approval for his administration. The reply was a Kepublican House of Representatives and a [RepubUcan Senate. The Congress that had been in continuous session since America entered the war, ended its labors m mid-November. For length, bulk of appropriations for the war and the number and importance of legislative measures passed, the session was unprecedented. Appropriations passed aggregated $36,298,000,000, making the total for this Congress more than $45,000,000,000, of which $19,412,000,000 was appropriated at the first (an extra) session, at which war was declared on Germany. Legislation passed included bills authorizing billions of Liberty bonds; creation of the War Finance Corporation; goverament control of telegraphs, telephones and cables; executive reorganiza- tion of government agencies, and extensions of the espionage act and the army draft law by which men between eighteen and forty- five years of age were required to register. Prohibition and woman suffrage furnished sharp controversies throughout the session. The war-time "dry" measure was com- pleted, but after the woman suffrage constitutional amendment resolution had been adopted, January 10th, by the House, it was defeated in the Senate by two votes. Every man, woman and child in the belligerent nations owed almost seven times as much moneywhen peace came as he did at the beginning of the war. __ ^ Figures of the war's cost to the world compiled by the Federal Reserve Board were summarized in the statement that the approx- imate pubUc debt per capita had increased from $60 before the war to almost $400 at the end of July, 1918. To this was added the cost since July, which is at the highest rate of the entire period. The direct cost of the war was calculated by the board at somewhere between $170,000,000,000 and $180,000,000,000, not taking into account the authorization of the debt or the cost of indemnities. Four-fifths of the huge burden fell upon the shoulders of the 662 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR future, only Great Britain and America absorbing a considerable amount by taxation. The total debt of the seven principal belligerents before the war did not exceed $25,000,000,000. The board contrasted these figures with the total value of the gold and silver extracted from the earth since the beginning of the world, which, it said, hardly exceeded $30,000,000,000. The belligerent nations,' therefore, owed about six times the amount of all the gold and silver produced in all time. Prices rose to three times the average of what they were at the beginning of the war. Great Britain's debt increased almost ten times over in the period of the war, or from $3,580,000,000 to $32,450,000,000 down to June, 1918. These figures do not include the debts of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, British colonies. France's debt was quadrupled by the beginning of 1918, increasmg from $6,833,000,000 to $25,410,000,000. Italy's debt rose from $2,929,000,000 to $6,918,000,000. Figures for Russia were brought up only to September, 1917, but they showed that at that time she owed $26,287,000,000, as compared with $5,234,000,000 at the beginning of the war. The public debt of the United States was calculated to January 1, 1918, in order to be in line with those of other countries, increasing by that date to over $8,000,000,000 from a pre-war figure of a bilhon and a quarter. Since that time $11,500,000,000 have been subscribed to the Liberty Loans, thus increasing the national debt about sixteen fold. _ The most extraordinary increase of all was that of Germany, rismg from $1,208,000,000 to $26,332,000,000. Austria owed $2,736,000,000 at the beguming of the war, which was increased by June, 1917, to $11,573,000,000. . Hungary increased her debt from $1,392,000,000 to $5,910,- 000,000 by December, 1917. The neutrals, Denmark, Spain, Holland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland together owed $2,871,000,000 when war began and increased their debts only to $3,710,000,000. Existing war obligations of the United States at the close of 1918 matured as follows: First Liberty Loan, $2,000,000,000, redeemable at the option PEACE AT LAST 663 of the Treasury after 1932 and payable not later than 1947; Second Liberty Loan, $3,808,000,000, redeemable after 1927, payable in 1942; Third Liberty Loan, $4,176,000,000, redeemable and pay- able without option in 1928; Fourth Liberty Loan, $6,989,047,000, redeemable after 1933, payable in 1938; War Savings, $879,300,000 up to November, 1918, payable in 1923. With this program of maturity, the Treasury by exercising its option could call in the nation's war debt for redemption in installments every five years imtU 1947. Secretary of the Treasury, William Gibbs McAdoo, who was also Director General of Transportation, created a sensation when he resigned both offices in November, 1918, the resignation to take effect January 1, 1919. Coming upon the eve of the peace con- ference in Paris and the announcement that President Wilson intended to head the American delegates to the conference, the resignation caused widespread surprise. -^ The reasons given by Mr. McAdoo were ill-health and a serious depreciation of his private fortune during his incumbency of governmental position?. Following the armistice, steps were immediately taken for the repatriation of a considerable portion of the American forces in France and the retiun to their homes of the men in American training camps. The Third Army of the United States, com- manded by General Dickman, was ordered to the western shore of the Rhine, there to co-operate with the troops of the Allies until the conclusion of peace negotiations. ' The country was amazed on November 23d when Gisneral March annoimced that the casualties of the American forces which had been anticipated as being less than 100,000, had in reality exceeded 236,000. Explanation for this lay in the fierce on-rush of the American forces during the last month of the war. A forecast that many thousands of American boys would remain in France was given by Andre Tardieu, General Com- missioner for Franco-American affairs, when addressing the Asso- ciation of Foreign Correspondents in New York City, after the armistice had been signed. _ M. Tardieu appealed for permission to retain American soldiers in France. He said: "We want first an immediate assistance in the matter of labor. We hope that, during the preparaticm and the carrying out of the 664 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR transportation of your troops bJack to America your technical units as well as other units with their equipment will be able to co-operate in that effort. We soon will have to carry out a colossal work of transportation in view of the supplying of the regions evacuated by the enemy, of the recovering of the railroads in Northern and Eastern France and in Alsace-Lorraine. We will have to clean the reconquered groimd of the ruins accumxilated by the German hordes. Your army will help us in this work while our population will restore her cities and villages. "Again in reference, not to all purchases — ^as "a large part of our needs will be supplied outside of the United States — ^but in reference to those purchases which will be made in America, we are in need of credits in dollars covering about fifty per cent of our total purchases for recoiistruction.^ The assurance i^ of that financial help \dll bring to every one in France, government and private enterprise,^the courage and faith necessary to apply to peace recon- struction the energy and the spirit of enterprise ^e lia3 so promi- nently shown during the war.^ "We will exact frbm Germany the restitution" of each part oi the material taken away from us as can be recovered. But, besides that restitution, we must bear in mind that speed is a primary condition in the reconstruction of France, and that America, on account of her immense capacities for production, ought to give us the first help. We need shipsy chartered ships as well as ships transferred to our flag; the speedy reconstructionof the country ia strictly depending on the revival of our mercantile fleet. "The colossal effort put up by the United States in the building of her fleet for war purposes will not be diverted from this sacred end if it, in part, helps France to recover on the seas, for the revival of her forces in peace, the means of transportation which were lost to her on account of the war. "In reference to these four items — labor, credit, raw materials, ships — ^I have explained in detail our needs to your administration, by whose welcome I have been deeply moved. Wiat I told them, what I asked for, I am telling it to you again, because a policy of secrecy does not befit our day. "We have lost two million and^aThalf men; some are dead, some maimed, some have retitmed sick and incapacitated from German prisons. Whether they be lost altogether, or whether thdi PEACE AT LAST 665 working capacity be permanently reduced, they will not participate in this reconstruction. The fifteenth part of our people is missing at the very time we need all our material and moral forces in order to bmld up our life again. The younger part, yea, the stronger part of om- nation, the flower of France, has died away on the battle-fields. Our coimtry has been bereft of its most precious resources. "Ovff war expenses, on the other side, 120,000,000,000 francs, are weighing heavily on our shoulders. To pay off this debt there are at hand only such limited resources as invasion has left us. The territories which have been under German occupation for four years were the wealthiest part of Erance. Their area did not exceed six per cent of the whole country. They paid, however, twenty-five per cent of the sum total of our taxes. "These territories which have been, for the last three months, occupied again by us at the cost of our own blood and of the blood of our allies, are now in a state of ruin even worse than we had antici- pated. Of the cities and villages nothing remains but ruins; 350,000 homes have been destroyed. To build them up again — I am referring to the building proper, without the furnishings — 600 million days' of work will be necessary, involving, together with building material, an outlay of 10,000,000,000 francs. ' JAs regards personal property of every description either destroyed by battle, or stolen by the Germans, there standsan additional loss of at least 4,000,000,000 francs. "This valuation of lost personal property does not include — as definite figures are lacking as yet — the coimtless war contributions and fines by the enemy, amoimting also to billions. I need hardly say that, in those wealthy lands, practically no agricultural re- sources are left. The losses in horses and in cattle, bovine and ovine species, hogs, goats, amount to 1,510,000 head — in agricultural equip- ment to 454,000 machines or carts — the two items worth together 6,000,000,000 francs. "Now as regards industries, the disaster is even more complete. These districts occupied by the Germans and whose machinery has been methodically destroyed or taken away by the enemy, were, industrially speaking, the very heart of France. They were the very backbone of oiu: production, as sho^ in the following startling figures: a 666 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR "In 1913 the wool output of our invaded regions amounted to 94 per cent of the total. French production and corresponding figures were: For flax from tiie spinning mills, 90 per cent; iron ore, 90 per cent; pig iron, 83 per cent; steel, 70 per cent; sugar, 70 per cent; cotton, 60 per cent; coal 65 per cent; electric power, 45 per cent. Of aU that, plants, machinery, mines, nothing is left. Every- thing has been carried away or destroyed by the enemy. So com- plete is the destruction that, in the case of our great coal ncdnes in the north, two years of* work will be needed before a single ton of coal can be extracted and ten years before the output is brought back to the figures of 1913. "All that must be rebuilt, and to carry out that kind of recon- struction only, there will be a need of over 2,000,000 tons of pig iron, nearly 4,000,000 tons of steel — ^not to mention the replenishing of stocks and of raw materials which must of necessity be supplied to the plants during the first year of resufned activity. If we take into account these different items we reach as regards industrial Tjeeds a total of 25,000,000,000 francs. "To resurrect these regions, to reconstruct these factories, raw materials are not now sufl&cient; we need means of transporta- tion. Now the enemy has destroyed our railroad tracks, our rail- road equipment, and our rolling stock, which in the first month of the war, in 1914, was reduced by 50,000 cars, has undergone the wear and tear of fifty months of war. "Our merchant fleet, on the other hand, has lost more than a million tons through submarine warfare. 5 Pur shipyards during the last four years have not built any ships.'^-; For they have produced for us and for our allies cannon, ammunition, and tanks. Here, again, for this item alone of means of traiisportation we must figure on an expense of 2,500,000,000 francs, "This makes, if I sum up these different items, a need of raw material which represents in cost, at the present rate of prices in France, not less than 50,000,000,000 francs. "And this formidable figure, gentlemen, does not cover every- thing. I have not taken into account the loss represented for the future production of France by the transformation of so many factories which for four years were exclusively devoted to war munitions. I have not taken into account foreign markets lost to us as a result of the destruction of one-fourth_of our productive PEACE AT LAST 667 capital and the almost total collapse of our trade. I have not taken into account the economic weakening that we will suffer tomorrow owing to that loss, to which I referred a while ago, of 2,500,000 young and vigorous men." This was one of the great by-products of the war. Thousands of young Americans, vigorous evangels of democratic thought, remained in Europe to bring American ideals and American force into the affairs of the old world. Those who returned were formidable factors in re-shaping the affairs of the nation. Grave injustices were done in some instances to young men who had volunteered in the early days of the war through patriotic motives and who retmned to find their places in industry taken by others. In the main, however, the process of absorption went forward steadily and without serious incident. One factor making for satisfactory adjustment was the insur- ance system put into effect by the United States Government, affecting its war forces. . Immediately following the armistice, the following annotmcement was made: Preparations by the government for re-insuring the lives of soldiers and sailors on their return have been hastened by the signing of the armistice. Although regulations have not yet been fully drafted, it is certain that each of the 4,250,000 men ia the military or naval service now holding volimtary government insurance will be permitted within five years after peace is declared to convert it without further medical examination into ordinary Ufe, twenty-pay life, endowment maturing at the age of sixty-two, or other prescribed forms of insurance. This insiu-ance will be arranged by the government, not by private companies, and the cost is expected to be at least one-fourth less than similar forms offered by private agencies. The low cost will result from the fact that the government will pay all overhead administration expenses, which, for private companies, amoimt to about seventeen per cent of premiimi receipts; wiU save the usual solicitation fees and, in addition, bear the risk resulting from the wounding or weakening of men while in the service. Private companies would not write insurance on many wounded men, or their rates woiild be unusually high. The government will arrange to collect premimns monthly, if men wish to pay that way, or for longer periods in advance. This may be done through post-offices. The TninimnTn amount of insurance to be issued probably will be $1,000, and the maximmn $10,000, with any amoimt between those sums in multiple of $500. There will be provision for payments in case of disabiUty as well as death, according to the tentar, tive plan. 668 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Thus will be created out of the government's emergency war insur- ance bureau the greatest life insurance institution ia the world for peace times, with more policyholders and greater aggregate risks than a half dozen of the world's biggest private companies combined. Out of the experience gained may eventually develop expansion of government insurance to old age, industrial and other forms of insurance, in the opin- ion of officials who have studied the subject. Regulations for reinsiuring returning soldiers and sailors are being framed by an advisory board to the military and naval section of the war risk bureau, consisting of Arthur Hxmter, actuary of the New York Life Insurance Company; W. A. Fraser, Omaha, of the Woodmen of the World, and F, Robertson Jones, of the Workmen's Compensation Publicity Bureau, New York. _ Plans also are under consideration for allowing beneficiaries of men who have died or been killed in the service to choose between taking monthly payments over a period of twenty years or to commute these payments in a lump sum. ^ CHAPTER LV America's Position in War and Peace BY coimnon consent of the Entente Allies, President Wilson was made the spokesman for the democracy of the world. As Lloyd George, Premier Clemenceau of TYance, Premier Orlando of Italy, and other Europeans recognized, his utterances most clearly and cogently expressed the principles for which civilization was battling against the Hun. More than that, these statesmen and the peoples they represented recognized that back of President Wilson were the high ideals of an America pledged to the redemption of a war-weary world. The war produced a sterility in literature. Out of the great mass that was written, however, two productions stood out in their nobUity of thought and in their classic directness of expression. These were the address before Congress by President Wilson on the night of April 2, 1917, when, recognizing fully the dread responsibility of his action, he pronounced the words which led America itito the World War, and the speech made by Tiini on Monday, November 11, 1918, when addressing Congress he announced the end of the war. Other declarations of the Presi^ dent that will be treasured as long as democracy survives, are those enunciating the fourteen points upon which America would make peace, and two later declarations as to America's purposes. His address of April 2d was delivered before the most distinguished assemblage ever gathered within the haU of the House of Representatives. The Supreme Court of the United States, headed by the Chief Justice, every member of the embassies then resident in WashingtoUj the entire membership of the House and Senate, and a host of the most distinguished men and women that could crowd themselves into the great hall, listened to what was virtually America's Declaration of War. The air was still and tragic suspense was upon every face as the President began his address. At first he was pale as the marble rostrum against which he leaned. As he read from small 670 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR sheets typewritten with his own hand, his voice grew firmer and the flush of indignation and of resolution overspread his counte- nance. He said: Gentlemen of the Congress: I have called the Congress into ejttraordinaiy session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immedi- ately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the responsibility of making. On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraor- dinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submariaes to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland on the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, but siace April of last year the Imperial Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy, when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives ia their open boats. | The precautions taken were meager and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance ia the progress of the cruel and unmanly business, but a certain degree of restraint was observed. The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and ships cariying rehef to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished by immistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle. I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane practices of civilized nations. International law had its origin in the attempt to set up some law which would be respected and observed upon the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay the free highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been built up, with meager enough results, indeed, after all was accomplished that could be accompUshed, but always with a clear view, at least, of what the heart and conscience of mankind demanded. This minimum of AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 671 right the German Government has swept aside under the plea of retalia- tion and necessity and because it had no weapons which it could use at sea except these which it is impossible to employ as it is employing them without throwing to the winds all scruples of humanity or of respect for the understandmgs that were supposed to underhe the intercourse of the world. I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modem history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people can not be. The present German submariae warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind. It is a war agaiast all nations, American ships have been simk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been simk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itseK how it will meet it. The choice we make for our- selves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the vic- torious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindica- tion of right, of human, right, of which we are only a single champion. When I addressed the Congress on the twenty-sixth of February last I thought that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our right to use the seas against unlawfiil interference, our right to keep our people safe against unlawful violence. But armed neutrality, it now appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws when used as the Gemian submarines have been used against merchant shipping, it is impossible to defend ships against their attacks as the law of nations has assumed that merchantmen would defend themselves against privateers or cruisers, visible craft giving chase upon the open sea. It is common prudence in such circumstances, grim necessity indeed, to endeavor to destroy them before they have shown their own intention. They must be dealt with upon sight, if dealt with at all. The German Government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at aU within the areas of the sea which it has proscribed, even in the defense of rights which no modern publicist has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is con- veyed that the armed guards which we have placed on our merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such circumstances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual : it is likely only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain to draw us into the war without either the rights or the effectiveness of belligerents. There is one choice we can not make, we are incapable of Doaking; we will not choose the path of submissioa aod suffer the most 672 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life. With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial German Govern- ment to be in fact nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States; that it formally accept the status of bel- ligerent which has thus been thrust upon itj and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense but also to exert aU its power and employ all its resources to bring the Govern- ment of the German Empire to terms and end the war. Wbat this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable co-operation in counsel and action with the governments now at war with Germany, and, as incident to that, the extension to those governments of the most liberal financial credits, in order that our resources may so far as possible be added to theirs. It will involve the organization and mobili- zation of all the material resotu-ces of the country to supply the materials , of war and serve the incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most economical and efficient way possible. It wiU iovolve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all respects but particularly in supplying it with the best means of dealing with the enemy's submarines. It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United States already provided for by law in case of war at least five hundred thousand men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle of universal liability to service, and also the authorization of subsequent additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and can be handled in training. It wUl involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the Government, sustained, I hope, so far as they can equitably be sustained by the present generation, by well conceived taxation. ., , I say sustained so far as may be equitable by taxation because it seems to me that it would be most imwise to base the credits which will now be necessary entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty, I most respectfully urge, to protect our people so far as we may against the very serious hardships and evils which would be likely to arise out of the infla- tion which would be produced by vast loans. In carrying out the measures by which these things are to be accom- plished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering as little as possible in our own preparation and in the equipment of our own military forces with the duty — for it will be a very practical duty — of supplying the nations already at war with Germany with the materials which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They are in the field and we should help them in every way to be effective there. I shall take the liberty Of suggesting, through the several executive g a. CO >-*» 5° l_l g:g S. 4' in Q.(ra C tr* " 5 BE il CO 2, era © International Film Service. SURRENDER OF THE GERMAN HIGH SEAS FLEET Actual photoKraph shovvinff the greatest naval surrender in history — the German fleet arriving to surrender. Below, The commanders of the British and American fleets, Admirals Beatty and Rodmaa, the King of England and the Prince of Wales viewing the surrender. AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 675 departments of the Government, for the consideration of your committees, measures for the accomplishment of the several objects I have mentioned. I hope that it will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been framed after very careful thought by the branch of the Government upon which the responsibihty of conducting the war and safeguarding the nation wiU most directly fall. While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world what our motives and our objects are. My own thought has not been driven from its habitual and normal course by the imhappy events of the last two months, and I do not believe that the thought of the nation has been altered or clouded by them. I have exactly the same things in mind now that I had in mind when I addressed the Senate on the 22d of January last; the same that I had in mind when I addressed the Congress on the 3d of February and on the 26th of February. Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and auto- cratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will hence- forth ensure the observance of those principles. Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people. We have seen the last of neutrality in such circumstances. We are at the beginning of an age in which it wiU be insisted that the same standards of conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among nations and their governments that are observed among the individual citizens of civilized states. We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. Self- governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies or set the course of intrigue to bring about some critical posture of affairs which will give them an opportunity to strike and make conquest. Such designs can be successfully worked out only imder cover and where no one has the right to ask questions. Cunningly contrived plans of deception or aggression, carried, it may be, from generation to generation, can be worked out and kept from the light only t^ithin the privacy of courts or behind the care- fully guarded confidences of a narrow and privileged class. They are happily impossible where pubKc opinion commands and insists upon full information concerning all the nation's affairs. 676 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic government could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and render accoimt to no one would be a corruption seated at its very heart. Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of their own.. Does not every American feel that afisiu:ance has been added to our hope for the future peace of the world by the wonderful and heartening things that have been happening within the last few weeks in Russia? Russia was known by those who knew it best to have been always in fact democratic at heart, in all the vital habits of her thoughts, in all the inti- mate relationships of her people that spoke their natmral instinct, their habitual attitude towards hfe. The autocracy that crowned the summit of her political structure, long as it had stood and terrible as was the reality of its power, was not in fact Russian in origin, character, or purpose; and now it has been shaken off and the great, generous Russian people have been added in all their native majesty and might to the forces that are fighting for freedom in the world, for justice, and for peace. Here is a fit partner for a League of Honor. One of the things that has served to convince us that the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be om- friend is that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting commtmities and even our oflices of government with spies and set criminal intrigues every- where afoot against our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed it is now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjectm:e but a fact proved in our courts of justice that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the coimtry have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and even under the personal direc- tion of official agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Govern- ment of the United States. Even in checking these things and trying to extirpate them we have sought to put the most generous interpretation possible upon them because we knew that their source lay, not in any hostile feeling or purpose of the German people towards us (who were, no doubt as ignorant of them as we ourselves were), but only in the selfish designs of a government that did what it pleased and told its people noth- ing. But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last that that government entertains no real friendship for us and means to act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence. We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we know AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 677 that in such a govenunent, following such methods, we can never have a friend; and that in the presence of its organized power, always lying in wait to accomplish we know not what purpose, there can be no assured Becurity for the democratic governments of the world. , We are now about to accept gauge of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, if neces- sary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify its preten- sions and its power. We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the Hberation of its peoples, the German peoples included: for the rights of nations great and small and the privilege of men every- where to choose their way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foxmdations of political Uberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as seciu-e as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them. Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seek- ing nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as belligerents without passion, and ourselves observe with proud punctilio the principles of right and of fair play we prof ess to be fighting for. I have said nothing of the governments allied with the Imperial Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us or challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro-Himgarian Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified endorsement and accep- tance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare adopted now without disguise by the Imperial German Government, and it has therefore not been possible for this government to receive Coimt TamowsM, the Ambas- sador recently accredited to this government by the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary; but that government has! mot actually engaged in warfare against citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with the authorities at Vienna. We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights. It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not in enmity towards a people or with the desire to bring any injury or dis- advantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of right and is running amuck. We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early re-establishment of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us — however hard it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is 678 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR spoken from our hearts. We have borne with their preaent government through all these bitter months because of that friendship — exercising a patience and forbearance which would otherwise have been impossible. We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in our daily attitude and actions towards the millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it towards all who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the government in the hour of test. They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans aa if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and pur- pose. If there should be disloyalty, it wUl be dealt with with a firm hand of stem repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and mahgnant few. It is a distressing and oppressive duty, Gentlemen" of the Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and dis- astrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts — ^for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own govern- ments, for the rights and Uberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and ovu: fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other. His address to Congress on November !!> 1918, while all the Allied Nations vrere celebrating with exultant hearts the victory that had come to them, was no less dramatic than the speech that had marked the beginning of the war. He prefaced it by reading the drastic terms of the armistice granted to Germany. Continuing he said: The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted thiese terms of anuistice> it will be impossible for the Germw. command to lesoBW it. It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great con- summation. We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at its most critical juncture in such fashion and in such force as to contribute, in a way of which we are all deeply proud, to the great result. We know, AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 679 too, that the object of the war is attained; the object upon which all free men had set their hearts; and attained with a sweeping complete- ness which even now we do not realize. Armed imperiahsm such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany is at an end, its iUicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster. Who will now seek to revive it? The arbitrary power of the military caste of Germany which once could secretly and of its own single choice disturb the peace of the world is discredited and destroyed. And more than that — much more than that — ^has been accomplished. The great nations which associated them- selves to destroy it have now definitely imited ia the common piu:pose to set up such a peace as will satisfy the longing of the whole world for disinterested justice, embodied in settlements which are based upon some- thing much better and more lasting than the selfish competitive interests of powerful states. There is no longer conjecture as to the objects the victors have in mind. They have a mind in the matter, not only, but a heart also. Their avowed and concerted purpose is to satisfy and protect the weak as well as to accord their just rights to the strong. The humane temper and intention of the victorious governments have already been manifested in a very practical way. Their representa- tives in the Supreme War Council at Versailles have by xmanimous resolu- tion assured the peoples of the Central Empires that eveiything that is possible in the circumstances will be done to supply them with food and relieve the distressing want that is ia so many places threatening their very Kves; and steps are to be taken immediately to organize these efforts at relief in the same systematic manner that they were organized in the case of Belgium. By the use of the idle tonnage of the Central Empires it ought presently to be possible to lift the fear of utter misery from their oppressed populations and set their minds and energies free for the great and hazardous tasks of political reconstruction which now face them on every hand. Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness and all the ugly distempers that make an ordered life impossible. For with the fall of the ancient governments, which rested like an incubus on the peoples of the Central Empires, has come political change not merely, but revolution; and revolution which seems as yet to assume no firql and ordered form, but to run from one fluid change to another, until thoughtful men are forced to ask themselves, with what govern- ments and of what sort are we about to deal in the making of the covenants of peace? With what authority will they meet us, and with what assur- ance that their authority will abide and sustain securely the international arrangements into which we are about to enter? There is here matter for no small anxiety and misgiving. When peace is made, upon whose promises and engagements besides our own is it to rest? Let us be perfectly frank with ourselves and admit that these ques^ tions cannot be satisfactorily answered now or at once. But the moral is not that there is little hope of an early ajiswer that will suflSce. It is 680 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR only that we must be patient and helpful and mindful above all of the great hope and confidence that he at the heart of what is taking place. Excesses accomplish nothing. Unhappy Russia has furnished abundant recent proof of that. Disorder immediately defeats itself. If excesses should occur, if disorder should for a time raise its head, a sober second thought will follow and a day of constructive action, if we help and do not hinder. The present and all that it holds belongs to the nations and the peoples who preserve their seK-control and the orderly processes of their governments; the futm-e to those who prove themselves the true friends of mankind. To conquer with arms is to make only a temporary con- quest; to conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make permanent conquest. I am confident that the nations that have learned the discipline of freedom and that have settled with self-possession to its ordered practice are now about to make conquest of the world by the sheer power of example and of friendly helpfulness. The peoples who have but just come out iTom imder the yoke of arbitrary government and who are now coming at last into their freedom will never find the treasures of liberty they are in search of if they look for them by the light of the torch. They will find that every pathway that is stained with the blood of their own brothers leads to the wilderness, not to the seat of their hope. They are now face to face with their initial test, i We must hold the light steady until they find themselves. And in the meantime, if it be possible, we must establish a peace that will justly define their place among the nations, remove all fear of their neigh- bors and of their former masters, and enable them to live in security and contentment when they have set their own affairs in order. I, for one, do not doubt their purpose or their capacity. There are some happy signs that they know|and will choose the way of self-control and peaceful accom- modation. If they do, we shall put our aid at their disposal in every way that we can. If they do not, we must await with patience and sympathy the awakening and recovery that will assuredly come at last. FOtTRTEEN PRINCIPLES OF PEACE On Tuesday, January 8, 1918, President Wilson placed the peace terms of the United States Government before both. houses of Congress, in joint session. The fourteen principles were: 1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understanding of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the pubUc view. 2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action fgr the enforcement of international covenants. AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 681 3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. 4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. 5. A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all Colonial claims based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty, the interests of the popula- tions concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined. 6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as wiU secure the best and freest co-operation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an imhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy, and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations imder iostitutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. % The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good wUl, of their comprehension of her needs, as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and xmselfish sympathy, 7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this win serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and vaUdity of international law is forever impaired. 8. AH French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871, in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the iaterests of aU. 9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognized lines of nationality. 10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and restored, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. 11. Roimiania, Serbia and Montenegro should be evacuated, occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea, and the relations of the several Balkan States to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established Unes of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity, of the several Balkan States, should be entered into. 12. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule, should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. 13. An independent Polish State should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenants. 14. General association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. President Wilson in his address to Congj-ess on February 11, 1918, presented these four principles which are to be applied in arranging world peace: 1. That each part of the final settlement must be based upon the essential justice of that particular case and upon such adjustments, as are most likely to bring a peace that will be permanent. 2. That peoples and provinces are not to be bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere chattels and pawns in a game, even the great game now forever discredited, of the balance of power; but that 3. Every territorial settlement must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the populations concerned, and not as part of any mere adjustment or compromise of claims amongst rival states; and, 4. That all well-defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would be likely in time to break the peace of Europe and consequently of the world. President Wilson, in his Liberty Loan address in New York on September 27th, thus stated this government's interpretation of its duty-with regard to peace : 1. The impartial justice meted out must involve no discrimination between those to whom we wish to be just and those to whom we do not wish to be just. It must be a justice that plays no favorites and knows no standard but the equal rights of the several peoples concerned; 2. No special or separate interest of any single nation or any group of nations can be made the basis of any part of the settlement which is not consistent with the common interests of all; 3. There can be no leagues or alliances or special covenants and under- standings within the general and common family of the League of Nations; 4. And more specifically, there can be no special, selfish economic AMERICA'S POSITION IN WAR AND PEACE 683 combinations within the league and no employment of any f onn of economic boycott or exclusion except as the power of economic penalty by exclusion from the markets of the world may be vested in the League of Nations itself as a means of discipline and control. 5. All international agreements and treaties of every kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of the world. Iceland THE WAR ZONE ESTABLISHED BY GERMAITY, FEBRUARY, 1917, THAT BROUGHT AMERICA. INTO THE WAR. CHAPTER LVI The Wak by Years GERMANY'S military strength developed during forty years of preparation, and the offensive plans of the German High Command developed ia connection with an extraordinary spy service in France, Belgium, Russia, England and the United States, culminated in a simultaneous campaign on land and by sea, affecting these five nations. AUGUST I, I914-AUGUST 1, 1915 Belgium and Northern France were overrun by a German invading force imder General von Kluck. The heroic effort of the French army imder General Joffre and a supreme strategic thrust at the German center by General Foch turned back the German tide at the battle of the Mame. [jhe scientific diabolism of the German High Command was revealed when poison gas was projected against the Canadians at Ypres, torturing, blinding and killing thousands^ \jGerman terrorism on the high seas culminated >n the sinking of the Cunard liner Lusitania by a German submarine off the Irish coast. Men, women and children to the number of 1,152 lost their lives. Of these 102 were AmericansTJ German colonies in South Africa were invaded by British South African troops under General Louis Botha, who during the Boer War commanded a division against the British. % The German holdings at Tsing-Tau and in the Marshall Islands were seized by Japan. German cruisers that had raided sea-going commerce were destroyed. The most noted of these was the Emden, which was defeated and destroyed by the Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands. German sea power was further humiliated in a running fight off Helgoland in which the battle cruiser Blticher was sunk and in a battle off the Falkland Islands in which three German cruisera were destroyed. 684 THE WAR BY YEARS 685 Italy entered the war on May 23, 1915, and invaded Austria on a sixty-mile front. Russian forces, after early successes, were defeated at Tannenburg by von Hindenburg, the outstanding military genius on the German side. The development of aircraft as an aid to artillery and as a destructive force on its own account, was rapid, and the use of machine guns and hand grenades in trench operations became general. ATJGTJST 1, i915-ATJGUST 1, 1916 The tragic sea and land operations at the Dardanelles and GaUipoli marked this year with red ia British history. Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France. The outstanding operation of the British forces on the western front was the bloody battle of the Somme, beginniug July 1st, and contiuuing imtil the fall of 1915. The losses on both sides in that titanic struggle staggered two contiaents. Especially heroic were the attacks of the Canadians in that great battle and especially heavy were the losses in killed and wounded of the Canadian regiments. They ranked ia magnitude with the depletion that came to the Australian and New Zealand armies ia the fatal GaUipoli campaign. This year will be glorious forever ia the annals of France because of the heroic defense at Verdim. That battle tested to the limit the offensive strength of the German machine and it was found lacldng in power to pierce the superhuman defense^of the heroic French forces under P^tain and Nivelle. Bulgaria entered the war on October 14, 1915, with a declaration of war against helpless Serbia. Greece, torn by iatemal dissensions, inclined first to one side, then to the other. The occupation of Saloniki by French and British expeditionary forces finally swung the archipelago to the AUies. A British Mesopotamian force imder General Townshend, poorly equipped and unsupported, was cut off in Kut-el-Amara, and surrendered to the Turks on April 29, 1916. The Italian forces under General Cadoma madt a sensational advance terminating in the capture of Gorizia. Portugal entered the war on the side of the Allies after it had refused to give up to Germany several German ships interned in Portuguese ports. 686 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR \^ object lesson in German submarine possibilities was given America when the Deutschland, a super-submarine cargo vessel, arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 9, 1916. The Deutschland later was converted into a naval submarine and re-visited American shores, sinking a nxunber of merchant vessels^ It was one of the German submarine fleet smrendered to the Allies in November, 1918. (jlussia proved itself to be a military ineffective. > German armies under von Mackensen and von Hindenbiu"g occupied Warsaw, Brest-Litovsk, Lutsk, and Grodno. Grand Duke Nicholas was removed from the command of the Russian armies and Czar Nicholas assumed commancO --i^"!:^ \_,Germany's pretensions lio sea power ended with the battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916, when its High Seas fleet fled after a running fight with British cruisers and destroyers. Never, thereafter, during the war did the German ships venture out of the Bight of Helgoland^ AUGUST 1, 1916-AUGUST 1, 1917 This year was marked by two dramatic episodes. The first of these wals the sudden entrance and the equally sudden exit of Roumania as a factor in the World War. Qrhe second was the appearance of the United States which became the deciding factor in the warTj Roumania created enthusiasm in Allied countries when it declared war on Austria-Hungary August 27th. A sudden descent by a Roumanian army iato Transylvania on August 30th was hailed as the harbinger of further successes. These hopes were turned to ashes when von Mackensen headed an irresistible German and Austrian rush which fairly inundated Roumania. The retreat from Transylvania by the Roumanians was turned into a rout. Bulgarian forces invaded the Dobrudja region of Roumania and on November 28th the seat of the Roumanian^Govemment was transferred from Bucharest, the capital, to Jassy Roumania ceased to be a factor in the war on December 6th, when Bucharest fell to von Mackensen. Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary died on November 22d, while Austrian hopes were at their highest. [America's appearance as a belligerent was forecast on January 31, 1917, when Germany announced its intention of sinking all vessels in a blockade zone around the British Isles. Count THE WAR BY YEARS 687 von Bemstorff was handed his passports on February 3d, and on April 2d President Wilson, ia a remarkable address to Con- gress, advised a declaration of war by the United States against Germany. This was consummated by a formal vote of Congress decl^ng war on April 6t£7 ^his action by Amenca was followed by the organization of a Council of National Defense. (jJnder this bod;f^he resources of the nation were mobilizei^ The council was later virtually abandoned as an organizing factor, its functions going to the War Industries Board, presided over by Bernard Baruch; the Fuel Administration, under Dr. Harry A. Gajfield; the War Trade Board, with Vance C. McCormick at its head; and other governmental bodies. George Cred. headed the Committee on Public Information. [£!ffiScdEtiaj_was decided upon as the foundation of America's war-making policy, and the training of officers and privates in great training camps was commenced. Great shipping and aircraft programs were formulated and the nation as a whole was placed upon a war footing I The Russian revolution beginning in bread riots in Petrograd, spr^id throughout that country, with the result that Russia dis- appeared as one of the Entente Allies^ FROM AUGUST 1, 1917-NOVEMBER 11, 1918 America's might and efficiency were revealed in the speed and thoroughness with which her military, naval an^ civihan resources were mobilized and thrown into the conffict. [jJnder the supervision of the Chief of Staff, two^ millio n Americ an soldiers received the final touches in their military training and were trans- ported safely overseasTJ-y^hey became the^ecisive factor in the war during the summer and fall of lOlSj To their glory be it recorded they never retreated. Chdteau-Thierry, St. MUjiel, Siecheprey, Boureches Wood, Cantigny, Belleau Wood, the Argonne, Sedan and Stenay are names that will rank in Ameri- can history with Yorktown, New Orleans and Gettysburg. LThe "land of dollars" feecame over night the "land of high ideals" to the civilized world.J^^ghtless nights in cities, restriction of the use of gasoline on oundays and daylight-saving legislation linked civilians to soldiers in war effortj Italy suffered a severe reverse beginning October 24, 1917, 688 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR when the Gernmn forces rushed through a portion of the Italian army that had been honey-combed with pro-German Socialistic propaganda. Canada again emblazoned its name in history through the heroic capture of Passchendaele on November 6, 1917. \jrhe Russian revolution turned to the Bolsheviki when Lenine and Trotsky at the head of the Reds seized Petrograd on November 7th and deposed Alexander Kerensky, leader of the Moderate Socialists. The Czar Nicholas was executed by the victorious Bolsheviki and the Imperial family made captiv^ The British Mesopotamian forces advanced into Palestine and Mesopotamia, destroying the Turkish army under Ahmed Bey in a battle terminating September 29, 1917. General Stanley Maude, the leader of the expedition, died in Mesopotamia November 18, - 1917. General AUenby commanding British and Arabian forces^ routed and destroyed three Turkish armies in Palestine, capturing Jerusalem which had been held by the Turks for six hundred and seventy three years. V^he turning point of the war came on March 29, 1918, when General Foch was chosen Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces. This followed Germany's great drive on a fifty-mile front from Arras to La F^re. Successive German thrusts were halted by the Allied forces now strongly reinforced by Americans^ LFoch, patiently biding his time, elected to halt the German drive with Americans.^} The Marines of the United States forces were given the post of honor, and at Chateau-Thierry the coimter- thrust of Foch was commenced by a complete defeat of the Prussian Guard and other crack German regiments, by the untried soldiers of America. From Chdteau-Thierry to the armistice which went into effect at eleven o'clock on November 11th was only a short span of time, but in it was compressed the humiliation of arrogant Teutonic impeiialism, the destruction of militaristic autocracy, and the liberation of the world. nHAPTER LVII 'Behind America's Battle Line GENERAL MARCh's OWN STORY OP THE WORK OP THE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION — OP THE WAR PLANS DIVISION — OP THE PURCHASE AND TRAFFIC DIVISION — ^HOW MEN, MUNITIONS AND SUPPLIES REACHED THE WESTERN FRONT, IT IS important that a general summary of America's military preparations, a detailed description of the operations behind the battle line and a detailed chronology of America's principal military operations in France during the year 1918 should be presented to the reader. Such a summary is afforded by the report of General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff, United States Army, for the last year of the war. Addressing the Secretary of War, General March wrote in part: The signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918, has brought to a successful conclusion the most remarkable achievement in the history of all warfare. The entry of the United StatesJnto the war on April 6, 1917, found the Nation about as thoroughly unprepared for the great task which was confronting it as any great nation which had ever engaged in war. Starting from a minimum of organized strength, within this short period of sixteen months the entire resources of the country in men, money, and mimitions have been placed under central control, and at the end of this period the Nation was in its full stride and had accomplished, from a mihtary standpoint, what our enemy regarded as the impossible. The most important single thing, perhaps, in this record of accompUshment, was the immediate passage by Congress of the draft law, without which it would have been impossible to have raised the men necessary for victory. In organizing, training, and supplying the vast numbers of men made available by the draft law very many changes have been made necessary in the organization of the War Department and in the methods existing therein which were inherited from the times of profound peace. Shortly after my installation as Chief of Staff I adopted the principle of interchange of the personnel of the various staff corps of the War Department with men who had training in France, and in the application of this principle placed as the heads of various bineaus oflScers selected on 689 690 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR account of their ability and experience in the system of warfare as conducted in France. At this time, also, I foimd that the divisions organized in our armies were still regarded as separate units, designated by different titles in accordance with their origin. This made three different kinds of divisions in the United States army — ^the Regular army, the National Guard, and National army divisions. All these distinctions were abolished and the entire army consolidated into a United States army, without regard to the source from which drawn. The source of supply of all replacements for the varioxis elements of the army, without regard to their origin, was drafted men; and the titles had no significance whatever and were a source of possible disturbance from the standpoint of military efficiency. There was, in fact, no actual difference between these divisions with respect to efficiency — all have done high-grade work from whatever source drawn. AH have shown courage and capacity for qxiick absorption of the fundamentals of modem military training and irresistible dash and force in actual fighting. . . When I returned from France on March 1, 1918, 1 came back with the belief that the most fundamental necessity, both for the American Expedi- tionary Force and for the success of the allies, was that the shipment of troops to France should be vastly increased and should have priority over everything else; and as this policy became effective a study was instituted looking to our putting in France, if that was possible, enough men to bring the war to a conclusion in the shortest period possible. After a study of the entire situation, including as accurate an estimate of the potential strength of our allies on the western front and of the probable German strength as was possible, I came to the conclusion that the war might be brought to an end in 1919, provided we were able to land in France by June 30th of that year eighty American divisions of a strength of 3,360,000 men. On July 18, 1918, 1 submitted to you a formal memoran- dum, accompanied by a study of methods by wMch the men could be obtained, the supplies procured, and an analysis of the shipping which must be obtained in order to accomplish this very large military program. This was accompanied by an estimate of the cost of the proposed program. In this study I recommended to you the adoption, as the American program, of eighty divisions in France and eighteen at home by June 30, 1919, based on a total strength of the American army of 4,850,000 men. This was approved by you and by the President of the United States and adopted as our formal military program. To carry this program into effect required the adoption by Congress of a change in the draft ages so as to include men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, and also created a deficiency over the enormous appropriations already made by Congress of some $7,000,000,000. The presentation of the program to Congress, accompanied by the statement that this increase in the army, if laws were passed by Congress which would make it effective, would lead to success in 1919, produced prompt and favorable considera- Phut,, by Iidcrnational Film .Scn'icr. THE SALVATION ARMY ON THE WESTERN FRONT A shell-proof dugout \i,. ■'.(_" Inland Traffic. — ^The mland' traffic service was established on Jan- uary 10, 1918. As the govermnent had taken over all of the railroads, the necessity for working in harmony with the organization that was placed in charge was apparent, and the Railroad Administration was requested to recommend a competent traffic man to handle the work. This resulted in the selection and assignment of Mr. H. M. Adams as chief of the section. 4« He in turn secured his expert assistants through the Railroad Administration.' ^ . At the time the section was formed approximately 15,000 carloads of War Department property held in cars were congesting various Atlantic ports. Steps were taken which relieved this condition and brought about an orderly movement of the traffic when and in the quantities desired. The value of the inland traffic service was soon demonstrated and led to a reorganization, with authority to take ovef the transportation organizations of the various bureaus of the War Department, both at Washington and throughout the coimtry, so that as now organized the chief of the inland traffic service exercises direct control of the transporta- tion of troops, of the supplies of and for the various bureaus of the War Department, and for the contractors working for the several bureaus. This control extends over the entire country through the mediima of representa- tives stationed at various traffic centers. L Working in conjunction with the Railroad Administration has resulted in minimizing the burdens of the carriers. The work has been performed most efficiently. More than 6,000,000 troops have been moved from their homes, from one camp to another, and from camps to the points of embarka- tion within the period covered by this report. Arrangements have been made by which this branch will take charge of all express movements for the War Department, as well as the tracing BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE 697 of the movements of all War Department property, inchiding the con- tractors and others for the various bureaus. Purchase and Supply. — The Purchase and Supply Branch is organized into the following subsections: Supply Program, Purchase, Production, Finance, and Emergency. BILITAET INTELLIGENCB DIVISION The Military Intelligence Division has as director Brigadier-General Marlborough Churchill, United States army, Assistant Chief of Staff. This division, which had been a branch, first of the War Plana Division and then of the Executive Division of the General Staff, was separated completely and made an independent division by general orders which reorganized the General Staff, thus putting the Military Intelligence Division on a par with similar^ervices of general staffs of other nations of the world. The duties of the Militajy Intelligence Division consist, in general, in the organization of the intelligence service, positive and negative, including the collection and coordination of inilitary information; the supervision of the department intelligence officers and intelligence officers at posts, stations, camps, and with commands in the field, in matters relating to military intelligence; the direction of counter-espionage work; the preparation of instruction in military intelligence work for the use of our forces; the consideration of questions of policy promulgated by the General Staff in all matters of military intelligence; the co-operation with intelligence branches of the general staffs of other countries; the super- vision of the training of officers for intelligence duty, the obtaining and issuing of maps: and the disbiusement of and accoimting for intelligence funds. One of the important functions of the Director of the Military Intelligence Division is that of coordinating the work of this service with other intelligence agencies. Possible duplications of work and investigation by the State Department, Treasury Department, Depart- ment of Justice, Navy Department, War Trade Board, and the War D^artment are avoided or adjusted at weekly conferences held at the Department of Justice and attended by representatives of these depart- ments who consider matters of common interest. For a similar purpose, ihe Director of Military Intelligence is a member of the Fire Prevention OcHnmittee, the War Industries Board, and the National Resaarch CounciL For the purpose of securing close co-operation between the military intelligence services of the nations associated in the war, the British and French Governments were requested by the United States to send officers to this country for liaison duty. These officers have been of great assistance in accomplishing this end, because of their knowledge of the details of intelligence work in Europe. For the performance of the service for which the Military Intelligence Division was developed, eight sections have been establi^ed, each deal- 698 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ing with its peculiar problems, and workiiig in close liaison with its fellows. . . . It may not be amiss to call attention to the enthusiastic co-operation which this division has consistently received from the various other intelUgence agencies, civilian and others. The American Protective League, the Department of Justice, the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Customs, the War Trade Intelligence have all co-operated in the heartiest manner with each and every effort of the Military Intelligence Division. Indeed, it is hardly saying too much to state that the success of the Military Intelligence Division has in a very large measure been due to the loyal assistance which it has received at all times from the various agencies whose functions are similar to its own. WAR PLANS DIVISION The War Plans Division of the General Staff is under the direction of Brigadier-General Lytle Brown, as Director and Assistant Chief of Staff. A very large volume of work has been accomplished by this division during the year. 'Exclusive of subjects pertaining to the historical branch, the inventions section, and routine matters, 9,287 cases were handled hy the division during the year. These included studies as to policies for defend and the organization of the military forces in general as published in Tables of Organization, completed studies on the policy and plans for training the army in general, training replacement troops, training cadres, training centers, training schools, schools for senior and staff officers, and plans for physical recon- struction and vocational training of wounded soldiers. In addition, through the Traioing Section, the War Plans Division has supervision of training in genera/1 and has kept in touch by inspections by its officers with methods used and progress made.F ' The Legislative, Regulations, and Rules Branch of the War Plans Division has handled numerous changes in Army Regulations and War Department orders made necessary by the present emergency, and has considered bills before Congress pertaining to the army. The Historical Branch of the General Staff was organized March 5, 1918, to collect and compile the records pertaining to the war under the approved policy, and satisfactory progress is being made. To June 30, 1918, 67,022 photographs and 2,590 feet of motion-picture film had been received. The Inventions Section was organized April 16, 1918. This section has taken over from the different agencies of the govermnent the pre- liminary consideration of inventions and ideas of inventions of a military nature, with a view to placing before the proper bureaus of the War Department those having sufficient military value to warrant test and development at the expense of the government. From April 16, 1918, to June 30, 1918, 4,645 cases were handled, a number of which were of exceptional merit and have already been put to use. . . ^ BEfflND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE 699 The Chief of Staff has as his principal assistant Major-General Frank Mclntjrre, United States army, who acts as executive oflBicer for the General Staff and also for the Chief of Staff in his absence. Beside the General Staff divisions which have been referred to in the foregoing, there has been established ia the General Staff a Morale Section, under charge of Brigadier-General E. L. Munson, United States army, which has for its object primarily the stimulation of morale throughout the army, and maintaining a close connection and liaison with similar activities in civil life. This section had only gotten fairly into operation before the signing of the armistice, but had already shown its value as a military asset. Another important addition to the organization of the General Staff has been the establishment of a Personnel Section, under charge of Brigadier-General P. P. Bishop, United States army. In this section has been consolidated the handling of appointments, promotions, and com- missions of the entire oflScial personnel of the United States army. This section has proved to be of the greatest value and has come to stay. . . . The signing of the armistice has interrupted the conclusion of the organization now imder way for the consolidation of Procurement and Storage under the Dh'ector of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic, but the principle is sound from the standpoint of organization and extremely economical in its results. . . . The supply of officers for the very large military program has been throughout one of the most important problems which confronted the General Staff. I have already indicated in the statement of the functions of the Operations Division of the General Staff the organization of central training camps for officers throughout the United States. When, however, we embarked upon the final program of placing eighty divisions in France and eighteen at home by Jime 30, 1919, which involved an army of approx- imately 4,800,000, the problem of the supply of officers became so serious that an understanding was obtained with the great mass of educational institutions throughout the United States, resulting in the development of the Student Army Training Corps. This scheme absorbed for military purposes the academic plants of some 518 colleges and universities through- out the country, and for vocational training in the army embraced some eighty more. This corps was put under the charge of Brigadier-General Robert I. Rees, United States army, and in its development we have had the energetic co-operation of college presidents and responsible college authorities throughout the entire United States. At the same time, in order to increase the supply of officers, the cornrse at West Point was cut down to one year's intensive training, with the idea of placing at the riisDosal of the government 1,000 officers a year graduated from that extremely efficient plant rather than the graduation of about 200, which had been the case previously throughout the war. The separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps, imder the provisions of the Overman bill, and the establishment of a Bureau of Military AeronaulSIcs, under Major-General William L. Kenly, United 700 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR States aimy, and of a Bureau of Aircraft Production, under Mr. John D. Ryan, marked an extremely important step forward in the development of this portion of the Military Establishment. The armistice closes out this matter with the two branches of the Air Service in a state of marked efficiency and establishes imquestionably the necessity for the permanent separation of the Air Service from the Signal Corps in the reorganization of the army. DuriQg this period another new agency created in the War Depart- ment by Executive order was the office of the Chief of Field Artillery. This office has been filled by Major-General WiUiam J. Snow, United States army. This establishment was accompanied by the creation in the American Expeditionary Force in France of the office of Chief of Artillery on General PersMng's staff, having similar relation to all the artillery of the Expeditionary Force which the Chief of Field Artillery has toward the mobile artillery at home. The work of this office has been accompanied by a marked increase in the efficiency of the training system in the various Field Artillery camps, and the office itself has proved to be of distinct value. I have directed the divisions of the General Staff concerned to study and submit for yoiu" consideration a plan for the reorganization of our army, which will take advantage of our experience in this war, which has brought about many changes in organization of all arms of the service, and has developed new arms not known when the war started. The Air Service, the Tank Corps, the development of heavy mobile artillery, the proper organization of divisions, corps, and armies, all will be set forth in the scheme which will be submitted to you with the recommendation that it be transmitted for the consideration of Congress. The conduct of the American troops in France, their progressive development in military experience and ability, the fine staff work, and the modesty and gallantiry of the individual soldier is a matter of pride to aU Americans. General Pershing and his command have earned the thanks of the American people. The work of General Tasker H, Bliss as military representative of the War Department with the American Section of the Supreme War Council at Versailles has been of the greatest value to the War Department. I cannot close this report without making of record the appreciation of the War Department of the work of the many trained and patriotic officers of the army whom the destiny of war did not call to France. These officers, forced to remain behind in the United States by the imperative necessity of having trained men to keep the machine moving, have kept up their work with such intelligence, zeal, and devotion to duty as to show a high order of patriotism. The officers and men who have not been able on account of the armistice to be transported to France deserve also, with their comrades in France, the thanks of the American people. CHAPTER LVIIl General Pershing's Own Story* IMMEDIATELY upon receiving my orders I selected a small staff and proceeded to Europe in order to become familiar with conditions at the earliest possible moment. . The warmth of our reception in England and France was only equaled by the readiness of the commanders-in-chief of the veteran armies of the Allies and their staffs to place their experience at our disposal. In consultation with them the most effective means of co-operation of effort was considered. With French and British armies at their maximum strength, and all efforts to dis-| possess the enemy from his firmly intrenched positions in Belgium and France failed, it was necessary to plan for an American force adequate to turn the scale in favor of the Allies. Taking accoimt of the strength of the central powers at that time, the immensity of the problem which confronted us could hardly be overestimated. The first requisite being an organization that could give intelUgent direction to effort, the formation of a General Staff occupied my early attention. GENERAL STAFF A well-organized General Staff through which the commander exercises his functions is essential to a successful modem army. However capable our division, our battalion> and our companies as such, success would be impossible without thoroughly coordi- nated endeavor. A General Staff broadly organized and trained for war had not hitherto existed in our army. Un'der the Com- mander-in-Chief, this staff must carry out the policy and direct the details of administration, supply, preparation, and operations of the army as a whole, with all special branches and biireaus subject to its control. As models to aid us we had the veteran French General Staff and the experience of the British who had similarly formed an organization to meet the demands of a great *Fiom Qeneral Fenbioc's official report to th» Secretary ol War, November 20, 1018. 701 702 HISTORY OF THK WORLD WAR army. By selecting from each the features best adapted to our basic organization, and fortified by our own early experience in the war, the development of our great General Staff system was completed. ^ ' - The General Staff is naturally divided iato five groiq)s, each with its chief who is an assistant to the Chief of the General Staff. G. 1 is in charge of oiganization and equipment of troops, replacements, tonnage, priority of overseas shipment, the auxil- iary welfare association and coga&te subjects; G. 2 has censor- shq), enemy intelligence, gathering and disseminating informatian, preparation of maps, and all similar subjects; G. 3 is charged with all strat^c studies and plans, movement of troops, and the super- vision of combat operations; G. 4 coordinates important questions of supply, construction, transport arrangements for combat, and of the operations of the service of supply, and of hospitalization and the evacuation of the sick and wounded; G. 5 supervises the various schools and has general direction and coordinatioa of education and training. The first Chief of Staff was CoL (now Maj.-Gen.) James G. Harbord, who was succeeded in March, 1918, by Maj.-Gen. James W. McAndrew. To these officers, to the deputy chief of staff, and to the assistant chie& of staff, who, as heads of sections, aided them, great credit is due for the results obtained not only In perfect- ing the General Staff (Hganization but in appljqng correct principles to the multiplicity of problems that have arisen. ORGANIZATIOX AXD TRAINING After a thorough consideration of allied organizations it was decided that our combat division should consist of four regiments of infantry of 3,000 men, with three battalions to re^ment and four companies of 250 men each to a battalion, and of an artillery brigade of three regiments, a machine-gun battalion, an engineef regiment, a trench-mortar battery, a signal battalion, wagon trsdns, and the headquarters staffs and military police. These, with medical and other units, made a total of over 28,000 men, or practically double the size of a French or German division. Eaeh corps would normally consist of dx divisions — ^four combat and one depot and one replacement division — and also two r^ments of cavaby, and each army of from three to five corps. With four divi< GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 703 aons fully trained, a corps could take over an American sector with twa divisions in line and two in reserve, with the depot and replacement divisions prepared to fill the gaps in the ranks. Our purpose was to prepare an integral American force, which should be able to take the offensive in every respect. Accord- ingly, the development of a self-reliant infantry by thorough drill in the use of the rifle and in the tactics of open warfare was always uppermost. The plan of training after arrival in France allowed a division one month for acclimatization and instruction in small units from battalions down, a second month in quiet trench sectors by battaUon, and a third month after it came out of the trenches when it should be trained as a complete division in war of move- ment. . . . AETILLBRT, AIRPLANES, AND TANKS Our entry into the war foimd us with few of the aujoliaries necessary for its conduct in the modem sense. Among our most important deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we accepted the offer of the French Government to provide us with the necessary artillery equipment of seventy-fives, one fifty- five millimeter howitzers, and one fifty-five GPP guns from their own factories for thirty divisions. The wisdom of this course is fully demonstrated by the fact that, although we soon began the manufacture of these classes of guns at home, there were no guns of the calibers mentioned manufactured in America on our front at the date the armistice was signed. The only guns of these types produced at home thus far received in France are 109 seventy- five millimeter guns. In aviation we were in the same situation,~and here again the French Government came to our aid until our own aviation program should be imder way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and bombing planes. The first airplanes received from home arrived in May, and altogether we have received 1,379. The first American squadron completely equipped by American production, including airplanes, crossed the German lines on August 7, 1918. As to tanks, we were also com- pelled to rely upon the French. Here, however, we were less fortu- 704 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR nate, for the reason that the French production could barely meet the requirements of their own armies. It should be fully realized that the French Government has always taken a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to ^ve us every possible assistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as well as in other respects. Our dependence upon France for artillery, aviation, and tanks was, of course, due to. the fact that our industries had not been exclusively devoted to military pro- duction, AH; credit is due our own manufacturers for their efforts to meet our requirements,^^ jas at the time the armistio was signed we were able to look forward to the early supply of practically all om- necessities from our own factories. The welfare of the troops touches my responsibility, as Com- mander-in-Chief to the mothers and fathers and kindred of the men who came to France in the impressionable period of youth. They could not have the privilege accorded; jEluropean soldiers during their periods of leave of visiting their families and renewing their home ties. Fully realizing that the standard of conduct that should be established for them must have a permanent influence in their lives and en the character of their future "citizenship, the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association,' Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, and the Jewish Welfare Board, as auxiliaries in this work, were encouraged in every possible way. The fact that our soldiers* in a land of different customs and language, have borne themselves ia a manner in keeping with the cause for which they fought, is due not only to the efforts in their behalf but much more to other high idealsy their discipline, and their innate sense of self-respect. It should be recorded, however, that the members of these welfare societies have been untiring in their desire to be of real service to our officers and men. The patriotic devotion of these representative men and women has given a new dgnificance to the Golden Rule, and we owe to them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. | ' COMBAT OPERATIONS During our periods of training in the trenches some of ouv divisions had engaged the enemy in local combats, the most impor- tant of which was Seicheprey by the Twenty-sixth on April 20th, in the Toul Bector, but none had participated in action as a uniti< GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 705 The First Diviaon, which had passed through the preliminary stages of training, had gone to the trenches for its first period of instruction at the end of October and by March 21st, when the German offensive in Picardy began, we had four divisions with experience in the trenches, all of which were equal to any demands of battle action. The crisis which this offensive developed was such that our occupation of an American sector must be postponed. On March 28th I placed at the disposal of Marshal Foch, who had been agreed upon as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied armies, all of our forces to be used as he might decide. At his request the First division was transferred from the Toul sector to a position in reserve at Chaumont en Vexin. As German superiority in numbers required prompt action, an agreement was reached at the Abbeville conference of the Allied premiers and commanders and myself on May 2d by which British shipping was to transport ten American divisions to the British army area, where they were to be trained and equippedy and additional British shipping was to be provided for as many divisions as possible for use elsewhere. On April 26th the First Division had gone into the line in the Montdidier salient on the Picardy battle front. Tactics had been suddenly revolutionized to those of open warfare, and our men, confident of the results of their training, were eager for the test. On the morning of May 28th this division attacked the commanding German position in its front, taking with splendid dash the town of Cantigny and all other objectives, which were organized and held steadfastly against vicious coimter-attacks and galling artillery fire, s: Although local, this brilliant action had an electrical effect, as it demonstrated our fighting qualities under extreme battle conditions, and also that the enemy's troops were not altogether invincible. The Germans' Aisne offensive, which began on May 27th, had advanced rapidly toward the River Mame and Paris, and the Allies faced a crisis equally as grave as that of the Picardy offensive in March. Again every available man was placed at Marshal Foch's disposal, and the Third Division, which had just come from its preliminary training in the trenches, was hturied to the Mame. Its motorized machine-gun battalion preceded the other units and successfully held the bridge-head at the Mame, opposite Chateau-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near [706 HISTORY OF THE .WORLD WAR Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport to check the progress of the enemy toward Paris. The division attacked and retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily held its ground against the enemy's best guard divi- sions. In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, our men proved their superiority and gained a strong tactical position, with far ^eater loss to the enemy than to ourselves. On July 1st, before the Second was relieved, it captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision. Meanwhile our Second Corps, imder Ma j .-Gen. George W. Read, had been organized for the command of oar divisions with the British, which were held back ia training areas or assigned to second-line defenses, "h Five of the ten divisions were withdrawn from the British area in June, three to relieve divisions in Lorraine and the Vosges and two to the Paris area to join the group of American divisions which stood between the city and any farther advance of the enemy i)a that direction. The great June-July troop movement from the States was well under way, and, although these troops were to be given some preliminary training before being put into action, their very pres- ence warranted the use of all the older divisions in the confidence that we did not lack reserves." Elements of the Forty-second Division were in the line east of Rheims against^the German offensive of July 15th, and held their ground unflinchingly. On the right flank of this offensive four companies of the Twenty-eighth Division were in position in face of the advancing waves of the German infantry. The Third Division was holding the bank of the Marne from the bend east of the mouth of the Surmelin to the west of M6zy, opposite Chdteau-Thierry, where a large force of German infantry sought to force a passage tmder support of powerful artillery concentrations and under cover of smoke screens. A single regiment of the Third wrote one of the most brilUant pages in our mihtary annals on this occasion. It prevented the crossing at certain points on its front while, on either flank, the Germans, who had gained a footing, pressed forward. Our men, fiiring in three directions, met the German attacks with counter-attacks at critical points and succeeded in throwing two German divisions into com- plete confusion, capturing 600 prisoners. The great force of the German Ch^teau-Thieny offensive GENERAL PERSfflNG'S OWN STORY 707 established the deep Mame salient, but the enemy was taking chances, and the vulnerability of this pocket to attack might be turned to his disadvantage. Seizing this opportimity to support my conviction, every division -with any sort of training was made available for use in a counter-offensive. The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on July 18th was given to our First and Second divisions in company with chosen French divisions. With- out the usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, the massed French and American artillery, firing by the map, laid down its rolling barrage at dawn while the infantry began its charge. The tactical handling of our troops tmder these trying conditions was excellent throughout the action. The enemy brought up large nimibers of reserves and made a stubborn defense both with machine guns and artillery, but through five days' fighting the First Division continued to advance untU it had gained the heights above Soissons and captured the village of Berzy-le-sec. The Second Divi^on took Beau Repaire farm and Vierzy in a very rapid advance and reached a position in front of Tigny at the end of its second day. These two divisions captured 7,000 prisoners and over 100 pieces of artillery. The Twenty-sixth Division, which, with a French division, was imder command of our First Corps, acted as a pivot of the movement toward Soissons. On the 18th it took the village of Torcy while the Third Division was crossing the Mame in pursuit of the retiring enemy. The Twenty-sixth attacked again on the 21st, and the enemy withdrew past the Ch^teau-Thierry-Soissons road. The Third Division, continuing its progress, took the heights of Mont St. P^re and the villages of Chartlves and Jaul- gonne in the face of both machine-gun and artillery fire,' On the 24th, after the Germans had fallen back from Trugny and Epieds, our Forty-second Division, which had been brought over from the Champagne, relieved the Twenty-sixth and, fighting its way through the For^t de F6re, overwhelmed the nest of machine guns in its path. By the 27th it had reached the Ourcq, whence the Third and Fourth divisions were already advancing, while the French divisions with which we were co-operating were moving forward at other points. The Third Division had made its advance into Roncheres Wood on the 29th and was relieved for rest by a brigade of the 708 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Thirty-second. The Forty-second and Thirty-second undertook the task of conquering the heights beyond Cierges, the Forty-second capturing Sergy and the Thirty-second capturing Hill 230, both American divisions joining in the pursuit of the enemy to the Vesle, and thus the operation of reducing the salient was finished. Mean- while the Forty-second was relieved by the Fourth at Ghdry- Chartreuve, and the Thirty-second by the Twenty-eighth, while the Seventy-seventh Division took up a position on the Vesle. The operations of these divisions on the Vesle were under the Third Corps, Maj.-Gen. Robert L. BuUard, commanding. BATTLE OP ST. MIHIBIi With the reduction of the Marne salient we could look forward to the concentration of our divisions in ova own zone. In view of the forthcoming operation against the St. Mihiel salient, which had long been planned as our first offensive action on a large scale, the First Army was organized on August 10th under my personal command. While American units had held different divisional and corps sectors along the western front, there had not been up to this time, for obvious reasons, a distinct American sector; but, in view of the important parts the American forces were now to play, it was necessary to take over a permanent portion of the line. Accordingly, on August 30th, the line beginning at Port sur Seille, east of the MoseUe and extending to the west through St. Mihiel, thence north to a point opposite Verdtm, was placed under my com- mand. The American sector was afterwards extended across the Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne Forest, and included the Second Colonial French, which held the point of the salient, and the Seventeenth French Corps, which occupied the heights above Verdun. The preparation for a complicated operation against the for- midable defenses in front of us included the assembling of divisions and of corps and army artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambu- lances, the location of hospitals, and the molding together of all of the elements of a great modem army with its own railheads, sup- plied directly by our own Service of Supply. The concentration for this operation, which was to be a surprise, involved the move- ment, mostly at night, of approximately 600,000 troops, and required for its success the most careful attention to every detail. jm^iiP^p ^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^j^^jjL^^JhilHH ^^HLiy^^i^^^^^l ^*'i^il>i' * ■«• ^ LxvWl^^ ** £^ %» SL.ti^fchiw "itojfc^i^MyjH ^■'^fai^Jilr •%;~i&».i^'''^^ ■ -■* © Committee on Public In/ormaiion. THE AMERICAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN THE FIELD Photograph of General John J. Pershing just after he had been decorated with the Star and Ribbon of the Legion of Honor of France, the higliest decoration ever awarded an American soldier. General Pershing was raised to a full general- ship soon after his arrival in France, an honor which has previously been held only by Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. NOTED AMERICAN GENERALS General Maxch is chief of staff of the American Army, Lieutenant- Generals Liggett and Bullard commanded the First and Second Armies respectively, and Maior-GeneraJa Wriebt and Read are corps commanders. GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 711 The French were generous in giving us assistance in corps and army artillery, with its personnel, and we were confident from the start of our superiority over the enemy in guns of all calibers. Our heavy guns were able to reach Metz and to interfere seriously with German rail movements. The French Independent Air Force was placed under my command which, together with the British bombing squadrons and our air forces, gave us the largest assembly of aviation that had ever been engaged inone operation on the western front. From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at St. Mihiel to the Moselle River the line was roughly forty miles long and sit- uated on commanding ground greatly strengthened by artificial defenses. Our First Corps (Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and Second divisions) under command of Major-Geiieral Hunter Liggett, restrung its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with its left joining our Third Corps (the Eighty-ninth, Forty-second, and First divi- aons), imder Major-General Jpseph T. Dickman, in line to Xivray, were to swing in toward Vigneulles on the pivot of the Moselle River for the initial assault. From Xivray to Mouilly the Second Colonial French Corps was in line in the center and our Fifth Corps, imder command of Major-General George H. Cameron, with our Twenty-sixth Division and a French division at the western base of the salient, were to attack three difficulthills — ^Les Eparges, Combres, and Amaramthe. Our First Corps had in reserve the Seventy-eighth_ Division, our Fourth Corps the Third Division, and our First Army the Thirty-fifth and Ninety-first Divisions, with the Eightieth and Thirty-third available. It should be xmder- stood that our corps organizations are very elastic, and that we have at no time had permanent assignments of divisions to corps. After fom: hom^' artillery preparation, the seven American divisions in the front line advanced at 5 A. M., on September 12th, assisted by a limited number of tanks manned partly by Americans and partly by the French. These divisions, accompanied by groups of wire cutters and others armed with "bangalore torpedoes, went through the successive bands of barbed wire that protected the enemy's front line and support trenches, in irresistible waves on schedule time, breaking down all defense of an enemy demoraUzed by the great volume of our artillery fire and our sudden approach out of the fog. 712 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Our First Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while our Fourth Corps curved back to the southwest through Nonsard. The Second Colonial French Corps made the slight advance required of it on very difficult ground, and the Fifth Corps took its three ridges and repulsed a counter-attack. A rapid march brought reserve regiments of a division of the Fifth Corps into Vigneulles in the early morning, where it linked up with patrols of our Fourth Corps, closing the salient and forming a new line west of Thiaucourt to Vigneulles and beyond Fresnes-en-Woevre. At the cost of only 7,000 casualties, mostly light, we had taken 16,000 prisoners and 443 guns, a great quantity of material, released the inhabitants of many villages from enemy domination, and established our lines in a position to threaten Metz. This signal success of the American First Army in its first offensive was of prime importance. The Allies found they had a formidable army to aid them, and the enemy learned finally that he had one to reckon with. MEUSE-AKGONNE OFSTENSIVE, FIRST PHASE On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel salient, much of our corps and army artillery which had operated at St. Mihiel, and our divisions in reserve at other points, were already on the move toward the area back of the line between the Meuse River and the western edge of the forest of Argonne. With the exception of St. Mihiel, the old German front line from Switzerland to the east of Rheims was still intact. In the general attack aU along the line, the operation assigned the American army as the hinge of this 'Allied offensive was directed toward the important railroad commimications of the German armies through M6zi6res and Sedan. The enemy must hold fast to this part of his lines or the withdrawal of his forces with io\xr years' accumulation of plants and material would be dangerously imperiled. The German army had as yet shown no demoralization and, while the mass of its troops had suffered in morale, its first-class divisions, and notably it» machine-gun defense, were exhibiting remarkable tactical efficiency as well as courage. The German General Staff was fully aware of the consequences of a success on the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that he would do evCTything in his power to oppose us, the action was planned with as much secrecy as possible and was undertaken with the determination to use all GENERAL PERSfflNG'S OWN STORY 713 our divisions in forcing decision. We expected to draw the best German divisions to our front and to consume them while the enemy was held under grave apprehension lest our attack should break his line, which it was our firm purpose to do. _ . • • i. Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while our left embraced the Argonne Forest whose ravines, hills, and elaborate defense screened by dense thickets had been generally considered impregnable. Our order of battle from right to left was the Third Corps from the Meuse to Malancourt, with the Thirty-third, Eightieth, and Fourth divisions in line, and the Third Division as corps reserve; the Fifth Corps from Malancourt to Vauquois, with Seventy-ninth, Thirty-seventh, and Ninety-first divisions in line, and the Thirty-second in corps reserve; and the First Corps, from Vauquois to Vienne le Chateau, with Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, and Seventy-seventh divisions in line, and the Ninety-second in corps reserve. The army reserve consisted of jthe First, Twenty- ninth, and Eighty-second divisions. On the night of_September 25th our troops quietly took the place of the French who thinly held the line in this sector which had long been inactive. In the attack which began on the 26th we drove through the barbed wire entanglements and the sea of shell craters across No Man's Land, mastering the first-line defenses. Continuing on the 27th and 28th, against machine guns and artillery of an increasing number of enemy reserve divisions, we penetrated to a depth of from three to seven miles, and took the village of Montfaucon and its commanding hill and Exermont, Gercourt, Cuisy, Septsarges, Malancourt, Ivoiry, Epinonville, Charpentry, Very, and other villages. East of the Meuse one of our divisions, which was with the Second Colonial French Corps, captured Marche- ville and Rieville, giving further protection to the flank of our main body. We had taken 10,000 prisoners, we had gained our pomt of forcing the battle into the open and were prepared for the enemy's reaction, which was bound to come as he had good roads and, ample railroad facihties for bringing up his ^ artillery^ and reserves. In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to build new roads across spongy, shell-torn areas, repaip broken roads beyond No Man's Land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, put their shoulders to wheds and dragropes to 714 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR bring their guns through the mire in support of the infantry, now under the increasing fire of the enemy's artillery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, but, quickly recovering himself, he began to fire counter-attacks in strong force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quantities of gas. From September 28th imtil October 4th we maintained the offensive against patches of woods def endedlsy snipers and contiauous lines of machine guns, and pushed forward our guns and transport, seizing strategical points in preparation for further attacks. OTHER UNITS WITH ALLIES Other divisions attached to the AlHed armies were doing their part. It v/as the fortmie of our Second Corps, composed of the Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth divisions, which had remained with the British, to have a place of honor in co-operation with the Aus- traUau Corps, on September 29th and October 1st, in the assault on the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentm Canal passes through a tunnel under a ridge. , The Thirtieth Division speedily broke through the main line of defense for all its objectives, while the Twenty-seventh pushed on impetuously through the main line imtil some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the maze of trenches and shell craters and imder cross-fire from machine guns the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in later actions, from October 6th to October 19th, our Second Corps captured over 6,000 prisoners and advanced over thirteen miles. The spirit and aggressiveness of these divisions have been highly praised by the British army commander under whom they served. On October 2d to 9th our Second and Thirty-sixth divisions were sent to assist the French in an important attack against the old German positions before Rheims. The Second conquered the complicated defense works on their front against a persistent defense worthy of the grimmest period of trench warfare and attacked the strongly held wooded hill of Blanc Mont, which they captured in a second assault, sweeping over it with consummate dash and skiU. This division then repulsed strong counter-attacks before the village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne and took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from before Rheims and yield positions they had held since September, 1914. On October 9th the Thirty-sixth Division relieved the Second and, m its first experience under fire, GENEHAI. PERSHING'S OWN STORY 715 withstood very severe artillery bombardment and rapidly took up the pursuit of the enemy, now retiring behind the Aisne. MBUSE-AKGONNB OFFENSIVE, SECOND PHASE The Allied progress elsewhere cheered the efforts of our men in this crucial contest as the German command threw in more and more first-class troops to stop our advance, t We made steady head- way in the almost impenetrable and strongly held Argonne Forest, for, despite this reinforcement, it was our army that was doing the driving. Our aircraft was increasin,g in skill and nimibers and forcing the issue, and our infantry and artillery'^were improving rapidly with each new experience. The replacements fresh from home were put into exhausted divisions with little time for training, but they had the advantage of serving beside men who knew their business and who had almost become veterans over night. The enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, which especially favored the defense, by a prodigal use of machine guns manned by highly-trained veterans and by using his artillery at short ranges. In the face of such strong frontal positions we should have been unable to accomplish any progress accordiag to previously accepted standards, but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage of our troops. On October 4th the attack was renewed all along oiu" front. The Third Corps tUting to the left followed the Brieulles-Cimel road; our Fifth Corps took Gesnes while the First Corps advanced for over two nules along the irregular valley of the Aire River and in the wooded hills of the Argonne that bordered the river, used by the enemy with aU his art and weapons of defense. This sort of fighting continued against an enemy striving to hold every foot of ground and whose very strong counter-attacks challenged us at every point. On the 7th the First Corps captured Chatel-Ch^h^ry and continued along the river to Comay. On the east of Mouse sector one of the two divisions co-operating with the French captured Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the Fifth Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took F16ville, and the Third Corps, which had continuous fighting against odds, was working its way through BrieuUes and Cunel. On the 10th we had cleared the Argonne Forest of the enemy. It was now necessary to constitute a second army, and on 716 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR October 9th the immediate command of the First Army was turned over to Lieutenant-General Hunter Liggett. The command of the Second Army, whose divisions occupied a sector in the Woevre, was given to Lieutenant-General Robert L. Bullard, who had been commander of the First Division and then of the Third Corps. Major-General Dickman was transferred to the command of the First Corps, while the Fifth Corps was placed under Major-General Charles P. Summerall, who had recently commanded the First Division. Major-General John L. Hines, who had gone rapidly up from regimental to division commander, was assigned to the Third Corps. ; These four officers had been in France from the early days of the expedition and had learned their lessons in the school of practical warfare.' Ovi constant pressure against the enemy brought day by day more prisoners,"mostly survivors from machine-gun nests captiu-ed in fighting at close quarters. On October 18th there was very fierce fighting in[|the Caures Woods east of the Meuse and in the Ormont Woods. On the 14th the First Corps took St. Juvin, and the Fifth Corps, in hand-to-hand encounters, entered the formidable Kriemhilde line, where the enemy had hoped to check us indefinitely. Later the Fifth Corps penetrated further the Kriemhilde line, and the First ^orps took Champigneulles and the important town of Grandpre. Ovu* dogged offensive was wearing down the enemy, who continued desperately to throw his best troops against us, thus weak- ening his line in front of oxix AUies and making their advance less difficult.' ' DIVISIONS IN BELGIUM Meanwhile we were not only able to continue the battle, but our Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first divisions were hastily with- drawn from our front and dispatched to help the French army in Belgium. Detraining in the neighborhood of Ypres, these divi- sions advanced by rapid stages to the fighting line and were assigned to adjacent French corps. On October 31st, in continuation of the Flanders offensive, they attacked and methodically broke down all enemy resistance. On November 3d the Thirty-seventh had completed its mission in dividing the enemy across the Escaut River and firmly established itself along the east bank included in the division zone of action. By a clever flanking movement troops GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 717 of the Ninety-first Division captured Spitaals Bosschen, a difficult wood extending across the central part of the division sector, reached the Escaut, and penetrated into the town of Audenarde. These divisions received high commendation from their corps commanders for their dash and energy. MEUSB ARGONNE — ^LAST PHASE On the 23d the Third and Fifth corps pushed northward to the level of Bantheville. , While we continued to press forward and throw back the enemy's violent counter-attacks with great loss to him, a regrouping of our forces was under way for the final assault. Evidences of loss of morale by the enemy gave our men more confi- dence in attack and more fortitude in enduring the fatigue of inces- sant effort and the hardships of very inclement weather. With comparatively well-rested divisions, the final advance in the Meuse-Argonne front was begun on November 1st. Our increased artillery force acquitted itself magnificently in support of the advance, and the enemy broke before the determined infantry, which, by its persistent fighting of the past weeks and the dash of this attack, had overcome his will to resist. * The Third Corps took Aincreville, Doulcon, and Andevanne, and the Fifth Corps took Landres et St. Georges and pressed through successive lines of resistance to Bayonville and Cheimery. On the 2d the First Corps joined in the movement,which now became an impetuous onslaught that could not be stayed. On the 3d advance troops surged forward in pursuit, some by motor trucks,, while the artillery pressed along the coimtry roads close behind. The First Corps reached Authe and ChdtiUon-Sur- Bar, the Fifth Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the Third Corps Halles, penetrating the enemy's line to a depth of twelve miles. . Our large caHber guns had advanced and were skilfuUy brought into position to fire upon the important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon, and Conflans. Our Third Corps crossed the Meuse on the 5th and the other corps, in the full confidence that the day was theirs, eagerly cleared the way of machine guns as they swept northward, maintain- ing complete coordination throughout. On the 6th, a division of the First Corps reached a point on the Meuse opposite Sedan, twenty-five miles from oiu: line of departure. - The strategical goal which was our highest hope wag gained. '"Wle Jiad cut the enemy's 718 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR main line of communications, and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his anny from complete disaster. In all forty enemy divisions had been used against us in the Meuse-Argonne battle. Between September 26th and November 6th we took 26,059 prisoners and 468 guns on this front. Our divisions engaged were the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty- third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty- ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first. Many of our divisions remained in line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, while others were sent in again after only a few days of rest. The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty- ninth, and Ninetieth were in the line twice. Although some of the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became equal to the best. OPERATIONS EAST OF THE MEUSB On the three days preceding November 10th, the Third, the Second Colonial, and the Seventeenth French corps fought a diffi- cult struggle through the Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced the .enemy into the plain. Meanwhile, my plans for further use of the American forces contemplated an advance between the Meuse and the Moselle in the direction of Longwy by the First Army, while, at the same time, the Second Army should assure the offensive toward the rich coal fields of Briey. These operations were to be followed by an ofifensive toward ChAteau-SaJics east of the Moselle, thus isolating Metz., Accordingly, attacks on the American front had been ordered and that o$ the Second, Army was in progress on the morning of November 11th, when instructions were received that hostilities should cease at 11 o'clock a. m. At this moment the line of the Americajn sector, from right to left, began at Port-Sur-Seille, thence across the Moselle to Van- dieres and through the Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of the Meuse, thence along to the foothills and through the northern edge of the Woevre forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, thence along the Meuse connecting with the French under Sedan. . . . GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY 719 There are in Europe altogether, including a regiment and some Banitary imits with the Italian army and the organizations at Mur- mansk, also including those en route from the States, approximately 2,053,347 men, less our losses. Of this total there are in France 1,338,169 combatant troops. Forty divisions have arrived, of which the infantry personnel of ten have been used as replacements, leaving thirty divisions now ia France organized into three armies of three corps each. The losses of the Americans up to November 18th are: Killed and woimded, 36,145; died of disease, 14,811; deaths unclassified, 2,204; wounded, 179,625; prisoners, 2,163; missmg, 1,160. We have captured about 44,000 prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers and trench mortars. ... _^ __ Finally, I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers of the liae. When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships, their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion which I am imable to express. Their deeds are im- mortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of our country. CHAPTER LIX President Wilson's Review op the War ON DECEMBER 2, 1918, just prior to sailing for Europe to I take part in the Peace Conference, President Wilson addressed Congress, reviewing the work of the American people, soldiers, sailors and civilians, in the World War which had been brought to a successful conclusion on Novgfnber 11th. His speech, in part, follows:/' "The year that has elapsed since I last stood before you to fulfil my constitutional duty to ^ve to the Congress from time to time information on the state of the Union has been so crowded with great events, great processes a^d great results that I cannot hope to give you an adequate picture of its transactions or of the far- reaching changes which have been wrought in the life of our Nation and of the world. You have yourselves witnessed these things, as I have. It is too soon to assess them; and we who stand in the midst of them and are part of them are less qualified than men of another generation will be to say what they mean or even what they have been. But some great outstanding facts are tmmis- takable and constitute in a sense part of the public business with which it is our duty to deal. ' To state them is to set the stage for the legislative and executive action which must grow out of them and which we have yet to shape and determine. "A year ago we had sent 145,918 men overseas. Since then we have sent 1,950,513, an average of 162,542 each mbnth, the num- ber in fact rising in May last to 245,951, in June to 278,760, in July to 307,182 and continuing to reach similar figures in August and September — in August 289,570 and in September 257,438. No such movement of troops ever took place before, across 3,000 miles of sea, followed by adequate equipment and supplies, and carried safely through extraordinary dangers of attack, dangers which were alike strange and infinitely difficult to guard against. In all this movement only 758 men were lost by enemy attacks, 720 PRESIDENT'S REVIEW OF THE WAR 721 630 of whom were upon a single English transport which was sunk near the Orkney Islands. "I need not tell you what lay back of this great movement of men and material. It is not invidious to say that back of it lay a supporting organization of the industries of the country and of all its productive activities more complete, more thorough in method and effective in results, more spirited and unanimous in purpose and effort than any other great belligerent had ever been able to effect. We profited greatly by the experience of the nations which had already been engaged for nearly three years in the exigent and exacting buaness, their every resource and every proficiency taxed to the utmost. We were the pupils. But we learned quickly and acted with a promptness and a readiness of co-operation that justify our great pride that we were able to serve the world with unparalleled energy and quick accomplishment. ' "But it is not the physical scale and executive efl&ciency of preparation, supply, equipment and dispatch that I would dwell upon, but the mettle and quality of the ofl&cers and men we sent over and of the sailors who kept the seas, and the spirit of the Nation that stood behind them. No soldiers, or sailors, ever proved them- selves more quickly ready for the test of battle or acquitted them- selves with more splendid courage and achievement when put to the test. Those of us who played some part in directing the great processes by which the war was pushed irresistibly forward to the final triimiph may now forget all that and delight our thoughts ynih. the story of what our men did. Their officers understood the grim and exacting task they had undertaken and perifonned with audacity, efficiency and unhesitating courage that touch the story of convoy and battle with imperishable distinction at every turn, whether the enterprise were great or small— from their chiefs, Pershing and Suns, down to the youngest lieutenant; and their men were worthy of them — such men as hardly need to be com- manded, and go to their terrible adventure blithely and with the qtiick intelligence of those who know just what it is they would accomplish. I am proud to be the fellow-countryman of men of such stuff and valor. Those of us who stayed at home did our duty; the war could not have been won or the gallant men who fought it given their opportimity to win it otherwise; but for many a long day we shall think ourselves 'accursed we were not 722 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR therej*' and hold our manlioods cheap while any speaks that fought' with these at St. Mihiel or Thierry. The memory of those days of triiunphant battle will go with these fortunate men to their graves; and each wiU have his favorite memory. 'Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day!' i "What we all thank God for with deepest gratitude is that our men went in force into the line of battle just at the critical moment, and threw their fresh strength into the ranks of freedom in time to turn the whole tide and sweep of the fateful struggle — turn it once for all, so that henceforth it was back, back, back for their enemies, always back, never again forward! After that it was only a scant four months before the commanders of the central empires knew themselves bed,ten, and now their very empires are in liquidation! "And throughout it all how fine the spirit of the Nation was; what unity of pm-pose, what untiring zeal! What elevation of purpose ran through all its splendid display of strength, its untiring accomphshment. I have said that those of us who stayed at home to do the work of organization and supply will always wish that we had been with the men whom we sustained by our labor; but we can never be a'shamed. It has been an inspiring thing to be here in the midst of fine men who had tiuraed aside from every private interest of their own and devoted the whole of their trained capacity to the tasks that supplied the siuews of the whole great mider- taking! The patriotism, the unselfishness, the thoroughgoing devotion and distinguished capacity that marked their toilsome labors, day after day, month after .month, have made them fit mates' and .comrades 'of the men in the trenches and on the sea. And not the men here in Washington only. They have but directed the vast achievement. Throughout innumerable factories, upon innumerable farms, in the depths of coal mines and iron mines and copper mines', wherever the stuffs of industry were to be obtained and prepared, in the shipyards, on the railways, at the docks, on the sea, in every labor that was needed to sustain the battle lines men have vied with each other to do their part and do it well. They can look any man-at-arms in the face, and say, we also strove to win and gave the best that was in us to make our fleets and armies sure of their triumph! PRESIDENT'S REVIEW OF THE WAR 723 "And what shall we say of the women — of their instant intelli- gence, quickening every task that they touched; their capacity for organization and co-operation, which gave their action discipline and enhanced the effectiveness of everything they attempted; their aptitude at tasks to which they had never brfore set their hands; their utter self-sacrificing alike in what they did and in what they gave? Their contribution to the great result is beyond appraisal. They have added a new luster to the annals of American womanhood. "The least tribute we can pay them is to make them the equals of men in political rights as they have proved themselves their equals in every field of practical work they have entered, whether for themselves or for their country. These great days of completed achievement would be sadly marred were we to omit that act of justice. Besides the immense practical services they have ren- dered, the women of the country have been the moving spirits in the systematic economies by which our people have voluntarily assisted to supply the suffering peoples of the world and the armies upon every front with food and everything else that we had that might serve the common cause. The details of such a story can never be fully written, but we carry them at our hearts and thank God that we can say we are the kinsmen of such. "And now we are sure of the great triumph for which every sacrifice was made. It has come, come in its completeness, and with the pride and inspiration of these days of achievement quick within us we turn to the tasks of peace again — a peace secure against the violence of irresponsible monarchs and ambitious miUtary coteries and made ready for a new order, for new foundations of justice and fair dealing. "We are about to give order and organization to this peace, not only for ourselves, but for the other peoples of the world as well, so far as they will suffer us to serve them. It is international justice that we seek, not domestic safety merely. . . . "So far as our domestic affairs are concerned the problem of our return to peace is a problem of economic and industrial reaidjust- ment. That problem is less serious for us than it may turn out to be for the nations which have suffered the disarrangements and the losses of war longer than we. Our people, moreover, do not wait to be coached and led. They know their own business, are 724 fflSTORY OF THE WORLD WAR quick and resourceful at every readjustment, definite in purpose and self-reliant in action. Any leading strings we might seek to put them in would speedily become hopelessly tangled because they would pay no attention to them and go their own way. All that we can do as their legislative and executive servants is to mediate the process of change here, there and elsewhere as we may. I have heard much counsel as to the plans that should be formed and personally conducted to a happy consummation, but from no quarter have I seen any general scheme of reconstruction emerge which I thought it likely we could force our spirited businessmen and self-reliant laborers to accept with due pliancy and obedience. "While the war lasted we set up many agencies by which to direct the industries of the country in the services it was necessary for them to render, by which to make sure of an abundant supply of the materials needed, by which to check undertakings that could for the time be dispensed with and stimulate those that were most serviceable in war, by which to gain for the purchasing departments of the government a certain control over the prices of e^ential articles and materials, by which to restrain trade with alien enemies, make the most of the available shipping and systematize financial transactions, both public and private, so that there would be no imnecessary conflict or confusion — by which, in short, to put every material energy of the country in harness to draw the common load and make of us one team in accomplishment of a great task. "But the moment we knew the armistice to have been signed we took the harness off. Raw materials upon which the government had kept its hand for'^fear there should not be enough for the industries that supplied the armies have been released, and put into the general market again Great industrial plants whose whole output and machinery had been taken over for the uses of the government have been set free to return to the uses to which they were put before the war It has not been possible to remove so readily or so quickly the control of foodstuffs and of shipping, because the world has still to be fed from our granaries and the ships are still needed to send supplies to our men oversea and to bring the men back as fast as the disturbed conditions on the other side of the water permit; but even there restraints are being relaxed as much as possible, and more and more as the weeks go by. PRESIDENT'S REVIEW OF THE WAR 725 "Never before have there been agencies in existence in this [country which knew so much of the field of supply of labor, and of i industry as the War Industries Board, the War Trade Board, the ! Labor Department, the Food Administration and the Fuel Adminis- tration have known since their labors became thoroughly systema- tized; and they have not been isolated agencies; they have been directed by men which represented the permanent departments of the government and so have been the centers of unified and co-operative action It has been the policy of tiie Executive, therefore, since the armistice was assured (which is m effect a complete submission of the enemy) to put the knowledge of these bodies at the disposal of the businessmen of the country and to offer their intelligent mediation at every point and in every matter where it was desired. It is surprising how fast the process of return to a peace footing has moved m the three weeks since the fighting stopped. It promises to outrun any inquiry that may be instituted and any aid that may be offered. It wiU not be easy to direct it any better than it will direct itself. The American busi- ness man is of quick initiative. .... "I welcome this occasion to annoimce to the Congress my purpose to join in Paris the representatives of the governments with which we have been associated in the war against the Central Empires for the purpose of discussing with them the main features of the treaty of peace. I realize the great inconveniences that will attend my leaving the country, particularly at this time, but the conclusion that it was my paramount duty to go has been forced upon me by considerations which I hope will seem as conclusive to you as th^y have seemed to me. "The AUied governments have accepted the bases of peace which I outlined to the Congress on the 8th of January last, as the Central Empires also have, and very reasonably desire my personal counsel in their interpretation and application, and it is highly desirable that I should give it, in order that the sincere desire of our government to contribute without selfish purpose of any kind to settlements that will be of common benefit to all the nations con- cerned may be made fully manifest. The peace settlements which are now to be agreed upon are of transcendent importance both to 'us and to the rest of the world, and I know of no business or interest [which should take precedence of them. The gallant men of our 726 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR armed forces on land and sea have consciously fought for the ideals which they knew to be the ideals of their country; I have sought to express those ideals; they have accepted my statements of them as the substance of their own thought and purpose, as the associated governments have accepted them; I owe it to them to see to it, so far as in me lies, that no false or mistaken interpretation is put upon them, and no possible effort omitted to reahze them. It is now my duty to play my full part in making good what they offered their life's blood to obtain. I can think of no call to service which could transcend this. . ."S". i "May I not hope, gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea in my efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude and difficulty of the duty I am imdertaking. I am poignantly aware of its grave responsibilities. I am the servant of the Nation. I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the cominpn settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement. I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless wiU render me available for any counsel or service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shaU have to deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven." © Harris & Ewing. WOODROW WILSON ' President of the United States during the whole course of the war and Commander in-Chief of its army and navy. On November 11, 1918, he signalized the end of the war in a proclamation in which he said: — "My Fellow-Countrymen; — The armistice was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accomplished." Summarized Chronology of the War 1914 June . 28. — ^Assassination of Archdnke Fran- cis Ferdinand, heir to tlirone of Austiia- Hui^ary, and his wife at Sarajevo, Bosnia. July 28. — ^Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. 29. — Russian mobilization ordered. August 1. — ^Germany declares war on Russia. 1. — France orders mobilization. 2. — Germany demands free passage through Belgiiun. 3. — Germany declares war on France. 3. — Belgium rejects Germany's demand. . 4. — Germany at war with Belgium. Troops under Gen. Von Kluck cross bor- der. Halted at Li^ge. 4. — Great Britain at war with Ger- many. Kitchener becomes Secretary of War. 5. — President Wilson tenders good of- fices of United States in interests of peace, 6. — Austria-Hungary at war with Rus- sia. 7. — French forces invade Alsace. Gen. JoSre in supreme command /ot French army. 7. — ^Montenegro at war with Austria. 7. — Great Britain's Expeditionary Force lands at Ostend, Calais and Dun- Mrk. 8. — ^British seize German Togoland. 8. — Serbia at war with Germany. 8. — ^Portugal announces readiness to etand by alliance with England. 11.— German cruisers GoeJere and Sreslau enter Dardanelles and are pur- chased by Turkey. 12. — Great Britain at war with Austria- Hungary. 12. — ^Montenegro at war with Germany. 17. — ^Belgian capital removed from Brussels to Antwerp. 19. — Canadian Parliament authorizes raising expeditionary force. 20. — Germans occupy Brussels. 28. — British fleet sinks three German cruisers and two destroyers off Heligo- land. 28. — Austria declares war on Belgium. 29. — ^Russians invest Konigsberg, East Prussia. New Zealanders seize German Samoa. 30. — ^Amiens occupied by Germans. 31. — ^Russian army of invasion in East Prussia defeated at Tannenberg by Ger- mans under Von Hindenburg. 31. — St. Petersburg changed to Petro- grad by imperial decree. September 3. — ^Paris placed in state of dege ; gov- ernment transferred to Bordeaux. 3. — ^Lemberg, Gallicia, occupied by Rus- sians. 4. — Germans occupy Rheims. 6-10.— Battle of Mame. Von Kluck is beaten by Gen. JofEre, and the German army retreats from Paris to the Soissons- Rheims Une. • 10. — Emden, German cruiser, carries out raids in Bay of Bengal. l4. — French reoccupy Amiens and Rheims. 19. — British forces begin operations in Southwest Africa. 20. — ^Rheims cathedral shelled by Ger- mans. 24. — Allies occupy Peronne. 25. — Australians seize German New Guinea. 28. — ^Anglo-French forces invade Ger- man colony of Kamerun. 29. — ^Antwerp bombardment begins. October 2. — ^British Admiralty announces inten- tion to mine North Sea areas. 6.— Japan seizes Marshall Islands in Pacific. 9. — ^Antwerp surrenders to Germans. Government removed to Ostend. 13. — ^British occupy Ypres. 14. — Canadian Expeditionary Force of 32,000 men lands at Plymouth. 15. — Germans occupy Ostend. Belgian B^ government removed to Havre, France. November 23. — Japan at war -with Germany, gins attack on Tsingtau. 24. — Germans enter France near Lille. 25. — ^Austria at war with .Tapan. 1. — Monmouth and Good Mope, British 26. — Ijouvain sacked and burned by cruisers, are sunk by German squadron Germans. Viviani becofties premier of off Chile under command of Admiral Von France, Spee, 729 730 HISTORY OF THE^WORLD WAR 5. — Great Britain and France declare , war on Turkey. 5. — Cyprus annexed by Great Britain. 7. — German garrison of Tsingtau sur- renders to Japanese. 9. — Bmden, German cruiser, wMch had carried out raiding operations for two months, is destroyed hy Australian cruiser Sydney off the Cocos Islands, southwest of Java. 16. — Prohibition of sale of intoxicants in Russia enforced. 27. — Ozemowitz, capital of Bukowioa, captuied by £l;u9sig{is. December 2. — Belgrade occupied by Austrians. 3. — Cracow bombarded by Russians. 8. — OfE the Falkland Isles, British squadron under command of Rear- Admiral Stnrdee, sinks three of the German cruis- ers 'which had destroyed the Good Sope and Monmouth on Nov. 1. The Dresden escapes. 14. — ^Austrians evacuate Belgrade. 16. — German squadron bombards Har- tlepool, Scarborough and Whitby on east coast of England. 23. — Siege of Cracow raised. Eoesoana retire. 1915 January 24. — ^British fleet puts to flight fl Ger- man squadron in North Sea and sinks the battle cruiser BlUcher. 28. — American bark, William P. Frye, sunk by German cruiser in South Atlan- tic. February 10. — ^Russians defeated by Germans in Battle of Masurian Lakes. 18. — German submarine "blockade" of British Isles begins. 25. — ^Allied fleet destroys outer forts of Dardanelles. March 2. — ^Allied troops land at Kum-Kale, on Asiatic side of Dardanelles. 10. — ^British take Neuve ChapeUe in ITlanders battle. 14. — Dresden, German raiding cruiser, is sunk by British squadron off the Chilean coast. 22. — ^Austrian fortress of Przmysl sur- renders to Russians, April 22. — Poison gas first used by Germans in attack on Canadians at Ypres, Belgium. May 1.— American steamer GiilfligTit torpe- doed off Sdlly Isles by German subma- rine ; 3 lives lost. 2. — ^British South Africa troops under General Botha capture Otymbingue, Ger- man Southwest Africa. 7. — Germans capture Libau, Russian Baltic port. 7. — Lusitama, Ounard liner, sunk by German submarine off Ejusale Head, Irish coast, with loss of 11S2 lives ; 102 Americans. 23. — ^Italy declares war on Austria- Hungary and begins invasion on a 60- mile front. 24. — ^American steamer 'Nebraskiui tor- pedoed by German submarine off Irish coast, but reaches Liverpool in safety. 31. — German Zeppelina bombard sub- urbs of Loudon. June 1. — Germany apologizes for attack on Gulflight and offers reparation. 3. — ^Austrians recapture Przmysl. 3. — British forces operating on Tigris capture Kut-el-Amara. 4-6. — German aircraft bombs English towns. 7. — ^Bryan, XJ. S. Secretary of State, resigns. 15. — Allied aircraft bombs Karlsruhe, Baden, in retaliation. 22. — ^Lemberg recaptured by Austrians. 26. — Montenegrins enter Scutari, Al- bania. July 9. — German Southwest Africa surren- ders to British South African troops un- der Gen. Botha. 25. — ^Americaa steamer, Leelwnaw, Archangel to Belfast with flas, torpedoed off Scotland. 31. — Baden bombarded by French air- craft August ~ 5. — ^Warsaw captured br Germans. 6. — ^ivangorod occupied by Austrians. 6. — Gallipoli Peninsula campaign enters a second stage with the debarkation of a new force of British troops in Suvla Bay, on the west of the peninsula. 8. — ^Russians defeat German fleet of 9 battleships and 12 cruisers at entrance of Gulf of Riga. 19. — Arabic, White Star liner, sunk by submarine off Fastnet; 44 lives lost; 2 Americans. 25. — ^Brest-Litovsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austro-Germans. 28. — ^Italians reach Cima Cista, north- east of Trent. 30. — ^British submarine attacks Con- stantinople and damages the Galata Bridge. 31. — Lutsk, Russian fortress, captured by Austrians. September 2. — Grodno, Russian fortress, occupied by Germans, SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY 731 6.— Caat IRehdlas of Hussia assumes command of Russian armies. Grand Duke Nicholas is transferred to the Caucasus. 15. — Pinsk occupied by Germans. 18. — ^Vilna evacuated by Kussia. 24. — ^Lutsk recaptured by Russians. 25. — Allies open offensive on western front and occupy Lens. 27. — ^Lutsk again falls to Germans. October 5.— Gfeeoe becomes political storm cen- ter. Franco-British force lands at Salon- ika and Greek ministry resigns. 9. — ^Belgrade again occupied by Austro- Germans. 11. — Zaimis, new Greek premier, an- nounces poUey of armed neutrality. 12. — Edith CaveU, EngUsh nurse, shot by Germans for aiding British prisoners to escape from Belgium. 13. — ^London bombarded by Zeppelins; 55 persons killed ; 114 injured. 14. — Bulgaria at war with Serbia. 14. — Italians capture Pregasina, on the Trentino frontier. 15. — Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. 17. — ^France at war Tidth Bulgaria. 18. — Bulgarians cut the Nish-Salonika zaUroad at Vranja. 19. — Italy and Russia at war with Bulgaria. 22. — Uskub occupied by Bulgarians. 28. — Pirot captured by Bulgarians. 29. — Briand becomes premier of France, snoceeding ViviaJii, November 5.— Nish, Serbian war capital, captured by Bulgarians. 9. — Aneona, Italian liner, torpedoed in Mediterranean. 17. — Anglo-French war council holds first meeting in Paris. 20. — ^Novibazar occupied by German troOTis. 22. — Ctesiphon, near Bagdad, captured by British forces in Asia Minor, 23. — Italians drive Austrians from posi- tions on Carso Plateau. 24. — Serbian government transferred to Scutari, Albania . OfeSefnbep 1.— British Mesopotamian iotces retire to Kut-el-Amaua. 2. — ^Monastir evacuated by Serbians. 4. — Henry Ford, with large party of peace advocates, sails for Europe on char- tered steamer Oscar II, with the object of ending the war. 13. — Serbia in hands of enemy. Allied forces abandoning last positions and re- tiring across Greek frontier. 15. — Gen. Sir Douglas Haig succeeds Field Marshal Sir John French as Com- mander-in-Chief of British ^rces in France. 20. — ^Dardanelles expedition ends; Brit- ish troops begin withdrawal from posi- tions on Suvla Bay and Gallipoli Penin- Bula. 22. — ^Henry Ford leaves his peace party at ChrisUaiiia and returns to the Ifnited States< 1916 January 11^— C*ek Island of Corfu occupied by French. 13. — Cettinje, capital of Montenegro, occupied by Aiistrians. 23. — Scutari, Albania, taken by Aus- tiians. 29-31. — German Zeppelins bomb Paris and towns in England. February 1. — 'Appom, British liner, is brought Into Norfolk, Va., by German prize crew. 10. — British conscription law goes into efEect. 16. — Brzerum, in Turkish Armenia, captured by Russians under Grand Duke Nicholas. 19. — Kamerun, German colony m Africa, conquered by British forces. 21. — ^Battle of Verdun begins. Germans take Haumont. 25. — Fort Douaumont falls to Germans in Verdun battle. _ 27. — Durazzo, Albania, occupied by Austrians. MarcK 5. — Momee, German faidef, reaches home port aftef a cruise of several months. 9. — Germany declares war on Portugal on the latter's refusal to give up seized Bhips. 15. — ^Austria-Hungary at war with Portugal. 24. — Sussex, French cross-channel steam'" er, with many Americans aboard, sunk by submarine off Dieppe. No Americans lost. 31. — ^Melancourt taken by Germans in Verdun Battle. April 18.— Trebizond, Turkish Black Sea port, captured by Russians. 19. — ^President Wilson publicly warns Germany not to pursue submarine policy. 20. — ^Russian troops landed at Mar- seilles for service on French front. 24. — ^Irish rebellion begins in Dublin. Republic declared. Patrick Pearse an- nounced as first president. 29. — ^British force of 9000 men, under 732 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Gen. TownBhend, besieged in Kut-el- Amara, surrenders to Turks. 30. — ^Irish rebellion ends with uncondi- tional surrender of Pearse and other lead- ers, who are tried by court-martial and executed. May 8. — Cymric, White Star liner, torpe- doed oS Irish coast. 14. — ^Italian positions penetrated by Austriaus. 15. — ^Vimy Bidge gained by British. 26. — ^Bulgarians invade Greece and oc- cupy forts on the Struma. 31. — Jutland naval battle; British and German fleets engaged; heavy losses on both sides. June 5.— Kitchener, British Secretary of War, loses his life when the cruiser Bampshire, on which he was voyaging to Russia, is sunk oS the Orkney Islands, Scotland. 6. — Germans capture Fort Vaux in Verdun attack. 8. — ^Lutsk, Russian fortress, recaptured from Germans. 17. — Ozernowitz, capital of Bukowina, occupied b^ Russians. 21. — Allies demand Greek demobiliza- tion. 27. — ^King Constantino orders demobili- zation of Greek army. 28. — ^Italians storm Monte Trappola, in the Trentino district. July 1. — British and French attack north and south of the Somme. 9. — Deutschland, German submarine freight boat, lands at Baltimore, Md. 14. — ^British penetrate German second line, using cavalry. 15. — liongueval captured by British. 25. — ^Poziferes occupied by British. 30. — ^British and French advance be- tween DelviEe Wood and the Somme. August S. — French recapture Fleury, 9. — Italians enter Goritzia. 10. — Stanislau occupied by Russians. 25. — Kavala, Greek seaport town, taken by Bulgarians. 27. — Roumania declares war on Austria- Hungary. 28. — ^Italy at war with Germany. 28. — Germany at war with Roumania. 30. — ^Roumanians advance into Tran- sylvania. 31. — ^Bulgaria at war with Roumania. Turkey at war with Roumania. September 2.— Bulgarian forces invade Roumania along the Dobrudja frontier. 13. — ^Italians defeat Austrians on the Carso. 15. — ^British capture Flers, Couroelette, and other German positions on western front, using ' tanks.' 26. — Oombles and Thiepval captured by British and French. 29. — Roumanians begin retreat from Transylvania. October 24. — Fort Douaumont recaptured by French. November 1. — DeutschlandiQennsxi merchant sub- marine, arrives at New London, Conn., on second voyage. 2. — ^Fort Vaux evacuated by Germans. 7. — ^Woodrow WUson re-elected Presi- dent of the United States. 13. — ^British advance along the Ancre. 19. — ^Monastir evacuated by Bulgarians and Germansw 21. — Britanmo, mammoth British hos- pital ship, sunk by mine in Aegean Sea. 22. — ^Emperor Franz Josef of Austria- Hungary, dies. Succeeded by Charles I. 23. — German warships bombard Eng- lish coast. 28. — ^Roumanian government is trans- ferred to Jassy. 29. — Minneioaska, Atlantic transport liner, sunk by mine in Mediterranean. December 1. — ^Allied troops enter Athens to insist upon surrender of Greek arms and muni- tions. 6. — Bucharest, capital of Roumania, captured by Austro-Germans. 7. — David Lloyd George succeeds As- qnith as premier of England. 15. — French complete recapture of ground taken by Germans in Verdun battle. 18. — President Wilson makes peace overtures to belligerents. 26. — Germany replies to President's note and suggests a peace conference. 30. — French government on behalf of Entente Allies replies to President Wil- son's note and refuses to discuss peace till Germany agrees to give ' restitutioui reparation and guarantees.' 1917 January 22. — President Wilson suggests to the 1. — ^Turkey declares its independence of belligerents a ' peace without victory.' suzerainty of European powers. 1. — Ivernia, Cunard liner, is sunk in Mediterranean. 31. — Germany announces intention of sinking aU vessels in war zone around Britisb Isles, SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY 733 February 8.— United States severs diplomatic re- lations with Germany. Count Von Bern- Btorff is handed his passports. 7. — Oalifomia, Anchor liner, is sunk off Irish coast. 13. — Afrio, White Star liner, sunk by Euhmarine. 17. — ^British troops on the Ancre cap- ture German positions. 25. — Laoonia, Cunard liner, sunk o£C Irish coast. 26. — ^Kut-el-Amara recaptured from Turks by new British Mesopotamian ex- pedition under command of Gen. Sir Stan- ley Maude. 28. — ^United States government makes public a communication from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance, and offering as a reward the return of Mexico's lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Ari- zona. 28. — Submarine campaign of Germans results in the sinking of 134 vessels during February. March 3. — British advance on Bapaume. 3. — ^Mexico denies having received an ofEer from Germany suggesting an alli- ance. 8. — Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin dies. 10. — Bussian Czar suspends sittings of the Duma. 11. — ^Bagdad captured by British forces imder Gen. Maude. 11. — Revolutionary movement starts in Petrograd. 14. — China breaks with Germany. 15. — Czar Nicholas abdicates. Prince LvofC heads new cabinet. 17. — Bapaume falls to British. Roye and Lassigny occupied by French. 18. — ^Peronne, Chaulnes, Nesle and Noyon evacuated by Germans, who retire on an 85-mile front. 18. — City of Memphis, Illinois, and Vigilancia, American ships, torpedoed. 19. — Alexander Ribqt becomes French premier, succeeding Briand. 21. — Bealdton, Amerjcan ship, bound from Philadelphia to Rotterdam, sunk without warning ; 21 men lost. _ 26-31. — ^British advance on Cambrai. April 1.— J.a*eo, American armed ship, sunk in submarine zone. 5.-~—Mis80urian, American steamer, suns in Mediterranean. 6. — ^United States declares war on Germany. .^, 7. — Cuba and Panama at war wxtn Germany. 8. — ^Austria-Hungary breaks with Unit- ed States. . , -r. •,.• t. _ 9. Germans retreat before Bntish on long front. -^i. n 9.— Bolivia breaks with Germany. 13 ^Vimy, Givenchy, BaiUeul and posi- tioms" about Lens takenby OanadiMis. a).— Turkey breaka with United States. May 9. — ^Liberia breaks with Germany. 11. — Russian Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates demands peace conference. 15. — Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle as Commander-in-Chief of French armies. Gen. Foch is appointed Chief of Staff. 16. — ^Bullecourt captured by British in the Arras battles. 17. — ^Honduras breaks with Germany. 18. — Conscription biU signed by Presi- dent Wilson. 19. — ^Nicaragua breaks with Germany. 22-26. — ^Italians advance on the Carso. June 4. — Senator Root arrives in Russia at head of commission appointed by Presi- dent. 5. — ^Registration day for new draft army in United States. 7. — Messines-Wytschaete ridge in Eng- lish hands. 8. — Gen. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of American expeditionary force, arrives in England en route to France. 18. — ^Haiti breaks with Germany. July 1. — Russians begin offensive in Gallicia, Kerensky, minister of war, leading in person. 3. — American expeditionary force ar- rives in France. 6. — Canadian House of Commons passes Compulsory Military Service BiU. 12. — ^King Constantine of Greece abdi- cates in favor of his second son, Alex- ander. 14. — Bethmann-Hollweg, German Chan- cellor, resigns; succeeded by Dr. Georg Michaelis. 16-23. — Retreat of Russians on a front of 155 miles. 20. — ^Alexander Kerensky becomes Rus- sian premier, succeeding LvoS. 20. — Drawing of draft numbers for American conscript army begins. 22. — Siam at war vrith Germany and Austria. 24. — ^Austro-Germans retake Stanislau. 31. — Franco-British attack penetrates German lines on a 20-inile front. August 1.— -Pope Benedict XY makes i>lea for peace on a basis of no annexation, no indemnity. 3. — Czemowitz captured by Austro- Germans. 7. — Liberia at war with Germany. 8. — Canadian Conscription Bill passes its third reading in Senate. 14. — China at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. 15. — St. Quentin Cathedra] destroyed by Germans. 15. — Canadian troops capture Hill 70b dominating Lens. 734 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 19. — Italians cross the Isonzo and take AuBtrian positions. 28. — Pope Benedict's peace plea rejected by President Wilson. September 3, — ^Riga captured by Germans, 5. — ^New American National Army be- gins to assemble in the different canton- ments. 7. — Minnehaha, Atlantic Transport lin- er, sunk off Irish coast. 12. — Argentine dismisses Von Luxburg, German minister, on charges of improper conduct made public by United States government. 14. — Paul Painlev4 becomes French premier, succeeding Ribot* 16. — ^Russia proclaimed a republic by Kerensky. 20. — Oosta Rica breaks with Germany. 21. — Gen. Tasker H. BUss named Chief of Staff of the United States Army, 25. — Guyaemer, famous French flier, kiUed. 26. — ^Zonnebeke, Polygon Wood and Tower Hamlets, east of Ypres, taken by British. 28. — William D. Haywood, secretary, and 100 members of the Industrial Work- ers of the World arrested for sedition. 29. — ^Turkish Mesopotamian army, un- der Ahmed Bey, captured by British, October 6. — Peru and Uruguay brealc with Ger- many, 9. — ^Poelcapelle and other German posi- tions captured in Franco-British attack. 12-16. — Oesel and Dago, Russian islands in Gulf of Riga, captured by Germans, 17. — Antilles, American transport, west- bound from France, sunk by submarine; 67 lost, 18.— Moon Island, in the Gulf of Riga, taken by Germans, 23. — ^American troops in France fire their first shot in trench warfare, 23. — ^French advance northeast of Sois- sons. 24. — Austro-Germans begin great of- fensive on Italian positions. 25. — ^Italians retreat across the Isonzo and evacuate the Baiusizza Plateau. 26. — ^Brazil at war with Germany, 27, — Goritzia recaptured by Austro^ Germans. 30. — ^Michaelis, German Chancellor, re- signs; succeeded by Count George E. von Hertling. 31. — ^Italians retreat to the TagUa^. men to. 31. — Beersheba, in Palestine, pccupied by British. November 1. — Germans abandon positioti on Chemin des Dames, 3. — Americans la trenches suffer 20 casualties in German attacks. 5. — ^Italians abandon TagUamento line and retire on a 93-mile front in the Camio Alps, 6. — Passchendaela captured by Cana- dians. 6. — ^British Mesopotamian forces reach Tekrit, 100 miles northwest of Bagdad. 7. — ^The Russian Bolshevik!, led by Le- nine and Trotzsky, seize Petrograd and depose Kerensky. 8. — Gen. Diaz succeeds Gen, Oadorna; as Commander-in-Chief of Italian armies, 9. — ^Italians retreat to the Piave. _ 10. — ^Lenine becomes Premier of Rus- sia, succeeding Kerensky. 15. — Georges Clemenceau becomes Pre- mier of France, succeeding PainlevS. 18. — ^Major General Maude, captor of Bagdad, dies in Mesopotamia. 21. — ^Ribecourt, FlesquiJres, Havrin- court, Marcoing and other German posi- tions captured by British» 23. — Italians repulse Germans on the whole front from the Afiiago Plateau to the Brenta River. 24. — Cambrai menaced by British, who approach within three miles, capturing Bourlon Wood, December 1. — German East Africa feported com- pletely conguered. 1. — Allies' Supreme War Council, rep- resenting the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy, holds first meet- ing at Versailles. 3. — Russian BolshevikI arrange armi- stice with Germans. 5. — ^British retire from Bourlon Wood, Graincourt and other positions west or Cambrai. 6. — Jacob Jones, American destroyer, sunk by submarine in European waters. 6. — Steamer Mont Blwno, loaded with munitions, explodes in collision with the Imo in Halifax barbor ; 1500 persoos are killed. 7. — ^Finland declares independence, 8. — Jerusalem, held by the Turks for 673 years, surrenders to British, under Gen. AUenby. 8. — ^Ecuador breaks with Germany. 10. — Panama at war with Austria- Hungary. 11. — ^United States at war with Austria< Hungary. 15. — ^Armistice signed between Germany and Russia at Brest-Litovsk. 17. — Coalition government of Sir Rob- ert Borden is returned and coojicription confirmed in Canada. SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY 735 1918 January 14.— Premier Clemenceau orders arrest of toi-mer Premier Caillaux ou high trea- son charge. 19. — ^American troops take over sector northwest of Toul. 29. — Italians capture Monte di val Belle. February I. — Argentine Minister of War recalls mihtary attaches from Berlin and Vienna. 6. — Tiiscania, American transport, tor- pedoed ofE coast of Ireland ; 101 lost. 22. — American troops in Chemin des Dames sector. 26. — ^British hospital ship, Glenart Cas- tle, torpedoed. 27. — Japan proposes joint military op- erations with Allies in Siberia. March 1. — Americans gain signal victory in aalient north of Toul. 3. — Peace treaty between Bolshevik government of Russia and the Central Powers signed at Brest-Litovsk. 4. — Treaty signed between Germany and Finland. _ 5. — Rumania signs preliminary treaty of peace with Central Powers. 9. — Russian capital moved from Petro- grad to Moscow. 14. — Russo-German peace treaty rati- fied by All-Russian Congress of Soviets at Moscow. 20. — ^President Wilson orders aU Hol- land ships in American ports taken over. 21. — Germans begin great drive on 50- mile front from Arras to La Tere. Bom- bardment of Paris by German long-range gun from a distance of 76 miles. 24. — ^Peronne, Ham and Chauny evaeu- ajed by Allies. 25. — Bapaume and Nesle occupied by Germans. 29. — General Foeh chosen Commander- in-Chief of all Allied forces. April 5. — Japanese forces lauded at Vladi- vostok. 9. — Second German drive begun in Kanders. 10. — ^First German drive halted before Amiens after maximum advance of 35 miles. 14. — ^TTnited States Senator Stone, of Missouri, chairman of Committee on For- eign Relations, dies. 15. — Second German drive halted before Tpres, after maximum advance of 10 m&es. 16. — Bolo Pasha, Levantine resident in Paris, executed for treason. 21. — Guatemala at war with Germany. 22.— Baron Von Richthofen, premier German filer, killed, . 23. — British naval forces raid Zeebrugge in Belgium, German submarine base, and block channel. May 7. — ^Nicaragua at war with Germany and her allies. 19. — Major Raoul Lufberry, famous American aviator, killed. 24. — Costa Rica at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary. 27. — ^Third German drive begins on Aisne-Marne front of 30 miles between Soissons and Rheims. 28. — Germans sweep on beyond the Chemin des Dames and cross the Vesle at Fismes. 28. — Cantigny taken by Americans in local attack. 29. — Soissons evacuated by French. 31. — Marne River crossed by Germans, who reach Chateau Thierry, 40 miles from Paris. _ 31. — President Lincoln, American trans- port, sunk. June 2. — Schooner Edward S. Cole torpe- doed by submarine off American coast. 3-6. — American marines and regulars check advance of Germans at Chateau Thierry and Neuilly after maximum ad- vance of Germans of 32 miles. Beginning of American co-operation on major scale. 9-14. — German drive on Noyon-Mont- didier front. Maximum advance, 5 miles. 15-24. — ^Austrian drive on Italian front ends in complete failure. 30. — American troops in France, in aU departments of service, number 1,019,115. July 1. — ^Vaux taken by Americaas. 3. — Mohammed V, Sultan of Turkey, dies. 10. — Czeeho-Slovaks, aided by AlKea, take control of a long stretch of the Trans-Siberian Railway. 12. — ^Berat, Austrian base in Al{>ania, captured by Italians- 15. — ^Haiti at war with Germany. 15. — Stonewall defense of CMtean Thierry blocks new German drive on Paris. 16. — ^Nicholas Romanoff, ex-Czar of Russia, executed at Tekaterinburg. 17. — ^Lieut. Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of ex-President Roosevelt, killed in aerial battle near Chateau Thierry. 18. — ^French and Americans begin coun- ter offensive on Mame-Aisne fronti 19. — :8an Diego, United States cruiser, sunk off Fire Island. 20. — Qarpathia, Cunard liner, used as transport, torpedoed off Irish coast. It was the Oarpathia that saved most of the survivors of the Titanio in April, 1912. 20. — ■/itsHcio, giant liner used 93 troop- ship, is sunk off Irish coast. 736 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 21. — German submarine sinks three barges o£E Oape God. 23. — ^French take Oulehy-le-OMteau and drive the Germans back ten miles be- tween the Aisne and the Marne. 30. — Allies astride the Ourcq; Ger- mans in full retreat to the Yesle. August 1. — Sergeant Joyce Kilmer, American f>oet and critic, aged 31, dies in battle. 2, — French troops recapture Soissons. 3. — ^President Wilson announces new I)olicy regarding Russia and agrees to co- operate with Great Britain, France and Japan in sending forces to Murmansk, Archangel and Vladivostok. 3. — ^Allies sweep on between Soissons and Bheims, driving the enemy from his base at Fismes and capturing the entire Aisne-Vesle front. 7. — ^Franco-American troops cross the Vesle. 8. — ^New Allied drive begun by Field- Marshal Haig in Picardy, penetrating enemy front 14 miles. 10. — Montdidier recaptured. 13. — Lassigny massif taken by French'. 15. — Canadians capture Damery and Parvillers, northwest of Roye. 29. — Noyon and Bapaume fall in new Allied advance. September 1. — Australians take Peronne. 1. — ^Americans fight for the first time on Belgian soil and capture Voormezeele. 11. — Germans are driven back to the Hindenburg line which they held in No- vember, 1917. 12. — Registration day for new draft army of men between IS and 45 in the United States. 13. — Americans begin vigorous ofEense in St. Mihiel Sector on 40-mile front. 14. — St. Hihiel recaptured from Ger- mans. General Pershing announces en- tire St. Mihiel salient erased, liberating more than 150 square miles of French ter- ritory which had been in German hands fiince 1914. 20. — ^Nazareth occuped by British forces in Palestine under Gen. Allenby. 23. — ^Bulgarian armies flee before com- bined attacks of British, Greek, Serbian, Italian and French. 25. — ^British take 40,000 prisoners in Palestine ofiensive. 26. — Strumnitza, Bulgaria, occupied by Allies. 27. — ^Franco-Americans in drive from Bheims to Verdun take 30,000 prisoners. 28. — ^Belgians attack enemy from Ypres to North Sea, gaining four miles. 29. — ^Bulgaria surrenders to General d'Bsperey, the Allied commander. 30. — ^British-Belgian advance reaches fioulers. October 1. — St, Quentin, cornerstone of Hinden- burg line, captured. 1. — Damascus occupied by British in Palestine campaign. 2. — ^Lens evacuated by Germans. 3. — Albania cleared of Austrians by Italians. 4. — ^Ferdinand, king of Bulgaria, abdi- cates; Boris succeeds. 5. — Prince Maximilian, new German Chancellor, pleads with President Wilson to ask Alhes for armistice. 7. — ^Berry-au-Bae taken by French. 8. — ^President Wilson asks whether German Chancellor speaks for people or war lords. 9. — Cambrai in Allied hands. 10. — Leinster, passenger steamer, sunk in Irish Channel by submarine ; 480 lives lost : final German atrocity at sea. 11. — Americans advance through Ar- gonne forest. 12. — German foreign secretary, Solf, says plea for armistice is made in name of German people ; agrees to evacuate all foreign soil. 12. — ^Nish, in Serbia, occupied by Allies. 13. — ^IJaon and La F^re abandoned by Germans. 13. — Grandpr4 captured by Americans after four days' battle. 14. — ^President Wilson refers Germans to General Foch for armistice terms. 16. — ^Lille entered by British patrols. 17. — Ostend, German submarine base, taken by land and sea forces. 17. — Douai falls to Allies. 19. — Bruges and Zeebrugge taken by Belgians and British. 25. — ^Beginning of terrific Italian drive which nets 50,000 prisoners in five days, 31. — Turkey surrenders ; armistice takes effect at noon ; conditions include free passage of Dardanelles. November 1. — C16ry-le-Grand captured by Ameri- can troops of First Army. 3. — ^Americans sweep ahead on 50-mile front above Verdun ; enemy in f uU retreat. 3. — Official reports announce capture of 362,350 Germans since July 15. 3. — ^Austria surrenders, signing armi- stice with Italy at 3 P. M. after 500,000 prisoners had been taken. 4. — ^Americans advance beyond Stenay and strike at Sedan. 7. — ^American Rainbow Division and parts of First Division enter suburbs of Sedan. 8. — ^Heights south of Sedan seized by Americans. 9. — Maubeuge captured by Allies. 10. — Canadians take Mons in irresist- ible advance. 11. — Germany surrenders ; armistice takes effect at 11 a. m. Ainerican flag hoisted on Sedan front. CHAPTER LXi The Treaty of Peace and the League of Nations OUT of the blood and the havoc of the Great War came the noblest fruition of hiunanitarian thought and effort that the world has ever known. It came in the form of a League of Nations and a Peace Treaty transcending ia international importance every compact since the dawn of time. Into it entered the members of the conquered Teutonic Alliance on the one side and on the other side were arrayed the five principal powers with general interests; the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan comprising the Supreme Council, and a Plenary Council composed of representatives of twenty-three powers that had either formally declared war against or were in a state of diplomatic rupture with the Teutonic Alliance. Idealism and materialism fought for mastery in that world- shaking and world-shaping congress of the victor nations. While the civilized world looked on, masters of diplomacy and leaders bearing the aspirations of entire nations waged a battle of philos- ophies, a conflict more portentous to the futtu-e of the world than any struggles upon a blood-drenched field. To it the United States sent its chosen leader. President Woodrow Wilson, and a delegation that fairly matched the great diplomats sent by the European nations. France furnished the President of the great congress in Georges Clemenceau, the French Premier, whose burning patriotism and amazing vigor despite his great age caused him to be known as the Tiger. Premiers Lloyd George of Great Britain, Orlando of Italy and Saionji of Japan rounded out the group that, for the most part, conferred in executive session upon the major problems confronting the League of Nations and the Peace Congress. When President Wilson was absent, the United States was represented by Robert Lansing, Secretary of State. Five problems, each presenting grave complications, were pre- sented in the course of the peace conference. These were: the objections to the original draft of the League of Nations — these 47 737 738 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Peoblems of Peace Map of Europe, with different shadings to indicate the claims of the various nations represented at the peace conference THE TREATY OF PEACE 739 w&e raised in the Congress of the United States and throughout America generally; the claims of France to the rich Valley of the Saar; Poland's demand for the port of Danzig as its nmritime outlet; Italy's dramatic and insistent demand for the port of Fiume which had previously been assigned to the Jugo Slavs of Croatia; Japan's claim for equality of treatment for persons of every race and color in all the nations entering into the Treaty of Peace. Preadent Wilson established a precedent when he journeyed outside of the United States during his term of office to participate as one of the del^ates in the Peace Confess. Events justified his action. No person in that epoch-making conference contributed so greatly to its conclusions. No delegate had so great a power in reshaping the map of the world or in extending the ideals of justice and true democracy. Mrs. Wilson accompanied him and shared the ovations received in Paris, London and Rome. The Peace Congress held its first session in Paris January 18, 1919. The United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan had five del^ates apiece. Brazil, Belgiiun, Serbia, each had three representative. Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, China, Greece, the Kingdom of the Hedjaz, Poland, the Czecho- slovak Republic, Portugal and Roumania, each had two del^ates. Slam, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, New Zealand, and Montenegro had one delegate apiece. The environment of the session was in keeping with the importance of the proceedings. A statue of Peace cast in heroic proportions dominated the magnificent reception room in which the Congress sat. The work-table was in the form of a great horse- shoe with seats for sixty members. A council room for sessions of committees and members of the Plenary Coimcil and a state dining room in which members continued their discussions while at limcheon and dinner completed the state suite. Two visits were made by the President to Europe during the discussion of the Peace Treaty, the necessity of appearing in Wash- ington in connection with the expiration of one congressional session and the opening of another session bringing him back to America. During his absence from the country, he was kept in daily touch with administration routine by cable and wireless. The German delegates were handed the Treaty in the Hall of' 740 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Mirrors at Versailles on May 7th and it was signed June 28tli. A separate treaty was made between the United States and France in which American aid was pledged to France in the event of unprovoked aggression by Germany. This was presented to the American Congress by President Wilson following his presentation of the Peace Treaty. Following is the text of the essential features of the Peace Treaty concluded between the AUies and Germany: Conditions of Peace The United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, These Powers being described in the present Treaty as the Prmcipal Allied and Associated Powers, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, the Serb-Croat and Slovene State, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia and Uruguay, These Powers constituting with the Principal Powers mentioned above, the Allied and Associated Powers, of the one part; And Germany. of the other part; Bearing in mind that on the request of the Imperial German Government an armistice was granted on November 11, 1918, to Germany by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in order that a Treaty of Peace might be concluded with her, and The Allied and Associated Powers being equally desirous that the war in which they were successively involved directly or indirectly and which originated in the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on July 28, 1914, against Serbia, the declara- tion of war by Germany against Russia on August 1, 1914, and against France on August 3, 1914, and in the invasion of Belgium, should be replaced by a firm, just and durable peace. For this purpose the High Contracting Parties represented as follows: The President of the United States of America, by: The Honourable Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, acting in his own name and by his own proper authority; The Honourable Robert Lansing, Secretary of State; The Honourable Henry White, formerly Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States at Rome and Paris; The Honourable Edward M. House; General Tasker H. BKss, Military Representative of the United States on the Supreme War Council; His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, by: The Right Honourable David Lloyd George, M. P., First Lord of His Treasury and Prime Minister; The Right Honourable Andrew Bonar Law, M. P., His Lord Privy Seal; The Right Honourable Viscount Milner, G. C. B., G. C. M. G., His Secretary of State for the Colonies; The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour, O. M., M. P., His Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; The Right Honourable George NicoU Barnes, M. P., Minister without portfolio; ' And for the Dominion of Canada, by: The Honourable Charles Joseph Doherty, Minister of Justice; The Honourable Arthur Lewis Sifton, Minister of Customs; for the Commonwealth of Australia, by: The Right Honourable William Morris Hughes, Attorney General and Prime Minister; THE TREATY OF PEACE 741 The Bight Honourable Sir Joseph Cook, G. C. M. G., Minister for the Navy; for the Union of South Africa, by: General the Right Honourable Louis Botha, Minister of Native Afiairs and Prime _ Minister; Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Jan Christiaan. Smuts, K. C, Minister of Defence; for the Dominion of New Zealand, by: The Right Honourable W. F. Massey, Minister of Labour and Prime Minister; for India, by: The Right Honourable Edwin Samuel Montagu, M. P., His Secretary of State for India; Major General His Highness Maharaja Sir Ganga Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Bikaner, G. C. S. I., G. C. I. E., G. C. V. O., K. C. B., A. D. C; The President of the French Republic, by : Mr. Georges Clemenceau, President of the Council, Minister of War; Mr. Stephen Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr. L.-L. Klotz, Minister of Finance; Mr. Andrfi Tardieu, Commissary General for Franco-American Military Affairs; Mr. Jules Cambon, Ambassador of France. His Majesty the King of Italy, by: Baron S. Sonnino, Deputy; Marquis G. ImperiaU, Ambassador of His Majesty the King of Italy at London; Mr. S. Crespi, Deputy; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan by: Marquis Saionzi, formerly President of the Council of Ministers; Baron Makino, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs, Member of the Diplomatic Council; Viscount Chinda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H. M. the Emperor of Japan at London; Mr. K. Matsui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H. M. the Emperor of Japan at Paris; Mr. H. Ijuin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H. M. the Emperor of Japan at Rome; His Majesty the King of the Belgians, by: Mr. Paul Hymans, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State; Mr. Jules van den Heuvel, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of H. M. the King of the Belgians, Minister of State; Mr. Emile Vandervelde, Minister of Justice, Minister of State; The President of the Republic of Bolivia, by: Mr. Ismael Montes, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of BoUvia at Paris; The President of the Republic of Brazil, by: Mr. Pandid. Calogeras, Deputy, formerly Minister of Finance; Mr. Raul Fernandes; Mr. Rodrigo Octavio de L. Menezes, Professor of International Law, of Rio de Janeiro; The President of the Chinese Republic, by: Mr. Lou Tseng-Tsiang, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Chengting Thomas Wang, formerly Minister of Agriculture and Commerce; The President of the Cuban Republic, by: Mr. Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante, Dean of the Faculty of Law in the Uni- versity of Havana, President of the Cuban Society of International Law; The President of the Republic of Ecuador, by: Mr. Enrique Dorn y de Alsua, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Ecuador at Paris: His Majesty the King of the Hellenes, by: Mr. Eleftherios Veniselos, President of the Council of Ministers; Mr. Nicolas Politis, Minister for Foreign Affairs; The President of the Republic of Guatemala, by: Mr. Joaquin Mendez, formerly Minister of State for Public Works and Public Instruction; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Guatemala at Washington, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on special mission at Paris; 742 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The President of the Republic of Haiti, by: Mr. TertuUien Guilbaud, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Haiti at Paris; His Majesty the King of the Hedjaz, by: Mr. Rustem HaJdar; Mr. Abdul Hadi Aouni; The President of the RepubUc of Honduras, by: Dr. Pohcarpe Bonilla, on special mission to Washington, formerly President of the Republic of Honduras, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; The President of the Republic of Liberia, by: The Honourable Charles Dunbar Burgess King, Secretary of State; The President of the Repubhc of Nicaragua, by: Mr. Salvador Chamorro, President of the Chamber of Deputies; The President of the R,epubUc of Panama, by: Mr. Antonio Burgos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Panama at Madrid; The President of the Republic of Peru, by: Mr. Carlos G. Candamo, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Peru at Paiis; The President of the Pohsh Republic, by: Mr. Ignace J. Paderewski, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Roman Dmowski, President of the Pohsh National Committee; The President of the Portuguese Republic, by: Dr. Alfonso da Costa, formerly President of the Council of Ministers; Mr. Augusto Soares, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs; His Majesty the King of Roumania, by: Mr. Ion I. C. Bratiano, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs; ^"■^ General Constantin Coanda, Corps Commander, A. D. C. to the King, formerly President of the Council of Ministers; His Majesty the King of the Serbs, the Croats, and the Slovenes, by: Mr. N. P. Pachitch, formerly President of the Council of Ministers; Mr. Ante Trumbic, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Milenko R. Vesnitch, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of H. M. the King of the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes at Paris; His Majesty the King of Siam, by: His Highness Prince Charoon, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of H. M. the King of Siam at Paris; His Serene Highness Prince Traidos Prabandhu, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; The President of the Czecho-Slovak RepubUc, by: Mr. Charles Kramar, President of the Council of Ministers; Mr. Edouard Benes, Minister for Foreign Affairs; The President of the Republic of Uruguay, by: Mr. Juan Antonio Buero, Minister for Foreign Affairs, formerly Minister of Industry; Germany, by: Mr. Herman Mueller, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Empire; Dr. Johannes Bell, Minister of the Empire; Acting in the name of the German Empire and of each and every component State, Who having communicated their full powers found in good and due form have agreed as follows: From the coming into force of the present Treaty the state of war will terminate. From that moment and subject to the provisions of this Treaty official relations with Germany, and with any of the German States, will be resumed by the Allied and Associated Powers. THE TREATY OF PEACE 743 PART I Thb Covenant of the League of Nations The High Contracting Parties, In order to promote international co-operation and to achieve inter- national peace and security by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war, by the prescription of open, just and honourable relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another, Agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations. ARTICLE I. The original members of the League of Nations shall be those of the signatories which are named in the annex to this covenant and also such of those other states named in the annex as shall accede without reservation to this covenant. Such accessions shall be effected by a declaration deposited with the secretariat within two months of the coming into force of the covenant. Notice thereof shall be sent to all other members of the League. Any fully self-governing state, dominion or colony not named in the annex, may become a member of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the Assembly, provided that it shall give effective guar- antees of its sincere intention to observe its international obUgations, and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its miUtary and naval forces and armaments. Any member of the League may, after two years' notice of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League, provideid that all its inter- national obligations and all its obligations under this covenant shall have been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal. ARTICLE II. The action of the League under this covenant shall be effected through the instrumentality of an assembly and of a council, with a permanent secretariat. ARTICLE III. The Assembly shall consist of representatives of the members of the League. The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals and from time to time as occasion may require, at the seat of the League, or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Assembly may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world. At meetings of the Assembly, each member of the League shall have one vote, and may have not more than three representatives. 744 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ARTICLE IV. The Council shall consist of representatives of the United States of America, of the British Empire, of France, of Italy, and of Japan, together with representatives of four other members of the League. These four members of the League shall be selected by the Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until the appointment of the representatives of the four members of the League first selected by the Assembly, representatives of Belgiirai, Brazil, Greece and Spain shall be members of the Council. With the approval of the majority of the Assembly, the Council may name additional members of the League whose representatives shall always be members of the Council, the Council with like approval may increase the number of members of the League to be selected by the Assembly for representation on the Council. The Council shall meet from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once a year, at the seat of the League, or at such other place as may be decided upon. The Council may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world. Any member of the League not represented on the Council shall be invited to send a representative to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council during the consideration of matters specially affecting the interests of that member of the League. At meetings of the Council, each member of the League repre- sented on the Council shall have one vote, and may have not more than one representative. ARTICLE V. Except where otherwise expressly provided in this covenant, or by the terms of this treaty, decisions at any meeting of the Assembly or of the Council shall require the agreement of aU the mem- bers of the League represented at the meeting. All matters of procedure at meetings of the Assembly or the Council, including the appointment of committees to investigate particular mat- ters, shall be regulated by the Assembly or by the Council and may be decided by a majority of the members of the League represented at the meeting. The first meeting of the Assembly and the first meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the President of the United States of America. ARTICLE VI. The permanent secretariat shall be established at the seat of the League. The secretariat shall comprise a secretariat- general and such secretaries and staff as may be required. The first secretary-general shall be the person named in the annex, thereafter the secretary-general shall be appointed by the Council with the approval of the majority of the Assembly. The secretaries and the staff of the secretariat shall be appointed by the secretary-general with the approval of the Council. The secretary-general shall act in that capacity at all meetings of the Assembly and of the Council. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 745 The expenses of the secretariat shall be borne by the members of the League in accordance with the apportiorurent of the expenses of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union. ARTICLE VII. The seat of the League is estabhshed at Geneva. The Council may at any time decide that the seat of the League shall be estabhshed elsewhere. All positions under or in connection with the League, including the secretariat, shall be open equally to men; and women. Representatives of the members of the League and officials of the League when engaged on the business of the League shall enjoy diplo- matic privileges and immunities. The buildings and other property occupied by the League or its officials or by representatives attending its meetings shall be inviolable. ARTICLE VIII. The members of the League recognize that the maintenance of peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations. The Council, taking account of the geographical situation and circumstances of each state, shall formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of the several governments. Such plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years. After these plans shall have been adopted by the several govern- ments, limits of armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence of the Coimcil. The members of the League agree that the manufacture Iqr private enterprise of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manu- facture can be prevented, due regard being had to the necessities of those members of the League which are not able to manufacture the munitions and implements of war necessary for their safety. The members of the League undertake to interchange fuU and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their military and naval programmes and the condition of such of their industries as are adaptable to warlike purposes. ARTICLE IX. A permanent commission shall be constituted to advise the Council on the execution of the provisions of Articles I and VIII and on mihtary and naval questions generally. ARTICLE X. The members of the League imdertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing poHtical independence of all members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression, the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obhgation shall be fulfilled. ARTICLE XI. Any war or threat of war, whether immediately affecting any of the members of the League or not, is hereby declared 746 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR a matter of concern to the whole League, and the League shall take any action that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations. In case any such emergency should arise, the secretary-general shall, on the request of any member of the League, forthwith summon a meeting of the Council. It is also declared to be the fundamental right of each member of the League to bring to the attention of the Assembly or of the Coimcil any circumstance whatever affecting international relations which threatens to disturb either the peace or the good understanding between nations upon which peace depends. ARTICLE XII. The members of the League agree that if there should arise between them any dispute hkely to lead to a rupture, they will submit the matter either to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and they agree in no case to resort to war until three months after the award by the arbitrators or the report by the Council. In any case under this article the award of the arbitrators shall be made within a reasonable time, and the report, 9f the Council shall be made within six months after the submission of tlie dispute. ARTICLE XIII. The members of the League agree that whenever any dispute shaU arise between them which they recognize to be suitable for submission to arbitration and which caimot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, they will submit the whole subject-matter to arbitration. Disputes as to the interpretation of a treaty, as to any question of inter- national law, as to the existence of any fact which if estabhshed would constitute a breach of any international obligation, or as to the extent and nature of the reparation to be made for any such breach, are declared to be among those which are generally suitable for submission to arbitra- tion. For the consideration of any such dispute the court of arbitration to which the case is referred shaU be the court agreed upon by the parties to the dispute or stipulated in any convention existing between them. The members of the League agree that they wUl carry out in full good faith any award that may be rendered and that they will not resort to war against a member of the League which complies therewith. In the event of any failure to carry out such an award, the Council shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto. ARTICLE XIV. The Council shall formulate and submit to the members of the League for adoption plans for the establishment of a permanent Court of International Justice. The Comrt shall be com- petent to hear and determine any dispute of an international character which the parties thereto submit to it. The Court may also give an advisory opinion upon any dispute or question referred to it by the Council or by the Assembly. ARTICLE XV. If there should arise between members of the League any dispute Hkely to lead to a rupture, which is not submitted to arbitration as above, the members of the League agree that they will submit the matter to the Council. Any party to the dispute may effect THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 747 guch submission by giving notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary-General, who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and consideration thereof. For this purpose the parties to the dispute will communicate to the Secretary-General, as promptly as possible, statements of their case, with all the relevant facts and papers, and the Council may forthwith direct the pubUcation thereof. The Coimcil shall endeavor to effect a settlement of any dispute, and if such efforts are successful, a statement shall be made public giving such facts and explanations regarding the dispute, terms of settlement thereof, as the Council may deem appropriate. If the dispute is not thus settled, the Council either unanimously or by a majority vote shall make and pubUsh a report containing a state- ment of the facts of the dispute and the recommendations which are deemed just and proper in regard thereto. Any member of the League represented on the Coimcil may make public a statement of the facts of the dispute and of its conclusions regarding the same. If a report by the Council is unanimously agreed to by the members thereof other than the representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute, the members of the League agree that they will not go to war with any party to the dispute which comphes with the recommendations of the report. If the Council fails to reach a report which is unanimously agreed to by the members thereof other than the representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute, the members of the League reserve to them- selves the right to take such action as they shall consider necessary for the maintenance of right and justice. If the dispute between the parties is claimed by one of them, and is found by the council to arise out of a matter which by international law is solely within the domestic jmrisdiction of that party, the Council shall so report, and shall make no rec ommendation as to its settlement. The Council may in any case under this article refer the dispute to the Assembly. The dispute shall be so referred at the request of either party to the dispute, provided that such request be made within fourteen days after the submission of the dispute to the Council. In any case referred to the Assembly aU the provisions of this article and of article XII relating to the action and powers of the Council shall apply to the action and powers of the Assembly, provided that a report made by the Assembly, if concurred in by the representatives of those members of the League represented on the Council and of a majority of the other members of ihe League, exclusive in each case of the repre- sentatives of the parties to the dispute, shall have the same force as a report by the Council concurred in by all the members thereof other than the representatives of one or more of the parties to the dispute. ARTICLE XVI. Should any member of the League resort to war in disregard of its covenants under Articles XII, XIII, or XV, it shall 748 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ipso facto be deemed to have committed an act of war against all other members of the League, which hereby undertake immediately to subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all intercourse between their nationals and the nationals of the covenant- breaking state and the prevention of all financial, commercial, or personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breaking state and the nationals of any other state, whether a member of the League or not. It shall be the duty of the Council in such case to recommend to the several governments concerned what effective military or naval forces the members of the League shall severally contribute to the armaments of forces to be used to protect the covenants of the League. The members of the League agree, further, that they will mutually support one another in the financial and economic measures which are taken under this article, in order to minimize the loss and inconveni- ence resulting from the above measures, and that they will mutually support one another in resisting any special measures aimed at one of their number by the covenant-breaking state, and that they will take the necessary steps to afford passage through their territory to the forces of any of the members of the League which are co-operating to protect the covenants of the League. Any member of the League which has violated any covenant of the League may be declared to be no longer a member of the League by a vote of the Council concurred in by the representatives of all the members of the League represented thereon. ARTICLE XVII. In the event of a dispute between a member of the League and a state which is not a member of the League, or between states not members of the League, the state or states not members of the League shall be invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Council may deem just. If such invitation is accepted, the provisions of Articles XII to XVI inclusive shall be applied with such modifications as may be deemed necessary by the Council. Upon such invitation being given, the Council shall immediately institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the dispute and recom- mend such action as may seem best and most effectual in the circum- stances. If a state so invited shall refuse to accept the obligations of mem- bership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, and shall resort to war against a member of the League, the provisions of Article XVI shall be applicable as against the state taking such action. If both parties to the dispute, when so invited, refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, the Council may take such measures and make such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will result in the settlement of the dispute. ARTICLE XVIII. Every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any member of the League shall be forth- THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 749 with registered with the secretariat and shall as soon as possible be pub- lished by it. No such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered. ARTICLE XIX. The Assembly may from time to time advise the reconsideration by members of the League of treaties which have become inapplicable, and the consideration of international conditions whose continuance might endanger the peace of the world. ARTICLE XX. The members of the League severally agree that this covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations or understandings inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly under- take that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. In case any member of the League shall, before becoming a member of the League, have undertaken any obUgations inconsistent with the terms of this covenant, it shall be the duty of such member to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obUgations. ARTICLE XXI. Nothing in this covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe Doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace. ARTICLE XXII. To those colonies and territories which as a con- sequence of the late war hsLve ceased to be under the sovereignty of the states which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well- being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this covenant. The best method of giving practicable effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples be entrusted to advanced nations who, by reasons of their resources, their experience or their geographical position, can best undertake this responsibihty, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as mandatories on behalf of the League. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic condition and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of adminis- trative advice and assistance by a mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a prin- cipal consideration in the selection of the mandatory. Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience or 750 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR religion subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic and the liquor traffic and the prevention of the estabhshment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of mihtary training of the nations for other than pohce purposes and the defense of territory and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other members of the League. There are territories, such as Southwest Africa and certain of the South Pacific islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population or their small size or their remoteness from the centres of civiUzation or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the mandatory and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the mandatory as integral portions of its territory subject to the safeguards above men- tioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of mandate, the mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised by the mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the members of the League, be expHeitly defined in each case by the Council. A permanent commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual report of the mandatories, and to advise the, Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates. ARTICLE XXIII. Subject to and in accordance with the provi- sions of international conventions existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the members of the League (A) will endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women and children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend, and for that purpose will establish and maintain the necessary international organizations, (B) undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants .of territories under their control, (C) wUl entrust the League with the general supervision over the execution of agreements with regard to the traffic in women and children, and the traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs, (D) will entrust the League with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest, (E) will make provision to secure and maintain freedom of communication and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all members of the League; in this con- nection the special necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918 shall be in mind, (F) will endeavor to take steps in matters of international concern for the prevention and control of disease. ARTICLE XXIV. There shall be placed under the direction of the League all international bureaus already established by general treaties if the parties to such treaties consent. All such international bureaus and all commissions for the regulation of matters of international interest hereafter constituted shall be placed under the direction of the League. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 751 In all matters of international interest which are regulated by general conventions but which are not placed under the control of international bureaus or conunission the secretariat of the League shall, subject to the consent of the Council and if desired by the parties, collect and dis- tribute all relevant mformation and shall render any other assistance which may be necessary" or desirable. The Council may include as part of the expenses of the secretariat the expenses of any bureau or commission which is placed under the direction of the League. ARTICLE XXV. The members of the League agree to encourage and promote the estabUshment and co-operation of duly authorized voluntary national Red Cross organizations having as purposes the im- provement of health, the prevention of disease and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world. ARTICLE XXVI. Amendments to this covenant will take effect when ratified by the members of the League whose representatives com- pose the Council and by a majority of the members of the League whose representatives compose the Assembly. No such amendment shall bind any member of the League which signifies its dissent therefrom, but in that case it shall cease to be a mem- ber of the League. Annex to the Covenant 1. Original members of the League of Nations. Signatories of the Treaty of Peace : United States of America, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British Empire, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, China, Cuba, Czecho-Slovakia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serb-Croat- Slovene State, Siam, Uruguay. States Invited to Accede to the Covenant: Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Venezuela. 2. First secretary-general of the League of Nations: Hon. Sir James Eric Drummond. PART II BOUNDAKIBS OF GERMANY ARTICLE 27. The boundaries of Germany will be determined as follows: 1. With Belgium: From the point common to the three frontiers of Belgium, Holland and Germany and in a southerly direction: the north-eastern boundary of the former territory of rmOral Moresnet, then the eastern bovmdary of the Kreis of Eupen, then the frontier between Belgium and the Kreis of Montjoie, then the north-eastern and eastern boundary of the Kreis of Malm^dy to its junction with the frontier of Luxemburg. 752 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR 2. With Luxemburg: The frontier of the 3rd August, 1914, to its junction with the frontier of France of the 18th July, 1870. 3. With France: The frontier of the 18th July, 1870, from Luxemburg to Switzerland with the reservations made in Article 48 of Section IV (Saar Basin) of Part III. 4. With Switzerland: The preseiit frontier. 5. With Austria: The frontier of the 3rd August, 1914, from Switzerland to Czecho-Slovakia as hereinafter defined. 6. With Czecho-Slovakia: The frontier of the 3rd August, 1914, between Germany and Austria from its junction with the old administrative boundary separating Bohemia and the province of Upper Austria to the point north of the salient of the old province of Austrian Silesia situated at about 8 kilometres east of Neustadt. 7. With Poland: From the point defined above to a point to be fixed on the gi'ound about 2 kilometres east of Lorzendorf : the frontier as it wiU be fixed in accordance with Article 88 of the present Treaty; thence in a northerly direction to the point where the administrative boimdary of Posnania crosses the river Bartsch: a line to be fixed on the ground leaving the following places in Poland: Skorischau, Reichthal, Trembatschau, Kunzendorf, Schleise, Gross Kosel, Schreibersdorf, Pippin, FurstKch-Niefken Pawelau, Tscheschen, Konradau, Johannisdorf, Modzenowe, Bogdaj, and in Germany: Lorzendorf, Kaulwitz, Glausche, Dabelsdorf, Reesewitz, Stradam, Gross Wartenberg, Kraschen, Neu Mittelwalde, Domaslawitz, Wedelsdorf, Tscheschen Hammer; thence the administrative boundary of Posnania north-westwards to the point where it cuts the Rawitsch-Herrnstadt railway; thence to the point where the administrative boundary of Posnania cuts the Reisen- Tschirnau road: a hne to be fixed on the ground passing west of Triebusch and Gabel and east of Saborwitz; thence the administrative boundary of Posnania to its jimction with the eastern administrative boundary of the Kreis of Fraustadt; thence in a north-westerly direction to a point to be chosen on the road between the villages of Unruhstadt and Kopnitz : a line to be fixed on the ground passing west of Geyersdorf, Brenno, Fehlen, Alt- kloster, Klebel, and east of Ulbersdorf, Buchwald, Ilgen, Weine, Lupitze, Schwenten; thence in a northerly direction to the northernmost point of Lake Chlop: a line to be fixed on the ground following the median line of the lakes; the town and the station of Bentschen, however (including the junction of the lines Schwiebus- Bentschen and ZuUichau-Bentschen), remaining in Polish territory; thence in a north-easterly direction to the point of junction of the boundaries of the Kreise of Schwerin, Birnbaum and Meseritz : a line to be fixed on the ground passing east of Betsche; thence in a northerly direction the boundary separating the if reise of Schwerin and Birnbaima, then in an easterly direction the northern boundary of Posnania to the point where it cuts the river Netze; thence upstream to its confluence with the Kuddow; the course of the Netze; thence upstream to a point to be chosen about 6 kilometres southeast of Schneide- muhl: The course of the Kuddow: thence north-eastwards to the most southern point of the re-entant of the northern boundary of Posnania about 5 kilometres west of Stahren: a line to be fixed on the ground leaving the Schneidemuhl-Konitz railway in this area entirely in Germany territory; thence the boundary north-eastwards to the point of the salient it makes about IS kilometres east of Flatow; THE TREATY OF PEACE 753 ml ^^A^AP> P hi S 18 754 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR thtoce north-eastwards to the point where the river Kamionka meets the southern boundary of the Kreise of Konitz about 3 kilometres northeast of Grunau : a Une to be fixed on the ground leaving the following places to Poland: Jasdrowo, Gr. Lutau, Kl. Lutau, Wittkau, and to Germany: Gr. Butzig, Cziskowo, Battrow Bock, Grunau; ' thence in a northerly direction the boundary between the Kreise of Konitz and Schlochau to the point where this boundary cuts the river Brahe; thence to a point on the boundary of Pomerania 15 kilometres east of Rummels- burg: a line to be fixed on the CTound leaving the following places in Poland: Konarzin, Kelpin, Adl. Briesen, and in Germany: Sampohl, Neugutn, Steinfort, Gr. Peterkau; then the boundary of Pomerania in an easterly direction to its junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Konitz and Schlochau; then northwards the boundary between Pomerania and West Prussia to the point on the river Rheda about 3 kilometres north-west of Gohra where that river is joined by a tributary from the north-west; thence to a point to be selected in the bend of the Piasnitz River about 3 J kilometres north-west of Warschkau; a line to be fixed on thje ground; thence this river downstream, then the median line of Lake Zarnowitz, then the old boundary of West Prussia to the Baltic Sea. 8. With Denmark: The frontier as it will be fixed in accordance with Articles 109 to 111 of Part III, Section XII (Schleswig). ARTICLE 28. The boundaries of East Prussia, with the reservations made in Articles 94 and 96 of Section IX (East Prussia) of Part III will be determined as follows: from a point on the coast of the Baltic Sea about IJ kilometres north of Probbernau Church in a direction of about 159° East from true North: a line to be fixed on the ground for about 2 kilometres; thence in a straight line to the Kght at the bend of the Elbiager Channel in approxi- mately latitude 54° 19i' North, longitude 19° 26' East of Greenwich; thence to the easternmost mouth of the Nogat River at a bearing of approximately 209° East from true North; thence up the course of the Nogat River to the point where the latter leaves the Vistula (Weichsel) ; thence up the principal channel of navigation of the Vistula, then the southern boundary of the Kreis of Marienwerder, then that of the Kreis of Rosenberg eastwards to the point where it meets the old boundary of East Prussia; thence the old boundary between East and West Prussia, then the boundary between the Kreise of Osterode and Neidenburg, then the course of the river Skottau downstream, then the course of the Neide upstream to a point situated about 5 kilometres west of Bialutten being the nearest point to the old frontier of Russia; thence in an easterly direction to a point immediately south of the intersection of the road Neidenburg-Mlava with the old frontier of Russia: a line to be fixed on the ground passing north of Bialutten; thence the old frontier of Russia to a point east of Schmalleningken, then the principal channel of navigation of the Niemen (Memel) downstream, then the Skier- wieth arm of the delta to the Kurisches Haff; thence a straight line to the point where the eastern shore of the Kurische Nehrung meets the administrative boundary about 4 kilometres south-west of Nidden; thence this administrative boundary to the western shore of the Kurische Nehrung. ARTICLE 29. The boundaries as described above are drawn in red on a one- in-a-million map which is annexed to the present Treaty. In the case of any discrepancies between the text of the Treaty and this map or any other map which may be annexed, the text will be final. ARTICLE 30. In the case of boundaries which are defined by a waterway, the terms "course" and "channel" used in the present Treaty signify: m the case of non- navigable rivers, the median line of the waterway or of its principal arm, and^ in the case of navigable rivers, the median line of the principal channel of navigation. It will rest with the Boundary Commissions provided by the present Treaty to specify in each case whether the frontier line shall follow any changes of the course or channel which may take place or whether it shall be definitely fixed by the position of the course or channel at the time when the present Treaty comes into force. THE TREATY OF PEACE 755 PART III Political Clauses for Ettrope Section I. Belgium. ARTICLE 31. Germany, recognizing that the Treaties of April 19, 1839, which established the status of Belgium before the war, no longer conform to the requirements of the situation, consents to the abrogation of the said treaties and undertakes immedi- ately to recognize and to observe whatever conventions may be entered into by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, or by any of them, in concert with the Govern- ments of Belgium and of the Netherlands, to replace the said Treaties of 1839. If her " formal adhesion should be required to such conventions or to any of their stipulations, Germany undertakes immediately to give it. ARTICLE 32. Germany recognizes the full sovereignty of Belgium over the whole of the contested territory of Moresnet (called Moresnet neutre). ARTICLE 33. Germany renounces in favour of Belgium all rights and title over the territory of Prussian Moresnet situated on the west of the road from LiSge to Aix- la-Chapelle; the road will belong to Belgium where it bounds this territory. ARTICLE 34. Germany renounces in favour of Belgium all rights and title over the territory comprising the whole of the Kreise of Eupen and of Malm6dy. During the. six months after the coming into, force of this Treaty, registers will be opened by the Belgium Authorities at Eupen anii Mahn^dy in which the inhabitants of the above territory will be entitled to record in writing a desire to see the whole or part of it remain under German sovereignty. The results of this public expression of opinion will be communicated by the Belgian Government to the League of Nations, and Belgium undertakes to accept the decision of the League. ARTICLE 35. A Commission of seven persons, five of whom will be appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Germany and one by Belgium, will be set up fifteen days after the coming into force of the present Treaty to settle on the spot the new frontier line of Belgium and Germany, taking into account the eco- nomic factors and the means of communication. Decisions will be taken by a majority and will be binding on the parties concerned. ARTICLE 36. When the transfer of the sovereignty over the territories referred to above has become definitive, German nationals habitually resident in the territories wUl definitely acquire Belgian nationality ivso facto, and will lose their German nationality. Nevertheless German nationals who become resident in the territories after the 1st August, 1914, shall not obtain Belgian nationality without a permit from the Belgian Goverimient. ARTICLE 37. Within the two years following the definitive transfer of the sov- ereignty over the territories assigned to Belgium under the present Treaty, German nationals over 18 years of age habitually resident in those territories will be entitled to opt for German nationality. Option by a husband wiU cover his wife, and option by parents will cover their children under 18 years of age. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the ensuing twelve months transfer their place of residence to Germany. They will be entitled to retain their immovable property in the territories acquired by Belgium. They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in connection with the removal of such property. ARTICLE 38. The German Government will hand over without delay to the Belgian Government the archives, registers, plans, title deeds and documents of every kind concerning the civil, military, financial, judicial or other administrations in the territory transferred to Belgian sovereignty. The German Government will likewise restore to the Belgian Government the archives and documents of every kind carried off during the war by the German authori- ties from the Belgian public administrations, in particular from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Brussels. ARTICLE 39. The proportion and nature of the financial liabilities of Germany and of Prussia which Belgium will have to bear on account of the territories ceded to her shall be fixed in conformity with Article, 254 and 256 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty. 756 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Section II. Luxemburg. ARTICLE 40. With regard to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Germany renounces the benefit of all the provisions inserted in her favour in the treaties of February 8, 1842, April 2, 1847, October 20-25, 1865, August 18, 1866, February 21 and May 11, 1867, May 10, 1871, June 11, 1872, and November 11, 1902, and in all conventions consequent upon such treaties. Germany recognizes that the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg ceased to form part of the German ZoUverein as from January 1, 1919, renounces all rights to the exploitation of the railways, adheres to the termination of the rigime of neutrality of the Grand Duchy, and accepts in advance all international arrangements which may be concluded by the Allied and Associated Powers relating to the Grand Duchy. ARTICLE 41. Germany undertakes to grant to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, when a demand to that effect is made to her by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, the rights and advantages stipulated in favour of such Powers or their nationals in the present Treaty with regard to economic questions, to questions relative to trans- port and to aerial navigation. Section III. Left Bank of the Rhine. ARTICLE 42. Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine. ARTJCLE 43. In the area defined above the maintenance and the assembly of armed forces, either permanently or temporarily, and military manoeuvres of any kind, as well as the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilization are in the same way forbidden. ARTICLE 44. In case Germany violates in any manner whatever the provisions of Articles 42 and 43, she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the Powers signatory of the present Treaty and as calculated to disturb the peace of the world. Section IV. Soar Basin. ARTICLE 45. As compensation for the destruction of the coal-mines in the north of France and as part payment towards the total reparation due from Germany for the damage resulting from the war, Germany cedes to France in full and absolute possession, with exclusive rights of exploitation, unencumbered and free from all debts and charges of any kind, the coal-mines situated in the Saar Basin as defined in Article 48. ARTICLE 46. In order to assure the rights and welfare of the population and to guarantee to France complete freedom in working the mines, Germany agrees to the provisions of the Annex hereto. ARTICLE 47. In order to make in due time permanent provision for the govern- ment of the Saar Basin in accordance with the wishes of the population, France and Germany agree to the provisions of the Annex hereto. ARTICLE 48. The boundaries of the territory of the Saar Basin, as dealt with in the present stipulations, will be fixed as follows: — On the south and south-west: by the frontier of France as fixed by the present Treaty. On the myrthrvjest and north: by a line following the northern administrative bound- ary of the Kreis of Merzig from the point where it leaves the French frontier to the point where it meets the administrative boundary separating the commune of Saar- holzbach from the commune of Britten; following this communal boundary southwards and reaching the administrative boundary of the canton of Merzig so as to include in the territory of the Saar Basin the canton of Mettlach, with the exception of the com- mune of Britten; following successively the northern administrative limits of the cantons of Merzig and Haustadt, which are incorporated in the aforesaid Saar Basin, then successively the administrative boundaries separating the Kreise of Sarrelouis, Ottweiler, and Saint-Wendel from the Kreise of Merzig, Treves (Trier), and the Principality of Birkenfeld as far as a point situated about 500 metres north of the village of Purschweiler (viz., the highest point of the Metzelberg). On the north-east and east: from the last point defined above to a point about 3J kilometres east-north-east of Saint-Wendel: a line to be fixed on the ground passing east of Furschweiler, west of Rosohberg, east of points 418, 329 (south of Roschberg), west of Leitersweiler, north-east of point 464, and following the line of the crest southwards to its junction with the administra- tive boundary of the Kreis of Kusel; THE TREATY OF PEACE 757 thence in a southerly direction the boundary of the Kreis of Kusel, then the boundary of the Kreis of Homburg towards the south-south-east to a point situated about 1,000 metres west of Dunzweiler; thence to a point about 1 kilometre south of Hornbach: a Une to be fixed on the ground passing through point 424 (about 1,000 metres south-east of Dunzweiler), point 363 (Fuchs Berg), point 322 (south-west of Waldmohr), then east of Jagersburg and Erbach, then encircling Homburg, passes through the points 361 (about 2J kilometres north-east by east of that town), 342 (about 2 kilometres south-east of that town), 347 (Schreiners Berg), 356, 350 (about 1| kilometres south-east of Schwarzenbach), then passing east of Einod, south-east of points 322 and 333, about 2 kilometres east of Webenheim, about 2 kilometres east of Mimbach, passing east of the plateau which is traversed by the road from Mimbach to Bockweiler (so as to include this road in the territory of the Saar Basin), passing immediately north of the junction of the roads from Bockweiler and Altheim situated about 2 kilometres north of Altheim, then passing south of Ringweilderhof and north of point 322, rejoining the frontier of France at the angle which it makes about 1 kilometre south of Hornbach. A Commission composed of five members, one appointed by France, one by Ger- many, and three by the Council of the League of Nations, which wiU select nationals of other Powers, will be constituted within fifteen days from the coming into force of the present Treaty, to trace on the spot the frontier Ime described above. In those parts of the preceding line which do not coincide with administrative boundaries, the Com- mission will endeavour to keep to LUXEMBURG I ^■-jMETZ • of • ^ *s. Prussia.^*' i^ ^ -1/ M The Saab Coal Fields the line indicated, while taking into consideratioUj so far as is possible, local economic interests and exist- ing communal boimdaries. ARTICLE 49. Germany re- nounces in favour of the League of Nations, in the capacity of trus- tee, the government of the territory defined above. At the end of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty the inhabitants of the said territory shall be called upon to indicate the sovereignty under which they desire to be placed. ARTICLE 60. The stipula- tions imder which the cession of the mines in the Saar Basin shall be carried out, together with the , , . , , -^ ^ ■ measures intended to guarantee the rights and the well-bemg of the mhabitants and the government of the territory, as well as the conditions in accordance with which the plebiscite hereinbefore provided for is to be made, are laid down in the Annex hereto. The Annex provides: , . j In order to secure the rights and welfare of the population and to guarantee to France entire freedom in working the mines, the territory will be governed by a com- mission appointed by the League of Nations and consisting of five members, one French, one a native inhabitant of the Saar and three representing three different countries other than France and Germany. The league will appoint a member of the commission as chairman to act as executive of the commission. The commission will have all powers of government formerly belonging to the German Empire, Prussia and Bavaria, will administer the railroads and other pubUc services and have full power to interpret the treaty clauses. The local Courts will continue, but subject t» the commission. Existing German legislation will remain the basis of the law, but the commission may mate modification after consulting a local representative assembly which it will organize. It will have the taxiog power, but for local purposes only. New taxes must be approved by this assembly. Labour legislation will consider the wishes of the local labour organizations and the labour program of the league. French and other labour may be freely utilized, the former bemg free to belong to French unions. All rights acquired as to pensions and social insurance will be maintained by Germany 758 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR and the Saar commission. There will be no military service, but only a local gendarmerie to preserve order. The people will preserve their local assemblies, religious liberties, schools and language, but may vote only for local assemblies. They will keep their present nationality except so far as individuals may change it. Those wishing to leave will have every facility with respect to their property. The territory will form part of the French customs system with no export tax on coal and metallurgical products going to Germany nor on German products entering the basin and for five years no import duties on products of the basin goiug to Germany or German products coming into the basin for local consumption. French money may circulate without restriction. After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing regime, under the League of Nations union with France or union with Germany. The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants over twenty, resident therein at the signature. Taking into account the opinions thus expressed, the League will decide the ultimate sovereignty. In any portion restored to Germany the German Government must buy out the French mines at an appraised valuation. If the price is not paid within six months thereafter this portion passes finally to France. If Germany buys back the mines, the League will determine how much of the coal shall be annually sold to France. Section V. Alsace-Lorraine. The High Contracting Powers, recognising the moral obligation to redress the wrong done by Germany in 1871 both to the rights of France and to the wishes of the popula- tion of Alsace and Lorraine, which were separated from their country in spite of the solemn protest of their representatives at the Assembly of Bordeaux, Agree upon the following articles: ARTICLE 51. The territories which were ceded to Germany in accordance with the Preliminaries of Peace signed at Versailles on the 26th February, 1871 and the Treaty of Frankfort of the 10th May, 1871, are restored to French sovereignty as from^ the date of the Armistice of the 11th November, 1918. The provisions of the Treaties establishing the delimitation of the frontiers before 1871 shall be restored. ARTICLE 52. The German Government shall hand over without delay to the French Government all archives, registers, plans, titles and documents of every kind concerning the civil, military, financial, judicial or other administrations of the territories restored to French sovereignty. If any of these documents, archives, registers, titles or plans have been misplaced, they will be restored by the German Government on the demand of the French Government. _ ' ARTICLE 53. Separate agreements shall be made between France and Germany dealing with the interests of the inhabitants of the territories referred to in Article 51, particularly as regards their civil rights, their business and the exercise of their pro- fessions, it being understood that Germany undertakes as from the present date to recognise and accept the regulations laid down in the Annex hereto regarding the nationality of the inhabitants or natives of the said territories, not to claim at any time or in any place whatsoever as German nationals those who shall have been declared on any ground to be French, to receive all others in her territory, and to conform, as regards the property of German nationals in the territories indicated in article 51, with the provisions of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty. TTiose German nationals who without acquiring French nationality shall receive permission from the French Government to reside in the said territories shall not be subjected to the provisions of the said Article. ARTICLE 54. Those persons who have regained French nationality in virtue of paragraph 1 of the Annex hereto, will be held to be Alsace-Lorrainers for the purposes of the present Section. The persons referred to in Paragraph 2 of the said Annex will from the day on which they have claimed French nationality be held to be Alsace-Lorrainers with retroactive effect as from the 11th November, 1918. For those whose application is rejected, the privilege will terminate at the date of the refusal. Such juridical persons will also have the status of Alsace-Lorrainers as have been recognised as possessing this quality, whether by the French administrative authorities or by a judicial decision. ARTICLE 55. The territories referred to in Article 51 shall return to France, free and quit of all public debts, under the conditions laid down in Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty. THE TREATY OF PEACE 759 ARTICLE 56. In conformity with the provisions of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty France shall enter into possession of all property and estate within the territories referred to in Article 51, which belong to the German Empire or German States, without any payment or credit on this account to any of the States ceding tihe territories. ' This provision applies to all movable or immovable property of public or private domain together with all rights whatsoever belonging to the German Empire or German States or to their administrative areas. Crown property and the property of the former Emperor or other German sovereigns shall be assimilated to property of the public domain. ARTICLE 67. Germany shall not take any action, either by means of stamping or by any other legal or administrative measures not applying equally to the rest of her territory, which may be to the detriment of the legal value or redeemability of German monetary instruments or moneys which, at the date of the signature of the present Treaty, are legally current, and at that date are in the possession of the French Govern- ment. ARTICLE 58. A special Convention will determine the conditions for repayment in marks of the exceptional war expenditure advanced during the course of the war by Alsace-Lorraine or by public bodies ia Alsace-Lorraine on account of the Empire in accordance with German law, such as payment to the families of persons mobilised, requisitions, billeting of troops, and assistance to persons who have been expelled. In fixing the amount of these sums Germany shaU be credited with that portion which Alsace-Lorraine would have contributed to the Empire to meet the expenses resulting from these payments, this contribution being calculated according to the pro- portion of the Imperial revenues derived from Alsace-Lorraine in 1913. ARTICLE 59. The French Government will collect for its own account the Imjjerial taxes, duties and dues of every kind leviable in the territories referred to in Article 51 and not collected at the time of the Armistice of the 11th November, 1918. ARTICLE 60. The German Government shall without delay restore to Alsace- Lorrainers (individuals, juridical persons and public institutions) all property, rights and interests belonging to them on the 11th November, 1918, in so far as these are situated in German territory. ARTICLE 61. The German Government undertakes to continue and complete without delay the execution of the financial clauses regarding Alsace-Lorraine contained in the Armistice Conventions. ARTICLE 62. The German Government undertakes to bear the expense of all civil and military pensions which had been earned in Alsace-Lorraine on the date of the 11th November, 1918, and the maintenance of which was a charge on the budget of the German Empire. The German Government shall furnish each year the funds necessary for the payment in francs, at the average rate of exchange for that year, of the sums in marks to which persons resident in Alsace-Lorraine would have been entitled if Alsace-Lorraine had remained under German jurisdiction. ARTICLE 63. For the purposes of the obligation assumed by Germany in Part VIII (Reparations) of the present Treaty to ^ive compensation for damages caused to the civil populations of the Allied and Associated countries iu the form of fines, the inhalsitants of the territories referred to in Article 51 shall be assimilated to the above- mentioned populations. ARTICLE 64. The regulations concerning the control of the Rhine and of the Moselle are laid down in Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 65. Within a period of three weeks after the coming mto force of the present Treaty, the port of Strasburg and the port of Kehl shall be constituted, for a period of seven years, a single unit, from the point of view of exploitation. The administration of this siagle unit will be carried on by a manager named by the Central Rhine Commission, which shall also have power to remove him. He shall be of French nationality. He will reside in Strasburg and will hs subject to the super- vision of the Central Rhine Commission. There will be established in the two ports Free Zones m conformity with Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 66. The railway and other bridges across the Rhine now existing within the limits of Alsace-Lorraine shall, as to all their parts and their whole length, b« the property of the French State, which shall ensure their upkeep. 760 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ARTICLE 67. The French Government is substituted in all the rights of the German Empire over aJl the railways which were administered by the Imperial railway administration and which are actually working or under construction. The saine shall apply to the rights of the Emijire with regard to railway and tram- way concessions within the territories referred to in Article 51. This substitution shall not entail any payment on the part of the French State. The frontier railway stations shall be estabhshed by a subsequent agreement, it being stipulated in advance that oi) the Rhine frontier they shall be situated on the right bank. ARTICLE 68. In accordance with the provisions of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, for a period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, natural or manufactured products originating in and coming from the territories referred to in Article 51 Bhall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from aU customs duty. The French Government shall fix each year, by decree communicated to the German Government, the nature and amount of the products which shall enjoy this exemption. The amount of each product which may be thus sent annually into Germany shall not exceed the average of the ainounts sent annually in the years 1911-1913. Further, during the period of five years above mentioned, the German Government shall allow the free export from Germany and the free re-importation into Germany, exempt from all customs duties and other charges (including internal charges), of yarns, tissues, and other textile materials or textile products of any kind and in any condition, sent from Germany into the territories referred to in Article 51, to be subjected there to any finishing process, such as bleaching, dyeing, printing, mercerisation, gassing, twisting or dressing. ARTICLE 69. During a period of ten years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, central electric supply works situated in German territory and formerly furnishing electric power to the territories referred to in Article 51 or to any establish- ment the working of which passes permanently or temporarily from Germany to France, shall be required to continue such supply up to the amount of consumption corresponding to the undertakings and contracts current on the 11th November, 1918. Such supply shall be furnished according to the contracts in force and at a rate which shall not be higher than that paid to the said works by German nationals. ARTICLE 70. It is understood that the French Government preserves its right to prohibit in the future in the territories referred to in Article 51 all new German participation: 1. In the management or exploitation of the public domain and of public services, such as railways, navigable waterways, water works, gas works, electric power, etc. 2. In the ownership of mines and quarries of every kind and in enterprises con- nected therewith; 3. In metallurgical establishments, even though their working may not be con- nected with that of any mine. ARTICLE 71. As regards the territories referred to in Article 51, Germany renounces on behalf of herself and her nationals as from the 11th November, 1918, all rights under the law of the 25th May, 1910, regarding the trade in potash salts, and generally under any stipulations for the intervention of German organisations in the working of the potash mines. Similarly, she renounces on behalf of herself and her nationals all rights imder any agreements, stipulations or laws, which may exist to her benefit with regard to other products of the aforesaid territories. ARTICLE 72. The settlement of the questions relating to debts contracted before the 11th November, 1918, between the German Empire and the German States or their nationals residing in Germany on the one part and Alsace-Lorrainers residing in Alsace-Lorraine on the other part shall be effected in accordance with the provisions of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, the expression "before the war," therein being replaced by the expression "before the Uth November, 1918." The rate of exchange applicable in the case of such settlement shall be the average rate quoted on the Geneva Exchange during the month preceding the 11th November, 1918. ARTICLE 73. The private property, rights and interests of Alsace-Lorrainers in Germany will be regulated by the stipulations of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 74. The French Government reserves the right to retain and limudaffi all the property, rights and interests which German nationals or societies controlled by Photo from Press Illustrating Service^ THE COUNCIL OF FOUR AND THEIR MILITARY ADVISER It would hardly be too much to say that ia the hands of these men, the leaders of the principal powers of the Allies, hung the future destinies of the world at the Peace Conference. From left to right they are President Wilson of the United States, Premier Clemenceau of France, Premier Lloyd George of Great Britajn, Premier Orlando of Italy and Marshal Foch, Supreme Military Commander of the Allied Armies. THE TREATY OF PEACE 761 Germany possessed in the territories referred to in Article 51 on November 11, 1918, subject to the conditions laid down in the last paragraph of Article 53 above. Germany will directly compensate its nationals who may have been dispossessed by the aforesaid liquidations. The product of these liquidations shall be applied in accordance with the stipula- tions of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 76. Notwithstanding the stipulations of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, all contracts made before the date of the promulgation in Alsace-Lorraine of the French decree of 30th November, 1918, between Alsace-Ixjrrainers (whether individuals or juridical persons) or others resident in Alsace-Lorraine on the one part and the German Empire or Gterman States and their nationals resident in Germany on the other part, the execution of which has been suspended by the armistice or by subsequent French legislation, shall be maintained. Nevertheless, any contract of which the French Government shall notify the can- cellation to Germany in the general interest within a period of six months from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, shall be annulled except in respect of any debt or other pecuniary obligation arising out of any act done or money paid thereunder before the 11th November, 1918. ARTICLE 76. Questions concerning rights in industrial, literary or artistic property of Alsace-Lorrainers shall be regulated in accordance with the general stipula- tions Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, it being understood that Alsace- Lorrainers holding rights of this nature under German legislation will preserve full and entire enjoyment of those rights on German territory. ARTICLE 77. The German Government undertakes to pay over to the French Government such proportion of all reserves accumulated by the Empire or by public or private bodies dependent upon it, for the purposes of disability and old age insurance as would fall to the disabiHty and old age insurance fund at Strasburg. The same shall apply in respect of the capital and reserves accumulated in Ger- many falling legitimately to other social insurance funds, to miners' superannuation funds, to the fimd of the railwaj^ of Alsace-Lorraine, to other superannuation organisa- tions established for the benefit of the personnel of public administrations and institu- tions operating in Alsace-Lorraine, and also in respect of the capital and reserves due by the insurance fund of private employees at Berlm, by reason of engagements entered into for the benefit of insured persons of that category resident in Alsace-Lorraine. A special Convention shall determine the conditions and procedure of these transfers. ARTICLE 78. With regard to the execution of jucfgments, orders and prose- cutions, the following rules shall be applied: 1. All civil and commercial judgments which shall have been given since the 3d August, 1914, by the Courts of Alsace-Lorraine between Alsace-Lorrainers, or between Alsace-Lorrainers and foreigners, or between foreigners, and which shall not have been appealed from before the 11th November, 1918, shall be regarded as final and suscepti- ble of immediate execution without further formality. When the judgment has been given between Alsace-Lorrainers and Germans or ' between Alsace-Lorrainers and subjects of the allies of Germany, it shall only be capable of execution after the issue of an exequatur by the corresponding new tribunal in the restored territory referred to in Article 51. 2. AU judgments given by German Courts since the 3rd August, 1914, against . Alsace-Lorrainers for political crimes or misdemeanors shall be regarded as null and void. 3. All sentences passed since the 11th November, 1918, by the Imperial Court of Leipzig on appeals against the decisions of the Courts of Alsace-Lorraine shall be regarded as null and void and shall^be so pronounced. The papers in regard to the cases in which such sentences have been given shall be returned to the Courts of Alsace- T jQT Tfl.! "n fi concsrnGu* All appeals to the Court of the Empire against decisions of the Courts of Alsace- Lorraine shall be suspended. The papers shall be returned imder the aforesaid con- ditions for transfer without delay to the French Cour de Cassation which shall be competent to decide them. . , , . , 4. AU prosecutions in Aleace-Lorrame for offences committed during the period between the 11th November, 1918, and the coming into force of the present Treaty will be conducted under German law except in so far as this has been modified by decrees duly published on the spot by the French authorities. 5. All other questions as to competence, procedure, or administration of justice, shall be determined by a special Convention between France and Germany. 762 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ARTICLE 79. The stipulations as to nationality contained in the Annex, bereto shall be considered as of equal force with the provisions of the present Section. All other questions concerning Alsaoe-Lorraine which are not regulat&d by the preserit Section and the Annex thereto or by the general provisions of the present Treaty, will form the subject of further conventions between France and Germany. ANNEX I. As from the 11th November, 1918, the following persons are ipso facto reinstated in French nationality: 1. Persons who lost French nationality by the application of the Franco-German Treaty of the 10th May, 1871, and who have not since that date acquired any nationaUty other than German; 2. The legitimate or natural descendants of the persons referred to in the immedi- ately preceding paragraph, with the exceptions of those whose ascendants in the paternal line include a German who migrated into Alsace-Lorraine after the 15th July, 1870; 3. AH persons born ii» Alsace-Lorraine of unknown parents, or whose nationality is unknown. ANNEX II. Within the period of one y«ar from the coming into force of the present Treaty, persons included in any 6f the following categories may claim French nationality: 1. All persons not restored to French nationality under paragraph 1 above, whose ascendants include a Frenchman or Frenchwoman who lost French nationality under the conditions referred to in the said paragraph; 2. All foreigners, not nationals of a German jState, who acquired the status of a citizen of Alsace-Lorraine before the 3rd August, 1914; 3. All Germans domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine, if they hia,ve been so domiciled since a date previous to the 15th July, 1870, or if one of their ascendants was at that date domiciled in Alsaoe-Lorraine; 4. All Germans born or domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine, who have served in the Allied or Associated armies during the present war, and their descendants; 5. All persons born in Alsace-Lorraine before the 10th May, 1871, of foreign parents, and the descendants of such persons; 6. The husband or wife of "any person whose French nationality may have been restored under paragraph 1, or who may have claimed and obtained French nationality in accordance with the preceding provisions. The legal representative of a minor may exercise, on behalf of that minor, the right to claim French nationality; and if that right has not been exercised, the minor may claim French nationality within the year following his majority. Except in the case provided for in No. 6 of the present paragraph, the French authorities reserve to themselves the right, in individual cases, to reject the claim to French nationality. ANNEX III. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, Germans born or domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine shall not acquire French nationality by reason of the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France, even though they may have the status of citizens of Alsace-Lorraine. They may acquire French nationality only by naturalisation, on condition of having been domiciled in Alsace-Lorraine from a date previous to the 3rd J^gusut, 1914, and of submitting proof of unbroken residence within the restored territory for a period of three years from the 11th November, 1918. France will be solely responsible for their diplomatic and consular protection from the date of their application for French naturalisation. ANNEX IV. The French Government shall determine the procediu-e by which reinstatement in French nationality as of right shall be effected, and the conditions under which decisions shall be given upon claims to such nationality and applications for naturalisation, as provided by the present Annex. Section VI. Austria. ARTICLE 80. Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of Austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed iu a Treaty between that State and the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; she agrees that this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations. Sedion VII. Czecho-Slovak State. ARTICLE 81. Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by the Allied and Associated Powers, recognizes the complete independence of the Czecho- THE TREATY OF PEACE 763 Slovak State which will include the autonomous territory of the Ruthenians to the south of the Carpathians. Germany hereby recognizes the frontiers of this State as determined by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers and the other interested States. ARTICLE 82. The old frontier as it existed on August 3, 1914, between Austria- Hungary and the German Empire will constitute the frontier between Germany and the Czecho-Slovak State. ARTICLE 83. Germany renounces in favour of the Czecho-Slovak State all rights and title over the portion of SUesian territory defined as follows: Starting from a point about 2 kilometres southeast of Katscher, on the boundary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor: the boundajy between the two Kreise; then, the former boundary between Germany and AustriarHimgary up to a poiat on the Oder immediately to the south of the Ratibor-Oderberg railway; thence, towards the north-west and up to a point about 2 kilometres to the south-east of Katscher: a line to be fixed on the spot passing to the west of Kranowitz. A Commission composed of seven members, five nominated by the principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Poland and one by the Czecho-Slovak State, will be appointed fifteen days after the coming into force of the Treaty to trace on the spot the frontier line between Poland and the Czecho-Slovak State. Germany hereby agrees to renoimce in favor of the Czecho-Slovak State all rights and title over the part of the Krds of Leobschutz comprised within the following boundaries in case after the determination of the frontier between Germany and Poland the said part of that Kreis should become isolated from Germany: From the southeastern extremity of the salient of the former Austrian frontier at about 5 kilometres to the west of Leobschutz southwards and up to the point of junction with the boiindary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor: the former frontier between Germany and Austriar-Hungary; then, northwards, the administrative boimdary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor up to a point situated about 2 kilometres to the south-east of Katscher; thence, north-westwards and up to the starting point of this definition: a line to be fixed on the spot passing to the east of Katscher. ARTICLE 84. German nationals habitually resident in any of the territories recognized as forming part of the Czecho-Slovak State will obtain Czecho-Slovak nationality ispo facto and lose their German nationahty. ARTICLE 85. Within a period of two years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, GSerman nationals over eighteen years of age habitually resident in any of the territories recognized as forming part of the Czecho-Slovak State will be entitled to opt for German nationality. Czecho-Slovaks who are German nationals and are habitually resident in Germany will have a similar right to opt for Czecho- slovak nationality. Option by a husband wiU cover his wife and option by parents will cover their children imder eighteen years of age. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the succeeding twelve months transfer their place of residence to the State for which they have opted. They will be entitled to retain their landed property in the territory of the other State where they had their place of residence before exercising the right to opt. They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in connection with the removal of such property. - i i Within the same period Czecho-Slovaks who are German nationals and are m a foreign country will be entitled, in the absence of any provisions to the contrary in the foreign law, and if they have not acquired the foreign nationality, to obtain Czecho- slovak nationality and lose their German nationality by complying with the require- ments laid down by the Czecho-Slovak State. ARTICLE 86. The Czecho-Slovak State accepts and agrees to embody m a Treaty with the R-incipal AlUed and Associated Powers such provisions as may be deemed necessary by the said Powers to protect the interests of inhabitants of that State who differ from the majority of the population in race, language or religion. The Czecho-Slovak State further accepts and agrees to embody in a Treaty with the said Powers such provisions as they may deem necessary to protect freedom of transit and equitable treatment of the commerce of other nations. The proportion and nature of the ficoancial obligations of Germany and Prussia which the Czecho-Slovak State will have to assume on account of the Silesian territory 764 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR placed under its sovereignty will be determined in accordance with Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty. Subsequent agreements will decide all questions not decided by the present Treaty which may arise in consequence of the cession of the said territory. Section VIII. Poland. ARTICLE 87. Germany, in conformity with the action already taken by the Allied and Associated Powers, recognizes the complete independence of Poland, and renounces in her favour all rights and title over the territory bounded by the Baltic Sea, the eastern frontier of Giermany as laid down in Article 27 of Part II (Boundaries of Germany). of the present Treaty up to a point situated about 2 kilometres to the east of Ljrzendorf, then a line to the acute angle which the northern boundary of Upper Silesia makes about 3 kilometres north-west of Simmenau, then the boimdary of Upper Silesia to its meeting point with the old frontier between Germany and Russia, then this frontier to the point where it crosses the course of the Niemen, and then the northern frontier of East Prussia as laid down in Article 28 of Part II aforesaid. The provisions of this article do not, however, apply to the territories of East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig, as defined in Article 28 of Part II (Boundaries of Germany) and in Article 100 of Section XI (Danzig) of this Part. The boundaries of Poland not laid down in the present Treaty will be subsequently determined by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. A Commission consisting of seven members, five of whom shall be nominated by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Germany, and one by Poland, shall be constituted fifteen days after the coming into force of the present Treaty to delimit on the spot the frontier-line between Poland and Germany. The decision of the Commission will be taken by a majority of votes and shall be binding upon the parties concerned. ARTICLE 88. In the portion of Upper Silesia included within the boundaries described below, the inhabitants will be called upon to indicate by a vote whether they wish to be attached to Germany or to Poland: starting from the northern point of the salient of the old province of Austrian Silesia situated about 8 kilometres east of Neustadt, the former frontier between Germany and Austria to its junction with the boundary between the Kreiae of Leobschutz and Ratibor; thence in a northerly direction to a point about 2 kilometres south-east of Katscher: the boundary between the Kreise of Leobschutz and Ratibor; thence in a south-easterly direction to a point on the course of the Oder immediately south of the Ratibor-Oderberg railway: a line to be fixed on the ground passing south of Kranowitz; thence the old boundary between Germany and Austria, then the old boundary between Germany and Russia to its junction with the administrative boundary between Posnania and Upper Silesia; thence this administrative boundary to its junction with the administrative bound- ary between Upper and Middle Silesia; thence westwards to the point where the administrative boundary turns in an acute angle to the south-east about 3 kilometres northwest of Simmenau: the boundary between Upper and Middle Silesia; then in a westerly direction to a point to be fixed on the ground about 2 kilometres east of Lorzendorf : a Une to be fixed en the ground passing north of Klein Hennersdorf : thence southwards to the point where tiie boundary between Upper and Middle Silesia cuts the Stadtel-Karlsruhe road: a line to be fixed on the ground passing west of Hennersdorf, Polkowitz, Noldau, Steinersdorf and Dammer, and east oi Sti'ehliitz, Nassadel, Eckersdorf, Schwirz and Stadtel; thence the boundary between Upper and Middle Silesia to its junction with the easten boundary of the Kreis of Falkenberg; then the eastern boundary of the Kreis of Fa'i?nberg to the point of the salient which is 3 kilometres east of irxsschinej thence to the northern point of the saliart cf the old province of Austrian Silesia situated about 8 kilometres east of Neustadt; a line to be fixed on the grcUic! pasting east of Ziilz. ARTICLE 89. Poland undctakes to accord freedom cf transit to persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and tcails i^ transit between East Prussia and the rest of THE TREATY OF PEACE 765 Germany over Polish territory, including territorial waters, and to treat them at least as favourably as the persons, Koods, vessels, carriages^ wagons and mails respe'ctively of Polish or of any other more favoured nationality, origin, miportation, starting point, or ownerships as regards facilities, restrictions and all other matters. Goods in transit shall be exempt from all customs or other similar duties. Freedom of transit will extend to telegraphic and telephonic services under the conditions laid down by the conventions referred to in Article 98. ARTICLE 90. Poland undertakes to permit for a period of fifteen years the exportation to Germany of the products of the mines in any part of Upper Silesia trans- ferred to Poland in accordance with the present Treaty. Such products shall be free from all export duties or other charges or restrictions on exportation. Poland agrees to take such steps as may be necessary to secure that any such products shall be available for sale to purchasers in Germany on terms as favourable as are applicable to like products sold under similar conditions to purchasers in Poland or in any other country. ARTICLE 91. German nationals habitually resident in territories recognised as forming part of Poland will acquire Polish nationality ipso facto and will lose their German nationality. German nationals, however, or their descendants who became resident in these territories after January 1, 1908, will not acquire Pohsh nationality without a special authorisation from the Polish State. Within a period of two years after the coming into force of the present T^aty, German nationals over 18 years of age habitually resident in any of the territories recognised as forming part of Poland will be entitled to opt for German nationaUty. Poles who are German nationals over 18 years of age and habitually resident in Germany wiU have a similar right to opt for Polish nationality. Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by parents will cover their children imder 18 years of age. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the succeeding twelve months transfer their place of residence to the State for which they have opted. They will be entitled to retain their immovable property in the territory of the other State where they had their place of residence before exercising the right to opt. They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No export or import duties or charges may be imposed upon them in connection with the removal of such property. Within the same period Poles who are German nationals and are in a foreign country will be entitled, in the absence of any provisions to the contrary in the foreign law, and if they have not acquired foreign nationality, to obtain Polish nationality and to lose their German nationality by complying with the requirements laid down by the Polish State. ARTICLE 92. The proportion and the nature of the financial liabilities of Germany and Prussia to be borne by Poland will be determined in accordance with Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty. There shall be excluded from the share of such financial liabilities assumed by Poland that portion of the debt which according to the finding of the Reparation Com- mission referred to in the above-mentioned Article, arises from measures adopted by the German and Prussian Governments with a view to German colonisation in Poland. In fixing under Article 256 of the present Treaty the value of the property and possessions belonging to the German Empire and to the German States which pass to Poland with the territory transferred above, the Reparation Commission shall exclude from the valuation buildings, forests and other State property which belonged to the former kingdom of Poland; Poland shall acquire these properties free of all costs and Further agreements wiU regulate all questions arising out of the cession of the above territory which are not regulated by the present Treaty. ARTICM; 93. Poland accepts and agrees to embody in a Treaty with the Prm- cipal Allied and Associated Powers such provisions as may be deemed necessary by the said Powers to protect the interests of inhabitants of Poland who differ from the majority of the population in race, language, or religion. Poland further accepts and agrees to embody in a Treaty with the said Powers such provisions as they may deem necessary to protect freedom of transit and eqmtable treatment of the commerce of other nations. 766 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Section IX. Eaat Prussia. ARTICLE 94. In the area between the southern frontier of Eaat Pruasia, as deBcribed in Article 28 of Part II (Frontiers of Germany) of the present Treaty, and the line described below, the inhabitants will be called upon to indicate by a vote the State to which they wish to belong. The western and northern boundary of Regierirngshenvrk AUensteln to its junction with the boundary between the Kreise of Oletsko and Angerburg; thence, the northern boundary of the Kreise of Oletsko to its junction with the old frontier of East Prussia. ARTICLE 95. The German troops and authorities will be withdrawn from the area defined above within a period not exceeding fifteen days after the coming into force of the present Treaty. Until the evacuation is completed they will abstain from all requisitions in money or in kind and from all measures injurious to the economic interests of the country. On the expiration of the above-mentioned period the said area will be placed under the authority of an International Commission of five members app6inted by the Prin- cipal Allied^ and Associated Powers. This Commission will have general powers of administration and, in particular, will be charged with the duty of arranging for the vote and of taking such measures as it may deem necessary to ensure its freedom, fairness and secrecy. The Commigsion will have all necessary authority to decide any questions to which the execution of these provisions may give rise. The Commission will make such arrangements as may be necessary for assistance in the exercise of its functions by ofiScials chosen by itself from the local population; its decisions will be taken by a majority. Every person, rrrespective of sex, will be entitled to vote who: (a) Is 20 yeaxs of age at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, and (b) Was born within the area where the vote will take place or has been habitually resident there from a date to be fixed by the Commission. Every person will vote in the commune where he is habitually resident' or, if not habitually resident in the area, in the commune where he was born The result of the vote will be determined by commune (Gemeinde) according to the majority of the votes in each commune. On the conclusion of the voting the number of votes cast in each commune will be communicated by the Commission to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers with a full report as to the taking of the vote and a recommendation as to the line which ought to be adopted as the boundary of East Prussia in this region. In this recommendation regard will be paid to the vidshes of the inhabitants as shown by the vote and to the geographical and economic conditions of the locaUty. The Principal Allied and Associated Powers will then fix the frontier between East Prussia and Poland in this region. • If the Une fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers is such as to exclude from East Prussia any part of the territory defined in Article 94, the renunciation of its rights by Germany in favour of Poland, as provided in Article 87 above, will extend to the territories so excluded. As soon as the line has been fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, the authorities administering East Prussia will be notified by the International Com- mission that they are free to take over the administration of the territory to the north of the line so fixed, which they shall proceed to do within one month of such notifica- tion and in the manner prescribed by the Commission. Within the same period and as prescribed by the Commission, the Pohsh Government must proceed to take over the administration of the territory to the south of the line. When the administration of the territory by the East Prussian and Polish authorities respectively has been pro- vided for, the powers of the Commission will terminate. Expenditure by the Commission, whether in the discharge of its own fimctions or in the administration of the territory, will be borne by the local revenues. East Prussia will be required to bear such proportion of any deficit as may be fixed by the Principal AUied ana Associated Powers. ' ARTICLE 96. In the area comprising the Kreise of Stuhm and Rosenberg and the portion of the Kreis of Marienburg which is situated east of the Nogat ana thai of Marienwerder east of the Vistula, the inhabitants will be called upon to indicate by a vote, to be taken in each commune (Gemeinde), whether they desire the various communes situated in this territory to belong to Poland or to East Prussia. • ARTICLE 97. The German troops and authorities will be withdrawn from the THE TREATY OF PEACE 767 area defined in Article 96 within a period not exceeding fifteen days aftJr the coming into force of the present Treaty. Until the evacuation is completed they will abstain from all requisitions in money or in kind and from all measures injurious to the economic interests of the country. On the expiration of the above-mentioned period, the said area will be placed under the authority of an International Commission of five members appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. This Commission, supported if occasion arises by the necessary forces, will have general powers of administration and in particular will be charged with the duty of arranging for the vote and of taking such measures as it may deem necessary to ensure its freedom, fairness and secrecy. The Commission will conform as far as possible to the provisionb of the present Treaty relating to the plebiscite in the AUenstein area; its decision will be taken by a majority. Expenditure by the Commission, whether in the discharge of its own functions or in the administration of the territory, wiU be borne by the local revenues. On the conclusion of the voting the number of votes cast in each commune will be communicated by the Commission to the Pr incipal Allied and Associated Powers with a full report as to the taking of the vote and a recommendation as to the line which ought to be adopted as the boundary of East Pr ussia in this region. In this recommen- dation regard vnU be paid to the wishes of the inhabitants as shown by the vote and to the geographical and economic conditions of the locality. The Principal Allied and Associated Powers will then fix the fron tier between East Prussia and Poland in this region, leaving in any case to Poland for the whole of the section bordering on the Vistula full and complete control of the river including the east bank as far east of the river as may be necessary for its regulation and improvement. Germany agrees that in any portion of the said territory which remains German, no fortifications shall at any time be erected. The Principal AlUed and Associated Powers will at the same time draw up regula- tions for assuring to the population of East Prussia to the fullest extent and under equitable conditions access to the Vistula and the use of it for themselves, their com- merce and their boats. The determination of the frontier and the foregoing regulations shall be binding upon all the parties concerned. When the administration of the territory has been taken over by the East Prussian and Polish authorities respectively, the powers of the Commission wUl terminate. ARTICLE 98. Germany and Poland undertake, withia one year of the conclusion of this Treaty, to enter into a Convention of which the terms, in case of difference, shall be settled by the Coimcil of the League of Nations, with the object of securing, on the one hand to Grermany full and adequate railroad facilities for communication between the rest of Germany and East Prussia over the intervening PoUsh territoryj and on the other hand to Poland fuU and adequate railroad facilities for communication between Poland and the Free City of Danzig over any German territory that may, on the right bank of the Vistula, intervene between Poland and the Free City of Danzig. Section X. Memel. ARTICLE 99. Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and Asso- ciated Powers all rights and title over the territories included between the Baltic, the north-«astern frontier of East Prussia as defined in Article 28 of Part II (Frontiers of Germany) of the present Treaty and the former frontier between Germany and Russia. , -r. ■ . 1 «,v J J Germany undertakes to accept the settlement made by the Prmcipal Allied and Associated Powers in regard to these territories, particularly in so far as concerns the nationality of the inhabitants. Section XI. Free Citv of Damig. ARTICLE 100. Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and Asso- ciated Powers all rights and title over the territory comprised within the following limits: from the Baltic Sea southwards to the point where the principal channels of naviga- tion of the Nogat and the Vistula (Weichsel) meet: the boundary of East Prussia as described in Article 28 of Part II. (Boundanes of Germany) of the present Treaty; d. ^r- , ^ .i , , ■ t thence the prmcipal channel of navigation of the Vistula downstream to a pomt about 6J kilometres north of the bridge of Dirschau; 768 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR thence north-west to point 5, IJ kilometres south-eact of the church of Gtittknd: a line to be fixed on the ground : thence in a general westerly direction to the salient of the Kreis of Berent 8J kilometres north- sast of SchOneck: a line to be fixed on the ground passing between Mlihlbanz on the south and Rambeltsch on the north; thence the boundary of the Kreis of Berent westwards to the re-entrant which it forms 6 kilometres north-north-west of Sohoneck; thence to a point on the median line of Lonkener See: a line to be fixed on the ground passing north of Neu Ketz and Schatarpi and south of Barenhutte and Lonken; thence the median line of the Lonkener See to its northernmost point; thence to the southern end of Pollenziner See: a line to be fixed on the ground; thence the median line of Pollenziner See to its northernmost point; thence in a north-easterly direction to a point about 1 kilometre south of Koliebken Church, where the Danzig-Neustadt railway crosses a stream: a liae to be fixed on the ground passing south-east of Kamehlen, Krissau, Fidlin, Sulmin (Richthof), Mattern, Schaferei, and to the north-west of Neuendorf, Marschau, Czapielken, Hoch- and Klein-Kelpin, Pulvermiihl, Renneberg and the towns of Olivia and Zoppot; thence the course of this stream to the Baltic Sea. ARTICLE 101. A Commission composed of three members appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, including a High Commissioner as President, one member appointed by Germany and one member appointed by Poland, shall be consti- tuted within fitteen days of the coming into force of the present Treaty for the purpose of delimiting on the spot the frontier of the territory as described above, taking into account as far as possible the existing communal boundaries. ARTICLE 102. The city of Danzig together with the rest of the territory de- scribed in Article 100 is established as a Free City, and placed under the protection of the League of Nations. ARTICLE 103. A constitution for the Free City of Danzig shall be drawn up by the duly appointed representatives of the Free City in agreement with a High Commissioner to be appointed by the League of Nations. This constitution shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. The High Commissioner will also be entrusted with the duty of dealing in the first instance with all differences arising between Poland and the Free City of Danzig in regard to this treaty or any arrangements or agreements made thereunder. The High Commissioner shall reside at Danzig. ARTICLE 104. A Convention, the terms of which shall be fixed by the Principal AUied and Associated Powers, shall be concluded between the Polish Government and the Free City of Danzig with the following objects: (1) To effect the inclusion of the Free City of Danzig within the Polish Customs frontiers, and to estabhsh a free area in the port. (2) To ensure to Poland without any restriction the free use and service of all waterways, docks, basins, wharves and other works within the territory of the Free City necessary for Polish imports and exports. (3) To ensure to Poland the control and administration of the Vistula and of the whole railway system within the Free City, except such street and other railways as serve primarily the needs of the Free City, and of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communication between Poland and the port of Danzig. (4) To ensure to Poland the right to develop and improve the waterways, docks, basins, wharves, railways and other works and means of communication mentioned in this article, as well as to lease or purchase through appropriate processes such land and other property as may be necessary for these purposes. (5) To provide against any discrimination within the Free City of Danzig to the detriment of citizens of Poland and other persons of Polish origin or speech. (6) To provide that the Polish Government shall undertake the conduct of the foreign relations of the Free City of Danzig as well as the diplomatic protection of citizens of that city when abroad. _ ARTICLE 105. On the coming into force of the present Treaty German nationals ordinarily resident in the territory described in Article 100 wiU ipso facto lose their German nationality in order to become nationals of the Free City of Danzig. THE TREATY OF PEACE 769 ARTICLE 106. Within a period of two years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, German nationals over 18 years of age ordinarily resident in the territory described in Article 100 will have the right to opt for German nationality. Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by parents will cover their children less than 18 years of age. All persons who exercise the right of option referred to above must during the ensuing twelve months transfer their place of residence to Germany. These persons will be entitled to preserve the immovable property possessed by them in the territory of the Free City of Danzig. They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No export or import duties shall be imposed upon them in this connection. ARTICLE 107. All property situated within the territory of the Free City of ' Danzig belonging to the German Empire or to any German ^ate shall pass to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers for transfer to the Free City of Danzig or to the Polish State as they may consider equitable. ARTICLE 108, The proportion and nature of the financial liabilities of Germany and of Prussia to be borne by the Free City of Danzig shall be fixed in accordance with Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty. All other questions which may arise from the cession of the territory referred to in Article 100 shall be settled by further agreements. Section XII. Scfdesimg. ARTICLE 109. The frontier between Germany and Denmark shall be fixed in conformity with the wishes of the jjopulation. For this purpose, the population inhabiting the territories of the former German Empire situated to the north of a Una, from East to West: leaving the Baltic Sea about 13 kilometres east-north-east of Flensburg running south-west so as to pass south-east of: Sygum, Ringsberg, Munkbrarup, Adelby, Tastrup, Jarplund, Oversee, and north-west of: Langbalugholz, Langballig, Bonstrup, Rtillschau, Weseby, Kleinwolstrup, Gross-Solt, thence westwards passing south of Frorup and north of Wanderup, thence in a south-westerly direction passing south-east of Oxlund, Stieglund and Ostenau and north-west of the villages on the Wander-up-Kollund road, thence in a north-westerly direction passing south-west of Lowenstedt, Joldelund, Goldelund, and north-east of Kolkerheide and Hogel to the bend of the Soholmer Au, about 1 kilometre east of Soholm, where it meets the southern boundary of the Kreis of Tondern, following this boundary to the North Sea passing south of the islands of Fohr and Amrum and north of the islands of Oland and Langeness, shall be called upon to pronounce by a vote which will be taken under the following conditions: 1. Within a period not exceeding ten days fromthe coming into force of the present Treaty, the German troops and authorities (including the OberprasiderUea, Regierungs- m-asidenten, Landriiihe, Amtsvorsteker, Oherbiiraemeister) shall evacuate the zone lying to the north of the Une above fixed. Within the same period the Workmen's and Soldiers' Councils which have been constituted in this zone shall be dissolved^ members of such Councils who are natives of another region and are exercising their functions at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, or who have ^one out of office since the 1st March, 1919, shall also be evacuated. The said zone shall immediately be placed under the authority of an International Commission, composed of five members, of whom three will be designated by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; the Norwegian and Swedish Governments will each be requested to designate a member; in the event of their failing to do so, these two members will be chosen by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. The Commission, assisted in case of need by the necessary forces, shall have general powers of administration. In particular, it shall at once provide for filling the places of the evacuated German authorities, and if necessary shall itself give orders for their evacuation, and proceed to fill the places of such local authorities as may be required. It shaU take all steps which it thinks proper to ensure the freedom, fairness, and secrecy 49 770 HISTORY OP THE WORLD WAR of the vote. It shall be assisted by German and Danish technical advisers chosen by it from among the local population. Its decisions will be taken by a majority. One-half of the expenses of the International Commission and of the e3q)enditure occasioned by the plebiscite shall be paid by Gtermany. 2. The right to vote shall be given to all persons, without distinction of sex, who: (a) Have completed their twentieth year at the date of the coining into force of the present Treaty; and (6) Were born in the zone in which the plebiscite is taken, or have been domiciled there since a date before the 1st January, 1900, or had been expelled by the German authorities without having retained their domicile there. Every person will vote in the commime (Gemeinde) where he is domiciled or of which he is a native. Mihtary persons, officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the German army, who are natives of the zone of Schleswig in which the plebiscite is taken, shall be given the opportunity to return to their native place in order to take part in the voting there. 3. In the section of the evacuated zone lying to the north of a line, from East to West; passing south of the island of Alsen and following the median line of Flensburg Fjord, thence leaving the fjord about 6 kilometres north of Flensburg and following the course of the stream flowing past Kupf ermiihle upstream to a point north of Niehuus, thence, passing north of Pattburg and Ellund and couth of iFroslee to meet the eastern boundary of the Kreis of Tondern at its junction with the boundary between the old jurisdictions of Slogs and Kjser (Shgs Herred and Kicer Herred), thence, the latter boundary to where it meets the Scheidebek, thence the course of the Scheidebek (Alte Au), Suder Au and Wied Au downstream successively to the point where the latter bends northwards about 1,500 metres west of Ruttebull, thence, in a west-north-westerly direction to meet the North Sea north of Sieltoft, thence, passing north of the island of Sylt, the vote above provided for shall be taken within a period not exceeding three weeks after the evacuation of the country by the German troops and authorities. The result will be determined by the majority of votes cast in the whole of this section. This result will be immediately communicated by the Commission to the Principal Allied and Associated Governments and proclaimed. If the vote results in favour of the reincorporation of this territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, the Danish Government in agreement with the Commission will be entitled to effect its occupation with their military and administrative authorities immediately after the proclamation. 4. In the section of the evacuated zone situated to the south of the preceding section and lying to the north of a Une from East to West; leaving the Baltic coast about 13 kilometres east-north-east of Flensburg, running south-west so as to pass south-east of: Sygum, Ringsberg, Munkbraiup, Adelby, Tastrup, Jarplund, Oversee, and north-west of: Langbalfigholz, LangbalUg, Bonstrup, Rullschau, Weseby, Kleinwolstrup, Gross-Solt, thence westwards passing south of Frorup and north of Wanderup, thence in a south-westerly direction passing south-east of Oxlund, Stieglund and Ostenau and north-west of the villages on the Wanderup-KoUund road; thence in a north-westerly direction passing south-west of Lowenstedt, Joldelund, Goldelund and north-east of Kolkerheide and Hogel to the bend of the Soholmer Au, about 1 kilometre east of Soholm where it meets the southern boundary of the Kreis of Tondern, thence, following this boundary to the North Sea, thene«, passing south of the islands of Fohr and Amrum and north of the islands of Oland and Langeness, the vote will be taken within a period not exceeding five weeks after the plebiscite has been held in the preceding section. The result will be determined by communes (Gemeinden), according to the majority of the votes cast in each commune (Gemeinde). 5. In the section of the evacuated zone situated to the south of the preceding section and to the north of the line which starts from the mouth of the Schlei (Sli) and ends at the mouth of the Eider, the vote will be taken within a period not exceeding two weeks after the plebiscite shall have been held in the second section. THE TREATY OF PEACE 771 The result will likewise be determined by communes (Oemeindm), in accordance with the majority of the votea cast in each commune {Qemeinde). ARTICLE 110. A C!ommission composed of seven members, five of whom shall be nominated by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, one by Denmark, and one by Germany shall be constituted within fifteen days from the date when the final result of the vote is known, to trace the frontier line on the spot. The decisions of the Commission will be taken by a majority of votes and shall be binding on the parties concerned. ARTICLE 111. Pending a delimitation on the spot, a frontier line will be fixed by the Principal Alhed and Associated Powers according to a line based on the result of the voting, and proposed by the International Commission, and taking into account the particular geographical and economic conditions of the localities in question. From that time the Danish Government may effect the occupation of these terri- tories with the Danish civil and military authorities, and the German Government may reinstate up to the said frontier line the German civil and military authorities whom it has evacuated. Germany hereby renounces definitely in favour of the Principal Allied and Asso- ciated Powers all rights of sovereignty over the territories situated to the north of the frontier line fixed in accordance with the above provisions. The Principal Allied and Associated Powers will hand over the said territories to Denmark. ARTICLE 112. All the inhabitants of the territory which is returned to Denmark wiU acquire Danish nationaUty ipso facto, and will lose their German nationaUty. Persons, however, who had become habitually resident in this territory after 1st October, 1918, will not be able to acquire Danish nationaUty without permission from the Danish Government. ARTICLE 113. Within two years from the date on which the sovereignty over the whole or part of the territory of Schleswig subjected to the plebiscite is restored to Denmark: Any person over 18 years of age, born in the territory restored to Denmark, not habitually resident in this region, and possessing German nationaUty, will be entitled to opt for Denmark. Any person over 18 years of age habitually resident in the territory restored to Denmark will be entitled to opt for Germany. Option by a husband wiU cover his wife and option by parents will cover their children less than 18 years of age. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the ensuing twelve months transfer their place of residence to the State in favour of which they have opted. They will be entitled to retain the immovable property which they own in the territory of the other State in which they were habitually resident before opting. _ They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No export or import duties may be imposed upon them in connection with the removal of such property. ARTICLE 114. The proportion and nature of the financial or other obUgations of Germany and Prussia which are to be assumed by Denmark will be fixed in accordance with Part IX (Financial clauses) of the present Treaty. Further stipulations will determine any other questions arising out of the transfer to Denmajk of the whole or part of the territory of which she was deprived by the Treaty of October 30, 1864. Section ^ITI. Heligoland. ARTICLE 115, The fortifications, military estabUshments, and harbours of the Islands of Heligoland and Dune shall be destroyed under the supervision of the Principal Allied Governments by German labour and at the expense of Germany within a period to be determined by the said Governments. The term "harbours" shall include the north-east mole, the west wall, the outer and inner breakwaters and reclaimed land within them, and all naval and miUtary works, fortifications and buildings, constructed or under construction, between Unes connecting the following positions taken from the British AdmiraUty chart No. 126 of 19th April, 1918: a), lat. 54° 10' 49" N.; long. 7° 53' 39" E.; b). — 54° 10' 35" N.; — 7° 54' 18" E.; c). — 54° 10' 14" N.; — 7° 64' 00" E.; d). — 54° 10' 17" N.; — 7° 53' 37" E.: e). — 54° 10' 44" N.; - - 7° 53' 26" E. 772 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR These fortifications, military establishments and harbours shall not be reconstructed; nor shall any similar works be constructed in future. Section XIV. Russia and Riissian States. ARTICLE 116. Germany acknowledges and agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the independence of all the territories which were part of the former Russian Empire on August 1st, 1914, and accepts definitely the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk treaties and of all treaties, conventions and agreements entered into by her with the MaximaUst Government in Russia. The AUied and Associated Powers formally reserve the rights of Russia to obtain from Germany restitution and reparation based on the principles of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 117. Germany undertakes to recognize the full force of all treaties or agreements which may be entered into by the Allied and Associated Powers with States now existing or coming into existence in future in the whole or part of the former Empire of Russia as it existed on August 1, 1914, and to recognize the frontiers of any such States as determined therein. PART IV German Rights and Interests Outside Germany. ARTICLE 118. In territory outside her European frontiers as fixed by the present Treaty, Germany renounces all rights, titles and privileges whatever in or over territory which Ibelonged to her or to her allies, and aU rights, titles and privileges whatever their origin which she held as against the AlUed and Associated Powers. Germany undertakes immediately to recognise and to conform to the measures which may be taken now or in the future by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, in agreement where necessary with third Powers, in order to carry the above stipulation into effect. In particular Germany declares her acceptance of the following Articles relating to certain special subjects. Section I. German Colonies. ARTICLES 119 to 127. Germany renounces in favour of the Principal AUied and Associated Powers her overseas possessions with all rights and titles therein. All movable and immovable property belon^g to the German Empire or to any German State shall pass to the Government exercising authority therein. Such Government may make whatever provisions seem suitable for the repatriation of German nationals and as to the conditions on which German subjects of European origin shall, or shall not, reside, hold property, or carry on business. Germany undertakes to pay reparation for damages suffered by French nationals in the Cameroons or its frontier zone through the acts of German civil and military authorities and of individual Germans from 1st Janu- ary, 1900, to 1st August, 1914. Germany renounces all rights under the convention of the 4th of November, 1911, and 28th September, 1912, and imdertakes to pay to France in accordance with an estimate presented and approved by the repatriation commission all deposits, credits, advances, etc., thereby secured. Germany imdertakes to accept and observe any provisions by the Alhed and Associated Powers as to the trade in arms and spirits as well as to the general Act of Berlin of 1885 and the general Act of Brussels of 1890. Diplomatic protection to inhabitants of former German colonies is to be given by the Governments exercising authority. Section II. China, ARTICLES 128 to 134. Germany renounces in favour of China all privileges and indemnities resulting from the Boxer protocol of 1901, and all buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, munitions of war, wireless plants and other public property except diplomatic or consular establishments in the Grerman concessions of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory except Kjaochow and agrees to return to China at her own expense all the astronomical instruments seized in 1900 and 1901. China will, however, take no measures for disposal of German property in the legation quarter at Peking without the consent of the Powers signatory to the Boxer protocol. Germany accepts the abrogation of the concessions at Hankow and Tientsin, China, agreeing to open them to international use. Germany renounces all claims against China or any Allied and Associated Government for the internment or repatria- tion of her citizens in China and for the seizure or liquidation of German interests there THE TREATY OF PEACE 773 Kiao-Chow Samoa is ISDIAN OCEAN Scale of Miles 200 400 600 Cape of Good Hope GENtRAL 0BAFTIN6 CO. INC. M. T. SOUTH IS DIAtf OCEAN Germany's Lost Colonieb In August, 1914 Germany's colonial Empire consisted of Togo, Kamenin, South- west Africa, East Africa, 1,045,289 square miles in Africa; and New Guinea, Carolines, etc., Samoa, Kiaochow, 94,826 square miles elsewhere; a total of 1,140,115 square miles. 774 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ance August 14, 1917. She renounces in favour of Great Britain the German State property in the British concession at Canton and of France and China jointly of the propertj' of the German school in the French concession at Shanghai. Section III. Siam. > ARTICLES 185 to 137. Germany reco^ses that all agreements between herself and Siam, including the right of extra territoriality, ceased July 22, 1917. All German public property, except consular and diplomatic premises, passes without compensation to Siam. German private property shaU be dealt with in accordance with the economic clauses. Germany waives all claims against Siam for the seizure and condemnation of her ships, liquidation of her property, or internment of her nationals. Section IV. lAberia. ARTICLES 138 to 140. Germany renounces all rights and privileges arising from the arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia, and particularly the right to nominate a German Receiver in Liberia. She further renounces all claim to partici- pate in any measures whatsoever which may be adopted for the rehabilitation of Liberia. Germany recognizes that all treaties and arrangements between her and Liberia termi- nated as from August 4, 1917. Section V. Morocco ARTICLES 141 to 146. Germany renounces all her rights, titles and privileges imder the act of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 and 1911, and under all treaties and arrangements with the Sherifian Empire. She undertakes not to interfere in any negotiations as to Morocco between France and other Powers, accepts all the consequences of the French protectorate and renounces the capitulations. The Sherifian Government shall have complete liberty of action in regard to German nationals, and all German protected persons shall be subject to the common law. All movable and immovable German property, including mining rights may be sold at pubhc auction, the proceeds to be paid to the Sherifian Government and deducted from the reparation account. Germany is also required to relinquish her interests in the State Bank of Morocco. All Moroccan goods entering Germany shall have the same privilege as French goods. Section VI. Bgvvt. ARTICLE 147. Germany declares that she recognises the Protectorate pro- claimed over Egypt by Great Britain on December 18, 1914, and that she renounces the regime of the Capitulations in Egypt. This renunication shall take effect as from August 4, 1914. ARTICLE 148. All treaties, agreements, arrangements, and contracts concluded by Germany with Egypt are regarded as abrogated as from August 4, 1914. In no case can Germany avail herself of these instruments and she undertakes not to intervene in any way in negotiations relating to Egypt which may take place between Great Britain and the other Powers. ARTICLE 149. Until an Egyptian law of judicial organisation establishing courts with universal jurisdiction comes into force, provision shall be made, by means of decrees issued by His Highness the Sultan, for the exercise of jurisdiction over German nationals and property by the British Consular Tribunals. ARTICLE 150. The Egyptian Government shall have complete liberty of action in regulating the status of German nationals and the conditions under which they may establish themselves in Egypt. ARTICLE 151. Germany consents to the abrogation of the decree issued by His Highness the Khedive on November 28, 1904, relating to the Commission of the Eg3rptian Public Debt, or to such changes as the Egyptian Government may think it desirable to make therein. ARTICLE 152. Germany consents, in so far as she is concerned, to the transfer to His Britannic Majesty's Government of the powers conferred on His Imperial Majesty the Sultan by the Convention signed at Constantinople on October 29, 1888, relating to the free navigation of the Suez Canal. She renounces all participation in the Sanitary, Maritime, and Quarantine Board of Egypt and consents, in so far as slie is concerned, to the transfer to the Egyptian Authorities of the powers of that Board. THE TREATY OF PEACE 775 ARTICLE 153. All property and possessions in Egypt of the Gefman Empire and the Gierman States pass to~the Egyptian Government without payment. For this purpose, the property and possessions of the German Empire and States shall be deemed to inchide all the property of the Crown, the Empire or the States, and the private property of the former German Emperor and other Royal personages. All movable and immovable property in Egypt belonging to German nationals shall be dealt with in accordance with Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 154. Egyptian goods entering Germany shall enjoy the treatment accorded to British goods. Section VII. Turkey and Bvlgaria. ARTICLE 155. Germany undertakes to recognise and accept all arrangements which the Alhed and Associated Powers may make with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to any rights, interests and privileges whatever which might be claimed by Germany or her nationals in Turkey and Bulgaria and which are not dealt with in the provisions of the present Treaty. Section VIII. Shantung. ARTICLE 156. Germany renounces, in favour of Japan, all her rights, title, and privileges — ^particularly those concerning the territory of Kiaochow, railways, mines and submarine cables — ^which she acquired in virtue of the Treaty concluded by her with China on March 6, 1898, and of all other arrangements relative to the Province of Shantung. AH German rights in the Tsingtao-Tsinanfu Railway, including its branch lines, together with its subsidiary property of all kinds, stations, shops, fixed and rolling stock, mines, plant and material for the exploitation of the mines, are and remain acquired by Japan, together with all rights and privileges attaching thereto. The German State submarine cables from Tsingtao to Shanghai and from Tsingtao to Chefoo, with all the rights, privileges and properties attaching thereto, are similarly acquired by Japan, free and clear of all charges and encxmibrances. ARTICLE 157. The movable and immovable property owned by the German State in the territory of Kiaochow, as well as all the rights which Germany might claim in consequence of the works or improvements made or of the expenses incurred by her, directly or indirectly, in connection with this territory, are and remain acquired by Japan, free and clear of all charges and encumbrances. ARTICLE 158. Germany shall hand over to Japan within three months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the archives, registers, plans, title-deeds and documents of every kind^ wherever they may be, relating to the administration, whether civil, military, financial, judicial or other, of the territory of Kiaochow. Within the same period Germany shall give particulars to Japan of all treaties, arrangements or agreements relating to the rights, title or privileges referred to in the two preceding articles. PART V Military, Naval and Aerial Ciattses. In order to render possible the initiation of a general limitation of the armaments of aU nations, Germany undertakes strictly to observe the military, naval and air clauses which follow. Section I. Military Clauses. Chapter I. Effectives and Cadres of the German Army. ARTICLE 159. Within two months of the coming into force of the present Treaty the German military forces shall be demobilized as prescribed hereinafter. ARTICLES 160 to 163. The German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavahy. In no case must the total number of effectives in the Army of the States constituting Germany ever exceed one hundred thousand men, including officers and establishments of depots. The Army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers. The total effective strength of officers, including the personnel of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed four thousand. The divisions must not be grouped under more than two army corps headquarters staffs. 776 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The Great German General Staff and all similar organisations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form. The officers, or persons in the position of officers, in the Ministries of War in the different States in Germany and in the Administrations attached to them, must not exceed three hundred in number and are included in the maximum strength of four thousand. Army administrative services consisting of civilian personnel not included in the number of effectives prescribed by the present Treaty will have such personnel reduced in each class to one-tenth of that laid down in the Budget of 1913. The number of gendarmes and employees or officials of the local or municipal police may only be increased to an extent corresjionding to the increase of population since 1913 in the districts or municipalities in which they are employed. These employees and officials may not be assembled for military training. Within three months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the total number of effectives in the German Army must be reduced to 200,000. At the expiration of this period, and at the end of each subsequent period of three months, a Conference of military experts of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers will fix the reductions to be made in the ensuing three months, so that by March 31, 1920, at the latest the total number of German effectives does not exceed the maximum number of 100,000 men. Chapter II. Armament, Munitions and Material. ARTICLES 164 to 172. AU establishments for the manufacturing, preparation, storage or design of arms and munitions of war, except those specifically excepted, must be closed within three months of the peace and their personnel dismissed. The exact amount of armament and munitions allowed Germany is laid down in detail tables, all in excess to be surrendered, or rendered useless. The manufacture or importation of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and all analogous liquids is forbidden, as well as the importation of arms, munitions and war materials. Germany may not manu- facture such materials for foreign Governments. Chapter III. Recruiting and Military Training. ARTICLES 173 to 179. Universal compulsory military service shall be abolished in Germany. The German Army may only be constituted and recruited by means of voluntary enlistment. The period of enlistment for non-commissioned officers and privates must be twelve consecutive years. The number of men discharged for any reason before the expiration of their term of enlistment must not exceed in any year five per cent of the total effectives. The officers who are retained in the Army must undertake the obligation to serve in it up to the age of forty-five years. ^ Officers newly appointed must undertake to serve on the active list for twenty-five consecutive years at least. The number of officers discharged for any reason before the expiration of their term of service must not exceed in any year five per cent of the total effectives. No military schools except those absolutely indispensable for the units allowed shall exist in Germany two months after the peace. No associations, such as societies of discharged soldiers, shooting or touring clubs, educational establishments or universi-. ties, may occupy themselves with military matters. All measures of mobilization are forbidden. Chapter IV. Fortifications. ARTICLE 180. Within three months of the coming into fprce of the present Treaty, all fortified works, fortresses and field works situated on German territory to the west of a line drawn fifty kilometres to the east of the Rhine shall be disarmed and dismantled. The construction of any new fortification, whatever its nature and importance, is forbidden in this zone. The system of fortified works of the southern and eastern frontiers of Germany shall be maintained in its existing state. Section II. If aval Clauses. ARTICLES 181 to 197. After the expiration of a period of two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the German naval forces in commission must not exceed: THE TREATY OF PEACE 777 Six battleships of the Deulschland or Lothringen type, 6 light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, or an equal number of ships constructed to replace them. No sub- marines are to be included. The total personnel of the German Navy must not exceed fifteen thousand, including officers, and no reserve force of any character. Conscription is abolished, only voluntary service being permitted, with a minimum period of twenty-five years' service for ofiicers and twelve for men. No member of the German mercantile marine wiU be permitted any naval training. All German vessels of war in foreign ports, and the German high sea fleet interned at Scapa Flow wiU be surrendered, the final disposition of these ships to be decided upon by the Allied and Associated Powers. Germany must surrender forty-two modern destroyers, fifty modern torpedo boats, and all submarines, with their salvage vessels, all war vessels under construction, including submarines, must be broken up. War vessels not otherwise provided for, are to be placed in reserve or used for commercial purposes. Replacement of ships except those lost can take place only at the end of twenty years for battleships and fifteen years for destroyers. The largest armored ship Germany will be permitted will be ten thousand tons. Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea vas decided upon by the Allies. All German fortifications in the Baltic defending the passages through the belts must be demoUshed. Other coast defenses are permitted but the number and caliber of the guns must not be increased. During a period of three months after the peace German high power wireless stations at Nauen, Hanover and Berlin will not be permitted to send any messages except for commercial purposes and under supervision of the AUied and Associated Governments, nor may any more be constructed by Germany in her own territory or that of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey. The construction and acquisition of any submarine, even for commercial purposes, shall be forbidden in Germany. Section III. Air Clauses. ARTICLE 198. The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces. Germany may, during a period not extending beyond the 1st October, 1919, main- tain a maximum number of one hundred seaplanes or flying boats, which shall be exclusively employed in searching for submarme mines, shall be furnished with the necessary equipment for this purpose, and shall in no case carry arms, munitions or bombs of any nature whatever. In addition to the engines installed in the seaplanes or flying boats above mentioned, one spare engine may be provided for each engine of each of these craft. No dirigible shall be kept. ARTICLE 199. Withm two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty the personnel of the air forces on the rolls of the German land and sea forces shall be demobiKsed. Up to the 1st October, 1919, however, Germany may keep and maintain a total number of one thousand men, including officers, for the whole of the cadres and personnel, flying and non-flying, of all formations and establishments. ARTICLE 200. Until the complete evacuation of German territory by the Allied and Associated troops, the aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in Germany freedom of passage through the air, freedom of transit and of landing. ARTICLE 201. During the six months following the coming into force of the present Treaty, the manuf actin:e and importation of aircraft, parts of aircraft, engines for aircraft, and parts of engines for aircraft, shall be forbidden in aU German territory. ARTICLE 202. On the coming into force of the present Treaty, all military and naval aeronautical material, except the machines mentioned in the second and third paragraphs of Article 198, must be delivered to the Government of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. Section IV. Inter-Allied Commissions of Control. ARTICLES 203 to 210. All the military, naval, and air clauses contained in the present Treaty, for the execution of which a time-limit is prescribed, shall be executed by Germany under the control of Inter-AlUed Commissions specially appointed for this purpose by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. The Inter-Allied Commissions of Control will be specially charged with the duty 778 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR of seeing to the complete execution of the delivery, destruction, demolition and render- ing things useless to be carried out at the expense of the German Grovernment in accord- ance with the present Treaty. Section V. General Articles. ARTICLES 211 to 213. After the expiration of a period of three months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the German laws must have been modified and shall be maintained in conformity with tbiis Part of the present Treaty. Within the same period all the administrative or other measures relating to the execution of this Part of the Treaty must have been taken. _ So long as the present Treaty remains in force, Germany vmdertakes to give every facility for any investigation which the Council of the League of Nations, acting if need be by a majority vote, may consider necessary. PART VI. Prisoners of War and Graves. Section I. Prisoners of War. ARTICLES 214 to 224. The repatriation of prisoners of war and interned civilians shall take place as soon as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty and shall be carried out at Germany's expense by a Commission composed of representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers on the one part and of the German Government on the other part. Prisoners of war and interned civihana awaiting disposal or undergoing sentence for offences against discipline shall be repatriated irrespective of the completion of their sentence or of the proceedings pending against them. Until Germany has surrendered persons guilty of offenses against the laws and customs of war, the Allies have the right to retain selected German prisoners or nationals. The Allies may deal at their own dScretion with German nationals who do not desire to be repatriated, all repatriation being conditional on the immediate release of any Allied subjects still in Germany. Germany is to accord facilities to commissions of enquiry in collecting information in regard to missing prisoners of war and of imposing penalties on German officials who have concealed Allied nationals. Germany is to restore all property belonging to AUied prisoners. Seclion II. Graves. ARTICLE 225. The Allied and Associated Governments and the German Government will cause to be respected and maintained the graves of the soldiers and sailors buried in their respective territories. They agree to recognise any Commission appointed by an AlUed or Associated Government for the purpose of identifying, registering, caring for or erecting suitable memorials over the said graves and to facilitate the discharge of its duties. Furthermore they agree to afford, so far as the provisions of their laws and the requirements of piibMc health allow, every facility for giving effect to requests that the bodies of their soldiers and sailors may be transferred to their own country. ARTICLE 226. The graves of prisoners of war and interned civilians who are nationals of the different belligerent States and have died in captivity shall be properly maintained in accordance with Article 225 of the present Treaty. The Allied and Associated Governments on the one part and the German Govern- ment on the other part reciprocally undertake also to furnish to each other: 1. A complete list of those who have died together with all information useful for identification; 2. All information as to the number and position of the graves of all those who have been buried without identification. PART vn. ItoTALTIES. ARTICLE 227. The Allied and Associated Powers'publicly "arraign William II of HohenzoUern, formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties. A special tribunal will be constituted to try the accused, thereby assuring nun THE TREATY OF PEACE 779 the guarantees essential to the right of defence. It will be comijosed of five judges, one appointed by each of the following Powers; namely, the United States of AmeriMi, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan. In its decision the tribunal will be guided by the highest motives of international policy, with a view to vindicating the solemn obligations of international undertakings and the validity of international morahty. It wiU be its duty to fix the punishment which it considers should be imposed. The AUied and Associated Powers will address a request to the Government of the Netherlands for the surrender to them of the ex-Emperor in order that he may be put on trial. ARTICLE 228. The German Government recognises the right of the Allied and Associated Powers to bring before military tribunals persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war. Such persons shall, 3 found guilty, be sentenced to punishments laid down by miUtary law. This provision will apply notwithstanding any proceedings or prosecution before a tribunal in Germany or in the territory of her aUies. The German Government shall hand over to the Allied and Associated Powers, or to such one of them as shall so request, all persons accused of having committed an act in violation of the laws and customs of war, who are specified either by name or by the rank, office or employment which they held under the German authorities. ARTICLE 229. Persons guilty of criminal acts against the nationals of one of the AlUed and Associated Powers will be brought before the mihtary tribunals of that Power. Persons guilty of criminal acts against the nationals of more than one of the Allied and Associated Powers wiU be brought before mUitary tribunals composed of members of the military tribunals of the Powers concerned. In every case the accused wiU be entitled to name his own counsel. ARTICLE 230. The German Government undertakes to furnish all documents and information of every kind, the production of which may be considered necessary to ensure the full knowledge of the incriminating acts, the discovery of offenders and the just appreciation of responsibility. PART VIII. Repabation. Section I. Gener al Provisions. ARTICLE 231. The AlHed and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibiUty of Germany and her AUies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Govermnents and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her Allies. ARTICLES 232 to 244. The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into accoimt permanent diminu- tions of such resources which wiU result from other provisions of the present Treaty, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage. The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and Germany under- takes, that she will make compensation for aU damages caused to civilians under seven main categories: — (a) Damage b3' personal injury to civilians caused by acts of war, directly or indirectly, including bombardments or other attacks on land, on sea, or from the air. (b) Damage to civilians, including exposure at sea, resulting from acts of cruelty caused by Germany or her allies. (c) Damages caused by maltreatment of prisoners. (d) Damages to the Allied peoples represented by pensions and reparation allowances, capitaUsed at the signatiire of this treaty. (e) Damages to property other than naval or miMtary materials. (f) Damage to civilians by being forced to labour without just remuneration, (ff) Damages in the form of levies or fines imposed by Germany or her alhes upon the civilian population. Germany further binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by Belgium from the AUies as a result of Germany's violation of the Treaty of 1839 up to "November 11, 1918, and for this purpose will issue at once and hand over to the reparation commission five 780 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR per cent gold bonds falling due in 1926. The total obligation of v Germany to pay as defined in the category of damages is to be determined and notified to her after a fair hearing and not later than May 1, 1921, by an inter-AUied reparation commission. At the same time a schedule of payments to discharge the obligation within thirty years shaU be presented. These payments are subject to postponment in certain con- tingencies. Germany irrevocably recognises the fuU authority of this commission, agrees to supply it with all the necessary information and to pass legislation to effectuate its findings. She further agrees to restore to the AUies cash and certain articles which can be identified. In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life, pending the full determination of their claims, Germany shall pay in such instalmente and in such manner (whether in gold, commodities, smps, securities or otherwise) as the Reparation Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920, and the first four months of 1921, the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks. Out of this sum the expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent to the armistice of the 11th November, 1918, shall first be met, and such supplies of food and raw materials as may be judged by the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obUgations for repara- tion may also, with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for out of the above sum. The balance shall be reckoned towards liquidation of the amounts due for reparation. In order to facilitate and continue the immediate restoration of the economic life of the AUied and Associated countries, the Commission will as provided in the previous paragraph take from Germany by way of security for and acknowledgment of her debt a first instalment of gold bearer bonds free of all taxes or charges of every description established or to be established by the Government of the German Empire or of the German States, or by any authority subject to them; these bonds will be deUvered on account and in three portions, the marks gold being payable in conformity with Part IX (Financial clauses) of the present Treaty as follows: 1. To be issued for with 20,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds, payable not later than the 1st May, 1921, without interest. There shall be specially applied towards the amortisation of these bonds the payments which Germany is pledged to make in con- formity with Article 235, after deduction of the sums used for the reimbursement of expenses of the armies of occupation and for payment of foodstuffs and raw materials. Such bonds as have not been redeemed by the 1st May, 1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same type as those provided for in next paragraph. 2. To be issued forthwith, further 40,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds, bearing interest at 2i per cent per anhum between 1921 and 1926, and thereafter at 5 per cent per annum with an additional 1 per cent for amortisation beginning in 1926 on the whole amoimt of the issue. 3. To be deUvered forthwith a covering imdertaking in writing to issue when, but not until^ the Commission is satisfied that Germany can meet such interest and sinking fund obhgations, a fiu-ther instalment of 40,000,000,000 Marks gold 5 per cent, bearer bonds, the time and mode of payment of principal and interest to be determined by the Commission. The dates for payment of interest, the manner of appljong the amortisation fund, and all other questions relating to the issue, management, and regulation of the bond issue shall be determined by the Commission from time to time. Further issues by way of acknowledgment and secmity may be required as the Commission subsequently determines from time to time. The Reparation Commission shall consist of one representative each of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, a representative of Serbia or Japan taking the place of the Belgian representative when the interests of either country are particularly affected, with all other Allied Powers entitled, when their claims are xmder consideration, to the right of representation without voting power. It shall permit Germany to give evidence regarding her capacity to pay and shall assure a just oppor- tunity to be heard. It shall make its principal permanent Bureau at Paris, establish its own procedure and personnel, have general control of the whole reparation problem, and become the exclusive agency of the AUies for receiving, holding, selling and distributing reparation payments. The German Government recognises the right of the Allies to the replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged THE TREATY OF PEACE 781 owing to the war, and agrees to cede to the Allies all German merchant ships of sixteen hundred tons gross and upwards; one-half of her ships between sixteen hundred and one thousand tons gross and one-quarter of her steam trawlers and other fishing boats. These ships are to be deUvered within two months to the reparation committee, together with documents of title evidencing the transfer of the ships free from encumbrance. As an additional part of reparation, Germany agrees to build merchant ships for the account of the Allies to the amount of not exceeding two hundred thousand tons gross annually dm'ing the next five years. All ships used for inland navigation taken by Germany from the Allies are to be restored within two months, the amount of loss not covered by such restitution to be made up by the cession of the German river fleet up to twenty per cent thereof. The AlUed and Associated Powers require, and Germany undertakes, that in part satisfaction of her obligations expressed in this Part of the present Treaty she will, as hereinafter provided, devote her economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas of the Allied and Associated Powers, to the extent that these Powers may determine. The Reparation Commission is authorised to require Germany to replace the destroyed articles by the delivery of animals, machinery, etc., existing in Germany, and to manufacture materials required for reconstruction purposes; aU with due con- sideration for Germany's essential domestic requirements. Germany undertakes to deliver annually for ten years to Prance coal equivalent to the difference between annual pre-war output of Nord and Pas de Calais mines and annual production during above ten-year period. Germany fur ther ^ves options over ten years for delivery of seven million tons of coal per year to Fr ance in addition to the above of eight million tons to Belgium and of an amount rising from four and a half million tons in 1919 to 1920, to eight and a half million tons in 1923 to 1924 to Italy at prices to be fixed as prescribed in the treaty. Coke may be taken in place of coal in ratio of three tons to four. Provision is also made for delivery to France over three years of benzol, coal tar and of ammonia. The commission has powers to postpone or annul the above deUveries should they interfere unduly with the industrial requirements of Germany. The commission may so modify the conditions of delivery as not to interfere unduly with Germany's industrial requirements. The delivery of coal is based largely upon the principle of making good diminutions in the production of the Allied cotmtries resulting from the war. Germany accords to the Commission an option on dye stuffs and chemical drugs up to fifty per cent of total stock in Germany at the time the treaty comes in force and similar options duriug each six months to end of 1924 up to twenty-five per cent of previous six months output. Germany renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of her nationals in favour of the~Principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights, titles or privileges of whatever nature in the submarine cables set out below, or in any portions thereof: Emden-Vigo: from the Straits of Dover to off Vigo; Emden-Brest: from off Cherbourg to Brest; Emden-Teneriffe: from off Dunkirk to off Teneriffe; Emden- Azores (1): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal; Emden-Azores (2): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal; Azores-New- York (1): from Fayal to New-York; Azores-New-York (2): from Fayal to the longitude of Halifax; Teneriffe-Monrovia: from off Teneriffe to off Monrovia; Monrovia-Lome : lat. : 2°30'N.; long. : 7° 40' W. of Greenwich; ■ lat. : 2° 20' N.; long. : 5° 30' W. of Greenwich; ,, u . jlat. : 3°48'N.; and from about < J . qo qq, ' to Lome; Lome-Duala: from Lome to Duala; Monrovia-Pernambuco: from off Monrovia to off Pernambuco; i Constantinople-Constanza: from Constantinople to Constanza; Yap-Shanghai, Yap-Guam, and Yap-Menado (Celebes) : from Yap Island to Shanghai, from Yap Island to Guam Island, and from Yap Island to Menado. from about . to about . . . 782 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The value of the above mentioned cables or portions thereof in so far as they are privately owned, calculated on the basis of the original cost less a suitable allowance for depreciation, shall be credited to Germany in the reparation account. Section II. Special Provisions. ARTICLE 245. Within six months after the coming into force of the present Treaty the German Government must restore to the French Government the trophies, archives, historical souvenirs or works of art carried away from France by the German authorities in the course of the war of 1870-1871 and during this last war in accordance with a list which will be communicated to it by the French Government; particularly the French flags taken in the course of the war of 1870-1871 and all the poUtical papers taken by the German authorities on October 10, 1870, at the chateau of Cercay, near Brunoy (Seine-et^Oise) belonging at the time to Mr. Rouher, formerly Minister of State. ARTICLE 246. ^ Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, Germany wiU'restore to His Majesty the King of the Hedjaz the original Koran of the Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the ex-Emperor William II. Within the same period Germany will hand over to His Britannic Majesty's Govern- ment the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa (Okwawa) which was removed from the Protec- torate of German East Africa and taken to Germany. The delivery of the articles above referred to will be effected in such place and in such conditions as may be laid down by the Governments to which they are to be restored. ARTICLE 247. Germany undertakes to furnish to the University of Louvain, within three months after a fequest made by it and transmitted through the interven- tion of the Reparation Commission, manuscripts, incunabula, printed books, maps, and objects of collection corresponding in number and value to those destroyed, in the burning by Germany of the Library of Louvain. All details regarding such replace- ment will be determined by the Reparation Commission. , 7. Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium, through the Reparation Commission, within six months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute her two great artistic works: (a) The leaves of the triptych of the Mystic Lamb painted by the Van Eyck brothers, formerly in the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent, now in the Berlin Museum. (6) The leaves of the triptych of the Last Supper, painted by Dierick Bouts, formerly in the Church of St. Peter at Louvain, two of which are now in the Berlin Museum and two in the former Pinakothek at Mimich. PART IX. Financial Clattsbs. AUTTCLE 248. The first charge upon all the assets and revenues of the German Empire and its constituent States shall be the cost of reparation and all other costs arising under the present Treaty or any treaties or agreements supplementary thereto or under arrangements concluded between Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers during the Armistice or its extensions, subject to such exceptions as the Repar ration Commission may approve. Up to May 1, 1921, the German Government shall not export or dispose of, and shall forbid the export or disposal of, gold without the previous approval of the Allied and Associated Powers acting through the Reparation Commission. ARTICLE 249. There shall be paid by the German Government the total cost of all armies of the Allied and Associated Governments in occupied German territory from the date of the signature of the Armistice of the 11th November, 1918, including the keep of men and beasts, lodging and billeting, pay and allowances, salaries and wages, bedding, heating, hghting, clothing, equipment, harness and saddlery, armament and rolling-stock, air services, treatment of sick and wounded, veterinary and remount services, transport service of all sorts (such as by rail, sea or river, motor lorries), com- munications and correspondence, and in general the cost of all administrative or technical services the working of which is necessary for the training of troops and for keeping their numbers up to strength and preserving their military efficiency. The cost of such liabilities under the above heads so far as they relate to purchases or requisitions by the Allied and Associated Governments in the occupied territories shall be paid by the German Government to the Allied and Associated Governments THE TREATY OF PEACE 783 in marks at the current or agreed rate of exchange. All other of the above costs shall be paid in gold marlcs. ARTICLE 250. Germany confirms the surrender of all material handed over to the Allied and Associated Powers in accordance with the Armistice Agreement of the 11th November, 191S, and subsequent Armistice Agreements, and recognises the title of the Allied and Associated Powers to such material. ^ There shall be credited to the German Government, against the sums due from it to the Allied and Associated Powers for reparation, the value, as assessed by the Repara^ tion Commission, of the material handed over in accordance with Article VII of the Armistice Agreement of the 11th November, 1918, Article III of the Armistice Agree- ment of the 16th January, 1919, as well as of any other material handed over in accord- ance with the Armistice Agreement of the 11th November, 1918, and of subsequent Armistice Agreements, for which, as having non-rmhtary value, credit should in the judgment of the Reparation Commission be allowed to the German Government. Property belonging to the Allied and Associated Governments or their nationals restored or surrendered under the Armistice Agreements in specie shall not be credited to the German Government. ARTICLE 251. The priority of the charges established by Article 248 shall, subject to the qualifications made below, be as follows: — (a) The cost of the armies of occupation as defined under Article 249 diwing the Armistice and its extensions; (6) The cost of any armies of occupation as defined under Article 249 after the coming into force of the present Treaty; (c) The cost of reparation arising out of the present Treaty or any treaties or conventions supplementary thereto; (d) The cost of all other obligations incumbent on Germany under the Armis- tice Conventions or under this Treaty or any treaties or conventions supplementary thereto. The payment for such supplies of food and raw material for Germany and such other payments as may be judged by the Allied and Associated Powers to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations in respect of reparation will have priority to the extent and upon the conditions which have been or may be determined by the Governments of the said Powers. ARTICLE 252. The right of each of the Alhed and Associated Powers to dispose of enemy assets and property within its jurisdiction at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty is not affected by the foregoing provisions. ARTICLE 263. Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall prejudice in any manner charges or mortgages lawfully effected in favour of the Allied or Associated Powers or their nationals respectively, before the date at which a state of war existed between Germany and the Allied or Associated Power concerned, by the German Empire or its constituent States, or by German nationals, on assets in their ownership at that date. ARTICLE 254. The Powers to which German territory is ceded shall, subject to the qualifications made in Article 255, undertake to pay: — (i.) A portion of the debt of the German Empire as it stood on the 1st August, 1914, calculated on the basis of the ratio between the average for the three financial years 1911, 1912, 1913, of such revenues of the ceded territory, and the average for the same years of such revenues of the whole German Empire as in the judgment of the Reparation Commission are best calcu- lated to represent the relative abihty of the respective territories to make payment; (ii.) A portion of the debt as it stood on the 1st August, 1914, of the German State to which the ceded territory belonged, to be determined in accordance with the principle stated above. Such portions shall be determined by the Reparation Commission. The method of discharging the obligation, both in respect of capital and of interest, so assumed shall be fixed by the Reparation Commission. Such method may take the form, irder alia, of the assumption by the Power to which the territory is ceded of Germany's liability for the German debt held by her nationals.. But in the event of the method adopted involving any payments to the German Government, such payments shall be transferred to the Reparation Commission on account of the sums due for reparation so long as any balance in respect of such sums remains unpaid. 784 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ARTICLE 255. (1) As an exception to the above provision and inasmuch as in 1871 Germany refused to undertake any portion of the burden of the French debt, France shall be, in respect of Alsace-Lorraine, exempt from any payment imder Article 254. (2) In the case of Poland that portion of the debt which, in the opinion of the Reparation Commission, is attributable to the measures taken by the German and Prussian Governments for the German colonisation of Poland shall be excluded from the apportionment to be made under Article 254. (3) In the case of all ceded territories other than Alsace-Lorraine, that portion of the debt of the German Empire or German States which, in the opinion of the Repara- tion Commission represents expenditure by the Governments of the German Empire or States upon the Government properties referred to in Article 256 shall be excluded from the apportionment to be made under Article 254. ARTICLE 256. Powers to which German territory is ceded shall acquire all property and possessions situated therein belonging to the German Empire or to the German States, and the value of such acquisitions shall be fixed by the Reparation Commission, and paid by the State acquiring the territory to the Reparation Com- mission for the credit of the German Government on account of the sums due for Reparation. For the purposes of this Article the property and possessions of the German Empire and States shall be deemed to include all the property of the Crown, the Empire or the States, and the private property of the former German Emperor and other Royal personages. In view of the terms on which Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to Germany in 1871, France shaU be exempt in respect thereof from making any payment or credit under this Article for any property or possessions of the German Empire or States situated therein. Belgium also shall be exempt from making any pajrment or any credit under this Article for any property or possessions of the German Empire or States situated in German territory ceded to Belgium under the present Treaty. ARTICLE 257. In the case of the former German territories, including colonies, protectorates, or dependencies, administered by a Mandatory under Article 22 of Part I (League of Nations) of the present Treaty, neither the territory nor the Manda- tory Power shall be charged with any portion of the debt of the German Empire or States. All property and possessions belonging to the German Empire or to the German States situated in such territories shall be transferred with the territories to the Manda- tory Power in its capacity as such and no payment shall be rdade nor any credit given to those Governments in consideration of this transfer. For the purposes of this Article the property and possessions of the German Empire and of the German States shall be deemed to include all the property of the Crown, the Empire or the States and the private property of the former German Emperor and other Royal personages. ARTICLE 258. Germany renounces all rights accorded to her or her nationals by Treaties, Conventions or Agreements, of whatsoever kind, to representation upon or participation in the control or administration of commissions, state banks, agencies or other financial or economic organisations of an international character, exercising powers of control or administration, and operating in any of the Allied or Associated States, or in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey, or in the dependencies of these States, or in the former Russian Empire. ARTICLES 259 to 263. Germany is to deliver to the Allied and Associated Powers all sums deposited in Germany by Turkey and Austria-Himgary in connection with the financial supports extended by her to them during the war, and to transfer to the Allies all claims against Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey in connection with agreements made during the war. Germany confirms the renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk. On the request of the Reparations Commission, Germany will expropriate any rights or interests of her nationals in public utilities in ceded territories ot those admin- istered by mandatories, and in Turkey, China, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, and transfer them to the Reparations Commission, which will credit her with their value. Germany guarantees to repay to Brazil the fund arising from the sale of coffee she refused to allow Brazil to withdraw from Germany. THE TREATY OF PEACE 785 PART X. Economic Glauses. Section I. Commercial Relations. Chapter I. Customs Regulations, Duties, and Restrictions. ARTICLES 264 to 270. Germany undertakes that goods the produce or manu- facture of any one of the Allied or Associated States imported into German territory, from whatsoever place arriving, shall not be subjected to other or higher duties or charges (including internal charges) than those to which the like goods the produce or manufacture of any other such State or of any other foreign country are subject. For a period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, natural or manufactured products which both originate in and come from the territories of Alsace and Lorraine reunited to France shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from all customs duty. During a period of three years from the coming into force of the present Treaty natural or manufactured products which both originate in and come from Polish terri- tories which before the war were part of Germany shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from all customs duty. The AUied and Associated Powers reserve the right to require Germany to accord freedom from customs duty, on importation into German customs territory, to natural products and manufactured articles which both originate and come from the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, for a period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty. During the first six months after the coming into force of the present Treaty, the duties imposed by Germany on imports from AlBed and Associated States shall not be higher than the most favourable duties which were applied to imports into Germany on the 31st July, 1914. During a further period of thirty months after the expiration of the first six months, this provision shall continue to be applied exclusively with regard to products which, being comprised in Section A of the First Category of the German Customs Tariff of the 25th December, 1902, enjoyed at the above-mentioned date (31st July, 1914) rates conventionalised by treaties with the Allied and Associated Powers, with the addition of all kinds of wine and vegetable oils, of artificial silk and of washed or scoured wool, whether or not they were the subject of special Conventions before the 31st July, 1914. Chapter II. Shipping. ARTICLE 271. As regards sea fishing, maritime coasting trade, and maritime towage, vessels of the AUied and Associated Powers shall enjoy, in German territorial waters, the treatment accorded to vessels of the most favoured nation. AJITICLE 272. Germany agrees that, notwithstanding any stipulation to the contrary contained in the Conventions relating to the North Sea Fisheries and Liquor Traffic, all rights of inspection and police shall, in the case of fishing-boats of the Allied Powers, be exercised solely by ships belonging to those Powers. ARTICLE 273. In the case of vessels of the AUied or Associated Powers, all classes of certificates or documents relating to the vessel, which were recognised as valid by Germany before the war, or which may hereafter be recognised as valid by the prin- cipal maritime States, shaU be recognised by Germany as valid and as equivalent to the corresponding certificates issued to German vessels. A similar recognition shall be accorded to the certificates and documents issued to their vessels by the Governments of new States, whether they have a sea-coast or not, provided that such certificates and documents shall be issued in conformity with the general practice observed in the principal maritime States. The High Contracting Parties agree to recognise the flag flown by the vessels of an AlUed or Associated Power having no sea-coast which are registered at some one specified place situated in its territory; such place shaU serve as the port of registry of such vessels. Chapter III. Unfair Competition ARTICLE 274. Germany undertakes to adopt all the necessary legislative and administrative measures to protect goods the produce or manufacture of any one of the AUied and Associated Powers from aU forms of unfair competition in commercial transactions, so 786 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR Germany undertakes to prohibit and repress by seizure and by other appropriate remedies the importation, exportation, manufacture, distribution, sale or offering for sale in its territory of all goods bearing upon themselves or their usual get-up or wrap- pings any marks, names, devices, or descrijjtions whatsoever which are calculated to convey directly or indirectly a falsa indication of the origin, type, nature, or special characteristics of such goods. ARTICLE 275. Germany undertakes on condition that reciprocity is accorded in these matters to respect any law, or any administrative or judicial decision given in conformity with such law, in force in any Allied or Associated State and duly communi- cated to her by the proper authorities, defining or regulating the right to any regional appellation in respect of wine or spirits produced in the State to which the region belongs or the conditions under which the use of any such appellation may be permitted; and the importation, exportation, manufacture, distribution, sale or offering for sale of products or articles bearing regional appellations inconsistent with such law or order shall be prohibited by the German Government and repressed by the measures pre- scribed in the preceding article. Chapter IV. Treatment of Nationals of Allied and Associated Powers ARTICLE 276. Germany undertakes:— (a) not to subject the nationals of the AlUed and Associated Powers to any prohi- bition in regard to the exercise of occupations, professions, trade and industry, which shall not be equaUj; applicable to all aUens without exception; (6) not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers in regard to the rights referred to in paragraph (a) to any regulation or restriction which might contravene directly Or indirectly the stipulations of the said paragraph, or which shall be other or more disadvantageous than those which, are applicable to nationals of the most favoured nation; (c) not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers, their property, rights or interests, including Companies and Associations in which they are interested, to any charge, tax or impost, direct or indirect, other or higher than those which are or may be imposed on her own nationals or their property, rights or interests; (d) Not to subject the nationals of any one of the Allied and Associated Powers to any restriction which was not apphcable on the 1st July, 1914, to the nationals of such Powers unless such restriction is likewise imposed on her own nationals. ARTICLE 277. The nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in German territory a constant protection for their persons and for their property, rights and interests, and shall have free access to the courts of law. ARTICLE 278. Germany undertakes to recognise any new nationality which has been or may be acquired by her nationals under the laws of the Allied and Associated Powers, and in accordance with the decisions of the competent authorities of these Powers pursuant to naturalisation laws or under treaty stipulations, and to regard such persons as having, in consequence of the acquisition of such new nationaUty, in all respects severed their allegiance to their country of origin. ARTICLE 279. The AUied and Associated Powers may appoint consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents in German towns and ports. Germany undertakes to approve the designation of the consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, and consular agents, whose names shall be notified to her, and to admit them to the exercise of their functions in conformity with the usual rules and customs. Chapter V. General Articles. ARTICLE 280. The obUgations imposed on Germany by Chapter I and by Articles 271 and 272 of Chapter II above shall cease to have effect five years from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, unless otherwise provided in the text, or unless the Council of the League of Nations shall, at least twelve months before the expiration of that period, decide that these obhgations shall be maintained for a further period with or without amendment. Article 276 of Chapter IV shall remain in operation, with or without amendment, after the period of five years for such further period, if any, not exceeding five years, as may be determined by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations. ARTICLE 281. If the German Government engages in international trade, it shall not in respect thereof have or be deemed to have any rights, privileges, or immuni- ties of.sovereignty. THE TREATY OF PEACE 787 Section II. Treaties. ARTICLE 282. From the coming into force of the present Treaty and subject to the provisions thereof multilateral Treaties, conventions and agreements of an economic or technical character shall alone be applied as between Germany and those of the Allied and Associated Powers party thereto. (Twenty-five conventions are enumerated, dealing with the protection of birds, the unification of the metric system, etc.) ARTICLE 283. Prom the coming into force of the present Treaty the High Contracting Parties shall apply the conventions and agreements hereinafter mentioned, in so far as concerns them, on condition that the special stipulations contained in this Article are fulfilled by Germany. Postal Conventions: Conventions and agreements of the Universal Postal Union concluded at Vienna, 4th July, 1891. Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed at Washington, 15th June, 1897. Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed at Rome, 26th May, 1906. Telegraphic Conventions: International Telegraphic Conventions signed at St. Petersburg 10/22 July, 1875. Regulations and Tariffs drawn up by the International Telegraphic Conference, Lisbon, June 11th, 1908. Germany undertakes not to refuse her assent to the conclusion by the new States of the special arrangements referred to in the Conventions and Agreements relating to the Universal Postal Union and to the International Telegraphic Union, to which the said new States have adhered or may adhere. ARTICLE 284. From the coming into force of the present Treaty the High Contracting Parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the Inernational Radio- Telegraphic Convention of the 5th July, 1912, on condition that Germany fulfils the provisional regulations which will be indicated to her by the Allied and Associated Powers. When a new convention regulating international radio-telegraphic communicationa has been concluded to take the place of the Convention of the 5th July, 1912, this new Convention shall bind Germany even if Germany should refuse either to take part in drawing up the convention, or to subscribe thereto. This new convention will likewise replace the provisional regulations in force. ARTICLE 285. From the coming into force of the present Treaty, the High Contracting Parties shall apply in so far as concerns them and under the conditions stipulated in Article 272, the conventions hereinafter mentioned: 1. The Conventions of the 6th May, 1882, and the 1st February, 1889, regulating the Fisheries in the North Sea outside territorial waters. 2. The Conventions and Protocols of the 16th November, 1887, 14th February, 1893, and 11th April, 1894, regarding the North Sea liquor traffic. ARTICLE 286. The International Convention of Paris of the 20th March, 1883, for the protection of industrial property, revised at Washington on the 2nd June, 1911; the agreement of the 14th April, 1891, regarding the suppression of false indications of origin of goods; ihe agreement of the 14th Ajjril, 1891, concerning the international registration of trade marks; and the International Convention of (Berne of the 9th September, 1886, for the protection of literary and artistic works, revised at Berlin on the 13th November, 1908, and completed by the additional Protocol si^ed at Berne on the 20th March, 1914, will again come into effect as from the coming into force of the present Treaty, in so far as they are not affected or modified by the exceptions and restrictions resulting therefrom. ARTICLE 287. From the coming into force of the present Treaty the High Contracting Parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the Convention of the Hague of the 17th July, 1905, relating to civil procedure. This renewal, however, will not apply to France, Portugal and Roumania. ARTICLE 288. The special rights and privileges granted to Germany by Article 3 of the Convention of the 2nd December, 1899, relating to Samoa shall be considered to have terminated on August 4th, 1914. ARTICLES 289 to 295. Each AUied and Associate State may renew any bilateral treaty or convention with German j' in so far as consistent with the peace treaty by giving notice within six months. Treaties entered into by Germany since August 1, 1914 with other enemy States and before or since that date with Rumania, Russia 788 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR and Governments representing parts of Russia are abrogated and any concession granted under pressure by Russia to German subjects annulled. The Allied and Associated States are to enjoy most favoiu-ed nation treatment under treaties entered into by Germany and other enemy States before August 1, 1914, -and under treaties entered into by Germany and non-belligerents during the war. The contracting Powers agree, whether or not they have signed and ratified the opium convention of January 23, 1912, or signed the special protocol opened at The Hague in accordance with resolutions adopted by the Thu-d Opium Conference in 1914, to bring the said convention into force by enacting within twelve months of the peace the necessary legislation. Section III. Debts. ARTICLE 296. A system of clearing offices is to be created within three months, one in Germany and one in each Allied and Associated State which adopts the plan for the payment of pre-war debts including those arising from contracts suspended by the war for the adjustment of the proceeds of the licjuidation of enemy property and the settlement of other obligations. Each participating State assumes responsibility for the payment of all debts owing by its nationals to nations of the enemy States except in cases of pre-war insolvency of the debtor. The proceeds of the sale of private enemy property in each participating State may be used to pay the debts owed to the nationals of that State, direct payment from debtor to creditor and all communications relating thereto being prohibited. Disputes may be settled by arbitration by the courts of the debtor country or by the mixed arbitral tribunal. Any Ally or Associated Power may, however, decline to participate in this system by giving Germany six months' notice. Section IV. Property, Rights and Interests. ARTICLES 297 and 298. Germany shall restore or pay for all private enemy property seized or damaged by her, the amount of damages to be fixed by the mixed arbitral tribunal. The Allied and Associated States may liquidate German private property within their territories as compensation for property of their nationals not restored or paid for by Germany for debts owed to their nationals by German nationals and for other claims against Germany. Germany is to compensate its nationals for such losses and to deliver within six months all documents relating to property held by nationals in Allied and Associated States. All war legislation as to enemy property rights and interests is confirmed and all claims by Germany against the Alhed or Associated Governments for acts under exceptional war measures abandoned. Section V. Contracts, Fire, Idfe and Marine Insurance. ARTICLES 299 to 303. Pre-war contracts between Allied and associated nationals, excepting the United States, Japan and Brazil and German nationals, are cancellea except for debts for accounts already performed, agreements for the transfer of property where the propertjr had already passed, leases of land and houses, contracts of mortgages, pledge or hen, mining concessions, contracts with Governments and insurance contracts. Fire insurance contracts are not considered dissolved by the war even if premiums have not been paid, but lapse at the date of the first annual premium falling due three months after the peace. Life insurance contracts may be restored by payments of accumulated premiums with interest, sums falhng due on such contracts during the war to be recoverable with interest. Marine insurance contracts are dissolved by the out- break of war except where the risk insured against had already been incurred. Where the risk had not attached, premiums paid are recoverable, otherwise premiums due and sums due on losses are recoverable. Reinsurance treaties are abrogated unless invasion has made it impossible for the reinsured to find another reinsurer. Any Allied or Associated Power, however, may cancel all the contracts rimning between its nations and a German life insurance company, the latter being obliged to hand over the proportion of its assets attributable to such policies. Section VI. Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. ARTICLES 304 and 305. Within three months from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty, a Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall be estabUshed between each of the Allied and Associated Powers on the one hand and Germany on the other hand. Each such Tribunal shall consist of three members. Each of the Governments concerned shall appoint one of these members. The President shall be chosen by agreement between the two Governments concerned. THE TREATY OF PEACE 789 In case of failure to reach agreement, the President of the Tribunal and two other persons either of whom may in case of need take his place, shall be chosen by the Council of the League of Nations, or until this is set up, by M. Gustave Ador if he is willing. These persons shall be nationals of Powers that have remained neutral during the war. The Mixed Arbitral Tribunals shall have jurisdiction over all disputes as to con- tracts concluded before the coming into force of the present Treaty between nationals of the Alhed and Associated Powers and Grerman nationals, alwaj^ excepting questions wliich, under the laws of the Allied, Associated or Neutral Powers, are within the juris- diction of the National Courts of those Powers. Such questions shall be decided by the National Courts in question, to the exclusion of the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. The party who is a national of an Allied or Associated Power may nevertheless bring the case before the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal if this is not prohibited by the laws of his country. Section VII. Industrial Proverty ARTICLES 306 to 310. Rights of industrial, literary and artistic property are re- estabhshed, the special war measures of the Allied and Associated Powers are ratified and the right reserved to impose conditions on the use of German patents and copy- rights when in the public interest. Except as between the United States and Germany, pre-war licenses and rights to sue for infringements committed during the war are cancelled. ARTICLE 311. The inhabitants of territories separated from Germany by virtue of the present Treaty shall, notwithstanding this separation and the change of nationality consequent thereon, continue to enjoy in Germany all the rights in industrial, literary, and artistic property to which they were entitled under Gierman legislation at the time of the separation. Section VIII. Social and State Insurance in Ceded Territory. ARTICLE 312. Without prejudice to the provisions contained in other Articles of the present Treaty the German Government undertakes to transfer to any Power to which German territory in Europe is ceded, and to any Power administering former German territory as a mandatory under Article 22 of Part I (League of Nations), such portion of the reserves accumulated by the Government of the German Empire or of German States, or by public or private organisations under their control, as is attri- butable to the carrying on of Social or State Insurance in such territory. The Powers to which these funds are transferred must apply them to the perform- ance of the obligations arising from such insurances. The conditions of the transfer will be determined by special conventions to be concluded between the German Government and the Governments concerned. PART XI. Aerial Navigation. ARTICLE 313. The aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall have full liberty of passage and landing over and in the territory and territorial waters of Germany, and diall enjoy the same privileges as German aircraft, particularly in case of distress by land or sea. ARTICJLE 314. The aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall, whUe in transit to any foreign country whatever, enjoy the right of flying over the territory and territorial waters of Germany without landing, subject always to any regulations which may be made by Germany, and which shall be applicable equally to the aircraft of Germany and those of the Allied and Associated countries. ARTICLE 315. All aerodromes in Germany open to national public traffic shall be open for the aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers, and in any such aerodrome such aircraft shall be treated on a footing of equality with German aircraft as regards charges of every description, including charges for landing and accommodation. ARTICLE 316. Subject to the present provisions, the rights of passage, transit and landing, provided for in Articles 313, 314 and 315, are subject to the observance of such regulations as Germany may consider it necessary to enact, but such regulations shall be applied without distinction to German aircraft and to the aircraft of Allied and Associated Countries. . ^,. , , ARTICLE 317. Certificates of nationality, au:worthmess, or competency, and licences issued or recognised as valid by any of the Allied or Associated Powers, shall 790 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR be recognised in Germany as valid and as equivalent to the certificates and licences issued by Germany. ARTICLE 318. As regards internal commercial air traflBc, the aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in Germany most favoured nation treatment. ARTICLE 319. Germany undertakes to enforce the necessary measures to ensure that all Gterman aircraft flying over her territory shall comply with the Rules as to lights and signals, Rules of the Air and Rules for Air Traffic on and in the neighbour- hood of aerodromes, which have been laid down in the Convention relative to Aerial Navigation concluded between the Allied and Associated Powers. ARTICLE 320. The obligations imposed by the preceding provisions shall remain in force until the 1st January, 1923, unless before that date Germany shall have been admitted into the League of Nations or shall have been authorised, by consent of the Allied and Associated Powers, to adhere to the Convention relative to Aerial Navigation concluded between those Powers. PART XII. POHTS, WatERWATS AND RAILWAYS. Section I. General Provisions. ARTICLES 321 to 326. Germany undertakes to grant freedom of transit through her territories on the routes most convenient for international transit, either by rail, navigable waterway, or canal, to persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails coming from or going to the territories of any of the Allied and Associated Powers (whether contiguous or not); for this purpose the crossing of territorial waters shall be allowed. Such persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails shall not be subjected to any transit duty or to any undue delays or restrictions, and shall be entitled in Germany to national treatment as regards charges, faciUties, and all other matters. Goods in transit shall be exempt from all Customs or other similar duties. Germany undertakes not to take any measures the effect of which would be to divert traffic of any kind from its normal itinerary for the benefit of her own transport routes. She must not establish any tax discrimination against the ports of Allied or Associated Powers; must grant the latters' seaports all favours and reduced tariffs granted her own or other nationals, and afford the Allied and Associated Powers equal rights with those of her own nationals in her ports and waterways, save that she is free to open or close her maritime coasting trades. '^ Section 11. Navigation. fllMpter I. Freedom of Namgation.' ARTICLE 327. The nationals of any of the AUied and Associated Powers as well as their vessels and property shall enjoy in all German ports and on the inland navigation routes of Germany the same treatment in all respects as German nationals, vessels and property. In the event of Germany granting a preferential regime to any of the Allied or Associated Powers or to any other foreign Power, this regime shall be extended immedi- ately and unconditionally to all the Allied and Associated Powers. There shall be no irapediment to the movement of persons or vessels other than those arising from prescriptions concerning customs, police, sanitation, emigration and immigration, and those relating to the import and export of prohibited goods. Such regulations must be reasonable and uniform and must not impede traffic unnecessarily. Chapter II. Free Zones in Ports. ARTICLES 328 to 330. The free zones existing in German ports on August 1, 1914, must be maintained with due faciUties as to warehouses and packing, without discrimination, and without charges except for expenses of administration and use. Goods leaving the free zones for consumption in Germany and goods brought into the free zones from Germany shall be subject to the ordinary import and export taxes. THE TREATY OF PEACE 791 Chapter III. Clauses relating to the Elbe, the Oder, the Nieman (Rttgsstrom-Memel- Niemen) and the Danube. (1) General clauses. ARTICLES 331 to 339. The Following rivers are declared international: the Elbe (Lahe) from its confluence with the Vltava (Moldau), and the Vltava (Moldau) from Prague; the Oder {Qdra) from its confluence with the Oppa; the Niemen {fiussslrom^Memd-Niemen) from Grodno; the Danube from Ulm; and all navigable parts of these river systems which naturally provide more than one State with access to the sea, with or without transshipment from one vessel to another; together with lateral canals and channels constructed either to dupUcate or to improve naturally navigable sections of the specified river svstem, or to connect two naturally navigable sections of the same river. The same shajl apply to a Rhine-Danube navi- gable waterway if constructed. The Riparian States must ensure good conditions of navigation within their terri- tories unless a special organization exists therefor. Otherwise app^ may be had to a spe»Bial tribunal of the League of Nations, which also may arrange for a general international waterways convention. (2) Special Clauses Relating to the EUie,the Oder and the Niemen {Russstrom^Memd-Niemen). ARTICLE 340. The Elbe {Lobe) shall be placed imder the administration of an International Commission which shall comprise: 4 representatives of the German States bordering on the river; 2 representatives of the Czecho-Slovak State; 1 representative of Great Britain; 1 representative of France; 1 representative of Italy; 1 representative of Belgium. Whatever be the number of members present, each delegation shall have the right to record a number of votes equal to the number of representatives allotted to it. If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall nevertheless be vaUd. ARTICLE 341. The Oder {Odra) shall be placed under the administration of an International Commission, which shall comprise: 1 representative of Poland; 1 representative of Prussia; 1 representative of the Czecho-Slovak State; 1 representative of Great Britain; 1 representative of France; 1 representative of Denmark; 1 representative of Sweden. If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of ttie Commission shall nevertheless be valid. ARTICLES 342 to 345. On a request being made to the League of Nations by any riparian State, the Niemen {Russstrorrt-MemeUNiemen) shall be placed under the administration of an International Commission, which shaJl comprise one representative of each riparian State, and three representatives of other States specified by the League of Nations. (.3) Special Clauses Relaiina to the Danube. ARTICLES 346 to 353. The European Cormnission of the Danube reassumes the powers it possessed before the war. Nevertheless, as a provisional measiu-e, only representatives of Great Britain, France, Italy and Roumania shall constitute this Commission. The Upper Danube is to be administered by a new International Commission until a definite statute be drawn up by a conference of the Powers nominated by the AUied 792 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR and Associated Governments within one year after the peace. The enemy Governments shall make full reparation for all war damages caused to the European Commission; shall cede their river faciUties in surrendered territory, and give the Czecho-Slovak State, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State or Roumania any rights necessary on their shores for carrying out improvements in navigation. Chapter IV. CUmses Relating to the Rhine and the Moselle. ARTICLES 354 to 362. The Rhine is placed under the Central Commission (provided for in the Convention of Mannheim) to meet at Strasburg within six months after the peace and to be composed of fovir representatives of France, which shall in addition select the president, four of Germany, and two each of Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Germany must give France on the course of the Rhine included between the two extreme points of her frontiers all rights to take water to feed canals, while herself agreeing not to make canals on the right bank opposite France. She must also hand over to France all her drafts and designs for this part of the river. Belgium is to be permitted to build a deep draft Rhine-Meuse canal if she so desires within twenty-five years, in which case Germany must construct the part within her territory on plans drawn by Belgium; similarly the interested AUied Governments may construct a Rhine-Meuse canal, both, if constructed, to come under the competent International Commission, Germany may not object if the Central Rhine Commission desires to extend its jurisdiction over the lower Moselle, the upper Rhine, or lateral canals. Germany must cede to the Allied and Associated Governments certain tugs, vessels, and facilities for navigation on all these rivers, the specific details to be estabhshed by an arbiter named by the United States. Decision will be based on the legitimate needs of the parties concerned and on the shipping traffic during the five years b^ore the war. The value will be included in the regular reparation account. In the case of the Rhine shares in the German navigation companies and property, such as wharves and warehouses held by Germany in Rotterdam at the outbreak of war must be handed over. Chapter V. Clauses Giving to the Csecho-SlovaJc State the Use of Porthem Ports. ARTICLE 363. In the ports of Hamburg and Stettin Germany shall lease to the Czecho-Slovak State, for a period of 99 years, areas which shall be placed under the general regime of free zones and shall be used for the direct transit of goods coming from or going to that State. ARTICLE 364. The delimitation of these areas, and their equipment, then- exploitation, and in general all conditions for their utilisation, including the amount of the rental, shall be decided by a Commission consisting of one delegate of Germany, one delegate of the Czecho-Slovak State and one delegate of Great Britain. These conditions shall be susceptible of revision every ten years in the same manner. Germany declares in advance that- she will adhere to the decisions so taken. Section III. Railways. ARTICLES 365 to 375. Germany in addition to most favoured nation treatment on her railways agrees to co-operate in the establishment of through ticket services for passengers and baggage; to ensure communication by rail between the Allied, Asso- ciated and other States; to allow the construction or improvement within twenty-five years of such lines as necessary; and to conform her rolling stock to enable its incor- poration in trains of the Allied or Associated Powers. She also agrees to accept the denunciation of the St. Gothard convention if Switzerland and Italy so request, and temporarily to execute instructions as to the transport of troops and suppUes and the establishment of postal and telegraphic service, as provided. Section IV. Disputes. ARTICLES 376 to 378. Disputes which may arise between interested Powers with regard to the interpretation and application of the preceding Articles shall be settled as provided by the League of Nations. At any time the League of Nations may recommend the revision of such of these Articles as relate to a permanent administrative regime. Section V. Special, Provision. ARTICLE 379. Without prejudice to the special obligations imposed on her by the present Treaty for the benefit of the Allied and Associated Powers, Germany under- THE TREATY OF PEACE 793 takes to adhere to any General Conventions regarding the international regime of transit, waterways, ports or railways which may be concluded by the AlHed and Associated Powers, with the approval of the League of Nations, within five years of the coming into force of the present Treaty. Section Vl. Causes Relating to the Kiel Canal. ARTICLE 380. The Kiel Canal and its approaches shall be maintained free and open to the vessels oi commerce and of war of all nations at peace with Germany on terms of entire equality. ARTICLE 381. The nationals, property and vessels of all Powers shall, in respect of charges, facilities, and in all other res^iects, be treated on a footing of perfect equality in the use of the Canal, no distinction bemg made to the detriment of nationals, property and vessels of any Power between them and the nationals, property and vessels of Germany or of the most favoured nation. No irnpediment shall be placed on the movement of persons or vessels other than those arising out of police, customs, sanitary, emigration or immigration regulations and those relating to the import or export of prohibited goods. Such regulations must be reasonable and uniform and must not imncessarily impede traffic. ARTICLE 382. Only such charges may be levied on vessels using the Canal or its approaches as are intended to cover in an equitable manner the cost of maintaining in a navigable condition, or of improving, the Canal or its approaches, or to meet expenses incurred in the interests of navigation. The schedule of such charges shall be calculated on the basis of such expenses, and shall be posted up in the ports. These charges shall be levied in such a manner as to render any detailed examina- tion of cargoes unnecessary, except in the case of suspected fraud or contravention. ARTICLE 383. Goods ia transit may be placed under seal or in the custody of customs agents; the loading and unloading of goods, and the embarkation and disem- barkation of passengers, shall only take place in the ports specified by Germany. ARTICLE 384. No charges of any kind other than those provided for in the present Treaty shall be levied along the course or at the approaches of the Kiel Canal. ARTICLE 385. Germany shall be bound to take suitable measures to remove any obstacle or danger to navigation, and to ensure the maintenance of good conditions of navigation. She shall not undertake any works of a nature to impede navigation on the Canal or its approaches. ARTICLE 386. In the event of violation of any of the conditions of Articles 380 to 386, or of dilutes as to the interpetation of these Articles, any interested Power can appeal to the jurisdiction instituted for the purpose by the League of Nations, and can demand the formation of an International Commission. In order to avoid reference of small questions to the League of Nations, Germany will establish a local authority at Kiel qualified to deal with disputes in the first instance and to give satisfaction so far as possible to complaints which may be presented through the consular representatives of the interested powers. PART XIII. Labour. Section I. Organization of Labour. Whereas the League of Nations has for its object the establishment of universal peace, and such a peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice; And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship and priva^- tion to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the worH are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is urgently required : as, for example, by the regulations of the hours of work, including the establishment of a maximum working day and week, the regulation of the labour supply, the prevention of unemployment, the provision of an adequate living wage, the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment, the protection of children, young persons and women, provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own, recognition of the principle of freedom of association, the organisation of vocational and technical education and other measures; _ Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions m their own coimtries; 794 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR The High Conteactino Parties, moved by sentiments of justice and humanity as well as by the desire to secure the permanent peace of the world, agree to the following: Chapter I. Organization. ARTICLE 387. A permanent organisation is hereby estabhshed for the promo- tion of the objects set forth in the Preamble. The original Members of the League of Nations shall be the original Members of this organisation, and hereafter membership of the League of Nations shall carry with it membership of the said organisation. ARTICLE 388. The permanent organisation shall consist of: (i) a General Conference of Representatives of the Members and, (ii) an International Labour Office controlled by the Governing Body described in Article 393. ARTICLE 389. The meetings of the General Conference of Representatives of the Members shaU be held irom time to time as occasion may require, and at least once in every year. It shall be composed of four Representatives of each of the Mem- bers, of whom two shall be Government Delegates and the two others shall be Delegate representing respectively the employers and the workpeople of each of the Members. ARTICLE 390. Every Delegate shall be entitled to vote individually on all matters which are taken into consideration by the Conference. ARTICLE 391. The meetings of the Conference shall be held at the seat of the League of Nations, or at such other place as may be decided by the Conference at a previous meeting by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present. ARTICLE 392. The International Labour Office shall be estabUshed at the seat of the League of Nations as part of the organisation of the League. ARTICLE 393. The International Labour Office shall be under the control of a Governing Body consisting of twenty-four persons, appointed in accordance with the following provisions: The Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall be constituted as follows: — Twelve persons representing the Governments; Six persons elected by the Delegates to the Conference representing the employers; Six persons elected by the Delegates to the Conference representing the workers. The period of office of the Members (rf the Governing Body wiU be three years. ARTICLE 394. There shall be a Director of the International Labour Office, who shall be appointed by the Governing Body, and, subject to the instructions of the Governing Body, shall be responsible for the efficient conduct of the International Labour Office and for such other duties as may be assigned to him. ARTICLE 395. The staff of the International Labour Office shall be appointed by the Director, who shall, so far as is possible with due regard to the efficiency of the work of the Office, select persons of different nationalities. A certain number of these persons shall be women. ARTICLE 396. The ftmctions of the International Labour Office shall include the collection and distribution of information on all subjects relating to the international adjustment of conditions of industrial hfe and labour, and particularly the examination of subjects which it is proposed to bring before the Conference with a view to the con- clusion of international conventions, and the conduct of such special investigations as may be ordered by the Conference. It will prepare the agenda for the meetings of the Conference. It will edit and pubhsh in French and English, and in such other languages, as the Governing Body may think desirable, a periodical paper dealing with problems of industry and employment of international mterest. ARTICLE 397. The Government Departments of any of the Members which deal with questions of industry and employment may communicate directly with the Director through the Representative of their Government on the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, or failing any such Representatiye, through such other qualified official as the Government may nominate for the purpose. ARTICLE 398. The International Labour Office shall be entitled to the assist- ance of the Secretary-General of the League of Nations in any matter in which it can be given. ARTICLE 399. Each of the Members will pay the traveling and subsistence expenses of its Delegates and their advisers and of its Representatives attending the meetings of the Conference or Governing Body, as the case may be. THE TREATY OF PEACE 795 ii. ^ f^^ °*^®'" ^5'®°ses of the International Labour Office and of the meetings of the Conference or Governing Body shall be paid to the Director by the Secretary- General of the League of Nations out of the general funds of the League. Ckapter II. Procedure. ARTICLE 400. The agenda for all meetings of the Conference will be settled by the Govermng Body, who shall consider any suggestion as to the agenda that may be made by the Government of any of the Members or by any representative organisa- tion recogmsed for the purpose of Article 389. ARTICLE 401. The Director shall act as the Secretary of the Conference, and shall transmit the agenda so as to reach the Members four months before the meeting of the Conference, and through them, the non-Government Delegates when appointed. ARTICLE 402. Any of the Governments of the Members may formally object tb the mclusion of any item or items in the agenda. The grounds for such objection shall be set forth in a reasoned statement addressed to the Director, who shall circulate it to all the Members of the Permanent Organisation. ARTICLE 403. The Conference shall regulate its own procedure, shall elect its own President, and may appoint committees to consider and report on any matter. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Part of the present Treaty, all matters shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast by the Delegates present. ARTICLE 404. The Conference may add to any committees which it appoints technical experts, who shall be assessors without power to vote. ARTICLE 405. When the Conference has decided on the adoption of proposals with regard to an item in the agenda, it will rest with the Conference to determine whether these proposals should take the form: (a) of a recommendation to be sub- mitted to the Members for consideration with a view to effect being given to it by national legislation or otherwise, or (6) of a draft international convention for ratification by the Members. ARTICLE 406. Any convention so ratified shall be registered by the Secretary- General of the League of Nations, but shall only be binding upon the Members which ratify it. ARTICLE 407. If any convention coming before the Conference for final con- sideration fails to secure the support of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present, it shall nevertheless be within the right of any of the Members of the Perma- nent Organization to agree to such convention among themselves. ARTICLE 408. Each of the Members agrees to make an annual report to the International Labour Office on the measures which it has taken to give effect to the provisions of conventions to which it is a party. These reports shall be made in such form and shall contain such particulars as the Governing Body may request. The Director shall lay a summary of these reports before the nejrt meeting of the Conference. ARTICLE 409. In the event of any representation being made to the Inter- national Labour Office by an industrial association of employers or of workers that any of the Members has failed to secure in any respect the effective observance within its jurisdiction of any convention to which it is a party, the Governing Body may com- municate this representation to the Government against which it is made and may invite that Government to make such statement on the subject as it may think fit. ARTICLE 410. If no statement is received within a reasonable time from the Government in question, or if the statement when received is not deemed to be satis- factory by the Governing Body, the latter shall have the right to publish the representa- tion and the statement, if any, made in reply to it. ARTICLE 411. Any of the Members shall have the right to file a complaint with the International Labour Office if it is not satisfied that any other Member is securing the effective observance of any convention which both have ratified in accord- ance with the foregoing articles. The Governing Body may, if it thinks fit, before referring such a complaint to a Commission of Enquiry, as hereinafter provided for, communicate with the Govern- ment in question in the manner described in Article 409. If the Governing Body does not think it necessary to communicate the complaint to the Government in question, or if, when they have made such communication, no statement in reply has been received within a reasonable time which the Governing Body considers to be satisfactory, the Governing Body may apply for the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry to consider the complaint and to report thereon. 796 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR ARTICLE 412. The Commission of Enquiry shall be constituted in accordance with the following provisions: Each of the Members agrees to nominate within six months of the date on which the present Treaty comes into force three persons of industrial experience, of whom one shall be a representative of employers, one a representative of workers, and one a person of independent standing, who shall tpgether form a panel from which the Members of the Commission of Enquiry shall be drawn. The qualifications of the persons so nominated shall be subject to scrutiny by the Governing Body, which may by two-thirds of the votes cast by the representative's present refuse to accept the nomination of any person whose qualifications do not in its opinion comply with the requirements of the present article. Upon the application of the Governing Body, the Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall nominate three persons, one from each section of this panel, to constitute the Commission of Enquiry, and shall designate one of them as the President of the Commission. None of these three persons shall be a person nominated to the panel by any Member directly concerned in the complaint. ARTICLE 413. The Members agree that, in the event of the reference of a complaint to a Commission of Enquiry under Article 411^ they will each, whether directly concerned in the complaint or notj place at the disposal of the Commission all the information in their possession which bears upon the subject-matter of the complaint. ARTICLE 414. When the Commission of Enquiry has fully considered the complaint, it shall prepare a report embodying its findings on all questions of fact relevant to determining the issue between the parties and containing such recommendar tions as it may think proper as t& the steps which should be taken to meet the complaint and the time within which they should be taken. It shall also indicate in this report the measures, if any, of an economic character agaJnst a defaulting Government which it considers to be appropriate, and which it considers other Governments would be justified in adopting. ARTICLE 415. The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall communi- cate the report of the Commission of Enquiry to each of the Governments concerned in the complaint, and shall cause it to be published. Each of these Governments shall within one month inform the Secretary-General of the League of Nations whether or not it accepts the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission; and if not, whether it proposes to refer the complaint to the Permanent Court of International Justice of the League of Nations. ARTICLE 416. In the event of any Member failing to take the action required by Article 405,_with regard to a recommendation or draft convention, any other Member shall be entitled to refer the matter to the Permanent Court of International Justice. ARTICLE 417. The decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice in regard to a complaint or matter which has been referred to it in pursuance of Article 415 or Article 416 shall be final. ARTICLE 418. The Permanent Court of International Justice may affirm, vary or reverse any of the findings or recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry, if any, and shall in its decision indicate the measures, if any, of an economic character which it considers to be appropriate, and which other Governments would be justified in adopting against a defaulting Government. ARTICLE 419. In the event of any Member failing to carry out within the time specified the recommendations, if any, contained in the report of the Commission of Enquiry, or in the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice, as the case may be, any other Member may take against that Member the measures of an economic character indicated in the report of the Commission or in the decision of the Court as appropriate to the case. ARTICLE 420. The defaulting Government may at any time inform the Govern- ing Body that it has taken the steps necessary to comply with the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry or with those in the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice, as the case may be, and may request it to apply to the Secretary- General of the League to constitute a Commission of Enquiry to verify its contention. In this case the provisions of Articles 412, 413, 414, 415^ 417 and 418 shall apply, and if the report of the Commission of Enquiry or the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice is in favour of the defaulting Government, the other Governments shall forthwith discontinue the measures of an economic character that they have taken against the defaulting Government. THE TREATY OF PEACE 797 Chapter III. General. ARTICLE 421. The Members engage to apply conventions which they have ratified in accordance with the provisions of this Part of the present Treaty to their colonies, protectorates and possessions which are not fully self-governing: 1. Except where owing to the local conditions the convention is inapplicable, or 2. Subject to such modifications as may be necessary to adapt the convention to local conditions. And each of the Members shall notify to the International Labour Office the action taken in respect of each of its colonies, protectorates and possessions which are not fully self-governing. ARTICLE 422. Amendments to this Part of the present Treaty which are adopted by the Conference by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present shall take effect when ratified by the States whose representatives compose the Council of the League of Nations and by three-fourths of the Members. ARTICLE 423. Any question or dispute relating to the interpretation of this Part of the present Treaty or of any subsequent Convention concluded by the Members in pursuance of the provisions of this Part of the present Treaty shall be referred for decision to the Permanent Court of International Justice. Chapter IV. TransUory Provisions. ARTICLE 424. The first meeting of the Conference shall take place in October, 1919. The place and agenda for this meeting shall be as specified in the Annex hereto. ARTICLE 425. Until the League of Nations has been constituted all communi- cations which mider the provisions of the foregoing Articles should be addressed to the Secretary-General of the League will be pi:served by the Director of the International ■ Labour Office, who will transmit them to the Secretary-General of the League. ARTICLE 426. Pending the creation of a Permanent Court of International Justice, disputes which in accordance with this Part of the present Treaty would be submitted to it for decision will be referred to a tribunal of three persons appointed by the Council of the League of Nations. ANNEX. First Meeting op Annual Labotte Conference, 1919. The place of meeting will be Washington. The Government of the United States of America is requested to convene the The International Organising Committee wiU consist of seven Members, appointed by the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and Switzerland. The Committee may, if it thinks necessary, invite other Members to appoint representatives. 1. Application of principle of the 8 hours day or of the 48 hours week. 2. Question of preventing or providing against imemployment. 3. Women's employment: , ^ -. u ^^ a) Before and after child-birth, includmg the question of matermty benefit. h) During the night. c) In unhealthy processes. 4. Emplojonent of children: a) Minimum age of employment. 6) During the night. c) In unhealthy processes. . j i j i. u 5. Ejrtension and application of the International Conventions adopted at Berne in 1906 on the prohibition of night work for women employed m industry and the rrohihitiiOP of tie use of wMte pfioSpllOIUS W the manufacture of matches. Sedim 11. General Principles. ARTICLE 427 The High Contracting Parties, recognising that the well-being, Dhvsical, moral and intellectual, of industrial wage-earners is of supreme international Sinortanee have framed, in order to further this great end, the pemanent machmery wSd forTle