HOSTILE SENTIMENTS OF THE BALKANS

As may be seen from what has been said, the sentiment of hostility between the Christian States of the Balkan region and the Mohammedan empire of Turkey was not likely to be easily allayed. The atrocities of persecution which the Christians had suffered at the hands of the Turks were unforgotten and unavenged, and to them was added an ambitious desire to widen their dominions at the expense of Turkey, if possible to drive Turkey completely out of Europe and extend their areas of control to the Mediterranean and the Bosporus. These states consisted of Servia, made an autonomous principality in 1830, an independent principality in 1878, and a kingdom in 1882; Bulgaria, an autonomous principality in 1878, an independent kingdom in 1908; Roumania, an autonomous principality in 1802, an independent principality in 1878, a kingdom in 1881; Montenegro, an independent principality in 1878, a kingdom in 1910; Eastern Roumelia, autonomous in 1878, annexed to Bulgaria in 1885. Adjoining these on the south was Greece, an independent kingdom since 1830. The former provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been assigned to Austrian administrative control in 1878, and annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, an act which added to the feeling of unrest in the Balkan States.

The relations existing between the Balkan States and their neighbors was one of dissatisfaction and hostility which might at any time break into war, this being especially the case with those which bordered directly upon Turkey - Servia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece. Roumania, being removed from contact, had less occasion to entertain warlike sentiments.

INCITEMENT TO WAR

A fitting time for this indignation and hostile feeling to break out into war came in 1912, as a result of the invasion and conquest of Tripoli by Italy in 1911-12. This war, settled by a protocol in favor of Italy on October 15, 1912, had caused financial losses and political unrest in Turkey which offered a promising opportunity for the states to carry into effect their long-cherished design. They did not act as a unit, the smallest of them, Montenegro,, declaring war on Turkey on October 8th, and Greece, on October 17th. In regard to Servia and Bulgaria, Turkey took the initiative, declaring war on them October 17, 1912.

But acts of war did not wait for a formal declaration. On October 5th, King Peter of Servia thus explained to the National Assembly of that state his reasons for mobilizing his troops:

"I have applied with friendly counsels to Constantinople regarding the misery which the Christian nationalities, including ours, are suffering in Turkey, and it is to be regretted that all this was of no avail. Instead of the expected reforms we were surprised a few days ago by the mobilization of the Turkish army near our frontiers. To this act, by which our safety was endangered, Servia had only one reply. By my decree our army was put into a mobile state.

"Our position is clear. Our duty is to undertake measures insuring our safety. It is our duty, in conformity with other Christian Balkan states, to do everything in our power to insure proper conditions for a real and permanent peace in the Balkans."

The first raid into Turkish territory was made by the Bulgarian bandit Sandansky, who in 1902 had kidnapped Miss Ellen M. Stone, an American missionary, and held her for a ransom of $65,000 to procure funds for his campaign. At the head of a band of 2,500 Bulgarians he crossed the frontier and burned the Turkish blockhouse at Oschumava, afterwards occupying a strategic position above the Struma River.

FIGHTING BEGINS

The Montenegro army opened the war on October 9th, by attacking a strong Turkish position opposite Podgoritza, Franz Peter, the youngest son of King Nicholas, firing the first shot. Bulgaria, without waiting to declare war, crossed the frontier on October 14th and made a sharp attack on the railway patrols between Sofia and Uskut. Sharp fighting at the same time took place on the Greek frontier, the Greeks capturing Malurica Pass, the chief mountain pass leading from Greece to Turkey on the northern frontier. As regards the reasons impelling Greece to take an active part in the war, it must be remembered that the great majority of Greeks still lived under the Turkish flag, while the twelve islands in the Aegean Sea seized by Italy during its war with Turkey were clamoring to be annexed to Greece instead of being returned to Turkey by the treaty of peace between Italy and Turkey.

Such were the conditions and events existing at the opening of the war. It developed with great rapidity, a number of important battles being fought, in which the Turks were defeated. The military strength of the combined states exceeded that of Turkey, and within a month's time they made rapid advances, the goals sought by them being Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonica and Scutari.

THE ADVANCE ON ADRIANOPLE

The most important of the Balkan movements was that of the Bulgarian army upon Adrianople, the second to Constantinople in importance of Turkish cities. By October 20th the Bulgarian main army had forced the Turks back upon the outward forts of this stronghold, while the left wing threatened the important post of Kirk-Kilisseh, in Thrace, about thirty miles northeast of Adrianople. This place, regarded as "the Key to Adrianople," was take on the 24th, after a three days' fight, the Turkish forces, said to be 150,000 strong, retiring in disorder.

The Bulgarians continued their advance, fighting over a wide semicircular area before Adrianople, upon which city they gradually closed, taking some of the outer forts and making their bombardment felt within the city itself.

SERVIAN AND GREEK VICTORIES

While the Bulgarians were making such vigorous advances towards the capital of the Turkish empire, their allies were winning victories in other quarters. Novibazar, capital of the sanjak of the same name, was taken by the Servians on October 23rd. Prishtina and other towns and villages of Old Servia were also taken, the victors being received by the citizens with open arms of welcome and other demonstrations of joy. Tobacco and refreshments were pressed upon the soldiers, while the people put all their possessions at the disposal of the military authorities.

The Greeks were also successful, an army under the Crown Prince capturing the town of Monastir, which was garrisoned by a Turkish force estimated at 40,000. The Montenegrin forces were regarded as of high importance as a means of widening the area of their narrow kingdom. Other important towns or Old Servia were taken, including Kumanova, captured on the 25th, Uskab, captured on the 26th, and Istib, 45 miles to the southwest, occupied without opposition on the following day. This place, a very strong natural position in the mountains, was known as the Adrianople of Macedonia.

THE BULGARIAN SUCCESSES

While these movements were taking place in the west, the siege of Adrianople was vigorously pushed. It was completely surrounded by Bulgarian troops by the 29th, and its commander formally summoned to surrender the city. The besiegers, however, had great difficulties to overcome, the country around being inundated by the rivers Maretza and Arda in consequence of heavy rains. These floods at the same time impeded the movements of the Turks.

On October 31st, after another three-day fight, the Bulgarians achieved the great success of the war, defeating a Turkish army of 200,000 men. Only a fortnight had passed since Turkey declared war. The first week of the campaign closed with the dramatic fall of Kirk-Kilesseh, fully revealing for the first time the disorganization, bad morale and inefficient commissariat of the Turkish army. Ten days later that army was defeated and routed, within fifty miles from Constantinople, forcing it to retreat within the capital's line of defenses.

Apparently Nazim Pasha had been completely outmaneuvered by Savoff's generalship. The Bulgarian turning movement along the Black Sea coast appears to have been a feint, which induced the Turkish commander to throw his main army to the eastward, to such effect that the Bulgarian force on this side had the greatest difficulty in holding the Turks in check.

In fact, the Bulgarians gave way, and thus enabled Nazim Pasha to report to Constantinople some success in this direction. In the meantime, however, General Savoff hurled his great strength against the Turks' weakened left wing, which he crushed in at Lule Burgas. The fighting along the whole front, which evidently was of the most stubborn and determined character, was carried on day and night without intermission, and both sides lost heavily.

The final result was to force the Turks within the defensive lines of Tchatalja, the only remaining fortified position protecting Constantinople. These lines lie twenty-five miles to the northwest of the capital.

The seat of war between Bulgaria and Turkey, aside from the continued siege of Adrianople, was by this success transferred to the Tchatalja lines, along which the opposing armies lay stretched during the week succeeding the Lule Burgas victory. Here siege operations were vigorously prosecuted, but the Turks, though weakened by an outbreak of cholera in their ranks, succeeded in maintaining their position.

STEPS TOWARD PEACE

Elsewhere victory followed the banners of the allies. On November 8th the important port of Salonica was taken by the Greeks, and on the 18th the Servians captured Monastir, the remaining Turkish stronghold in Macedonia. The fighting here was desperate, lasting three days, the Turkish losses amounting to about 20,000 men. In Albania the Montenegrin siege of Scutari continued, though so far without success.

Turkey had now enough of the war. On November 3d she had asked a mediation of the Powers, but these replied that she must treat directly with the Balkan nations. This caused delay until the end of the month, the protocol of an armistice being approved by the Turkish cabinet on November 30th, and signed by representatives of Turkey, Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro on December 3d. Greece refused to sign, but at a later date agreed to take part in a conference to meet in London on December 16th.

This peace conference continued in session until January 6, 1913, without reaching any conclusions, Turkey refusing to accept the Balkan demands that she should yield practically the whole of her territory in Europe. At the final session of the conference she renounced her claim to the island of Crete, and promised to rectify her Thracian frontier, but insisted upon the retention of Adrianople. This place, the original capital of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, and containing the splendid mosque of Sultan Selim, was highly esteemed by the Mohammedans, who clung to it as a sacred city.

War seemed likely to be resumed, though the European Powers strongly suggested to Turkey the advisability of yielding on this point, and leaving the question of the fate of the Aegean Islands to the Powers, which promised also to guard Mussulman interests in Adrianople. Finally, on January 22d, the Porte consented to this request of the Powers, a decision which was vigorously resented by the warlike party known as Young Turks.

Demonstrations at once broke out in Constantinople, leading to the overthrow of the cabinet and the murder of Nazim Pasha, former minister of war and commander-in-chief of the Turkish army. He was succeeded by Enver Bey, the most spirited leader of the Young Turks, who became chief of staff of the army.

On January 30th the Balkan allies denounced their armistice and a renewed war seemed imminent. On the same day the Ottoman government offered a compromise, agreeing to divide Adrianople between the contestants in such a way that they might retain the mosques and the historic monuments. As for the Aegean Islands, they would leave these to the disposition of the Powers.

THE WAR RESUMED

To this compromise the Balkan allies refused to agree and on February 3d hostile operations were resumed. The investment of Adrianople had remained intact during the interval, and on the 4th a vigorous bombardment took place, the Turkish response being weak. Forty Servian seven-inch guns had been mounted, their shells falling into the town, part of which again broke into flames. At points the lines of besiegers and besieged were only 200 yards apart. An attempt was made also to capture the peninsula of Gallipoli, which commands the Dardanelles, and thus take the Turkish force in the rear. Fifty thousand Bulgarians had been landed on this coast in November, and the Greek fleet in the Gulf of Saros supported the attack. If successful, there would be nothing to prevent this fleet from passing the straits, defeating the inferior Turkish war vessels and attacking Constantinople from the rear. Fighting in this region continued for several days, the Turkish forces being driven back, but still holding their forts.

SIEGE OF SCUTARI

In the west the most important operation at this period was that of the Montenegrins, led by King Nicholas in person, against Scutari, an Albanian stronghold which they were eager to possess.

Servian artillery aided in the assault, and on February 8th the important outwork on Muselim Hill was taken by an impulsive bayonet charge. The city was not captured, however, until April 23d, when an entire day's ceaseless fighting ended in the yielding of the garrison, the climax of a six-month siege.

An energetic attack had been made by the Bulgarians and Serbs on Adrianople on March 14th, ending in a repulse, and on the 22d another vigorous assault was begun, continuing with terrific fighting for four days. It ended in a surrender of the city on the 26th. The siege had continued for 152 days. Before yielding, the Turks blew up the arsenal and set fire to the city at several points. At the same time Tchatalja, which had been actively assailed, fell into the hands of the allies and Constantinople lay open to assault.

Meanwhile the Powers of Europe had again offered their good services to mediate between the warring forces, and a conditional mediation was agreed to by the Balkan allies. Movements towards peace, however, proceeded slowly, the most interesting event of the period being a demand by Austria, backed by Italy, that Montenegro should give up the city of Scutari. Earnest protests were made against this by King Nicholas, but the despatch of an Austrian naval division on April 27th to occupy his ports and march upon Cettinje, his capital, obliged him reluctantly to yield and on May 5th Scutari was given up to Austria, to form part of a projected Albanian kingdom.

TREATY OF PEACE

Peace between the warring nations was finally concluded on May 30, 1913, the treaty providing that Turkey should cede to her allied foes all territory west of a line drawn from Enos on the Aegean coast to Media on the coast of the Black Sea. This left Adrianople in the hands of the Bulgarians and gave Turkey only a narrow strip of territory west of Constantinople, the meager remnant of her once great holdings upon the continent of Europe. The victors desired to divide the conquered territory upon a plan arranged between them before the war, but the purposes of Austria and Italy were out of agreement with this design and the Powers insisted in forming out of the districts assigned to Servia and Greece a new principality to be named Albania, embracing the region occupied by the unruly Albanian tribes.

This plan gave intense dissatisfaction to the allies. It seemed designed to cut off Servia from an opening upon the Mediterranean, which that inland state ardently desired and Austria strongly opposed. Montenegro was also deprived of the warmly craved city of Scutari, which she had won after so vigorous a strife. Bulgaria also was dissatisfied with this new project and opposed the demands of Servia and Greece for compensation in land for the loss of Albania or for their support of the Bulgarian operations.

WAR BETWEEN THE ALLIES

Thus the result of this creation of a new and needless state out of the conquered territory by the peace-making Powers roused hostilities among the allies which speedily flung them into a new war. Bulgaria refused to yield any of the territory held by it to the Servians and Greeks, and Greece in consequence made a secret league with Servia against Bulgaria.

It was the old story of a fight over the division of the spoils. It is doubtful which of the contestants began hostile operations, but Bulgaria lost no time in marching upon Salonica, held by Greece, and in attacking the Greek and Servian outposts in Macedonia. The plans of General Savoff, who had led the Bulgarians to victory in the late war and who commanded in this new outbreak, in some way fell into the hands of the Greeks and gave them an important advantage. They at once, in junction with the Servians, attacked the Bulgarians and drove them back. From the accounts of the war, probably exaggerated, this struggle was accompanied by revolting barbarities upon the inhabitants of the country invaded, each country accusing the other of shameful indignities.

What would have been the result of the war, if fought out between the original contestants, it is impossible to say, for at this juncture a new Balkan State, which had taken no part in the Turkish war, came into the field. This was Roumania, lying north of Bulgaria and removed from any contact with Turkey. It had had a quarrel with Bulgaria, dating back to 1878, concerning certain territory to which it laid claim. This was a strip of land on the south side of the Danube near its mouth and containing Silistria and some other cities.

THE FINAL SETTLEMENT

King Charles of Roumania now took the opportunity to demand this territory, and when his demand was refused by Ferdinand of Bulgaria he marched an army across the Danube and took the Bulgarians, exhausted by their recent struggle, in the rear. No battles were fought. The Roumanian army advanced until within thirty miles of Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and Ferdinand was obliged to appeal for peace, and in the subsequent treaty yielded to Roumania the tract desired, which served to round out the frontier on the Black Sea.

Another unexpected event took place. While her late foes were struggling in a war of their own, Turkey quietly stepped into the arena, and on July 20th retook possession, without opposition, of Adrianople, Bulgaria's great prize in the late war.

A peace conference was held at Bukarest, capital of Roumania, beginning July 30th, and framing a treaty, signed on August 10th.

This provided for the evacuation of Bulgaria by the invading armies, and also for a division of the conquered territory. Bulgaria gained the largest amount of territory, though less than she had claimed. Greece retained the important seaport of Salonica, the possession of which had been hotly disputed, and gained the largest sea front. Montenegro, though deprived of the much-coveted Scutari, was assigned part of northern Albania and the Turkish sanjak of Novibazar, adjoining on the east, considerably increasing her diminutive territory.

Servia had most reason to be dissatisfied with the result, in view of her craving for an opening to the sea. Cut off by Albania on the west, it sought an opening on the south, demanding the city of Kavala, on the Aegean Sea. But to this Greece strongly objected, as that city, one of the great tobacco marts of the world, was inhabited almost wholly by Greeks. Servia, however, extended southward far over its old territory, gaining Uskub, its old capital. And the Powers also agreed that it should have commercial rights on the Mediterranean, thorough railroad connection with Salonica.

As regards Turkey's shrewd advantage of the opportunity to retake Adrianople, it proved a successful move. The Russian press strongly advocated that the Turks should be ejected, but the jealousy of the Powers prevented any agreement as to who should do this and in the end the Turks remained, with a considerable widening of the tract of land before assigned to them.

In these wars it is estimated that 358,000 persons died, and that the cost of the two wars, to the several nations involved, reached a total of $1,200,000,000. Its general result was almost to complete the work of expelling the Turks from Europe, the territory lost by them being divided up between the several Balkan nations.

Chapter XIX. METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE

Ancient and Modern Weapons - New Types of Weapons - The Ironclad Warship - The Balloon in War - Tennyson's Foresight - Gunning for Airships - The Submarine - Under-Water Warfare - The New Type of Battleship - Mobilization - The Waste of War

One hundred years ago the Battle of Waterloo had just been fought and Napoleon's star had set never to rise again. For years he had swept Europe with his armies, rending the nations into fragments, and winning world-famous victories with weapons that no one would look for today except in a military museum, weapons antiquated beyond all possible utility on a modern field of battle.

ANCIENT AND MODERN WEAPONS

Every fresh modern war has been fought with new weapons, and during the past century there have been countless inventions for the carrying on of warfare in a more destructive manner, apparently on the philanthropic theory that war should be made so terrible that it must quickly pass away.

But it has happened that as soon as a particularly horrible contrivance was invented and introduced into armies and navies, other inventors immediately set themselves to offset and discount its probable effect. Consequently war not only has not passed away, but we have it with us in more frightful form that ever before. Thus it is that each big war, after being heralded as the world's last conflagration, has proved but the herald of another war, bigger and more death-dealing still.

Since the Civil War in the United States, in which probably more new features in modes of fighting were introduced than in any conflict that had preceded it, there have been immense improvements in arms, in armament and in general efficiency of both armies and navies. It was the Civil War that brought into being the turreted MONITOR, one of the greatest contributions to naval architecture the navies of the world had then known. While the turrets on the modern battleship are very different in design, in armor and in arrangement from those on the old monitors, they are nothing more than an adaptation of the original devices.

The same is the case with the small arms and the field guns of the modern armies, these having been greatly improved since the period of the Civil war. The breech-loading and even the magazine rifle are now in use in every army, while the smallest field piece of today is almost as efficient as the most powerful gun in use fifty years ago.

The first attempt to use a torpedo boat dates back to the Civil War. A primitive contrivance it was, but it showed a possibility in naval warfare which speedily led to the general building of torpedo boats, and to the invention of the highly efficient Whitehead torpedo.

THE IRONCLAD WARSHIP

Another lesson in warfare was taught when the ironclad MERRIMAC and MONITOR met and fought for mastery in Hampton Roads. The ironclad vessel was not then a new idea in naval architecture, but its efficiency as a fighting machine was then first demonstrated. Iron for armor soon gave way to thick and tough steel, while each improvement in armor led to a corresponding improvement in guns and projectiles, until now a battle at sea has grown to be a remarkably different affair from the great ocean combats of Nelson's time.

But development in the art of war has not ceased with the improvement in older types of weapons. New devices, scarcely thought of in former wars, have been introduced. These include the use of the balloon and aeroplane as scouting devices, of the bomb filled with explosives of frightful rending power, and of the submarine naval shark, designed to attack the mighty battleships from under water.

THE BALLOON IN WAR

Of recent years the balloon has been developed into the dirigible, the flying machine that can be steered and directed. Made effective by Count Zeppelin and others, its possibilities as an aid in war were quickly perceived. Then came the notable invention of the Wright Brothers, and after 1904 the aeroplane quickly expanded into an effective aerial instrument, the probably serviceableness of which in war was evident to all. Here we are tempted to stop and quote the remarkable prediction from Tennyson's "Locksley Hall," the truth of which is now being so strikingly verified:

"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be; Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales; Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm, With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder storm; Till the war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled In the parliament of man, the federation of the world."

GUNNING FOR AIRSHIPS

The airship does not float safely in the cental blue, aside from attacks by flying foes. Guns pointing upward have been devised to attack the daring aviator from the ground and flying machines can thus be swiftly brought down, like war eagles shot in the sky. Several types of guns for this purpose are in use, some to be employed on warships or fortifications, others, mounted on automobile trucks, for use in the field.

The Ehrhardt gun, a German weapon, which is designed to be mounted on an auto-truck, weighs nearly 1700 pounds. The car carries 140 rounds of ammunition and the whole equipment in service condition weighs more than six tons. The gun has an extreme range at 45 degrees elevation of 12,029 yards, or more than six miles. The sights are telescopic, a moving object can be followed with ease, and the gun is capable of being fired very rapidly. The British are provided with the Vickers gun, which is mainly intended for naval use, but the military arm is also provided with anti-balloon guns, which have great range and can throw a three-pound shell at any high angle. Some of these guns use incendiary shells, intended to ignite the gas in dirigibles. There is another type that explodes shrapnel. In addition to these, rifle fire is apt to be effective, in case of airships coming within its range.

Jules Vedrines, a well-known French aviator, tells this story of his experience while doing scout duty for the French army:

"Those German gunners surely have tried their best to get me," he wrote. "Each night when I come back to headquarters my machine looks more and more like a sieve because of the numerous bullet holes in the wings.

"I have been keeping tab on the number of new bullet holes in my machine each day, marking each with red chalk, so that I won't include any of the old ones in the next day's count. My best record so far for one day is thirty-seven holes. That shows how close the enemy has come to hitting me. My duties as scout require me to cover various distances each day. The best record so far in one day is 600 miles."

THE SUBMARINE

The submarine is another type of war apparatus, one the utility of which promises to be very great. It is of recent origin. At the time of the Spanish-American War there were only five submarines in all the navies of the world, and of this number three were in the French navy, one in Italy and one in Portugal. The United States was building its first one, and had not decided what type to select. At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War Great Britain had nine of the American (Holland) type of submarines and was building twenty more, while France had accumulated thirty-six of various types and of various grades of reported efficiency, while Germany had none. In 1914 there were nearly four hundred vessels of this type in the world's navies, France standing first with 173.

It was believed that the moral effect of the submarine would be almost as important as its physical effect in dealing with an enemy's warship, and this idea has been justified. Some persons maintained that fights of submarines with each other might take place, each, like the Kilkenny cats, devouring the other. But the fact is that when submerged the submarine is as blind as the traditional bat. Its crew cannot see any object under water, and is compelled to resort to the use of the periscope, which emerges unostentatiously above the water, in order to see its own course.

It is known that the periscope is the eye of the submarine, and naturally attention has been paid to the best way of destroying this vital part of such boats. Recently, grappling irons have been devised for use from dirigibles, which are expected to drag out the periscope as the dirigible flies above it. Careful plans for torpedoing submarines also have been made, but their effectiveness likewise remains to be demonstrated.

Submarine builders have naturally held the view that the submerged boat could not be seen. But it has been discovered that from a certain height an observer may trace the course of a submerged submarine with as great accuracy as if it were running on the surface. It is found that the submerged boat can readily be seen from the dirigible and the aeroplane. On the other hand an anti-balloon gun has been devised which can be raised from the submarine when it comes to the surface, and used against the hostile airship.

UNDER-WATER WARFARE

The submarine is supposed to have its most important field of operation against a fleet of battleships and cruisers besieging a seaport city. These great war craft, covered above the water- line with thick steel armor, are vulnerable below, and a torpedo discharged from a torpedo boat or an explosive bomb attached to the lower hull by a submarine may send the largest and mightiest ship to the bottom, stung to death from below.

With this idea in view torpedo boars, destroyers designed to attack torpedo boats and submarines have been multiplied in modern navies. We have just begun to appreciate the effectiveness of this type of vessels. Their possibilities are enormous and their latent power renders the bombardment from sea of town or fort a far more perilous operation than of old. Fired at by the great guns of the fort capable of effective work at eight or ten miles distance, exposed to explosive bombs dropped from soaring airships, made a target for the deadly weapon of the torpedo boat, and in constant risk of being stung by the submarine wasp, these great war ships, built at a cost of ten or more millions and peopled by hundreds of mariners, are in constant danger of being sent to the bottom with all on board a contingency likely to shake the nerves of the steadiest Jack Tar or admiral on board.

A typical submarine has a length of about 150 feet and diameter of 15 feet, with a speed of eleven knots on the surface and five knots when submerged. Some of the more recent have a radius of navigation of 4,500 miles without need of a new supply of stores and fuel. On the surface they are propelled by gasoline engines, but when submerged they use electric motors driven by storage batteries. If the weather should grow too rough they can sink below the waves.

THE NEW TYPE OF BATTLESHIP

While the peril of the big ship has thus been increased, the size and fighting capacity of those ships have steadily grown and at the same time their cost, which is becoming almost prohibitive. Taking the British navy, the leader in this field, the size of battleships was yearly augmented until in 1907 the famous Dreadnought appeared, looked upon at the time as the last word in naval architecture. This great ship was of 17,900 tons displacement and 23,000 horse-power, its armor belt eleven inches thick, its major armament composed of ten twelve-inch guns. There are now twenty British battleships of larger size, some much larger.

On shore a similar increase may be seen in the size and effectiveness of armies and the strength of fortifications. In all the larger nations of Europe except Great Britain the whole able-bodied male population are now obliged to spend several years in the army, and to be ready at a moment's notice to drop all the avocations of peace and march to the front, ready to risk their lives in their country's service or at the command of the autocrat under whom they live.

MOBILIZATION

Mobilization is a word with strenuous significance. When it is put into effect every able-bodied man must report without delay for service. His name is on the army lists; if he fails to report he is branded as a deserter. In Germany, the order to mobilize is issued by the Emperor and is immediately sent out by all military and civil authorities, at home or abroad. Every person knows at once what he is required to do. Skeleton regiments are filled out and additional regiments formed. Simultaneously there is a levy of horses. The order reaches into every household; into the factories, the shipyards, the hotels, the farms, river boats, everywhere. Almost instantly the male individuals within the prescribed ages must at once report to the barracks to come under military discipline. Infantry, cavalry and artillery units double and triple at once.

This is the first step in mobilization. The second is the transportation and concentration of forces. The railways are seized, the telegraph and telephone systems. Mail, military, aerial and railway services are assigned. The commissary lines are laid and transportation provided for. With marvelous efficiency the full fighting strength, in front and rear, is made ready and co-ordinated.

The psychological effect of mobilization is tremendous. In every household home-ties are broken. The fields are stripped of men. Industry stops. Artillery rolls through the streets, bands play. An atmosphere of apprehension settles down on the country.

THE WASTE OF WAR

And the waste of it all; the criminal, unbelievable waste! Consider the vast loss of products that is due, not only to actual war, but to unceasing and universal preparation for war.

It has been stated on the highest authority that during the last decade forty per cent of the total outlay of European states has been absorbed by the armies and navies which, when war arises, seek in every way to destroy as much as they can of the remainder. Commenting on this state of affairs, Count Sergius Witte, the ablest of Russian statesmen and financiers, said in London not long ago:

"Sketch a picture in your mind's eye of all that those sums, if properly spent, could effect for the nations who now waste them on heavy guns, rifles, dreadnaughts, fortresses and barracks. If this money were laid out on improving the material lot of the people, in housing them hygienically, in procuring for them healthier air, medical aid and needful periodical rest, they would live longer and work to better purpose, and enjoy some of the happiness or contentment which at present is the prerogative of the few.

"Again, all the best brain work of the most eminent men is focused on efforts to create new lethal weapons, or to make the old ones more deadly. For one of the arts in which cultured nations have made most progress is warfare. The noblest efforts of the greatest thinkers are wasted on inventions to destroy human life.

"When I call to mind the gold and the work thus dissipated in smoke and sound and compare that picture with this other villagers with drawn, sallow faces, men and women and dimly conscious children perishing slowly and painfully of hunger I begin to ask myself whether human culture and the white man who personifies it are not wending toward the abyss."

In "War and Waste" Dr. David Starr Jordan quotes the table of Richet to show the cost of a general European war.

Per day the French statistician figures the war's cost thus:

Feed of men ........................................ $12,600,000 Feed of horses ...................................... 1,000,000 Pay (European rates) ................................ 4,250,000 Pay of workmen in arsenals and ports ................ 1,000.000 Transportation (sixty miles, ten days) .............. 2,100,000 Transportation of provisions ........................ 4,200,000 Munitions Infantry, ten cartridges a day ................. 4,200,000 Artillery, ten shots per day ................... 1,200,000 Marine, two shots per day ...................... 400,000 Equipment ........................................... 4,200,000 Ambulances, 500,000 wounded or ill ($1 per day) ..... 500,000 Armature ............................................ 500,000 Reduction of imports ................................ 5,000,000 Help to the poor (20 cents per day to one in ten) ... 6,800,000 Destruction of towns, etc ........................... 2,000,000

TOTAL PER DAY ................. $49,950,000



Chapter XX. CANADA'S PART IN THE WORLD WAR

New Relations Toward the Empire - Military Preparations - The Great camp at Valcartier - The Canadian Expeditionary Force - Political Effect of Canada's Action on Future of the Dominion

The sailing of the First Canadian Contingent on October 2, 1914, for England, en route to the theater of war, marked a noteworthy epoch in Canadian history. For the first time the Dominion took her place, not as a British colony, but as a component part of the British Empire. This position was established by the voluntary offer of expeditionary troops to be raised, equipped, and paid by Canada for the defense of the British empire.

For many years a movement had been on foot to bring about this attitude on the part of the Dominion by His Majesty's government.

No such action was taken by the Dominion in the South African War, though a Canadian regiment was raised for the guarding of Halifax so that the regiment of British soldiers doing garrison duty there might be released for service at the front, and all other troops who left Canada went simply as volunteers to join the British army, though raised by the Dominion government.

When the situation in South Africa reached a critical stage and there were fears of German interference on behalf of the Boers it became clear that the British government strongly desired a helping hand from Canada for political reasons. It seemed a good time to show a solid front and a united Empire. Later, on October 3d, there came a request for 500 men from the British Colonial Secretary. No immediate action was taken on this, but on October 13th, the government passed an Order-in-Council for the raising of 1,000 volunteers and providing for their equipment and transportation. But these men were really British volunteers, not Canadian troops, as once at the front they became British soldiers under British pay. This contingent was known as a "Special Service Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry," and did not belong in any sense to the organized troops of the Dominion, either regular or militia, although they approached more nearly to that status than in any previous case of assistance given by the Dominion to the Empire.

In the Indian Mutiny in 1857 a regiment was raised in Canada by the British government known as the 100th Prince of Wales Royal Canadian Regiment" and in the Empire's other wars, such as the Crimean and the Soudanese, there were always Canadian volunteers in the British forces.

MILITARY PREPARATIONS

The declaration of war by Great Britain on Germany made on the night of August 4, 1914, found the people of the Dominion not wholly unprepared for the situation. For some time ways of helping the mother country had been the chief topic both in government circles and among the people at large. This is best instanced by the following telegram sent by His Royal Highness, the governor-General, to the Secretary of State for the colonies, Rt. Hon. Lewis Harcourt.

"Ottawa, August 1, 1914

In view of the impending danger of war involving the Empire my advisers are anxiously considering the most effective means of rendering every possible aid, and will welcome any suggestions and advice which Imperial naval and military authorities may deem it expedient to offer. They are confident that a considerable force would be available for service abroad, as under section sixty-nine of Canadian Militia Act the active militia can only be placed on active service beyond Canada for the defense thereof. It has been suggested that regiments might enlist as Imperial troops for a stated period, Canadian Government undertaking to pay all necessary financial provisions for their equipment, pay and maintenance. This proposal has not yet been maturely considered here and my advisers would be glad to have views of Imperial Government thereon. Arthur"

This offer from Canada preceded similar offers from Australia, India, South Africa and Egypt.

The response to this came in the following cable from His Majesty.

"London, August 4, 1914

Please communicate to your ministers following message from His Majesty the king and publish:

'I desire to express to my people of the Overseas Dominions with what appreciation and pride I have received the messages from their respective governments during the last few days. These spontaneous assurances of their fullest support recalled to me the generous self-sacrificing help given by them in the past to the Mother country. I shall be strengthened in the discharge of the great responsibilities which rest upon me by the confident belief that in this time of trial my Empire will stand united, calm, resolute, and trusting in God. George R.I. Harcourt"

Mr. Harcourt also cabled advising that although there was not immediately need for an expeditionary force it would be advisable to take all legislative and other steps necessary to the providing of such a force in case it should be required later.

The declaration of the war by Great Britain was officially recognized in Canada on August 5th, in a message from the Governor-General, beginning:

"Whereas a state of war now exists between this country and Germany."

On the following day came a call to the militia for active service and Canada had gone on record as having accepted her responsibilities as an integral part of the Empire. She was sending troops to help England not as volunteers who were to become British soldiers, but as Canadian soldiers, enlisted, clothed, armed, equipped and paid by Canadian dollars.

Shortly after this came another cablegram from Mr. Harcourt gratefully accepting the offer of the expeditionary force and requesting that it be sent forward as quickly as possible. This cablegram was supplemented by another suggesting one army division as a suitable composition for this expeditionary force. The terms of enlistment were to be as follows:

"(a) For a term of one year unless war lasts longer than one year, in which case they will be retained until war is over. If employed with hospitals, depots of mounted units, and as clerks, et cetera, they may be retained after termination of hostilities until services can be dispensed with, but such retention shall in no case exceed six months.

"(b) To be attached to any arm of service should it be required of them."

An army division of war strength consists of about 22,500 men composing all branches of the service.

While the call to arms found Canada prepared morally and financially, it found the country sadly unprepared from the standpoint of equipment. It was necessary to buy or make rifles, uniforms, guns and equipment of every description to increase the limited supply on hand to the necessary point. The quantity and variety of supplies required by an army division seems mountainous to the civilian. They ran the entire gamut from shoe laces to motor trucks, and these had to be purchased at the high prices caused by sudden demand wherever it was possible to obtain them in quantities with the greatest speed.

In this great work of mobilization Canada's fine railway organizations played a great and necessary part. With their aid and that of many prominent men in Canadian affairs the question of the gathering of materials at selected points went ahead rapidly.

The matter of enlistments held equally important sway. An order in council authorized an army of 22,218 officers and men and the recruiting officers wasted no time in setting about their work. All over the Dominion men had been drilling ever since the danger of war became acute. The organized militia was hard at work. Volunteers were being rapidly gathered and after a thorough medical examination were put in charge of a drill sergeant. There was no difficulty in getting men and the recruiting officers from the first were overwhelmed with applications. Canada was going to the aid of the mother country, not unwillingly, not with hesitancy, not with parsimony, but with a great rush of enthusiasm to save the Empire, Our Empire!

THE GREAT CAMP AT VALCARTIER

The problem of concentrating this huge body of men soon became a real one. A great mobilization camp was needed. A place not too far from the Atlantic, with ample railroad facilities, large and roomy enough for the maneuvering of large bodies of men as well as their housing in tents, must be found. A further qualification was that this great camp should be located in a position of strategic importance and one which could be defended should the necessity arise.

Such a place was found at Valcartier, a small village some sixteen miles from the City of Quebec on the line of the Canadian Northern Railway.

When the war was declared the government did not own Valcartier and few people had ever heard of it. Soon, however, the name began to grow more familiar with the newspapers and in a day or two the place became government property. For the purpose it proved ideal.

Great expanse of level country provided an ideal maneuvering ground. The site of the camp itself was high enough for good drainage and the Jacques Cartier River provided an abundance of good water.

But with the acquisition of the ground the work had just begun. It was necessary to erect tents for the housing of 30,000 men. A commissary for their subsistence must be provided. Stores and storehouses had to be rushed to the spot and there was a huge amount of work of a more or less permanent character in the shape of water works with many miles of piping, shower baths, drinking troughs, an electric light plant and the like. The engineers were called upon immediately to lay out the camp and its many auxiliary features. A rifle range, the largest in the world, was immediately planned and put in operation for the training of the soldiers, for few men unacquainted with military life are able to handle modern high-powered military rifles with any degree of success, although the average man, under capable instructors, rapidly becomes proficient. Artillery ranges in the Laurentian Hills were established for the training of the field artillery. Here the big sixty-pounders, which throw a shell for nearly five miles, first woke the echoes.

A great bridge-building record was made by the men of the Royal Canadian Engineers under the direction of Major W. Bethune Lindsay of Winnipeg. The Jacques Cartier River separates the main camp from the artillery practice grounds at the base of Mounts Ileene and Irene. Across this 350 feet of waterway the Royal Canadian Engineers built within four hours a barrel-pier pontoon bridge capable of carrying heavy batteries. The Major and his three hundred men worked with that well-ordered efficiency which characterizes the efforts of the British bred. The race for the record started with the Canadian Northern Railway. The materials barrels, planking, etc. were freighted on to the ground with remarkable dispatch. The casks were made watertight, the timber was made ready, the twenty-foot bank cut down to provide an easy grade for traffic, and the actual test was on.

There was never a hitch. One party of men lashed the barrels to the heavy planks, and, as soon as that operation was complete, another party lifted the pier and carried it down the bank. Another squad of men conveyed it on to the water, where it was taken in charge by still another party and floated out to the front line. The pier was drawn quickly into position, and as many men as could work with freedom soon had the flooring spiked down. The actual bridging commenced at eight o'clock; the span was complete at ten minutes after twelve. The extra ten minutes were accounted for by the fact that on one or two occasions passing bodies of other troops necessitated a temporary cessation of carrying operations.

Col. Burstall, Director of Artillery at the Camp, visited the work during the morning and expressed his astonishment at the progress effected. Ordinarily it is a good day's work to throw a bridge of this class across a three-hundred foot stream. Col. G. F. Maunsell, Director General of Engineering Service in Canada, who is attached to headquarters at Ottawa, also paid close attention to the task and was vastly pleased with the result. Col. Morrison, Ottawa, of the Artillery Service, hurried a gun across the bridge when completed, establishing its efficiency at once. Without doubt the brother officers of Major Lindsay, in all branches of the service, were extremely gratified at the efficiency and despatch of the men making up the Royal Canadian Engineers at the big camp.

Of course, the railway problem of moving the thousand or more troop trains which were rushing from all parts of Canada to Valcartier was a huge one. In this they had to cope with the great quantity of supplies and equipment which was daily forwarded. At Valcartier it was necessary for the Canadian Northern to form a loop for the rapid handling of these trains so that a constant stream of trains was kept continually moving in both directions without interruption.

Great hardships and inconveniences resulted in many cases from the lack of proper equipment. It was colder down in Quebec than in many other parts of the Dominion and a great many men were without sufficient blankets to keep them warm. Uniforms were scarce and army shoes fit for the work of drills and maneuvers even scarcer. Gradually, however, these deficiencies were supplied, recruits began to show amazing progress in the art of soldiering and little by little the great camp lost its motley appearance and became an efficient military organization in which rigid discipline and high efficiency prevailed. In six weeks Valcartier's 30,000 were ready, ready for England and the final polish which was to fit them for the test of battle. They could even have been sent to the front. It seemed that this was not yet necessary.

THE CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

But it was decided that the time had come for this great body of troops to leave. The original plan of sending a division of 22,500 men was supplemented by the dispatch of the remaining 7,500 as a reserve to prevent the delay in getting them to the front should the necessity arise suddenly. Members of the government spoke of a possible second or third contingent, as experience had taught them that it would be as easy to raise 100,000 men as it had been to raise 30,000. At a given time the evacuation of Valcartier began. Thirty-two transports lay in the St. Lawrence prepared to take the division to England, and soon the first contingent began to move toward the sea. The British fleet had cleared the ocean of all but a few scattered German cruisers, and these were amply guarded against by the warships which acted as escorts. And so, on the second day of October Canada's first great pledge of loyalty left the shores of the Dominion to go to the defense of the Empire.

On October 15th the transports reached Plymouth, England, and were received with greatest enthusiasm. An English newspaper, The Western Morning News, spoke of the arrival the next morning in the following terms:

"The arrival of the fleet of transports with the first contingent of Canadian forces on board was an event of good augury for the future of the war. These splendid men have come, some of them nearly 6,000 miles, to testify to the unity of the Empire and take their share of the burden which rests upon Britons the world over of being the stoutest champions of justice and liberty. Even if their numbers were smaller we should hail their arrival as a symbol of the solidarity of the British race, but they come a large number in themselves, yet only the earnest of many more to come if they are needed to help in defeating the imposition of German tyranny and militancy on the world. The cheers they raised for the old country as they steamed into the harbor yesterday, and the splendid vigor and spirit they displayed, showed they have both the will and the power to give a good account of themselves at the front and prove worthy comrades of the dauntless band of heroes who, under Sir John French, have won the unstinted admiration of our French and Russian and Belgian allies and, indeed of the whole world."

Then followed long weeks of hard training on Salisbury Plains. At last they were considered fit for the front and the contingent was transported to France. Of their conduct there, under the baptism of fire, the following letter from General French at Headquarters of the British Army, dated March 3d, to His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught, is an ample testimonial.

"The Canadian troops having arrived at the front, I am anxious to tell your Royal Highness that they have made the best impression on all of us.

"I made a careful inspection of the division a week after they came to the country, and I was very much struck by the excellent physique which was apparent throughout the ranks. The soldierly bearing and the steadiness with which the men stood in the ranks (on a bleak cold snowy day) was most remarkable.

"After two or three weeks preliminary education in the trenches, attached by unit to the Third corps, they have now taken their own line on the right of that corps as a complete division and I have the utmost confidence in their capability to do valuable and efficient service.

"The Princess Patricia's Regiment arrived with the 27th Division a month earlier and since then they have performed splendid service in the trenches.

"When I inspected them (although in pouring rain), it seemed to me I had never seen a more magnificent looking battalion Guards or otherwise.

"Two or three days ago they captured a German trench with great dash and energy and excellent results.

"I am writing these few lines because I know how deeply we are all indebted to the untiring and devoted efforts your Royal Highness has personally made to ensure the despatch in the most efficient condition of this valuable contingent."

The first contingent had evacuated Valcartier only a short time when the second contingent began to move toward the great mobilization camp, for a similar process of training to that followed in the first case.

When the second contingent sailed away from Canada to take its place with the allies on the battlefields of Europe, it was accompanied by a battery of the most complete and efficient armored motor car rapid-fire machine guns ever devised. Indeed, they are, so far as is known, the first motor car machine guns in the ranks of the allies in any way comparing in point of up-to- dateness and efficiency with those now being employed by the German army. For up till recently Germany was the only power which had given any attention to armored motor car machine guns. The Germans had been experimenting for several years upon this latest development in field weapons, and when the present war broke out they had a type of armored motor car rapid-fire gun that has enabled them to do a kind of work that would not be done by any other sort of artillery. Great Britain, France and Belgium began hurriedly experimenting, and hastily put together a number of machine guns mounted on armored motor cars. These were but tentative weapons, however, quickly designed to meet an exigency for which the allies had not, like the Germans, already prepared. It has remained for Canada to evolve a type of armored motor car battery that is said to be the most perfect and effective that has ever been constructed.

This ultra-modern battery of forty guns was a part of Canada's contribution to the Empire at war. Fifteen of the guns were made possible by the patriotic generosity of Mr. J. C. Eaton, Toronto's well known millionaire department store owner, and were designated as the Eaton Battery. They were completed right in Toronto, where both the experimenting and designing were carried on, and the cars and guns put together, under the supervision of Mr. W. K. McNaught, C.M.G., who undertook the task of directing the work for the government. The corps of officers and men who man the battery had a special course of training under Capt. W. J. Morrison at Exhibition Camp.

It is only necessary to recall to mind certain pictures that have appeared recently of motor car machine guns in action to realize with what deadly effectiveness these weapons may be employed in present-day warfare. They combine all the terrific killing power of the rapid-fire machine gun with the swift mobility and tirelessness of the gasoline-driven motor car. Protected behind almost impregnable steel armor plate, the driver may dash ahead of the advancing lines and enable the gunner, almost completely protected, to mow down the ranks of the enemy with a sweeping stream of rifle bullets, played along a line of men much as one would play a stream of water from a fire hose. The car may be in motion all this time, or may stop only for an instant, so that the enemy has no time to train its artillery upon it. It may dash into what would be for infantry or cavalry or ordinary gunners the jaws of death, distribute its deadly sting, and then dash out again unscathed. Thus it may be of incalculable service in the field. Or it may be used in a town where whole masses of defenders may be driven back, and the streets completely cleared by the rapid sweep of its bullets.

The armored motor car guns which were constructed in Toronto are built on a motor truck chassis. The wheels are made of pressed steel, and have heavy tires of solid rubber. All the rest of the car is effectively covered with Harveyized steel plates, which were severely tested. This armorplate was rolled in Canada by Canadian workmen, and was made from iron ore mined in Nova Scotia.

The distinctive fighting feature of the car is the revolving turret of this armor-plate in which the offensive apparatus is situated. This turret rises above the four-foot armored body at about the center of the car. In it is the new model Maxim rapid- fire gun, mounted very strongly on an apparatus of steel and phosphor bronze, the invention of Canadian engineers. This gun mount really carries the revolving turret which surrounds it, and which revolves so easily on ball bearings that a mere touch of the hand will move it. It can make a complete revolution, so that the gun has a clear sweep. It can be locked by means of a lever operated by the gunner. The gunner sits on a seat fastened to the frame which supports the turret. The running machinery of the car which comes below the floor, is, of course, protected by a steel skirt, which extends around the car. The machine gun is aimed through a loop-hole in the steel turret. It can fire from 300 to 600 rifle bullets a minute, and has an effective range of a mile and a half. The bullets are held in a belt which runs through the gun automatically. The armor-plate on the rear of the car is loop-holed so that rifles can be used. Each of the machine guns has two extra barrels, the reason for this being that with the bullets passing through the barrel so rapidly it naturally becomes very hot, and so must be changed frequently.

Another feature of the car is that it is protected overhead as well as around the sides and front, and rendered immune from shrapnel fire, missiles from aeroplanes, and dropping bullets, by the same kind of armor-plate that is used on the sides. Thus the drivers and all the fighting men are completely protected by armor-plate.

Each car, in addition to its fighting equipment, carries picks, shovels, wire rope, repair tools and provisions. Attached to the battery are two workshop cars, with turning lathes and repair machines driven by motor spare parts, etc. These stay behind the firing line. Each car carries a complement of five men, including the two men who drive and the gunner who operates the machine gun. The extra two ride in the rear and may use rifles through the loop-holes. But there is no real specialization, for each man must be competent not only as a soldier but as a chauffeur, machinist and gunner. If there is only one man left in the car, he must be able to operate the machine gun, run the car, and make repairs if necessary. And he must be a man who can keep his head, observe intelligently, and plan for himself and his regiment. Those in charge of the recruiting for the Eaton Battery expressed themselves as well pleased with the type of men secured. Many had seen service before; there were several expert telegraphers, several expert signalers, and one an ex-lieutenant in the British navy.

POLITICAL EFFECT OF CANADA'S ACTION ON FUTURE OF DOMINION

As had been outlined in the early portion of this chapter, the World War produced a result in the Dominion long sought by the British government. From the position of a British Colony independent in all but name and free to send or withhold military aid, Canada has voluntarily advanced step by step in the direction of stronger unification of the British Empire. In each of the wars fought by Great Britain the part to be taken by Canadian soldiers has received more and more formal recognition from the Dominion government, advancing from a mere permission to volunteer, through various stages to the actual enlistment, equipment and dispatch of a purely Canadian Contingent under Canadian officers and Canadian pay to the support of the British Empire.

Though each step had been in this direction few thought that Canada would ever take such action. It has been admitted that if Canada herself was attacked Canadians would, of course, defend themselves to the last. It was even admitted that aid might be sent in case of an attack on the British Isles, as a part of the Empire, but so far as to raise an army to take part in a campaign in Europe seemed far beyond the range of imagination.

Notwithstanding this, however, the Dominion has made the move without hesitation and in so doing has established a precedent which is apt to prove of huge importance in the future history of the Dominion.

Great Britain's enemies must consider not merely a war on Great Britain but a war on the British Empire, for Canada as well as Australia, India, South Africa and Egypt, having once sent aid could not again refuse it and make their position tenable. The Empire now presents a solid front to the world and her strength is vastly increased hy the loyalty and devotion of the Overseas Dominions.

This military unity must also produce results in other directions tending toward a closer union between the Dominion and the Mother country. We venture to predict that the future will witness a strengthening of the bonds of loyalty, of commercial and educational ties without the least abatement of the complete autonomy enjoyed by the great Dominion.

THE END