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RUSSIA MAKES A SEPARATE PEACE.—Only in Russia was this German peace offensive a success. In the last chapter we saw how in the latter part of 1917 the Bolsheviki had gained control of the government of Russia and had arranged an armistice with the Central Powers. This meant the stopping of all fighting along the eastern front and the consequent freeing of many thousands of German soldiers to fight in the west.
At Brest-Litovsk, a town in Russian Poland which had been occupied by the troops of the Central Powers, a meeting of delegates was called to arrange the terms of peace. The negotiations at this place lasted from December 23, 1917, to February 10, 1918. The Germans had determined to keep large portions of Russian territory. At the conference the German delegates flatly refused to promise to withdraw their troops from the occupied parts of Russia after the peace. By February 10 hope of any settlement that would satisfy Russia had disappeared and the Bolshevik delegates left Brest-Litovsk. The war, so far as Russia was concerned, was at an end, but no treaty of peace had been signed. The Bolshevik government issued orders for the complete demobilization of the Russian armies on all the battle fronts.
Germany, determined to compel Russia to accept her terms, renewed her military operations on February 18. The result was that Lenine and Trotzky, the Bolshevik leaders, were forced to agree to the conditions which had been laid down by the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk. Nevertheless the Germans continued their advance, with practically no opposition, to within seventy miles of Petrograd.
THE SEPARATION OF UKRAINIA AND FINLAND.—Ukrainia, the southwestern corner of Russia, is the home of a Slavic people—the Little Russians—closely akin to the Russians proper. The people of Finland, in the extreme northwest, are of a distinctly different race. In both these regions there were set up independent governments which resisted the rule of the Bolsheviki. With the aid of German troops the power of the Bolsheviki in the new states was soon destroyed. Through the setting up of these states, particularly Ukrainia, Germany hoped to secure grain supplies, and to control large iron and coal deposits. Dissatisfaction of the people with German control, however, interfered seriously with the realizing of such hopes.
THE PEACE OF BREST-LITOVSK.—On March 3 peace between Russia and the Central Powers was finally signed at Brest-Litovsk. By the terms of the treaties Russia was compelled (1) to surrender her western provinces of Poland, Lithuania, Livonia, Esthonia, and Courland; (2) to recognize the independence of Ukrainia and Finland; (3) to cede to Turkey certain important districts south of the Caucasus Mountains;[5] and (4) to pay a tremendous indemnity. The falsity of the German talk of "no annexations and no indemnities" was now evident. Few more disastrous treaties have ever been forced upon a vanquished nation. It has been estimated that the treaties of Brest-Litovsk took from Russia 4 per cent of her total area, 26 per cent of her population, 37 per cent of her food stuffs production, 26 per cent of her railways, 33 per cent of her manufacturing industries, 75 per cent of her coal, and 73 per cent of her iron.
ROUMANIA MAKES PEACE.—Roumania, deserted by Russia, was forced to make peace in the spring of 1918, by ceding to her enemies the whole of the Dobrudja and also about 3000 square miles of territory on her western frontier. The Central Powers, moreover, were given control of the vast petroleum fields and the rich wheat lands of the defeated nation.
A little later, however, the Russian province of Bessarabia decided to unite itself to Roumania, as most of its people are of the Roumanian race.
THE RUSSIAN SITUATION IN 1918.—In spite of the Brest-Litovsk treaties, the Allies continued to regard Russia as a friendly nation. President Wilson took the lead in this attitude. It was felt that the Russian people were sadly in need of assistance, but just how this should be given was a serious problem.
The question was complicated by the presence in Russia of a large army of Czecho-Slovaks (check'o-slovaks'). These soldiers were natives of the northwestern Slavic provinces of Austria-Hungary. They had been part of the Austrian army during the victorious Russian campaigns in Galicia and had been taken prisoners. The Czecho-Slovaks had always sympathized with the Allied countries and had fought for Austria unwillingly. Many, indeed, had later fought as part of the Russian army. When Russia left the war they feared that they might be returned to the hated Austrian government. To avoid this their leaders sought and obtained from the Bolshevik government permission to travel eastward through Russia and Siberia to the Pacific. Here they planned to take ship and after a voyage three quarters around the globe take their place in the armies of the Allies. The long journey began. Then the Bolsheviki, probably acting under German orders, recalled the permission they had given. The Czecho-Slovaks went on nevertheless, determined to proceed even if they had to fight their way. They were opposed at different points by Bolshevik troops with the assistance of organized bodies of German and Austrian prisoners, but the Czecho-Slovaks were victorious. In fact, with the aid of anti-Bolshevik Russians they seized control of most of the Siberian railroad, and of parts of eastern Russia.
ALLIED INTERVENTION IN RUSSIA.—At last the Allied nations and the United States decided that it was time to undertake military intervention in Russia. This was carried out in two places. Bodies of American and Japanese troops were landed on the east coast of Siberia to cooeperate with the Czecho-Slovaks. The latter, thus reenforced, changed their plans for leaving Russia and decided to fight for the Allied cause where they were. They were encouraged by the fact that they were recognized by the Allies and by the United States as an independent nation.
Another small Allied army was landed on the north coast of Russia and marched south against the Bolsheviki. Large parts of Russia north and east of Moscow declared themselves free of Bolshevik rule. It was the hope of the Allies that that rule—now marked by pillage, murder, and famine—would shortly be overthrown and that a new Russia would rise and take its place among the democracies of the world.
THE WESTERN FRONT.—Early in 1918, after the failure of the German peace offensive in the west, rumors came from Germany of preparations for a great military drive on the western front. The "iron fist" and the "shining sword" were to break in the doors of those who opposed a German-made peace. There were good reasons for such an attack in the spring of 1918. Germany had withdrawn many troops from the east, where they were no longer needed to check the Russians. Further, although a few American troops had reached France, it was thought that not many could be sent over before the fall of 1918, and the full weight of America's force could not be exerted before the summer of 1919. It was to Germany's interest to crush France and England before the power of the American nation was thrown into the struggle against her.
GERMANY'S NEW PLAN OF ATTACK.—The German military leaders therefore determined to stake everything upon one grand offensive on the western front while their own force was numerically superior to that of the Allies. Their expectation of victory in what they proudly called the "Kaiser's battle," was based not only upon the possession of greater numbers, but also upon the introduction of new methods of fighting which would overcome the old trench warfare. The new methods comprised three principal features.
In the first place, much greater use was made of the element of surprise. Large masses of men were brought up near the front by night marches, and in daytime were hidden from airplane observation by smoke screens, camouflage of various kinds, and by the shelter of woodlands. In this way any portion of the opposing trench line could be subjected to a heavy, unexpected attack.
Secondly, the advance was prepared for by the use of big guns in enormous quantities and in new ways. The number of guns brought into use in this offensive far exceeded that put into the Verdun offensive of 1916, which had been looked upon as the extreme of possible concentration of artillery. The shell fire was now to be directed not only against the trenches, but also far to the rear of the Allied positions. This would break up roads, railways, and bridges for many miles behind the trenches and prevent the sending of reinforcements up to the front. Vast numbers of large shells containing poisonous "mustard" gas were collected. These were to be fired from heavy guns and made to explode far behind the Allied lines. By this means suffocation might be spread among the reserves, among motor drivers, and even among the army mules, and by deranging the transport service make it impossible to concentrate troops to withstand the German advance.
In the third place, "shock" troops composed of selected men from all divisions of the army, were to advance after the bombardment, in a series of "waves." When the first wave had reached the limit of its strength and endurance, it was to be followed up by a second mass of fresh troops, and this by a third, and so on until the Allies' defense was completely broken.
By their excess in numbers and by these newly devised methods of warfare the German leaders hoped to accomplish three things: (1) to separate the British army from the French army; (2) to seize the Channel ports and interrupt by submarines and big guns the transportation of men and supplies from England to France; and (3) to capture Paris and compel the French to withdraw from the war. Let us now see how and why the Germans failed to secure any one of these three objectives, and how the Allied forces resumed the offensive in the summer of 1918.
THE GERMAN ADVANCE.—Five great drives, conducted according to the newly devised methods of warfare, were launched by the Germans between March 21 and July 15, 1918. The first, continuing from March 21 to April 1, called the battle of Picardy, was directed at the point where the British army joined that of the French near the Somme River. There was at this time no unified command of all the Allied armies, and the blow fell unexpectedly upon the British and won much territory before French assistance could be brought up. Outnumbered three to one, the British fell back at the point of greatest retreat to a distance of thirty miles from their former line. But the extreme tenacity of the British and the arrival of French troops prevented the Germans from capturing the important city of Amiens (ah-myăn'), or reaching the main roads to Paris, or separating the British and French armies. Learning a needed lesson from this disaster, the Allied nations agreed to a unified military command, and appointed as commander-in-chief the French General Foch (fosh), who had distinguished himself in the first battle of the Marne in 1914 and elsewhere. Before this step had been taken General Pershing had offered his small army of 200,000 Americans to be used wherever needed by the French and the British.
The second German offensive began on April 9 and was again directed against the British, this time farther to the north, in Flanders, between the cities of Ypres and Arras. In ten days the Germans advanced to a maximum depth of ten miles on a front of thirty miles. But the British fought most desperately and the German losses were enormous. At last the advance was checked and the Channel ports were saved. "Germany on the march had encountered England at bay"—and had failed to destroy the heroic British army.
And now came a lull of over a month while the Germans were reorganizing their forces and preparing for a still greater blow. Again the element of surprise was employed. The Allies expected another attack somewhere in the line from Soissons to the sea, and their reserves were so disposed as to meet such an attack. But the German blow was directed against the weakest part of the Allied line, the stretch from Rheims to Soissons, where a break might open the road to Paris from the east. The third drive began on May 27. For over a week the French were pushed back, fighting valiantly, across land which had not seen the enemy since September, 1914. The greatest depth of the German advance was thirty miles, that is, to within forty-four miles of Paris. The enemy had once again reached the Marne River and controlled the main roads from Paris to Verdun and to the eastern parts of the Allied line.
The fourth drive started a few days later, on June 9, in a region where an attack was expected. It resulted in heavy losses to the Germans, who succeeded in pushing only six miles toward Paris in the region between Soissons and Montdidier (mawn-dee-dyā'). The advantages of a single command had begun to appear. General Foch could use all the Allied forces where they were most needed.
The fifth drive opened on July 15 and spread over a front of one hundred miles east of Soissons. The Allies were fully prepared, and while falling back a little at first, the American and French troops soon won back some of the abandoned territory.
THE TURNING OF THE TIDE.—A glance at a map of the battle front of July 18 will show that the Germans had driven three blunt wedges into the Allied lines. These positions would prove dangerous to the Germans if ever the Allies were strong enough to assume the offensive. And just now the moment came for Foch to strike a great counter-blow. During the spring and early summer American troops had been speeded across the Atlantic until by the Fourth of July over a million men were in France. On July 18 fresh American and French troops attacked the Germans in the narrowest of the wedges along the Marne River and within a few days compelled the enemy to retreat from this wedge. On August 8 a British army began a surprise attack on the middle wedge, and by the use of large numbers of light, swift tanks succeeded in driving the Germans back for a distance of over ten miles on a wide front.
The offensive had now passed from the Germans to the Allies. Under Foch's repeated attacks the enemy was driven back first at one point and then at another. He had no time to prepare a counter-drive; he did not know where the next blow would fall. By the end of September he had given up nearly all his recent conquests, devastating much of the country as he retired. In several places also he was forced still farther back, across the old Hindenburg line. In two days (September 12-13) the Americans and French under the direction of General Pershing wiped out an old German salient near Metz, taking 200 square miles of territory and 15,000 prisoners. Altogether, by the end of September, Foch had taken over a quarter of a million prisoners, with 3,669 cannon and 23,000 machine guns.
It is said that the complete defeat of the German plans was due primarily to three things: "(1) the dogged steadfastness of the British and the patient heroism of the French soldiers and civilians; (2) the brilliant strategy of General Foch, and the unity of command which made this effective; (3) the material and moral encouragement of the American forces, of whom nearly 1,500,000 were in France before the end of August."
THE WAR IN ITALY, THE BALKANS, AND SYRIA.—The summer of 1918 witnessed the launching of a great offensive by the Austrians against the Italian armies holding the Piave front. It is probable that the chief purpose of this blow was to draw Allied troops into Italy from the battle front in Belgium and France. The Italians, however, proved themselves amply able to fight their own battle, and the Austrian attempt was repulsed with tremendous losses.
The autumn of this year saw important happenings on the Balkan front also. This theater of the war had been uneventful for a long time. The battle line extended from the Adriatic Sea to the AEgean, and was held by a mixed army of Serbians, Greeks, Italians, British, and French, under the command of General D'Esperey (des-prā'), with headquarters at Salonica. Opposed to these troops were armies of Bulgarians and Austrians, together with a considerable number of Germans. Encouraged by the German defeats in the west, which had forced the withdrawal of large numbers of German troops from eastern Europe, the Allies launched a strong offensive on the Balkan front in the middle of September. Day after day their advance continued, resulting in the capture of many thousands of prisoners and the reoccupation of many miles of Albanian and Serbian territory. The campaign was one of the most successful of the whole war. Within two weeks the Bulgarians asked for an armistice, accepted the terms that were demanded, and on September 30 definitely withdrew from the war. Their surrender broke the lines of communication between the Central Powers and Turkey and at one blow destroyed Teutonic supremacy in the Balkans. An even more important consequence was the moral effect on the general public in Germany, Austria, and Turkey, where it was taken by many as a sign that surrender of the Central Powers could only be a question of time.
Meanwhile, events of almost equal importance were taking place in Palestine and Syria. General Allenby had taken Jerusalem in December, 1917. In the fall of 1918 new and important advances were made in this region, Arab forces east of the Jordan cooeperating with the British armies. By the close of September more than 50,000 Turkish soldiers and hundreds of guns had been captured. In October General Allenby's men took the important cities of Damascus and Aleppo, and in Mesopotamia also the British began a new advance. Turkey was already asking for an armistice, and now accepted terms that were virtually a complete surrender (October 31).
By this time Austria-Hungary was in the throes of dissolution; independent republics were being set up by the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Jugo-Slavs, and even the German Austrians. These revolutions were hastened by the overwhelming victory of the Italians in the second battle of the Piave. Their attack began October 24 on the mountain front, but soon the Allied forces under General Diaz (dee'ahss) crossed the river and cut through the lines of the fleeing Austrians. In the capture of large numbers of prisoners and guns the Italians took full vengeance for their defeat of the preceding year. So hopeless, indeed, was the situation for the Austrians that they too accepted an armistice that was practically a surrender (November 4).
GERMAN RETREAT IN THE WEST.—After the Germans had been driven back to their old lines in France, there was danger that the contest might settle down to the old form of trench warfare. But the intricate defenses of the Hindenburg line, in some cases extending to a depth of ten miles from the front trenches, did not prove strong enough to withstand the American and Allied advance. Foch attacked the line from each end and also in the center. In the north, by October 20, Belgian and British troops had recaptured all the Belgian coast, with its submarine bases; and the British had taken the important cities of Lens and Lille, the former valuable on account of its coal mines. In the center British and French troops broke through to the important points of Cambrai, St. Quentin (săn-kahn-tăn') and Laon (lahn), while farther east the French and Americans began an advance along the Meuse River, threatening to attack the German line in the rear.
By this time it seemed likely that a general retirement from Belgium and France had been determined upon by the German leaders. Moreover, the impending defeat of the German armies led to a new peace drive by the German government. On October 6 President Wilson received a note from the German Chancellor asking for an armistice, requesting that the United States take steps for the restoration of peace, and stating that the German government accepted as a basis for peace negotiations the program as laid down in the President's message to Congress of January 8, 1918 (Chapter XIV), and in his subsequent addresses. In the ensuing correspondence several points are worthy of special notice. President Wilson opposed any suggestion of an armistice till after the evacuation of Allied territory, or except as it might be arranged by the military advisers of the American and Allied powers, on such terms as would make impossible the renewal of hostilities by Germany. He also called attention to the following point in his address of July 4, 1918,—"The destruction of every arbitrary power anywhere that can separately, secretly, and of its single choice disturb the peace of the world, or, if it cannot be presently destroyed, at the least its reduction to virtual impotence";—stated that the military autocracy still in control of Germany was such a power; and insisted on dealing only with a new or altered German government in which the representatives of the people should be the real rulers.
On November 11, while the German armies in France and Belgium were being defeated by the Allied and American forces, envoys from the German government accepted from General Foch an armistice in terms that meant virtually the surrender of Germany, and thus brought hostilities to an end.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.—1. What is the meaning of camouflage? of smoke screen? What is a convoy? 2. On a map of the Western Front locate the five great German drives of 1918, numbering them from one to five. 3. On a physical map of the Balkan peninsula find the only good land route from the Danube to Constantinople, with its branch to Salonica. 4. Collect pictures showing American soldiers in camps; going to France; and in France. 5. What were the objects of the 1918 offensive of the Germans? 6. In what way did the American troops help besides increasing the number of soldiers fighting the Germans? 7. What is the present condition of the western provinces of Russia? 8. What was the first important battle in which many American troops were engaged? 9. Why was the St. Mihiel salient important: (a) for the Germans to hold; (b) for the Allies and the United States to win? 10. Explain the importance of Bulgaria's surrender.
REFERENCES.—War Cyclopedia (C.P.I.); The Study of the Great War (C.P.I.); McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of the War; The Correspondence between the Bolsheviki and the German Government (C.P.I.); National School Service, Vol. I (C.P.I.).
FOOTNOTES:
[5] After driving the Russians out of Asia Minor and taking the districts ceded to Turkey, the Turkish forces went on and seized nearly all of the southern Caucasus before October, 1918.
CHAPTER XIII
THE UNITED STATES IN THE WAR
PART OF THE NAVY SENT TO EUROPE.—One of the first things done after our entrance into the war was to send a considerable part of our navy to Europe, not only battleships to augment the fleet that was holding the German navy in check, but also a number of swift torpedo boats and destroyers to aid in reducing the menace from submarines. Huge appropriations were made by Congress for the purpose of increasing the number of lighter craft in the navy. Particularly efficient submarine chasers were developed, called "Eagles," which, by being made all alike, could be quickly produced in great numbers.
RAISING THE ARMY.—Great numbers of young men at once enlisted in various branches of the service. Profiting, however, by the experience of Great Britain, the government determined on conscription as a more democratic method of raising an army. A draft law was passed providing for the enrollment of all men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one. These were examined and classified, and from time to time large groups were sent to camps to be trained. Each of these camps can take care of approximately fifty thousand soldiers. Under a later draft law passed in 1918, the age limits for enrolling men were extended to include those from eighteen to forty-five.
OFFICERS' TRAINING CAMPS.—In order to provide officers for such an emergency as now confronted the nation, training camps for officers had been established the previous year at several places in the country. These officers were now called upon to aid the regular army officers in training the recruits. The officers' training camps have been continued and increased in number in order that a regular supply of properly trained officers may be available for the constantly increasing army.
SUPPLIES AND MUNITIONS.—The industries of the country were compelled to turn their attention to the making of supplies and munitions for our fighters. The great plants that had been making powder, guns, shells, and other munitions for the Allies started to make these things for the United States. This was easy to arrange, since England and France had about reached a position where they were able to supply themselves. Besides, great quantities of food and clothing were also needed, and the meat packers and the manufacturers of textiles, shoes, and other articles turned their plants to the production of supplies for the army.
AIRCRAFT.—The war in Europe had shown the high usefulness of aircraft as part of the military forces. Recognizing this, Congress appropriated two thirds of a billion dollars for the purpose of constructing thousands of airplanes and for training thousands of pilots and other experts to use them. Unfortunately much time was lost in building manufacturing plants and in experimenting with various types of engines and other parts of airplanes. Only a small part of the twenty thousand it had been planned to send to France by June, 1918, were completed at that time. Meanwhile, however, engineers had developed, on the basis of the automobile engine, an improved engine known as the Liberty Motor, and the production of efficient airplanes was at last going ahead rapidly.
Food and Fuel Control.—So large a proportion of the population of the European countries is employed in carrying on the war that there has been a constant decrease in the amount of food produced in Europe. Fortunately, up to 1917 this country had enough for itself and sufficient to spare for the Allies and the neutral nations. In 1917 there was an unusually short cereal crop all over the world. The result was that there was not enough food to go round, if every one in this country ate as much as usual.
In order that proper conservation of food might be brought about, a food commission was created, not only to prevent profiteering, but also to direct how the people should economize in order to help win the war. Shortages in various kinds of food were controlled at first through voluntary rationing under requests made by the Food Administrator. Later on, limits were placed on the amount of wheat, flour, and sugar that could be bought by large dealers and bakeries. A certain proportion of other cereals had to be purchased with each purchase of wheat. Bakers were required to make their bread with a proportion of other flours mixed with the wheat. These regulations were enforced by such punishments as fines, the closing of stores or bakeries, or by depriving the offender of his supply for a given length of time. Kitchens were established in large communities where housewives could learn the best ways of making bread with the use of various substitutes for wheat.
Early in the fall of 1917 it was seen that, because of inadequate transportation facilities and of a tremendously increasing demand for coal by the war industries, there would be a shortage of fuel during the winter. Accordingly a Fuel Administrator was appointed who regulated the distribution of fuel. Industries essential to the war were supplied, while those that were not doing needful work had their supply reduced or cut off altogether. As it happened, the winter of 1917-1918 was exceedingly severe, freight congestion became worse and worse, and the shortage in the industrial centers was even greater than had been anticipated. The control of fuel saved the people of the northeastern section of our country from much distress, and assured a supply of fuel for war purposes.
Later in 1918 householders and mercantile establishments were allowed only a portion of their usual coal supply, the number of stops made by street railway cars was reduced, and window and other display lighting was forbidden on all but two nights in the week. An act of Congress directed that from the last Sunday in March till the last Sunday in October all clocks must be set one hour ahead of time. This regulation brings more of our activities into the daylight hours and so cuts down the use of artificial light. By these methods much coal was conserved for the use of factories engaged in war work.
TRANSPORTATION CONTROL.—Soon after war was declared, the railroads of the country put themselves at the disposal of the government in order to take care of the increase in transportation service required by the state of war. The nearly seven hundred railroads of the country were organized and run as a single system under the direction of a Railroads' War Board, composed of some of the chief railroad officials.
Passenger train service was reduced, chiefly in order to provide for the transportation of several million soldiers to and from training camps. Freight cars and locomotives from one railroad were kept as long as they were needed in the service of another. The roads no longer competed with each other for freight, but goods were sent over the road that had, at the time of shipment, the most room for additional traffic. At the end of 1917, as a measure of economy and to secure even greater unity of organization, the government took over the control of the railroads for the period of the war. As Director General of Railroads, the President appointed William G. McAdoo, who was also the Secretary of the Treasury.
Half a year later, the government likewise took over, for the duration of the war, the operation of telegraph and telephone lines, which were placed under the control of the Postmaster-General.
SHIPBUILDING.—Less than two weeks after the declaration of war the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation was organized with a capital of fifty million dollars all owned by the government. The Shipping Board had been formed some time before to increase the merchant shipping of the country. When war came, more and yet more ships were needed, not only to take our armies, and their food and fighting material, to Europe, but also to replace the shipping destroyed by submarines. In order that these ships might be built as speedily as possible it was desirable that the government should direct the work. Existing shipyards were taken over, and new shipyards were built by the government. In the building of ships the original program was more than doubled, and the United States became the greatest shipbuilding nation of the world. This was made possible largely through the construction of what are known as "fabricated ships"; that is, many ships built exactly alike, from parts made in quantities. Patterns are made for each special piece of steel and sent to steel plants in different parts of the country. There dozens of pieces are made exactly like the pattern. All the pieces for a ship are sent to the shipyard ready to be riveted in their proper places. Thus the shipyard can work much faster than if the pieces were prepared at the yard.
GERMAN SHIPPING SEIZED.—Immediately upon the declaration of war, the President ordered the seizure of ninety-nine German merchant ships which were in our ports. Most of them had been in harbor since August, 1914. They had been free to sail if they wished, but preferred not to risk capture by British or French warships.
When the United States officials took charge of these vessels, it was found that important parts of their machinery had been destroyed or broken, under orders from Germany. Repairs were quickly and skillfully made, the German names of the ships were changed, and a few months later over six hundred thousand tons of German-built ships were taking American troops and supplies across the seas.
PAYING FOR THE WAR.—Wars nowadays cost enormous sums of money, on account of the highly technical material that is used as well as the great size of the armies. There are two ways by which the money can be raised. The government can borrow money, and it can raise money by taxation. It was found wise to pay for the war by depending on both of these methods.
In May and June our people were called upon to subscribe to an issue of two billion dollars' worth of Liberty bonds. Half as much more was offered to the government. A second loan for three billions in November was again oversubscribed by fifty per cent. In 1918 the third loan for three billion, and the fourth loan, for six billion, were also oversubscribed. Up to November, 1918, the government asked for fourteen billion dollars, the people offered to lend about eighteen billion dollars, and the government accepted about sixteen billion dollars.
In addition to the above, the Treasury department authorized the sale of two billion dollars' worth of War Savings Stamps during the year 1918. These stamps represent short-time loans to the government which are so small that practically every person is able to invest in them.
It was deemed important also that the people should pay a large percentage of the war bill through taxes. Congress therefore passed a tax bill which not only increased the income taxes to be paid by individuals and companies, but also placed heavy taxes on many things which were more or less in the nature of luxuries, or at least were not essential to life. Railroad tickets, admission tickets to amusements of all sorts, telephone and telegraph messages, and hundreds of other things above a certain low minimum cost were taxed. In this way the government raised six or seven billion dollars in a single year, approximately one third of the current cost of the war.
LOANS TO THE ALLIES.—Our government has from time to time advanced much money to the other nations who are fighting Germany. Practically all of these loans are in the form of credits with which the Allies pay for materials bought in the United States. Little if any of the money so loaned goes out of the country.
RED CROSS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.—The American Red Cross Society, formed for the relief of suffering through war or other disaster, was made ready for extensive work by the subscription of one hundred and fifty million dollars in June, 1917, by the people of the country. The work was organized on a national basis and in every community there was formed a Red Cross Chapter to make garments, sweaters, or woolen head coverings to keep the soldiers warm; to roll bandages; to open canteens or refreshment stations for soldiers while traveling or in camp; to train nurses to care for the sick and wounded, and to do other work of a similar sort.
Other organizations such as the Young Men's Christian Association and the Knights of Columbus took upon themselves the task of entertaining and making comfortable our soldiers and sailors, providing places where they may read, write letters, play games, and otherwise relieve their minds from the terrible strain of war.
If our army and navy that are fighting for us in Europe represent the strength of our country, we can also say that the work of the Red Cross and these other organizations represents the heart of our country.
THE WORK OF SCHOOLS IN THE WAR.—School pupils are the largest and best-organized group of the population of the country. It was natural, therefore, for the government to turn to the school children when it wanted a national response. Boys and girls having the lessons of the war impressed upon them in school, carry the message home. Often in no other way can the parents be reached.
There are many ways in which the school children gave direct and valuable help to the nation. It is not possible to do more than merely hint at some of these.
The importance of saving and thrift was early impressed on the children, not only through the thrift stamp and Liberty loan campaigns, but also through direct lessons on conserving food, clothing, and public and private property.
Many children planted and took care of war gardens, adding a total of many million dollars' worth of food to the nation's supply. In connection with the gardens, a canning campaign was conducted which aimed at the conservation of perishable food that could not be consumed at once.
The schools rendered valuable service in doing Red Cross work. Both boys and girls knit garments and comforts for our soldiers, and the girls made garments for the little children of France and Belgium who had been driven from their homes by the war.
RISE IN PRICES.—When a country is at war the government must have what it needs, quickly and at any price. The price situation is made worse if for any reason there happens to be a scarcity of a given article. When the government wants a great quantity of ammunition for which it is willing to pay a high price, the manufacturer, desiring to obtain an increased number of workmen quickly, offers unusually high pay. This attracts workmen from other industries, and the latter offer still higher pay to retain their workmen. In this way, wages rapidly go up and things that have to be produced with labor, like coal, or houses, or ships, rise enormously in cost. The farmer, too, has to pay more for his help. In order to induce the farmers to plant more wheat, the government fixed a high price for it. This helped to make flour expensive. Many fishermen went into the navy, or into factories where they could get high wages. If they kept on fishing, they thought they ought to make as much money as the men who had given up fishing and gone to make guns and build ships.
Perhaps the biggest reason for high prices is the actual scarcity of many things. Many of the men who do the work of producing are at war. They are using food and clothing much faster than if they were not soldiers. A soldier needs about twice as much food, and wears out eight times as many pairs of shoes, as he did when he was at home. From these facts it is easy to see why prices are high during the war.
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 1917.—- As a result of our unwillingness, before 1917, to face the fact that we might sometime be involved in war, the tremendous amount of preparation described in this chapter had to be done in a few months, or even in a few weeks. When things have to be done in such a great hurry, missteps are often made and unfortunate delays result.
In spite of all difficulties, however, the United States had, at the end of 1917, two hundred and fifty thousand troops in France and a million and a half in training camps. Guns, rifles, clothing, shoes, food, and other necessary supplies were being produced in sufficient quantities. On the other side of the Atlantic, our engineers and railroad men were busy constructing docks, warehouses, and miles of railroad for the purpose of providing bases of supplies for our soldiers in France. Much of the equipment of these railroads and docks cars, locomotives, and unloading machinery—had been brought from America.
MORE SOLDIERS SENT TO FRANCE.—As the troops in the various camps and cantonments were trained they were sent to ports on the eastern coast and embarked for France, their places in camp being taken by new groups of drafted men. Beginning with fifty or sixty thousand each month, the number sent abroad was rapidly increased until by the fall of 1918 the troops were going over at the rate of more than three hundred thousand a month. By October 15 there were over two million of our soldiers in France and another million and more under training in this country.
DECREASE IN SUBMARINE SINKINGS.—The Germans had boasted in vain that their submarines would prevent the transportation of American troops to Europe. Of the hundreds of transports engaged in this work, up to November, 1918, only two were sunk while on the eastward voyage, and less than 300 American soldiers were drowned. Moreover, during the year 1918 there was a notable decrease in the destruction of merchant vessels by submarines. This was due probably to a variety of causes, but especially to the increased protection provided by the convoy system, and to the more efficient methods of fighting the submarines.
It has been found that it is possible to see a submarine at some distance below the surface if the observer is in a balloon or an airplane. Therefore the submarine hunters do not need to wait for the submarine to show itself. The sea is patrolled by balloons and airplanes in conjunction with fast destroyers. When the aircraft has located a submarine, the fact is signaled to a destroyer. When the destroyer arrives over the submarine, it drops a depth bomb, which is arranged to explode after it has sunk to any desired depth in the water.
It is believed that the submarines are being destroyed faster than Germany can build them, and also that it is increasingly difficult for Germany to obtain the highly trained crews necessary to manage the complex machinery of a submarine. For it must be remembered that the circumstances under which submarines are destroyed almost always involve the loss of the crew.
SUBMARINES RAID THE ATLANTIC COAST.—Unable to face the convoys of transports, several submarines paid visits to our coast in the summer of 1918, and destroyed a considerable number of unarmed vessels, mostly small craft. Many of the victims, indeed, were very small fishing boats, which are, by international agreement, exempt from capture or destruction.
GERMAN PROPAGANDA.—Before the United States entered the war, our people were divided in their sympathies between the Central Powers and the Allies. Those who believed that Germany was right were chiefly people of German birth or descent, though a large majority even of this group did not believe in the things for which Germany was fighting.
Since the United States was neutral, their attitude was perfectly legal, provided their sympathies did not lead them to commit crimes against the United States in their zeal to hinder the cause of the Allies. Unfortunately, ever since we entered the war some of these people, still keeping on the side of Germany, have endeavored in every way to prevent the success of the American cause. Some of these men and women are American-born, others have, through naturalization, sworn to uphold the government of the United States, but still others have remained subjects of the Central Powers. They have organized plots either to destroy property, or to spread rumors intended to interfere with the prosecution of the war and to undermine confidence in the government.
Munition factories have been blown up, and information has been secretly sent to German authorities concerning the movements of ships so that they could be attacked by submarines. Worse than all else, perhaps, is the circulation of groundless rumors such as those stating that the soldiers have insufficient food or clothing, or insinuating that officers of the government are guilty of outrageous offenses in their treatment of men and women who have entered war service.
THE CITIZEN AND THE PROPAGANDIST.—It is the duty of every true citizen, boy or girl, man or woman, to do two things to stop this treason talk. First, when some one tells you a thing about our government that ought not to be true, and sounds as if the speaker was trying to undermine the efforts of our country to win the war, ask him, "How do you know?" and then report the matter to the first policeman or other trustworthy person that you meet. The second thing you should do is carefully to avoid spreading any such rumors that you may hear.
HOW THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS PROPAGANDA.—Our country has sought to control the treasonable work of these propagandists in three ways.
First, all who are subjects of any enemy country, and who are above fourteen years of age, must be enrolled, and must carry a certificate with them wherever they go. They may not live within a half mile of navy yards, arsenals, or other places where war work is going on, and they may not go within three hundred feet of any wharf or dock.
Secondly, those whose conduct has been suspicious, or who have displayed active sympathy with the enemy in speech or act, as well as certain persons who were in official relationship with Germany, are interned for the duration of the war. Internment means that they are under close guard in a camp, or in a small district, but otherwise have considerable freedom.
In the third place, German sympathizers who have committed or have attempted to commit crimes endangering the lives of our citizens, or interfering in anyway with the conduct of the war, have been sent to prison for long terms.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.—1. Define cantonment; camp; barracks; army post. Describe the insignia of different grades of officers in the army and in the navy. Find some fact about General Pershing; about Admiral Sims. What is meant by propaganda? What is an alien enemy? 2. On a map of the United States mark the chief camps and cantonments. Locate the chief shipbuilding centers. 3. Make a collection of Food Saving notices and of literature and posters about Liberty Loans and War Savings Stamps. Make copies with names and dates of interesting letters from the front. 4. Collect pictures of shipbuilding and of transporting food to Europe. 5. Why did the navy go first to Europe? 6. How does the draft put a man into the army? 7. What factories near your home have done war work? 8. In what ways can a boy or girl save food? 9. Name five things on which you have to pay a war tax. 10. What can a boy or girl do for the Junior Red Cross? 11. Why do clothes and shoes cost more than before the war? 12. Why are some alien enemies put into prison or into detention camps?
REFERENCES.—National Service Handbook (C.P.I.); President's Flag Day Address with Evidence of Germany's Plans (C.P.I.); Pamphlets from National Food Administrator; Pamphlets from National Fuel Administrator; American Red Cross, Teachers Manual; German Plots and Intrigues (C.P.I.); Conquest and Kultur (C.P.I.); the World Almanac.
CHAPTER XIV
QUESTIONS OF THE COMING PEACE
There are two kinds of problems which must be solved by the American people before permanent peace conditions can be established. One group of problems is composed of international questions, largely pertaining to the European states, but in which the United States is vitally interested. The other group of problems relates to the restoration of our people and industries to a peace condition. On some points these two groups of problems are closely related and cannot be settled separately. Some internal questions will have to be viewed in the light of world affairs; and some international problems must be given solutions which will have influences within our own country. Ignoring the overlapping of the two groups, we shall study the problems of peace in this chapter under two headings: (1) national problems; (2) international problems.
I. NATIONAL PROBLEMS
Among the many internal problems which the country will face at the close of the war, and to which every American should to-day be giving his earnest thought, the following are specially important.
GETTING THE MEN HOME.—Even while engaged in the task of getting every available man to the fighting line in Europe, the American authorities have found time to think of the return movement. It will be a great undertaking, requiring many months, to see that each man reaches American shores and after his dismissal is safely sent to his home town.
THE CARE OF THE WOUNDED.—During the war the greatest pains have been taken by the medical officers of the army, and by the Red Cross agents, to bring immediate relief to the brave wounded men, and to nurse them back to health. But many of them will have sacrificed an eye or a limb, or will have received wounds which will prevent their engaging in their previous occupations. It is the high duty of the nation to save such men from a life of pain or of enforced idleness. It should not permit them to subsist by charity, or even pensions. The wounded man, crippled for life in his nation's service, will be educated in a vocation which will occupy his mind, make him independent, and render him a respected and self-respecting member of his community. This great educational work has already been started, courses of study have been put into operation, and positions in various industrial plants have been guaranteed to the men after the training is completed. The nation will perform its whole duty to its heroes.
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF INDUSTRY.—The war has called into existence great plants for the manufacture of the specialties needed in warfare. Such factories must, after the close of the war, be made over and set to the task of creating goods for the days of peace. Machinery will be reconstructed, agencies for the sale of goods must be established, and foreign trade sought as a possible market for the enlarged production.
THE REORGANIZATION OF LABOR.—American working people, whether they be managers of plants or workmen at the machine, have been wonderfully loyal to the nation during the war. They have shifted their work, their homes, and their aspirations to meet the needs of the war. When peace returns all this talent and skill must be turned into other channels. This we hope can be accomplished without unemployment on a large scale, and without any loss of time or pay. But it will require great directing ability, and a friendly attitude of employees and employers toward each other.
FINANCIAL RECONSTRUCTION.—The finances of the government, of corporations, and of business men have been greatly changed during the course of the war. There may never be a complete return to the old conditions. But it is certain that peace will create problems of finance almost as serious as those of war.
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES.—Our legislative bodies, particularly the Congress, will be called upon to pass many laws to aid the country to resume its peaceful life and occupations. All of the problems mentioned here, as well as many others, will require the enactment of new laws. We shall need congressmen and state legislators of wisdom, patriotism, and special knowledge to act intelligently for the people on these problems. The international settlements mentioned below also may require the action of the Senate upon treaties, and the action of both houses where laws are necessary to carry out our international agreements. The war has called for statesmanship of the highest order; the coming peace will make equal demands upon the wisdom and self-control of our statesmen and politicians.
II. INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS
President Wilson, on January 8, 1918, addressed Congress in a speech which was designed to set forth the war aims and peace terms of the United States. Every American should be familiar with the terms of this "fourteen-point speech." Each one of the terms advocated by the President is given below in the President's own words, and a short explanatory paragraph is added to each.
1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.
The President here speaks against the underhand diplomacy and secret alliances which have been a feature of European history in the past. By this practice a few diplomats and monarchs made whatever treaties they wished, not presenting them for ratification to the people's representatives, and yet binding every individual citizen to abide by the terms adopted. Such secret provisions have often been agreed to simply upon the whim or the ambition or the likes and dislikes of the rulers. They have sometimes been opposed to the true interests of the nations involved. They are undemocratic, and are not in accord with American ideas.
2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.
Since 1793 the United States has stood for the freedom of the seas and the right of neutrals to carry on their trade in time of war as well as in time of peace. Germany's violation of our rights as a neutral by her submarine warfare was one of the causes of our taking up arms against her. By territorial waters the President here means the waters within three miles from shore, which are universally held to be under the complete control of the adjoining state. By international covenants are probably meant such covenants and guarantees as those mentioned in points 14, 1, 4, 11, 12, and 13.
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.
Economic barriers are mainly restrictions upon trade and commerce. These restrictions take various forms; they may be prohibitive customs duties, or excessive port, tonnage, and harbor charges; they may be trade agreements granting favors to the citizens of one country and not to those of another. The President urges the establishment of an equality of such trade conditions.
4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
The President here touches one of the most important problems of the coming peace. This has often been called a war against war; it has been said that it will be the last war. The sentiment which leads to such statements has its origin in a hatred of militarism. Great armaments were created because of the danger from Prussian militarism; and great armaments will still be necessary unless "this intolerable thing" is crushed or "shut out from the friendly intercourse of the nations." When it is crushed, some adequate steps must be taken by each state to reduce its armaments, on condition that all other states do the same. But many problems will face the world's statesmen in preparing a plan for guaranteed disarmament. How large a force will each nation need to maintain its "domestic safety"? How shall we be sure that Germany will not break her promise, as she has so often done in this war? How shall we be sure that Germany, or perhaps some other state, will not again secretly prepare for a war while others remain unprepared?
5. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
In the opening chapters of this book we have seen how colonial rivalry was one of the causes of the World War. The President urges that the settlement after the war shall be "free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial." He introduces here the democratic principle that the interests of the populations in the colonies shall have equal weight with the just claims of the European states. Such a principle probably will mean that few if any of Germany's colonies can be returned to her, because her colonial management has been neglectful of the interests of the subject peoples.
6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooeperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing, and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.
No restatement of the President's words on this subject is necessary. The Russian revolution is one of the most important results of the Great War. How can the future welfare of Russia be best secured?
7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.
The evacuation of Belgium will follow the military victories of the United States and her associates. The restoration of Belgium will be difficult to effect. It implies relief to her suffering and starving people, the return of the many exiles to Belgium, the erection of new homes for them, the reorganization of industry and transportation, and the repair and rebuilding of her historic edifices. Where will the funds come from for such work? Germany, the aggressor, surely should bear a part or all of the cost.
8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.
Here the President urges the same treatment for the occupied lands of northern France as for those of Belgium. The devastated lands must be reclaimed, the inhabitants cared for, and adequate means provided by which they can earn a livelihood. Further, he advises the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France. Such action not only will right the wrong done to France in 1871, but also it will take from Germany much of the iron-producing areas which have made it possible for her to prepare and carry on this war, and which might permit her to get ready for a yet more dreadful war in the future.
9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
We have seen how a considerable area inhabited by Italians was not freed from Austrian rule when the Italian kingdom was founded. This territory, called Italia Irredenta (unredeemed Italy), and this population, by its own desire and by natural right, belong to Italy and should be brought within the nation.
10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development.
Within the Austro-Hungarian boundaries are several nationalities which have been subjected to the oppressive rule of peoples different from themselves. Their attempts to obtain home rule or independence have been crushed. America now wishes to secure for these peoples the opportunity to establish governments for themselves. As we have already seen, our country in 1918 formally recognized the independence of one of these peoples—the Czecho-Slovaks, or inhabitants of Bohemia and neighboring districts. Moreover, in a note to Austria-Hungary, October 18, 1918, President Wilson stated that conditions had changed since January 8, and intimated that both the Czecho-Slovaks and the Jugo-Slavs should be given independence.
11. Roumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated, occupied territories restored, Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea, and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.
We have here a comprehensive plan for the settlement of the Balkan jealousies, which have disturbed Europe for many years. Evacuation and restoration is here proposed, as in Belgium and France. Serbia, always thwarted by Austria in her hopes for a port, is to be given access to the sea. Friendly counsel shall be given the Balkan peoples to aid them in establishing their governments along the lines of nationalities and of historic sympathies. All the countries of the world should unite to guarantee and protect the safety and independence of the governments established in the Balkan region.
12. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.
The horrible rule of the Turks over subject peoples must cease. The Turks, as well as all other peoples, should be allowed the right of self-government. But their subject peoples must also be protected in their lives, property, and occupations, and given an opportunity to establish self-government when they desire it. The Dardanelles strait must be taken out of the power of the Turks, and placed under the control of the associated nations.
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 covenant.
A nation composed of Poles would imply the union of parts of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, since all of these three countries took part in the infamous partition of Poland in the eighteenth century. Access to the Baltic Sea would be necessary for the prosperity and independence of the new state. But such access could be gained only across territory which Prussia has held for a century and a half. The associated nations would guarantee the independence of Poland in the same way that they would protect Belgium, Serbia, and the other states erected upon the principle of national self-government.
14. A 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.
This is the most important of the President's suggestions. Without some form of a league of nations it will be impossible to adopt and carry out the other terms of the President's program. International guarantees, so frequently mentioned in his proposals, imply some means by which the countries of the world can act together for their common purposes. Restoration of devastated lands, disarmament, new democratic governments, freedom of commerce,—all of these things will remain nothing but rainbow hopes unless the large and small nations of the world unite for their realization. A League of Nations, more or less regularly organized, must be formed if the democracies of the world shall be made safe from future wars of aggression.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.—1. Why are waters within three miles of shore considered as territorial waters? (See War Cyclopedia, "Marine League.") What is meant by freedom of the seas? What is meant by the phrase "free ships make free goods"? 2. Make a map of Europe showing what it would be like if all of President Wilson's points were approved at the peace conference. 3. Are there any reasons why every nation should give up its colonies and permit them to be independent states? 4. Why is it dangerous as well as wrong to permit Germany to retain her control over the territory taken from Russia? 5. What was the "wrong done to France (by Germany) in 1870"? 6. What is autonomy? Name the peoples of Austria-Hungary who wish autonomous development, or complete independence. 7. Find some ways by which Poland and Serbia can get access to the sea. 8. Do you think it will take a longer or a shorter time to bring the soldiers home than it did to send them to France? Why? 9. What is meant by rehabilitation of the wounded? Find some ways in which other nations have made their maimed soldiers self-supporting. 10. How is it likely that Constantinople will be controlled after the war? 11. How would the league of nations enforce its decisions? (See President Wilson's second point.)
REFERENCES.—War Cyclopedia (C.P.I.); McKinley, Collected Materials for the Study of the War; War, Labor, and Peace (C.P.I.); Conquest and Kultur (C.P.I.); The War Message and the Facts Behind It (C.P.I.); American Interest in Popular Government Abroad (C.P.I.).
CHRONOLOGY—PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE WAR
(Adapted from "War Cyclopedia" published by the Committee on Public Information, Washington, D.C. Events which especially concern the United States are put in italic type.)
1914
June 28 Murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Serajevo.
July 5 Conference at Potsdam (page 70).
July 23 Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia.
July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
July 31 German ultimatums to Russia and France.
Aug. 1 Germany declares war on Russia and invades Luxemburg.
Aug. 2 German ultimatum to Belgium, demanding a free passage for her troops across Belgium.
Aug. 3 Germany declares war on France.
Aug. 4-26 Most of Belgium overrun: Liege occupied (Aug. 9); Brussels (Aug. 20); Namur (Aug. 24).
Aug. 4 Great Britain declares war on Germany.
Aug. 4 President Wilson proclaims neutrality of United States.
Aug. 6 Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia.
Aug. 12 France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.
Aug. 16 British expeditionary force landed in France.
Aug. 18 Russia invades East Prussia.
Aug. 21-23 Battle of Mons-Charleroi. Dogged retreat of French and British in the face of the German invasion.
Aug. 23 Japan declares war on Germany.
Aug. 23 Tsingtau (Kiaochow) bombarded by Japanese.
Aug. 25- Russians overrun Galicia. Lemberg taken (Sept. 2); Dec. 15 Przemysl besieged (Sept. 16 to Oct. 15, and again after Nov. 12). Dec. 4, Russians 3-1/2 miles from Cracow.
Aug. 26 Germans destroy Louvain, in Belgium.
Aug. 26 Allies conquer Togo, in Africa.
Aug. 26-31 Russians defeated in battle of Tannenberg (page 85).
Aug. 28 British naval victory of Helgoland Bight, in North Sea.
Aug. 31 Name of St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd.
Sept. 5 Great Britain, France, and Russia agree not to make peace separately.
Sept. 6-10 First battle of the Marne (page 81).
Sept. 7 Germans take Maubeuge, in northern France.
Sept. 11 Australians take German New Guinea, etc.
Sept. 12-17 Battle of the Aisne.
Sept. 16 Russians driven from East Prussia.
Sept. 22 Three British armored cruisers sunk by a submarine.
Sept. 27 Invasion of German Southwest Africa by Gen. Botha.
Oct. 9 Germans occupy Antwerp, the chief port of Belgium.
Oct. 16-28 Battle of the Yser, in Flanders, Belgium. Belgians and French halt German advance.
Oct. 17- Battle of Flanders, near Ypres, saving Channel ports. Nov. 15
Oct. 21-28 German armies driven back in Poland.
Oct. 28- De Wet's rebellion in British South Africa. Dec. 8
Oct. 29 Turkish war ship bombards Odessa, Russia.
Nov. 1 German naval victory off the coast of Chile.
Nov. 3-5 Russia, France, and Great Britain declare war on Turkey.
Nov. 7 Fall of Tsingtau (Kiaochow) to the Japanese and British.
Nov. 10- Austrian invasion of Serbia (page 87). Dec. 14
Nov. 10 German cruiser "Emden" destroyed in Indian Ocean.
Nov. 21 Basra, on Persian Gulf, occupied by British.
Dec. 8 British naval victory off the Falkland Islands.
Dec. 16 German warships bombard towns on east coast of England.
Dec. 17 Egypt proclaimed a British protectorate, under a sultan.
Dec. 24 First German air raid on England.
1915
Jan. 1- Russians attempt to cross the Carpathians. Feb. 13
Jan. 24 British naval victory of Dogger Bank, in North Sea.
Jan. 25- Russians again invade East Prussia, but are defeated in Feb. 12 the battle of the Mazurian Lakes.
Jan. 28 American merchantman "William P. Frye" sunk by German cruiser.
Feb. 4 Germany's proclamation of "war zone" around the British Isles after February 18.
Feb. 10 United States note holding German government to a "strict accountability" for destruction of American lives or vessels.
Feb. 10 Anglo-French squadron bombards Dardanelles forts.
Mar. 1 Announcement of British "blockade" of Germany.
Mar. 10 British capture Neuve Chapelle, in northern France.
Mar. 22 Russians capture Przemysl, in Galicia.
Apr. 17- Battle of Ypres. First use of poison gas (page 95). May 17
Apr. 25 Allied troops land on the Gallipoli peninsula.
Apr. 30 Germans invade the Baltic provinces of Russia.
May 1 American steamship "Gulflight" sunk by German submarine; two Americans lost.
May 2 Battle of the Dunajec. Russians defeated by the Germans and Austrians and forced to retire from the Carpathians.
May 7 British liner "Lusitania" sunk by German submarine (1,154 lives lost, 114 being Americans).
May 9-June Battle of Artois, or Festubert (in France, north of Arras). Small gains by the Allies.
May 13 American note protests against submarine policy culminating in the sinking of the "Lusitania." Other notes June 9, July 21; German replies, May 28, July 8, Sept. 1.
May 23 Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
May 25 American steamship "Nebraskan" attacked by submarine.
June 3 Przemysl retaken by Germans and Austrians.
June 9 Monfalcone occupied by Italians.
June 22 The Austro-Germans recapture Lemberg, in Galicia.
July 2 Naval action between Russians and Germans in the Baltic.
July 9 Conquest of German Southwest Africa completed.
July 12- German conquest of Russian Poland; capture of Warsaw Sept. 18 (Aug. 5), Kovno (Aug. 17), Brest-Litovsk (Aug. 25), Vilna (Sept. 18).
Aug. 19 British liner "Arabic" sunk by submarines (44 victims, two Americans).
Aug. 21 Italy declares war on Turkey.
Sept. 1 The German ambassador, von Bernstorff, gives assurance that German submarines will sink no more liners without warning.
Sept. 8 United States demands recall of Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Dr. Dumba.
Sept. 25- French offensive in Champagne fails to break through German Oct. lines.
Sept. 27 Small British progress at Loos, near Lens.
Oct. 4 Russian ultimatum to Bulgaria.
Oct. 5 Allied forces land at Salonica, at the invitation of the Greek government.
Oct. 5 German Government regrets and disavows sinking of "Arabic" and is prepared to pay indemnities.
Oct. 6- Austro-German-Bulgarian conquest of Serbia; fall of Belgrade Dec. 2 (Oct. 9), Nish (Nov. 1), Monastir (Dec. 2).
Oct. 13 Germans execute the English nurse, Edith Cavell, for aiding Belgians to escape from Belgium.
Oct. 14 Bulgaria declares war on Serbia.
Oct. 15-19 Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy declare war against Bulgaria.
Nov. 10-Apr. Russian forces advance into Persia as a result of pro-German activities there.
Dec. 1 British under Gen. Townshend retreat from near Bagdad to Kut-el-Amara.
Dec. 3 United States Government demands recall of Capt. Boy-Ed and Capt. von Papen, attaches of the German embassy.
Dec. 6 Germans capture Ipek, in Montenegro.
Dec. 15 Sir Douglas Haig succeeds Sir John French in command of the British army in France.
Dec. 19 British forces withdraw from parts of Gallipoli peninsula.
1916
Jan. 8 Evacuation of Gallipoli completed.
Jan. 13 Fall of Cetinje, capital of Montenegro.
Feb. 10 Germany notifies neutral powers that armed merchant ships will be treated as warships and will be sunk without warning.
Feb. 15 Secretary Lansing states that by international law commercial vessels have right to carry arms in self-defense.
Feb. 16 Germany sends note acknowledging her liability in the "Lusitania" affair.
Feb. 16 Russians take Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia.
Feb. 16 Kamerun (Africa) conquered.
Feb. 21- Battle of Verdun (pages 107-108). July
Feb. 24 President Wilson in letter to Senator Stone refuses to advise American citizens not to travel on armed merchant ships.
Mar. 8 Germany declares war on Portugal.
Mar. 24 French steamer "Sussex" is torpedoed without warning (page 115).
Apr. 18 Russians capture Trebizond, in Turkey.
Apr. 18 United States note declaring that she will sever diplomatic relations unless Germany abandons present methods of submarine warfare.
Apr. 24- Insurrection in Ireland. May 1
Apr. 29 Gen. Townshend surrenders at Kut-el-Amara.
May 4 Germany's conditional pledge not to sink merchant ships without warning (page 116).
May 14- Great Austrian attack on the Italians through the Trentino. June 3
May 19 Russians join British on the Tigris.
May 24 Conscription bill becomes a law in Great Britain.
May 31 Naval battle off Jutland, in North Sea.
June 4-30 Russian offensive in Galicia and Bukowina.
June 5 Lord Kitchener drowned.
July 1- Battle of the Somme (page 108). Nov. 17
July 27 Germans execute Captain Fryatt, an Englishman, for having defended his merchant ship by ramming the German submarine that was about to attack it.
Aug. 9 Italians capture Gorizia.
Aug. 27 Italy declares war on Germany.
Aug. 27- Roumania enters war on the side of the Allies, and most of Jan. 15 the country is overrun. (Fall of Bucharest, Dec. 6.)
Oct. 7 German submarine appears off American coast and sinks British passenger steamer "Stephano" (Oct. 8).
Nov. 19 Monastir retaken by Allies (chiefly Serbians).
Nov. 29 United States protests against Belgian deportations.
Dec. 6 Lloyd George succeeds Asquith as British prime minister.
Dec. 12 German peace offer. Refused (Dec. 30) as "empty and insincere."
Dec. 18 President Wilson's peace note. Germany replies evasively (Dec. 26). Entente Allies' reply (Jan. 10) demands "restorations, reparation, indemnities."
1917
Jan. 10 The Allied governments state their terms of peace.
Jan. 31 Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare in specified zones.
Feb. 3 United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany.
Feb. 24 Kut-el-Amara taken by British under Gen. Maude.
Feb. 26 President Wilson asks authority to arm merchant ships.
Feb. 28 "Zimmermann note" published.
Mar. 11 Bagdad captured by British under Gen. Maude.
Mar. 11-15 Revolution in Russia, leading to abdication of Czar Nicholas II (Mar. 15). Provisional Government formed by Constitutional Democrats under Prince Lvov.
Mar. 12 United States announces that an armed guard will be placed on all American merchant vessels sailing through the war zone.
Mar. 17-19 Retirement of Germans to the "Hindenburg line" (page 118).
Mar. 24 Minister Brand Whitlock and American Relief Commission withdrawn from Belgium.
Apr. 2 President Wilson asks Congress to declare the existence of a state of war with Germany.
Apr. 6 United States declares war on Germany.
Apr. 8 Austria-Hungary severs diplomatic relations with the United States.
Apr. 9- British successes in battle of Arras (Vimy Ridge taken May 14 Apr. 9).
Apr. 16- French successes in battle of the Aisne between Soissons and May 6 Rheims.
Apr. 21 Turkey severs relations with United States.
May 4 American destroyers begin cooeperation with British navy in war zone.
May 15- Great Italian offensive on Isonzo front. Sept. 15
May 15 Gen. Petain succeeds Gen. Nivelle as commander in chief of the French armies.
May 18 President Wilson signs selective service act.
June 7 British blow up Messines Ridge, south of Ypres, and capture 7,500 German prisoners.
June 10 Italian offensive in Trentino.
June 12 King Constantine of Greece forced to abdicate.
June 26 First American troops reach France.
June 29 Greece enters war against Germany and her allies.
July 1 Russian army led in person by Kerensky, the Minister of War, begins an offensive in Galicia, ending in disastrous retreat (July 19-Aug. 3).
July 20 Kerensky succeeds Prince Lvov as premier of Russia.
July 30 Mutiny in German fleet at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel. Second mutiny Sept. 2.
July 31- Battle of Flanders (Passchendaele Ridge); British successes. Nov.
Aug. 15 Peace proposals of Pope Benedict published (dated Aug. 1). United States replies Aug. 27; Germany and Austria, Sept. 21.
Aug. 15 Canadians capture Hill 70, dominating Lens.
Aug. 19-24 New Italian drive on the Isonzo front.
Aug. 20-24 French attacks at Verdun recapture high ground lost in 1916.
Sept. 3 Riga captured by Germans.
Sept. 8 Luxburg dispatches ("Spurlos versenkt") published by United States.
Sept. 15 Russia proclaimed a republic.
Oct. 17 Russians defeated in a naval engagement in the Gulf of Riga.
Oct. 14.- Great German-Austrian invasion of Italy. Italian line shifted Dec to Piave River.
Oct. 26 Brazil declares war on Germany.
Nov. 2 Germans retreat from the Chemin des Dames, in France.
Nov. 3 First clash of American with German soldiers.
Nov. 7 Overthrow of Kerensky and Provisional Government of Russia by the Bolsheviki.
Nov. 13 Clemenceau succeeds Ribot as French premier.
Nov. 20- Battle of Cambrai (page 119). Dec. 13
Nov. 29 First plenary session of the Interallied Conference in Paris. Sixteen nations represented. Col. E.M. House, chairman of American delegation.
Dec. 3 Conquest of German East Africa completed.
Dec. 6 U.S. destroyer "Jacob Jones" sunk by submarine, with loss of over 60 American men.
Dec. 6 Explosion on munitions vessel wrecks Halifax.
Dec. 7 United States declares war on Austria-Hungary.
Dec. 10 Jerusalem captured by British.
Dec. 23 Peace negotiations opened at Brest-Litovsk between Bolshevik government and Central Powers.
Dec. 28 President Wilson takes over the control of railroads.
1918
Jan. 4 British hospital ship "Rewa" torpedoed and sunk in English Channel.
Jan. 8 President Wilson sets forth peace program of the United States.
Jan. 18 Russian Constituent Assembly meets in Petrograd.
Jan. 19 The Bolsheviki dissolve the Russian Assembly.
Jan. 28 Revolution begins in Finland; fighting between "White Guards" and "Red Guards."
Jan. 28-29 Big German air raid on London.
Jan. 30 German air raid on Paris.
Feb. 3 American troops officially announced to be on the Lorraine front near Toul.
Feb. 5 British transport "Tuscania" with 2,179 American troops on board torpedoed and sunk; 211 American soldiers lost.
Feb. 9 Ukrainia makes peace with Germany.
Feb. 10 The Bolsheviki order demobilization of the Russian army.
Feb. 14 Bolo Pasha condemned for treason against France; executed April 16.
Feb. 17 Cossack General Kaledines commits suicide. Collapse of Cossack revolt against the Bolsheviki.
Feb. 18- Russo-German armistice declared at an end by Germany; Mar. 3 war resumed. Germans occupy Dvinsk, Minsk, and other cities.
Feb. 21 German troops land in Finland.
Feb. 23 Turkish troops drive back the Russians in the northeast (Trebizond taken Feb. 26, Erzerum March 14).
Mar. 2 German and Ukrainian troops defeat the Bolsheviki near Kief in Ukrainia.
Mar. 3 Bolsheviki sign peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk. Ratified by Soviet Congress at Moscow March 15.
Mar. 7 Finland and Germany sign a treaty of peace.
Mar. 10 Announcement that American troops are occupying trenches at four different points on French front.
Mar. 11 First wholly American raid, made in sector north of Toul, meets with success.
Mar. 11 Great German air raid on Paris, by more than fifty planes.
Mar. 13 German troops occupy Odessa on Black Sea.
Mar. 21- First German drive of the year, on 50-mile front, extending Apr. 1 to Montdidier (page 143).
Apr. 9-18 Second German drive, on a 30-mile front between Ypres and Arras.
May 6 Roumania signs peace treaty with the Central Powers.
May 7 Nicaragua declares war on Germany and her allies.
May 9-10 British naval force attempts to block Ostend harbor.
May 14 Caucasus proclaims itself an independent state; but the Turks overrun the southern part, and take Baku Sept. 19.
May 21 British transport "Moldavia" is sunk with loss of 53 American soldiers.
May 24 Major General March appointed Chief of Staff with the rank of General.
May 24 Costa Rica declares war on the Central Powers.
May 25- German submarines appear off American coast and sink 19 June coastwise vessels, including Porto Rico liner "Carolina" with loss of 16 lives.
May 27- Third German drive, capturing the Chemin des Dames and June 1 reaching the Marne River east of Chateau-Thierry. American Marines aid French at Chateau-Thierry.
May 28 American forces near Montdidier capture Tillage of Cantigny and hold it against numerous counter-attacks.
May 31 U.S. transport "President Lincoln" sunk by U-boat while on her way to the United States; 23 lives lost.
June 9-16 Fourth German drive, on 20-mile front east of Montdidier, makes only small gains.
June 10 Italian naval forces sink one Austrian dreadnaught and damage another in the Adriatic.
June 11 American Marines take Belleau Wood, with 800 prisoners.
June 14 Turkish troops occupy Tabriz, Persia.
June 15 General March announces that there are 800,000 American troops in France.
June 15- Austrian offensive against Italy fails with heavy losses. July 6
June 21 Official statement that American forces hold 39 miles of French front in six sectors.
June 27 British hospital ship "Llandovery Castle" is torpedoed off Irish coast with loss of 234 lives. Only 24 survived.
July 10 Italians and French take Berat in Albania.
July 13 Czecho-Slovak troops occupy Irkutsk in Siberia.
July 15-18 Anglo-American forces occupy strategic positions on the Murman Coast in northwestern Russia.
July 15-18 Fifth German drive extends three miles south of the Marne, but east of Rheims makes no gain.
July 16 Ex-Czar Nicholas executed by Bolshevik authorities.
July 18- Second battle of the Marne, beginning with Foch's Aug. 4 counter-offensive between Soissons and Chateau-Thierry. French and Americans drive the Germans back from the Marne nearly to the Aisne.
July 22 Honduras declares war on Germany.
July 27 American troops arrive on the Italian front.
July 31 President Wilson takes over telegraph and telephone systems.
Aug. 2 Allies occupy Archangel, in northern Russia.
Aug. 8- Allies attack successfully near Montdidier, and continue the Sept. drive until the Germans are back at the Hindenburg line, giving up practically all the ground they had gained this year.
Aug. 15 American troops land in eastern Siberia.
Sept. 3 The United States recognizes the Czecho-Slovak government.
Sept. 12-13 Americans take the St. Mihiel salient near Metz.
Sept. 15 Allied army under Gen. D'Esperey begins campaign against Bulgarians.
Sept. 16 President Wilson receives an Austrian proposal for a peace conference, and refuses it.
Sept. 22 Great victory of British and Arabs over Turks in Palestine.
Sept. 26 Americans begin a drive in the Meuse valley.
Sept. 30 Bulgaria withdraws from the war.
Oct. 1 St. Quentin (on the Hindenburg line) taken by the French.
Oct. 1 Damascus captured by the British.
Oct. 3 King Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicates.
Oct. 3 Lens taken by the British.
Oct. 4 Germany asks President Wilson for an armistice and peace negotiations (page 150); other notes Oct. 12, 20, etc.; similar notes from Austria-Hungary Oct. 7, and from Turkey Oct. 12. Wilson's replies Oct. 8, 14, 18, 23.
Oct. 7 Beirut taken by a French fleet.
Oct. 8 Cambrai taken by the British.
Oct. 13 Laon taken by the French.
Oct. 17 Ostend taken by the Belgians.
Oct. 17 Lille taken by the British.
Oct. 24- Allied forces (chiefly Italians) under Gen. Diaz win a great Nov. 4 victory on the Italian front.
Oct. 26 Aleppo taken by the British.
Oct. 31 Turkey surrenders.
Nov. 1 Serbian troops enter Belgrade after regaining nearly all of Serbia.
Nov. 3 Trieste and Trent occupied by Italian forces.
Nov. 4 Surrender of Austria-Hungary.
Nov. 5 President Wilson notifies Germany that General Foch has been authorized by the United States and the Allies to communicate the terms of an armistice.
Nov. 6 Mutiny of German sailors at Kiel; followed by mutinies, revolts, and revolutions at other German cities.
Nov. 7 Americans take Sedan.
Nov. 9 British take Maubeuge.
Nov. 9 Announcement that the German emperor William II "has decided to renounce the throne"; he flees to Holland Nov. 10 and signs a formal abdication Nov. 28
Nov. 11 Armistice signed; Germany surrenders.
INDEX
Adrianople, taken, 65. Africa, war in, 90-91. Aircraft, 104, 109, 119-120, 153-154. Aisne, battle of, 81. Albania, 23-24, 59-65, 148. Albanians, 62. Allenby, General, 126, 148. Allies, 75. Alsace-Lorraine, 48-50, 13, 28; Wilson on, 175. Americans, see United States. Amiens, threatened, 143. Antwerp, location, 30; captured, 81, 104. Arbitration, 43. Argentina, "spurlos versenkt," 133. Armaments, 36, 41-42, 45. Armed neutrality, 131. Armenia, 110. Australia, 22, 89. Austria, 12, 15-16; see Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary, before the war, 15-17; Balkan ambitions, 52, 63; Triple Alliance, 56-57; backs Turkey, 63, 65; trouble with Serbia, 68-73; precipitates the war, 70, 72; in the war, 84-87, 97-99, 112-114, 122-123, 127-128, 147, 149; Wilson on, 176.
Bagdad, taken, 125. Balkan states, 23-24, 52-53, 59-66; races in, 59-62; in the war, see Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania; Wilson on, 177. Balkan Wars, 64-65. Baltic provinces, 30, 137. Battles: Marne, 81; Aisne, 81; Flanders, 82; Tannenberg, 85; Ypres, 95; Mazurian Lakes, 97; Verdun, 107; Somme, 108; Vimy Ridge, 118; Cambrai, 119; Picardy, 143; second Marne, 146; Piave, 147, 149. Beatty, Admiral, 114. Belgium, before the war, 18, 30; neutrality; 19, 78; in the war, 78-80, 149; German occupation of, 82-84; Wilson on, 175. Belgrade, taken, 87. Berlin-Bagdad Railway, 32, 125. Bernstorff, Count von, 128-129. Bessarabia, 138. Bismarck, 12-13. Boers, in the war, 90. Bolsheviki, 123-125, 135-140. Bosnia, 69. Bosporus, 51. Botha, General, 90. Brazil, enters the war, 133. Brest-Litovsk, peace of, 136-138. Brusilov, General, 112. Bukowina, invaded, 112. Bulgaria, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; Balkan wars, 64-65; in the Great War, 97-98, 113, 147-148; surrenders, 148. Bulgars, 61.
Calais, threatened, 81. Cambrai, battle of, 119; taken, 150. Canada, 22, 118, 119. Casement, Sir Roger, 117. Cavour, Count, 17-18. Central Powers, 65. Chemin des Dames, 119. Chile, naval battle near, 93. Colonies, 10; Germany's desire for, 31, 54-55; Wilson on, 174. Constantine, King, 98. Constantinople, 51-52. Courland, 137. Czar, 23-24, 120-121. Czecho-Slovaks, 139-140.
Damascus, taken, 148. Dardanelles, 51, 96. Wilson on, 178. Democratic movements, 8, 121. Der Tag, 67. D'Esperey, General, 147. Dewey, Admiral, 54. Diaz, General, 149. Dobrudja, 62, 113, 138. Dublin, in rebellion, 117. Duma, 120-121.
East Prussia, 30; invaded, 85, 97. Emden, cruise of, 92-93. England, 21; see Great Britain. Erzerum, captured, 111. Esthonia, 137.
Falkland Is., naval battle, 93. Finland, 136-137. Flame-thrower, 95. Flanders, battles of, 82, 143. Foch, General, 143-149. Food and fuel control in U.S., 154-156. France, before the war, 19-20, 13; Triple Entente, 57-58; enters the war, 73-74; in the war, 77-84, 95, 107-109, 118-120, 141-150. Francis Ferdinand, assassinated, 70. Francis Joseph, 16. Franco-Prussian War, 13, 20, 28-29. Freedom of the seas, Wilson on, 172.
Galicia, in the war, 86, 97, 112, 122-123. Gallipoli campaign, 96. Garibaldi, 17. Gas, used in warfare, 95, 142. George, Lloyd, on Alsace-Lorraine, 48. Gerard, Ambassador, 129. German propaganda in U.S., 165-167. Germany, before the war, 12-14; why Germany wanted war, 27-34; German militarism, 34-37; opposition to peace movements, 39, 42-46; colonial ambitions, 31, 53-56; Triple Alliance, 56-57; backs Turkey, 63-65; preparations for Great War, 67-68; precipitates the war, 70, 72-75; in the war, 77-109, 113-150; treatment of occupied territory, 82-84; loses colonies, 89-91; navy, 37, 91-94, 101-103, 114-116, 128-130, 164; blockaded, 92, 100; aircraft, 104-105; peace offensive (1917, 1918), 135-138; new tactics (1918), 141-142; defeated, asks for peace, 149-150. Gorizia, taken, 114. Great Britain, before the war, 21-23; colonies, 11, 22, 105; danger from Germany, 32, 37; Triple Entente, 58; efforts for peace, 72-73; enters the war, 74-75; army in France, 79-82, 95, 108-109, 118-119, 141-149; in Africa, 90; navy, 91-94; in Gallipoli, 96; in Mesopotamia, 111-112, 125; conscription, 116; in Palestine, 125-126, 148. Great War, causes, 5, 27, 34, 48, 67; declarations, 73; in 1914, 77; in 1915, 95; in 1916, 107; in 1917, 118; in 1918, 135; United States in, 130-133, 152; peace problems, 168. Greece, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; Balkan wars, 64-65; in the Great War, 98, 147. Greeks, 62. Grey, Sir Edward, 72. Guynemer, French airman, 119.
Hague Conferences, 41-46. Hague Conventions, 45. Hague Peace Tribunal, 43-44. Helgoland Bight, battle, 92. Herzegovina, 69. Hindenburg, von, General, 85, 97. Hindenburg line, 118, 149. Holy Allies, 8, 9. Hungary, 15-16; see Austria-Hungary.
Indemnity, 27, 29. Industrial development of Europe, 9. International law, 38-40, 45. Ireland, rebellion in, 116-117. Isonzo River, 114. Italia Irredenta; Wilson on. Italy, before the war, 17-18; in Triple Alliance, 57; refuses to support Austria against Serbia, 69; neutral, 75; in the war, 99, 114, 127-128, 147, 149.
Japan, in the war, 89-90, 140. Jerusalem, captured, 126. Joffre, General, 81. Jugo-Slavs, 61, 69-70. Junkers, 14, 30-31. Jutland, battle of, 114-115.
Kaiser, 13, 14. Kaiser's battle, 141. Kerensky, Alexander, 122-123. Kiaochow, 90. Kiel Canal, 68. Kitchener, Lord, prediction of, 105. Knights of Columbus, 160. Kultur, 34. Kut-el-Amara, 111-112, 125.
Laon, taken, 150. League of Nations, Wilson's proposal, 179. League of Three Emperors, 56. Lemberg, taken, 86, 97. Lenine, 123, 136. Lens, taken, 149. Liberty motor, 154. Liege, taken, 79. Lille, taken, 81, 149. Lithuania, 137. Little Russians, 136. Livonia, 137. Loans, U.S., 158. London, air raids, 104. Lorraine, 28; see Alsace-Lorraine. Lusitania, sunk, 102-103. Luxemburg, 78, 79.
Macedonia, 61-65. Maps: Europe, 6; Berlin-Bagdad railway, 32; Alsace-Lorraine, 49; Italia Irredenta, 50; Balkan States, 60; Western Front in 1914, 80; Eastern Front in 1914, 85; German colonies and early naval engagements, 88; Turkey, 110; European Fronts in 1917, 124; Naval War Zones in 1917, 128; Brest-Litovsk Treaty, 137; Western Front in 1918, 145. Marne, battles of the, 81, 146. Mazurian Lakes, battle of, 97. Mesopotamia, war in, 111, 125. Militarism, 34. Mine fields, in the sea, 91-92. Mittel-Europa, 64. Montenegro, 59, 61, 64, 98. Morocco question, 55. Munitions, ministers of, 105.
Napoleon Bonaparte, 7, 19. Napoleon III, 20. National aspirations, 9, 15, 117, 136-137. Nations, community of, 38-39, 179. Naval operations, 91-94, 100-103, 114-116, 129, 152, 163-165. Neutral trade, 100-102. Nicholas II, 40, 121.
Palestine, war in, 125-126, 148. Pan-Germanists, 31. Pan-Serbism, 70-71. Pan-Slavic movement, 52. Paris, threatened, 77-81, 142, 144. Passchendaele Ridge, taken, 119. Peace, movement, 40; proposed by Germany, 135-138, 150; with Russia and Roumania, 137-138; questions of the coming peace, 168-179. Pershing, General, 143, 146. Persius, Captain, quoted, 129. Petain, General, 108. Petrograd, revolutions at, 121, 123. Philippines, German fleet at, 54. Piave River, 128, 147, 149. Picardy, battle of, 143. Poison gas, 95, 142. Poland, in the war, 84-86, 97, 137; Wilson on, 178. Potsdam conference, 70. Propaganda, 165-167. Prussia, 12-14, 27, 28, 35; see Germany. Przemysl, 86, 97.
Red Cross, 160. Rheims, bombarded, 119. Riga, taken, 124. Roosevelt, President, 45, 55. Roumania, before the war, 23-24, 59-65; Balkan War, 65; in the Great War, 112-113; peace, 138. Roumanians, 62. Russia, before the war, 24-25; Balkan ambitions, 51-53, 63; Triple Entente, 57-58; enters war, 73-74; in the war, 84-89, 97, 110-112, 122-124, 136; Revolution, 120-123; Bolsheviki control, 123; separate peace, 135-138; Allied intervention, 138-140; Wilson on, 174.
St. Quentin, taken, 149. Salonica, 65; Allied army at, 98, 147. Samoan difficulty, 54. Schools, work of, 160. "Scrap of paper," 78. Serajevo, assassination at, 70. Serbia, before the war, 23-34, 59-65; Balkan wars, 64-65; trouble with Austria-Hungary, 69-73; in the war, 87, 98, 147-148; Wilson on, 177. Serbs, 61, 68-70. Shipbuilding in U.S., 157. Shock troops, 142. Siberia, in the war, 139-140. Sick man of Europe, 63. Sinn Fein rebellion, 116-117. Slavs, 52, 61. Smuts, General, 90. Socialists, in Russia, 122-123. Somme, battle of the, 108-109. South Africa, 22, 90-91. Spanish America, in the war, 133. Spurlos versenkt, 133. Submarine warfare, 101-103, 115-116, 128-130, 163-165. Survival of the Fittest, 33. Sussex, torpedoed, 115-116. Syria, war in, 148-149.
Tanks, 109, 119, 146. Tannenberg, battle of, 85. Tirpitz, von, Admiral, 101. Townshend, General, 111-112. Transylvania, 112-113. Trebizond, captured, 111. Trench warfare, 82. Trentino, 51, 114. Trieste, 16, 51, 114, 127. Triple Alliance, 56-57. Triple Entente, 57-58. Trotzky, 123-136. Turkey, before the war, 23-24, 52, 53, 62; Balkan wars, 64-65; enters the war, 87-89; in the war, 96, 110-112, 125-126, 138, 148; Wilson on, 178.
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