On March 11th, General Khabalov, military governor of the city, issued a proclamation announcing that the police had orders to disperse all crowds, and that any workman who did not return to work on Monday morning would be sent to the trenches. The main streets of the city were cleared and guarded by the police and soldiery. The crowds were enormous, and disorderly, and more than two hundred of the rioters were killed. Yet it seemed as if the government had the situation in a firm grasp, though an ominous incident was that the Pavlovsk regiment on being ordered to fire upon the mob, mutinied and had to be ordered to their quarters.

Meantime Rodzianko, the President of the Duma, had telegraphed to the Czar:

Situation serious. Anarchy reigns in Capital. Government is paralyzed. Transport food and fuel supplies are utterly disorganized. General discontent is growing. Disorderly firing is going on in streets. Various companies of soldiers are shooting at each other. It is absolutely necessary to invest someone, who enjoys the confidence of the people, with powers to form a new government. No time must be lost, and delay may be fatal. I pray to God that in this hour responsibility may not fall on the wearer of the crown.

The Prime Minister, Prince Golitzin, acting under powers which he had received from the Czar, prorogued the Duma. But the Duma refused to be prorogued. Its President, Rodzianko, holding in his hand the order for dissolution, announced that the Duma was now the sole constitutional authority of Russia.

During the night following, the soldiers at the Capital, and the Socialists, decided upon their course. The soldiers determined that they would not fire upon their civilian brothers. The Socialists planned an alternative scheme of government.

On March the 12th, the city was taken possession of by a mob. The Preo Crajenski Guards refused to fire upon the crowd. The Volynsky regiment, sent to coerce them, joined in the mutiny. Followed by the mob, the two regiments seized the arsenal. A force of 25,000 soldiers was in the revolt. At 11 A. M., the Courts of Law were set on fire and the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul was seized. The police, fighting desperately, were hunted from their quarters, their papers destroyed and the prisoners, political and criminal, released from the jails.

During the day the Duma kept in constant session, awaiting the Emperor, who did not come. Telegram after telegram was sent him, each more urgent. There is reason to believe that these telegrams never reached the Czar. When information finally did come to him it was too late. Meantime the Duma appointed an executive committee. Their names were Rodzianko, Nekrasov, Konovalov, Dmitrikov, Lvov, Rjenski, Karaulov, Miliukov, Schledlovski, Schulgin, Tcheidze and Kerensky. The workmen and soldiers also formed a committee, which undertook to influence the troops now pouring into Petrograd. But the center of the revolution was still the Duma, and crowds gathered to listen to its speeches. In the evening Protopovo surrendered to the Russian guards, but General Khabalov still occupied the Admiralty building with such forces as were faithful.

On March 13th it became evident that the army in the field were accepting the authority of the provisional government. The Duma committee was composed mainly of men of moderate political views. They moved slowly, fearing on the one hand the Reactionaries who still preserved their loyalty to the Czar, and on the other hand the Council of Labor, with its extreme views, and its influence—with the troops. The siege of the Admiralty building was ended by the surrender of General Khabalov. The police, however, were still keeping up a desultory resistance, but the mob were hunting them like wild beasts. On Wednesday, the 14th of March, the revolution was over.

The Executive Committee of the Duma and the Council of the Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, now universally known as the Soviet, were working in harmony. Every hour proclamations were issued, some of them foolish, some of them, it is thought, inspired by German agents, and some of them wise and patriotic. One of the most unfortunate of these proclamations was one to the army directing that "the orders of the War Committee must be obeyed, saving only on those occasions when they shall contravene the orders and regulations of the labor deputies and military delegates." This same proclamation abolished saluting for private soldiers off duty. It was the beginning of the destruction of the Russian military power. The proclamation of the Duma committee itself was admirable:

CITIZENS: The Provisional Executive Committee of the Duma, with the aid and support of the garrison of the capital and its inhabitants, has now triumphed over the baneful forces of the old regime in such a manner as to enable it to proceed to the more stable organization of the executive power. With this object, the Provisional Committee will name ministers of the first national cabinet, men whose past public activity assures them the confidence of the country.

The new cabinet will adopt the following principles as the basis of its policy:

1. An immediate amnesty for all political and religious offenses, including military revolts, acts of terrorism, and agrarian crimes.

2. Freedom of speech, of the press, of associations and labor organizations, and the freedom to strike; with an extension of these liberties to officials and troops, in so far as military and technical conditions permit.

3. The abolition of social, religious, and racial restrictions and privileges.

4. Immediate preparation for the summoning of a Constituent Assembly, which, with universal suffrage as a basis, shall establish the governmental regime and the constitution of the country.

5. The substitution for the police of a national militia, with elective heads and subject to the self-governing bodies.

6. Communal elections to be carried out on the basis of universal suffrage.

7. The troops that have taken part in the revolutionary movement shall not be disarmed, but they are not to leave Petrograd.

8. While strict military discipline must be maintained on active service, all restrictions upon soldiers in the enjoyment of social rights granted to other citizens are to be abolished.

Meantime the Emperor, "the Little Father," at first thoroughly incredulous of the gravity of the situation, had at last become alarmed. He appointed General Ivanov Commander-in-Chief of the army, and ordered him to proceed to Petrograd at the head of a division of loyal troops. General Ivanov set out, but his train was held up at Tsarkoe Selo, and he returned to Pskov. The Czar himself then started for the city, but he, too, was held up at the little station of Bologoi, where workmen had pulled up the track, and he returned to Pskov.

He sent for Ruzsky and declared that he was ready to yield to the Duma and grant a responsible ministry. Ruzsky advised him to get in touch with Rodzianko, and as a result of a telephone communication with Rodzianko and with several of his trusted generals, it became clear that there was no other course than abdication. Guchkov and Shulgin, messengers from the Duma, arrived on the evening of March 15th, and found the Emperor alone, except for his aide-de-camp, Count Fredericks.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"You must abdicate," Guchkov told him, "in favor of your son, with the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch as Regent."

The Emperor sat for a long time silent. "I cannot be separated from my boy," he said. "I will hand the throne to my brother." Taking a sheet of paper he wrote as follows:

By the Grace of God, We, Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias, to all our faithful subjects:

In the course of a great struggle against a foreign enemy, who has been endeavoring for three years to enslave our country, it has pleased God to send Russia a further bitter trial. Internal troubles have threatened to compromise the progress of the war. The destinies of Russia, the honor of her heroic army, the happiness of her people, and the whole future of our beloved country demand that at all costs victory shall be won. The enemy is making his last efforts, and the moment is near when our gallant troops, in concert with their glorious Allies, will finally overthrow him.

In these days of crisis we have considered that our nation needs the closest union of all its forces for the attainment of victory. In agreement with the Imperial Duma, we have recognized that for the good of our land we should abdicate the throne of the Russian state and lay down the supreme power.

Not wishing to separate ourselves from our beloved son, we bequeath our heritage to our brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, with our blessing upon the future of the Russian throne. We bequeath it to him with the charge to govern in full unison with the national representatives who may sit in the legislature, and to take his inviolable oath to them in the name of our well-beloved country.

We call upon all faithful sons of our land to fulfil this sacred and patriotic duty in obeying their Emperor at this painful moment of national trial, and to aid him, together with the representatives of the nation, to lead the Russian people in the way of prosperity and glory.

May God help Russia.

So ended the reign of Nicholas the Second, Czar of all the Russias. The news of the Czar's abdication spread over the world with great rapidity, and was received by the Allies with mixed feelings. The Czar had been scrupulously loyal to the alliance. He was a man of high personal character, and his sympathies on the whole, liberal; but he was a weak man in a position in which even a strong man might have failed. He was easily influenced, especially by his wife. Warned again and again of the danger before him, he constantly promised improvement, only to fail in keeping his promises. He deeply loved his wife, and yielded continually to her unwise advice.

The Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is but another instance of a devoted queen who dethroned her consort. She believed in Divine Right and looked with suspicion upon popular leaders. Her one object in life was to hand on the Russian crown to her son, with no atom of its power diminished. She surrounded herself and her husband with scoundrels and charlatans.

On the whole, the feeling among the Allies was one of relief. There was a general distrust of the influences which had been surrounding the Czar. The patriotism of the Grand Duke Michael was well known, and a government conducted by him was sure to be a great improvement. But it was not to be. Before the news of the abdication reached Petrograd a new ministry had been formed by the Duma. Miliukov announced their names and explained their credentials. The Prime Minister was Prince George Lvov. Miliukov was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guchkov Minister of War and Marine, Kerensky, a new name in the government, Minister of Justice. The ministry included representatives of every party of the left and center.

Miliukov declared that their credentials came from the Russian revolution: "We shall not fight for the sake of power. To be in power is not a reward or pleasure but a sacrifice. As soon as we are told that the sacrifice is no longer needed, we shall give up our places with gratitude for the opportunity which has been accorded us."

He concluded by informing his hearers that the despot who had brought Russia to the brink of ruin would either abdicate of his free will, or be deposed. He added that the Grand Duke Michael would be appointed Regent.

This announcement at once produced an explosion. A ministry of moderates and a continuance of the Imperial government under a regency stirred the delegates of the workmen and soldiers to revolt. For a time it seemed as if the new government would disappear in the horrors of mob rule. But Kerensky saved the situation. Making his way into the meeting of the Soviet he burst into an impassioned speech.

"Comrades!" he cried, "I have been appointed Minister of Justice. No one is a more ardent Republican than I, but we must bide our time. Nothing can come to its full growth at once. We shall have our Republic but we must first win the war. The need of the moment is organization and discipline and that need will not wait."

His eloquence carried the day. The Soviet passed a resolution supporting the provisional government with only fifteen dissenting votes. But it had been made clear that the people did not approve of the regency, and on the night of the 15th of March, Prince Lvov, Kerensky and other leaders of the Duma sought out the Grand Duke Michael and informed him of the situation. The Grand Duke yielded to the people, and on Friday, March the 16th, issued a declaration which ended the power of the Romanovs in Russia:

I am firmly resolved to accept the supreme power only if this should be the desire of our great people, who must, by means of a plebiscite through their representatives in the Constituent Assembly, establish the form of government and the new fundamental laws of the Russian state. Invoking God's blessing, I, therefore, request all citizens of Russia to obey the provisional government, set up on the initiative of the Duma, and invested with plenary powers, until within as short a time as possible the Constituent Assembly elected on a basis of equal, universal and secret suffrage, shall enforce the will of the nation regarding the future form of the constitution.

With this declaration the sacred monarchy had disappeared. In one week the people had come to their own and Russia was free. But what form of new government was to replace the old regime was still the question. There were two rival theories as to the principles to be followed, one that of the Moderates, the other of the Extremists. The Moderates, who controlled the provisional government were practical men. They realized that Russia was at war and that efficient administration was the great need.

The Extremists of the Soviet were a different type of men. They were profoundly ignorant of all practical questions of government; their creed was socialism. The Socialistic party in Russia may be divided into three different groups. The first, the Social Revolutionary party, came into prominence in Russia about 1900. It was composed of followers of the Russian Lavrov who believed in the socialist state, but a state which should not be a tyrant overriding the individual. Liberty was his watchword and he made his appeal not only to the workmen in the shops but with a special force to the peasant. He did not preach class war in the ordinary sense, and believed in the value of national life. To this party belonged Kerensky, more and more becoming the leader of the revolutionary movement.

The second group of the Socialist party were the Bolsheviki. This group were followers of the German Karl Marx. The revolution which they sought was essentially a class revolution. To the Bolsheviki the fate of their country mattered not at all. They were eager for peace on any terms. The only war in which they were interested was a class war; they recognized no political boundaries. The leader of this group was Vladimir Iljetch Uljanov, who, under his pen name of Lenine, was already widely known and who had now obtained the opportunity which he had long desired.

The third group were the Mensheviki. The Mensheviki believed in the importance of the working classes, but they did not ignore other classes. They were willing to use existing forms of government to carry out the reforms they desired. They saw that the Allied cause was their own cause, the cause of the workman as well as the intellectual.

The Soviet contained representatives of these three groups. It did not represent Russia, but it was in Petrograd and could exert its influence directly upon the government.

The attitude of the provisional government toward the Imperial family was at first not unkindly. The Czar and the Czarina were escorted to the Alexandrovsky Palace in Tsarskoe-Selo. The Czar for a time lived quietly as plain Nicholas Romanov. The Czarina and her children were very ill with measles, the case of the little Prince being complicated by the breaking out of an old wound in his foot. The Grand Duchess Tatiana was in a serious condition and oxygen had been administered. As his family improved in health the Czar amused himself by strolls in the palace yard, and even by shoveling snow. Later on Nicholas was transferred to Tobolsk, Siberia, and then, in May, 1918, to Yekaterinberg. His wife and his daughter Marie accompanied him to the latter place, while Alexis and his other three daughters remained in Tobolsk. On July 20th a Russian government dispatch announced his assassination. It read as follows:

At the first session of the Central Executive Committee, elected by the Fifth Congress of the Councils, a message was made public that had been received by direct wire from the Ural Regional Council, concerning the shooting of the ex-Czar, Nicholas Romanov. Recently Yekaterinberg, the Capital of the Red Urals, was seriously threatened by the approach of Czecho-Slovak bands, and a counter-revolutionary conspiracy was discovered, which had as its object the wresting of the ex-Czar from the hands of the Council's authority. In view of this fact the President of the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot the ex-Czar, and the decision was carried out on July 16th.

The wife and the son of Nicholas Romanov had been sent to a place of security. In a detailed account of the execution, published in Berlin, it appeared that the Czar had been awakened at five o'clock in the morning, and informed that he was to be executed in two hours. He spent some time with a priest in his bedroom and wrote several letters. According to this account, when the patrol came to take him out for execution he was found in a state of collapse. His last words, uttered just before the executioners fired, are reported to have been "Spare my wife and my innocent and unhappy children. May my blood preserve Russia from ruin."

The Russian press, including the Socialist papers, condemned the execution as a cruel and unnecessary act. The charges of conspiracy were utterly unproven, and were merely an excuse. The Central Executive Committee, however, accepted the decision of the Ural Regional Soviet as being regular, and a decree by the Bolshevist Government declared all the property of the former Emperor, his wife, his mother and all the members of the Imperial house, forfeit to the Soviet Republic.

Meantime the provisional government, which had taken power on the 16th of March, seemed as if it might succeed. Miliukov, whose announcement of the Regency had made him unpopular, declared for a Republic. The great army commanders for the most part accepted the revolution. The Grand Duke Nicholas was removed from his command and the other Grand Dukes were ordered not to leave Petrograd. Alexiev became commander-in-chief; Ruzsky had the northern group of armies, Brusilov the southern; Kornilov was in command of Petrograd, and the central group was put under the command of Lechitsky. Reports came that discipline was improving everywhere on the front.



CAPITAL OF THE NEW REPUBLIC OF RUSSIA

The plans of the government, too, met with general approval. Their policy was announced by Prince Lvov. "The new government considers it its duty to make known to the world that the object of free Russia is not to dominate other nations and forcibly to take away their territory. The object of independent Russia is a permanent peace and the right of all nations to determine their own destiny."

Kerensky, in inspiring speeches, encouraged the country to war, and declared against a separate peace. The new government announced that Poland was to receive complete independence, with a right to determine its own form of government, and its relation, if any, to Russia. In Finland the Governor, Sein, was removed. A Liberal was appointed Governor and the Finnish Diet was convened. A manifesto was issued on March 21st, completely restoring the Finnish constitution. To the Armenians Kerensky expressed himself as in favor of an autonomous government for them, under Russia's protection, and on March 25th, absolute equality of the Jews was proclaimed by the new government. A number of Jews were made officers in the army, and two Jewish advocates were appointed members of the Russian Senate and of the Supreme Court. On April 4th full religious liberty was proclaimed, and on the same date the Prime Minister promised a delegation of women that women would be given the right to vote.

These acts caused a general subsidence of unrest, and public good feeling was increased by the return of the political exiles and prisoners from Siberia. A full hundred thousand of such prisoners were released, and their progress across Siberia to Russia was one grand triumphal march.

The most celebrated of these political prisoners were two women, Catherine Breshkovskaya and Marie Spiridonova. Catherine Breshkovskaya was known as the grandmother of the revolution. Forty-four years of her life were spent in exile. When she reached Petrograd she was met at the railroad depot by a military band, and carried in procession through the streets. Equally popular was Marie Spiridonova, who, though still young, had suffered martyrdom. She had been tortured with cruelty that is unprintable. Her face had been disfigured for life. The agents who had inflicted the torture were assassinated by the revolutionists.

It was a great day for Russia, and the outlook seemed full of promise.



CHAPTER XXXI

THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM

The hopes entertained for the new Republic of Russia were doomed to disappointment. For a short time, under the leadership of Lvov, the Russians marched along the path of true democracy. But the pace became too rapid.

The government prospered in Petrograd, and the economic organization of the country proceeded with great speed. An eight-hour day was introduced in the capital and in many other cities throughout the republic. The fever of organization spread even to the peasants. They formed a Council of Peasants' Deputies, modeled after the Council of Workmen and Soldiers. On the 13th of April, 1917, came the first meeting of the All-Russia Congress of Soviets, and with it a revival of the differences of opinion which ultimately were to destroy the government. The great majority were for war, but the minority, led by Lenine and the Bolsheviki element, demanded an immediate peace. They declared that the enemies of the Revolution were not the Central Powers; but the capitalists in all countries, and not least the Provisional Government of Russia.

Some clew to the meaning of the Bolsheviki movement in Russia is to be found in the life of Lenine, its leading spirit. It has been charged that he was the tool of the German Government. He undoubtedly received facilities from the German Government to return to Russia from Switzerland immediately after the Revolution in March. His whole career, however, suggests that he was not a tool, but a fanatic.

He was born in Simbirsk, in Central Russia, in the year 1870. Lenine was only one of the several aliases that he had found it necessary to adopt at various times. He was of good family, and received his education at the Petrograd University. From the very beginning he took an active interest in the political and social problems of the day. In 1887 his brother, A. Uljanov, was arrested, and after a secret trial condemned to death and hanged as a participant in a plot to wreck the imperial train carrying Alexander III. Lenine was also arrested, but was released on account of a lack of evidence. At this time the Russian Socialistic movement was still in its infancy.



Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y THE WOMEN'S "BATTALION OF DEATH" IN NATIONAL DANCE A unique outgrowth of the Russian revolution was this organization of women which came into prominence at the beginning of the Russian front's break-up.



Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y DEMONSTRATION OF CITIZENS BEFORE THIS WINTER PALACE The formation of the Red Guard adopting the propaganda of the Bolshevists resulted, which drove Russia into a chaos of Revolution.



Copyright International Film Service. SPOILS OF THE VICTORY AT ST. MIHIEL The Germans left everything behind when they fled to avoid being trapped in the St. Mihiel salient by the swift American advance. This shows a soldier examining an abandoned German machine-gun, fully loaded and not a shot fired.



AN AERIAL BOMB British airmen examining a huge bomb which later scattered death among the Huns.

Lenine spent his Sundays in a circle of uneducated workmen, explaining to them the elements of socialistic economics. Along with this propaganda work he studied deeply the economic phases of Russian life, being especially interested in its working and peasant classes. He wrote several books on the subject, which are still accepted as valuable representatives of Russian economic literature. Because of his socialistic activities, Lenine was compelled to leave Russia on several occasions, when he lived in Switzerland, France and Austria. From these countries he directed the work of one of the groups of the Social Democratic party, and became an important leader.

In the General Russian Socialistic Convention, held in 1903, this group made a definite stand for its program and policies. This was the time when the word "Bolsheviki" was coined, meaning the "majority," who had voted in accord with Lenine's proposals. Lenine believed in the seizure of political power by means of violent revolution and in establishing a proletarian government. After the Revolution of 1905, the Lenine faction dwindled and it seemed as if Bolshevism was destined to die out. But in 1911, with the awakening of a new spirit in the political and social life of Russia, a new impetus was given to the activities of the Bolsheviki. The first Socialist daily paper, Pravda, ("the Truth,") was one of their efforts. In 1913 the Bolsheviki sent six representatives to the Duma.

At the outbreak of the war Lenine was in Cracow. Like other revolutionary leaders he was compelled to live in exile. He went to Switzerland where he remained until the news of the successful revolution caused his return to Russia. On his arrival in Petrograd he gathered together his followers and began the agitation in favor of the Bolshevist program and of peace.

The first sign of the conflict between the Provisional Government and the Soviet arose in connection with the joint note sent to the Allies by the Provisional Government on May 1st. This note was signed by Foreign Secretary Miliukov. It declared, among other things, that the Provisional Government would "maintain a strict regard for its engagements with the Allies of Russia."

The document aroused strong disapproval among many members of the Council of the Soviet, and serious anti-government demonstrations occurred in Petrograd on May 3d and 4th. These demonstrations were directed distinctly against Miliukov. Detachments of soldiers and workmen gathered in front of the headquarters of the Provisional Government, carrying banners, with inscriptions "Down with Miliukov! Down with the Provisional Government!" Miliukov appealed to the crowd for confidence, and his words were greeted with hearty cheering.

The Soviet Council ultimately voted confidence in the government by a narrow margin of 35 in a total of 2,500. But the agitation against the government persisted, and on May 16th Miliukov resigned. General Kornilov, Commander of the Petrograd Garrison, and Guchkov, Minister of War, finding their control of the army weakened by the interference of the Soviet Council, also resigned.

The situation became critical. As a result of this agitation a new coalition government was formed. Prince Lvov remained Prime Minister. Terestchenko became Foreign Minister. Most significant of all, Kerensky became the Minister of War. The new government issued a new declaration of policy, promising a firm support of the war with Germany, and an effort to call together at the earliest possible date a Constituent Assembly to deal with questions of land and of finance. This manifesto was received coldly by the Soviets and their press.

It was at this time that the Allies sent special missions to Russia to aid the Russian Government in forwarding the fight against the common enemy. The American mission to Russia was headed by Elihu Root, former Secretary of State. It was cordially received, and housed in the former Winter Palace of the Czar. On June 15th the American Ambassador, David R. Francis, presented the Root mission to the Council of Ministers in the Marinsky Palace, and Mr. Root made an eloquent address, declaring the sympathy of the American Republic with the new Russian Democracy. He declared that the liberty of both nations was in danger. "The armed forces of military autocracy are at the gates of Russia and the Allies. The triumph of Germans will mean the death of liberty in Russia. No enemy is at the gates of America, but America has come to realize that the triumph of German arms means the death of Liberty in the world."

At Moscow Mr. Root addressed representatives of the Zemstvo and the local Council of the Workmen and Soldiers. He was warmly applauded, and on motion of the Mayor a telegram was sent to President Wilson, thanking him for sending the Root Commission to Russia. The Root Mission returned to the United States early in August, and reported to Washington August 12th. At a public reception given by the citizens of New York, Senator Root expressed supreme confidence in the stability of the Revolution.

On July 1st, inspired by Kerensky, and under the personal leadership of General Kornilov, the Russian army began an offensive in Galicia. It first met with complete success, capturing Halicz, and sweeping forward close to Dolina in the Carpathian foothills. Then under a very slight hostile German pressure, the Russian armies, immediately to the north and south of Kornilov's army, broke and ran. This action was directly traced to orders subversive of discipline, emanating from the Petrograd Soviet. Kornilov's army was compelled to retire, and by July 21st was in full retreat from Galicia.

The Russian mutiny spread. Regiments refused to fight or to obey their officers.

One of the most picturesque episodes of this phase of the war was the formation of a woman's regiment, known as the "Command of Death," which was reviewed at Petrograd June 21st, by Minister of War, Kerensky. In front of the barracks assigned to this regiment a visitor found posted at the gate a little blue-eyed sentry in a soldier's khaki blouse, short breeches, green forage cap, ordinary woman's black stockings and neat shoes. The sentry was Mareya Skridlov, daughter of Admiral Skridlov, former commander of the Baltic fleet and Minister of Marines. In the courtyard three hundred girls were drilling, mostly between 18 and 25 years old, of good physique and many of them pretty. They wore their hair short or had their heads entirely shaved. They were drilling under the instruction of a male sergeant of the Volynsky regiment, and marched to an exaggerated goose step.

The girl commander, Lieutenant Buitchkarev, explained that most of the recruits were from the higher educational academies, with a few peasants, factory girls and servants. Some married women were accepted, but none who had children. The Battalion of Death distinguished itself on the field, setting an example of courage to the mutinous regiments during the retreat of Brusilov.

With the army thus demoralized the Russian Revolution encountered a perilous period toward the end of July, 1917, and civil war or anarchy seemed almost at hand, when out of the depths of the national spirit there arose a new revolution to save the situation and to maintain order. The country was everywhere the scene of riotous disturbances. Anarchists, radicals, and monarchists seemed to be working hand-in-hand to precipitate a reign of terror, when once more Kerensky saved the situation. On July 20th, it was announced that the Premier, Prince Lvov, had resigned, and that Alexander Kerensky had been appointed Premier, but would also retain his portfolio as Minister of War.

A new government was quickly formed. Kerensky was made practical Dictator, and his government received the complete endorsement of a joint Congress of the Soviets and the Council of peasant delegates. Kerensky acted with the utmost vigor. Orders were given to fire on deserters and warrants issued for the arrest of revolutionary agitators whoever they might be. Rear-Admiral Verdervski, commander of the Baltic fleet, was seized for communicating a secret government telegram to sailors' committees. Agitators from the Soviet were arrested, charged with inciting the Peterhof troops against the Federal Government. On July 22d, the following resolution was passed by the joint Congress.

Recognizing that the country is menaced by a military debacle on the front and by anarchy at home, it is resolved:

1. That the country and the revolution are in danger.

2. That the Provisional Government is proclaimed the Government of National Safety.

3. That unlimited powers are accorded the government for re-establishing the organization and discipline of the army for a fight to a finish against the enemies of public order, and for the realization of the whole program embodied in the governmental program just announced.

The reorganization of the Councils of the All-Russia, and Workmen's and Peasants' Organizations on the 23d, issued a ringing address to the army denouncing its mutinous spirit and warning it of the inevitable result. The Provisional Government also issued a proclamation on July 22d, charging that the disorders were precipitated to bring about a counter-revolution by the enemies of the country. But the army was demoralized. It disregarded discipline and refused to recognize military rule. A general retreat followed. The Germans and Austrians steadily advanced through Galicia and crossed the frontier before the Russian armies could be forced to make a stand.

The death penalty for treason or mutiny was restored in the army on July 25th, when Kerensky threatened to resign unless this was done. On that same date the government authorized the Minister of the Interior to suspend the publication of periodicals that incite to insubordination or disobedience to orders given by the military authorities. By July 28th the situation had become more hopeful. On that day General Ruzsky, formerly commander-in-chief of the northern armies of Russia, and General Gurko, ex-commander on the Russian southwestern front, were summoned to Petrograd. Each had retired on account of the interference of the Council of Workmen and Soldiers' delegates. Their return to the service was a hopeful sign. The Soviet also passed by an overwhelming majority a resolution censuring Lenine, and demanding that he should be publicly tried. Charges had been made that Lenine and his associates were working under German direction and financed by Germans. On August 2d, Kornilov became Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army. A disagreement in the Cabinet led to its reorganization. In the new Cabinet appeared again representatives of the Constitutional Democratic party. Conditions began to show improvement from this time forth.

An extraordinary National Council met at Moscow August 26th, 1917. This conference consisted of 2,500 delegates representing the Duma, the Soviets, the Zemstvos, and indeed all organized Russia. Kerensky opened the conference in a speech of great length in which he reviewed the general situation, declaring that the destructive period of the Revolution had past and that the time had come to consolidate its conquests.

Perhaps the most important address before the Council was that made by General Kornilov, Commander-in-Chief of the army. General Kornilov was received with prolonged cheers, which in the light of his subsequent action were especially significant. General Kornilov described with much detail the disorganization and insubordination in the army, and continued:

"We are implacably fighting anarchy in the army. Undoubtedly it will finally be repressed, but the danger of fresh debacles is weighing constantly on the country. The situation on the front is bad. We have lost the whole of Galicia, the whole of Bukowina, and all the fruits of our recent victories. If Russia wishes to be saved the army must be regenerated at any cost." General Kornilov then outlined the most important of the reform measures which he recommended, and concluded: "I believe that the genius and the reason of the Russian people will save the country. I believe in a brilliant future for our army. I believe its ancient glory will be restored."

General Kaledines, leader of the Don Cossacks, mounted the tribune and read a resolution passed by the Cossacks demanding the continuation of the war until complete victory was attained. He defied the extreme Radicals. "Who saved you from the Bolsheviki on the 14th of July?" he asked contemptuously. "We Cossacks have been free men. We are not made drunk by our new-found liberties and are unblinded by party or program. We tell you plainly and categorically, 'Remove yourselves from the place which you have neither the ability or the courage to fill, and let better men than yourselves step in, or take the consequences of your folly.'"

The conference took no definite action, being invested with no authority, but it served to bring out clearly the line of cleavage between the Radical or Socialistic element represented by Kerensky and the Conservatives represented by the generals of the army.

Immediately on the heels of the Moscow conference an important German advance was made in the direction of Riga, the most important Russian Baltic port. In spite of a vigorous defense the Germans captured the city.

The loss of Riga intensified the political excitement in Russia, and produced a profound crisis. A wave of unrest spread throughout the country. The Grand Duke Michael, and the Grand Duke Paul with their families, were arrested on a charge of conspiracy. The Provisional Government was charged with responsibility of the collapse of the army.

It was on September 9th, that the storm broke, and General Kornilov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, raised the flag of revolt against the Provisional Government. The details of the revolt are as follows:

At one o'clock Saturday afternoon, Deputy Lvov, of the Duma, called upon Premier Kerensky, and declared that he had come as the representative of General Kornilov to demand the surrender of all power into Kornilov's hands. M. Lvov said that this demand did not emanate from Kornilov only but was supported by an organization of Duma members, Moscow industrial interests, and other conservatives. This group, said M. Lvov, did not object to Kerensky personally, but demanded that he transfer the Portfolio of War to M. Savinkov, assistant Minister of War, who all along had supported Kornilov.

"If you agree," M. Lvov added, "we invite you to come to headquarters and meet General Kornilov, giving you a solemn guarantee that you will not be arrested."

Premier Kerensky replied that he could not believe Kornilov to be guilty of such an act of treason, and that he would communicate with him directly. In an exchange of telegrams Kornilov confirmed fully to the Premier his demands. Kerensky promptly placed Lvov under arrest, denounced Kornilov as a traitor and deposed him from his position as Commander-in-Chief, General Klembovsky being appointed in his place. General Kornilov responded to the order of dismissal by moving an army against the Capital.

Martial law was declared in Moscow and in Petrograd. Kerensky assumed the functions of Commander-in-Chief and took military measures to defend Petrograd and resist the rebels. On the 12th it was clear that the Kornilov revolt had failed to receive the expected support. Kornilov advanced toward Petrograd, and occupied Jotchina, thirty miles southwest of the Capital, but there was no bloodshed. On the night of the 13th, General Alexief demanded Kornilov's unconditional surrender, and the revolt collapsed. Kornilov was arrested and the Provisional Government reconstituted on stronger lines.

After the so-called Kornilov revolt, the Russian Revolution assumed a form which might almost be called stable. A democratic congress met at Moscow, September 27th, and adopted a resolution providing for a preliminary parliament to consist of 231 members, of whom 110 were to represent the Zemstvos and the towns. The congress refused its sanction to a coalition cabinet in which the Constitutional Democrats should participate, but Kerensky practically defied the congress, and named a coalition cabinet, in which several portfolios were held by members of the Constitutional Democratic Party. The new government issued a statement declaring that it had three principal aims: to raise the fighting power of the army and navy; to bring order to the country by fighting anarchy; to call the Constituent Assembly as soon as possible. The Constituent Assembly was called to assemble in December. It was to consist of 732 delegates to be elected by popular vote.

Meantime agitation against the Coalition Government continued. On November 1st, the Premier issued a statement through the Associated Press, to all the newspapers of the Entente, which conveyed the information that he almost despaired of restoring civil law in the distracted country. He said that he felt that help was needed urgently and that Russia asked it as her right. "Russia has fought consistently since the beginning," he said. "She saved France and England from disaster early in the war. She is worn out by the strain and claims as her right that the Allies now shoulder the burden."

On November 7th, an armed insurrection against the Coalition Government and Premier Kerensky was precipitated by the Bolsheviki faction. The revolt was headed by Leon Trotzky, President of the Central Executive Committee of the Petrograd Council, with Nicholas Lenine, the Bolsheviki leader. The Revolutionists seized the offices of the telephone and telegraph companies and occupied the state bank and the Marie Palace where the preliminary Parliament had been sitting. The garrison at Petrograd espoused the cause of the Bolsheviki and complete control was seized with comparatively little fighting. The government troops were quickly overpowered, except at the Winter Palace, whose chief guardians were the Woman's Battalion, and the Military Cadets. The Woman's Battalion fought bravely, and suffered terribly, and with the Military Cadets who also remained true, held the Palace for several hours. The Bolsheviki brought up armored cars and the cruiser Aurora, and turned the guns of the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul upon the Palace before its defenders would surrender.

That evening the Revolutionary Committee issued a characteristic proclamation, denouncing the government of Kerensky as opposed to the government and the people, and calling upon the soldiers in the army to arrest their officers if they did not at once join the Revolution. They announced the following program:

First: The offer of an immediate democratic peace.

Second: The immediate handing over of large proportional lands to the peasants.

Third: The transmission of all authority to the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates.

Fourth: The honest convocation of the Constituent Assembly.

At a meeting of the Council, Trotzky declared that the government no longer existed, and introduced Lenine as an old comrade whom he welcomed back. Lenine was received with prolonged cheers, and said: "Now we have a Revolution. The peasants and workmen control the government. This is only a preliminary step toward a similar revolution everywhere."

Proclamation after proclamation came from the new government. In one of them it was stated "M. Kerensky has taken flight, and all military bodies have been empowered to take all possible measures to arrest Kerensky and bring him back to Petrograd. All complicity with Kerensky will be dealt with as high treason."

A Bolsheviki Cabinet was named. The Premier was Nicholas Lenine; the Foreign Minister, Leon Trotzky. The other Cabinet members were all Bolsheviki, including Bibenko, a Kronstadt sailor, of the Committee on War and Marine, and Shliapnikov, a laborer, who was Minister of Labor. Lenine's personality has already been described. Trotzky, the chief aid of Lenine's rebellion, had been living in New York City three months before the Czar was overthrown, but he had previously been expelled from Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. His real name was Leber Braunstein, and he was born in the Russian Government of Kherson, near the Black Sea.

When the insurrection occurred, Kerensky succeeded in escaping from Petrograd, and persuaded about two thousand Cossacks, several hundred Military Cadets, and a contingent of Artillery, to fight under his banner. He advanced toward Petrograd, but his forces were greatly outnumbered by the Bolsheviki. At Tsarskoe-Selo a battle took place, the Kerensky troops met defeat, and its leader saved himself by flight.

At Moscow the entire city passed into the control of the Bolsheviki but not without severe fighting in which more than three thousand people were slain. On the collapse of the Kerensky government conditions throughout Russia became chaotic. Ukraine declared its independence, and Finland also severed its connection with Russia. General Kaledines declared against the Bolsheviki, and organized an army to save the country. Siberia, Bessarabia, Lithuania, the Caucasus and other districts declared their complete independence of the Central Government.

The Bolsheviki, in control at Petrograd, opened negotiations with the Central Powers for an armistice along the entire front from the Baltic to Asia Minor, and on December 17th, such an armistice went into effect. Meanwhile they began negotiations for a treaty of peace. General Dukholin, the Commander-in-Chief, on November 20th, was ordered by Lenine to propose the armistice. To this request he made no reply, and on November 21st, he was deposed and Ensign Krylenko was appointed the new Commander-in-Chief. General Dukholin was subsequently murdered, by being thrown from a train after the Bolsheviki seized the general headquarters.

Trotzky sent a note to the representatives of neutral powers in Petrograd, informing them of his proposal for an armistice, and stating "The consummation of an immediate peace is demanded in all countries, both belligerent and neutral. The Russian Government counts on the firm support of workmen in all countries in this struggle for peace." Lenine, however, declared that Russia did not contemplate a separate peace with Germany, and that the Russian Government, before agreeing to an armistice, would communicate with the Allies and make a certain proposal to the imperialistic governments of France and England, rejection of which would place them in open opposition to the wishes of their own people.

A period of turmoil followed. In the meantime elections for the Constituent Assembly were held. The result in Petrograd was announced as 272,000 votes for the Bolsheviki, 211,000 for the Constitutional Democrats, and 116,000 for the Social Revolutionaries, showing that the Bolsheviki failed to attain a majority. Notwithstanding the prevailing chaos, the Lenine-Trotzky Government persisted in negotiations for an armistice, and it was arranged that the first conference be held at the German headquarters at Brest-Litovsk.

The Russian delegates were Kamenev, whose real name was Rosenfelt, a well known Bolshevist leader; Sokolnikov, a sailor; Bithenko, a soldier, and Mstislasky, who had formerly been librarian to the General Staff, but who was now a strong Socialist. Representatives were present of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria.

After many interchanges of opinion a suspension of hostilities for ten days was authorized, to be utilized in bringing to a conclusion negotiations for an armistice. On December 7th it was announced from Petrograd that for the first time since the war not a shot was fired on the Russian front. Foreign Secretary Trotzky, on the 6th of December, notified the allied embassies in Petrograd of these negotiations and added that the armistice would be signed only on condition that the troops should not be transferred from one front to another. He announced that negotiations had been suspended to afford the Allied Governments opportunity to define their attitude toward the peace negotiation; that is, their willingness or refusal to participate in negotiations for an armistice and peace. In case of refusal they must declare clearly and definitely before all mankind the aims for which the peoples of Europe had been called to shed their blood during the fourth year of the war.

No official replies were made to this note. On December 7th, Generals Kaledines and Kornilov raised the standard of revolt, but reports indicated that the Bolsheviki were extending their control over all Russia. A meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place on December 11th. Less than 50 of the 600 delegates attended. Meanwhile the negotiations for an armistice continued. On December 16th an agreement was reached and an armistice signed, to continue from December 17th to January 14th, 1918.



RUSSIA'S GREAT RAILWAY LINK BETWEEN VLADIVOSTOK AND THE ARCTIC OCEAN The Czecho-Slovaks took possession of long stretches of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Japan lent her aid in the east, and American and Allied troops swept down from the Murman coast in the northwest.

Within the first month in which the Bolsheviki conducted the government numerous edicts of a revolutionary character were issued. Class titles, distinctions and privileges were abolished; the corporate property of nobles, merchants and burgesses was to be handed over to the state, as was all church property, lands, money and precious stones; and religious instruction was to cease in the schools. Strikes were in progress everywhere, and disorder was rampant.

Kornilov, Terestchenko and other associates of Kerensky, were imprisoned in the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul; the Cadet Party was outlawed by decree and the houses of its leaders raided. On January 8, 1918, it was announced that the Bolsheviki had determined that all loans and Treasury bonds held by foreign subjects, abroad or in Russia, were repudiated.

During this period the Bolsheviki's Foreign Secretary astonished the world by making public the secret treaties between Russia and foreign governments in the early years of the war. These treaties dealt with the proposed annexation by Russia of the Dardanelles, Constantinople and certain areas in Asia Minor; with the French claim on Alsace-Lorraine and the left bank of the Rhine; with offers to Greece, for the purpose of inducing her to assist Serbia; with plans to alter her Western boundaries, with the British and Russian control of Persia; and with Italy's desire to annex certain Austrian territories. These treaties had been seized upon the Bolsheviki assumption of power, and were now repudiated by the new government.

During the period of the armistice Lenine began his move for a separate peace, in spite of the formal protests of the Allied representatives at Petrograd.

The first sitting took place on Saturday, December 22, 1917. Among the delegates were Dr. Richard von Kuhlmann, Foreign Minister, and General Hoffman, of Germany; Count Czernin, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary; Minister Kopov, of Bulgaria; Nesimy Bey, former Foreign Minister of Turkey, and a large delegation from Russia, composed of Bolshevist leaders. Dr. von Kuhlmann was chosen as the presiding officer and made the opening speech. The Russian peace demands and the German counter-proposals were then read, and considered.

The German proposals proved unacceptable to Russia, and a second session of the peace conference was held at Brest-Litovsk on January 10, 1918. Trotzky himself attended this meeting as one of the representatives from Russia, and there was also a representative from Ukraine, which had declared its independence, and was allowed to join the conference. General Hoffman protested strongly against the Russian endeavor to make appeals of a revolutionary character to the German troops.



RUSSIA AS PARTITIONED BY THE BREST-LITOVSK TREATY

The armistice having expired, it was agreed it should be continued to February 12th. After a long and acrimonious debate the Conference broke up in a clash over the evacuation of the Russian provinces. On January 24th it was announced that the Russian delegates to the peace conference had unanimously decided to reject the German terms. They stated that when they asked Germany's final terms General Hoffman of the German delegation had replied by opening a map and pointing out a line from the shores of the Gulf of Finland to the east of the Moon Sound Islands, to Valk, to the west of Minsk, to Brest-Litovsk, thus eliminating Courland and all the Baltic provinces.

Asked the terms of the Central Powers in regard to the territory south of Brest-Litovsk General Hoffman replied that was a question which they would discuss only with Ukraine. M. Kaminev asked: "Supposing we do not agree to such condition, what are you going to do?"

General Hoffman's answer was, "Within a week we would occupy Reval."

On January 27th, Trotzky made his report to the Soviets at Petrograd. After a thorough explanation of the peace debates, he declared that the Government of the Soviets could not sign such a peace. It was then decided to demobilize the Russian army and withdraw from the war.



GENERAL MAP OF THE BALTIC SEA With the collapse of Russia German forces advanced from Riga, along the Gulf of Finland occupying Reval and threatening Petrograd.

Final sessions of the peace congress were resumed at Brest-Litovsk January 29th; a peace treaty was made between the Central Powers and the Ukraine, and the Bolsheviki yielded to the German demands without signing a treaty. Meanwhile the Russian Constituent Assembly which met at Petrograd on January 19th, was dissolved on January 20th, by the Bolsheviki Council.

Disorders continued throughout all Russia and counter-revolutionary movements were started at many places. On February 18th, the day when the armistice agreement between Russia and the Central Powers expired, German forces began a new invasion of Russia. The next day the Bolshevist Government issued a statement, announcing that Russia would be compelled to sign a peace. The German advance went on rapidly, and many important Russian cities were occupied. On February 24th, the Bolshevist Government announced that peace terms had been accepted, and a treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk on March 3d.

On March 14th the All-Russia Council of Soviets voted to ratify the treaty, after an all-night sitting. Lenine pronounced himself in favor of accepting the German terms; Trotzky stood for war, but did not attend the meetings of the Council. Lenine defended the step by pointing out that the country was completely unable to offer resistance, and that peace was indispensable for the completion of the social war in Russia.

The new treaty dispossessed Russia of territories amounting to nearly one-quarter of the area of European Russia, and inhabited by one-third of Russia's total population. Trotzky resigned on account of his opposition to the treaty and was succeeded by M. Tchitcherin. He became Chairman of the Petrograd Labor Commune. The treaty between Russia and the Central Powers was formally denounced by the Premiers and Foreign Ministers of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and was not recognized by the Allied nations.

A final revocation of its provisions by both sides did not put an end to the military operations of the Central Powers in Russia, nor did the Russians cease to make feeble and sporadic attempts at resistance. Germany was forced to keep large bodies of troops along the Russian front, but formally Russia's part in the war had come to an end.



THREE MESSENGERS OF DESTRUCTION FOR TRIESTE This remarkable photograph was taken from one French aeroplane just as another had released three aerial torpedoes in a combined bombing and observation raid on Trieste, the great Austrian naval base. The photograph itself, showing details of enemy activity on the waterfront, was of considerable value to the intelligence division of the Italian army.



Copyright G. V. Buck, Washington. D. C. THE CARGO SUBMARINE "DEUTSCHLAND" Shortly before the United States entered the war, Germany sent over a merchant submarine with a cargo of dye stuffs and drugs, an implied threat which was later realized in the U-boat attacks on the American coast.



CHAPTER XXXII

GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON TO THE UNITED STATES.

During the first two years of the war many Americans, especially those in the West, observed the great events which were happening with great interest, no doubt, but with a feeling of detachment. The war was a long way off. The Atlantic Ocean separated Europe from America, and it seemed almost absurd to think that the Great War could ever affect us.

In the year 1916, however, two events happened which seemed to bring the war to our door. The first was the arrival at Baltimore, on July 9th, of the Deutschland, a German submarine of great size, built entirely for commercial purposes, and the second was the appearance, on the 7th of October, of a German war submarine in the harbor at Newport, Rhode Island, and its exploit on the following day when it sunk a number of British and neutral vessels just outside the three-mile line on the Atlantic coast.

The performances of these two vessels were equally suggestive, but the popular feeling with regard to what they had done was very divergent. The voyage of the Deutschland roused the widest admiration but the action of the U-53 stirred up the deepest indignation. Yet the voyages of each showed with equal clearness that, however much America might consider herself separated from the Great War, the new scientific invention, the submarine, had annihilated space, and America, too, was now but a neighbor of the nations at war.

The voyage of the Deutschland was a romance in itself. It was commanded by Captain Paul Koenig, a German officer of the old school. He had been captain of the Schleswig of the North German Lloyd, and of other big liners. When the power of the British fleet drove German commerce from the seas, he had found himself without a job, and, as he phrased it, "was drifting about the country like a derelict." One day, in September, 1915, he was asked to meet Herr Alfred Lohmann, an agent of the North German Lloyd Line, and surprised by an offer to navigate a submarine cargo ship from Germany to America. Captain Koenig, who seems to have been in every way an admirable personage, at once consented. He has told us the story of his trip in his interesting book called "The Voyage of the Deutschland."

The Deutschland itself was three hundred feet long, thirty feet wide, and carried one thousand tons of cargo and a crew of twenty-nine men. It cost a half a million dollars, but paid for itself in the first trip. According to Captain Koenig the voyage on the whole seems to have been most enjoyable. He understood his boat well and had watched its construction. Before setting out on his voyage he carefully trained his crew, and experimented with the Deutschland until he was thoroughly familiar with all its peculiarities. The cargo was composed of dye stuffs, and the ship was well supplied with provisions and comforts. In his description of the trip he lays most emphasis upon the discomfort resulting from heavy weather and from storms. He was able to avoid all danger from hostile ships by the very simple process of diving. No English ship approached him closely as he was always able to see them from a distance, usually observing their course by means of their smoke.

One of his liveliest adventures, however, occurred when attempting to submerge suddenly during a heavy sea on the appearance of a destroyer. The destroyer apparently never observed the Deutschland, but in the endeavor to dive quickly the submarine practically stood on its head, and dived down into the mud, where it found itself held fast. Captain Koenig however was equal to the emergency, and by balancing and trimming the tanks he finally restored the center of gravity and released his boat.

A considerable portion of his trip was passed upon the surface as he only submerged when there was suspicion of danger. According to his story his men kept always in the highest spirits. They had plenty of music, and doubtless appreciated the extraordinary nature of their voyage.

An amusing incident during the trip was the attempt to camouflage his ship by a frame work, made of canvas and so constructed as to give the outline of a steamer. One day a hostile steamer appeared in the distance and Captain Koenig proceeded to test his disguise.

After great difficulties, especially in connection with the production of smoke, he finally had the whole construction fairly at work. The steamer, which had been peacefully going its way, on seeing the new ship suddenly changed her course and steered directly toward the Deutschland. It evidently took the Deutschland for some kind of a wreck and was hurrying to give it assistance. Captain Koenig at once pulled off his super-structure and revealed himself as a submarine, and the strange vessel veered about and hurried off as fast as it could.

On the arrival of the Deutschland in America Captain Koenig and his crew found their difficulties over. All arrangements had been made by representatives of the North German Lloyd for their safety and comfort. As they ran up Chesapeake Bay they were greeted by the whistles of the neutral steamers that they passed. The moving-picture companies immortalized the crew and they were treated with the utmost hospitality.

The Allied governments protested that the Deutschland was really a war vessel and on the 12th of July a commission of three American naval officers was sent down from Washington to make an investigation. The investigation showed the Deutschland was absolutely unarmed and the American Government decided not to interfere.

The position of the Allies was that a submarine, even though without guns or torpedoes, was practically a vessel of war from its very nature, and for it to pretend to be a merchant vessel was as if some great German man-of-war should dismount its guns and pass them over to some tender and then undertake to visit an American port. They argued that if the submarine would come out from harbor it might be easily fitted with detachable torpedo tubes, and become as dangerous as any U-boat. Even without arms it might easily sink an unarmed merchant vessel by ramming. But the United States was not convinced, and American citizens rather admired the genial captain.

His return was almost as uneventful as his voyage out. At the very beginning he had trouble in not being able to rise after an experimental dive. This misadventure was caused by a plug of mud which had stopped up the opening of the manometer. But the difficulty was overcome, and he was able to pass under water between the British ships which were on the lookout. His return home was a triumph. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the banks of the Weser, filled with the greatest enthusiasm. Poems were written in his honor and his appearance was everywhere greeted with enthusiastic applause. The Germans felt sure that through the Deutschland and similar boats they had broken the British blockade.

Captain Koenig made a second voyage, landing at New London, Connecticut, on November 1st, where he took on a cargo of rubber, nickel and other valuable commodities. On November 16th, in attempting to get away to sea, he met with a collision with the tug T. A. Scott, Jr., and had to return to New London for repairs. He concluded his voyage, however, without difficulty. In spite of his success the Germans did not make any very great attempt to develop a fleet of submarine cargo boats.

The other German act which brought home to Americans the possibilities of the submarine, the visit of the U-53, was a very different sort of matter. U-53 was a German submarine of the largest type. On October 7, 1916, it made a sudden appearance at Newport, and its captain, Lieutenant-Captain Hans Rose, was entertained as if he were a welcome guest. He sent a letter to the German Ambassador at Washington and received visitors in his beautiful boat. The U-53 was a war submarine, two hundred and thirteen feet long, with two deck guns and four torpedo tubes. It had been engaged in the war against Allied commerce in the Mediterranean. Captain Rose paid formal visits to Rear-Admiral Austin Knight, Commander of the United States Second Naval District, stationed at Newport, and Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander of the American destroyer flotilla at that place, and then set out secretly to his destination.

On the next day the news came in that the U-53 had sunk five merchant vessels. These were the Strathdene, which was torpedoed; the West Point, a British freighter, also torpedoed; the Stephano, a passenger liner between New York and Halifax, which the submarine attempted to sink by opening its sea valves but was finally torpedoed; the Blommersdijk, a Dutch freighter, and the Christian Knudsen, a Norwegian boat. The American steamer Kansan was also stopped, but allowed to proceed. When the submarine began its work wireless signals soon told what was happening, and Admiral Knight, with the Newport destroyer flotilla, hurried to the rescue. These destroyers picked up two hundred and sixteen men and acted with such promptness that not a single life was lost.

The action of the U-53 produced intense excitement in America. The newspapers were filled with editorial denunciation, and the people were roused to indignation. The American Government apparently took the ground that the Germans were acting according to law and according to their promise to America. They had given warning in each case and allowed the crews of the vessels which they sunk to take to their boats. This was believed to be a fulfilment of their pledge "not to sink merchant vessels without warning and without saving human lives, unless the ship attempts to escape or offers resistance."

The general feeling, however, of American public opinion was that it was a brutal act. In the case of the Stephano there were ninety-four passengers. These, together with the crew, were placed adrift in boats at eight o'clock in the evening, in a rough sea sixty miles away from the nearest land. If the American destroyer fleet had not rushed to the rescue it is extremely likely that a great many of these boats would never have reached land. The German Government did not save these human lives. It was the American navy which did that. But, technicalities aside, the pride of the American people was wounded. They could not tolerate a situation in which American men-of-war should stand idly by and watch a submarine in a leisurely manner sink ships engaged in American trade whose passengers and crews contained many American citizens.

It was another one of those foolish things that Germans were constantly doing, which gave them no appreciable military advantage, but stirred up against them the sentiment of the world. The Germans perhaps were anxious to show the power of the submarines, and to give America an object lesson in that power. They wished to make plain that they could destroy overseas trade, and that if the United States should endeavor to send troops across the water they would be able to sink those troops.

The Germans probably never seriously contemplated a blockade of the American coast. The U-53 returned to its base and the danger was ended. American commerce went peacefully on, and the net result of the German audacity was in the increase of bitterness in the popular feeling toward the German methods.



CHAPTER XXXIII

AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR

When Germany threw down the gauge of battle to the civilized world, the German High Command calculated that the long, rigorous and thorough military training to which every male German had submitted, would make a military force invincible in the field. The High Command believed that a nation so trained would carve out victory after victory and would end the World War before any nation could train its men sufficiently to check the Teutonic rush.

To that theory was opposed the democratic conception that the free nations of earth could train their young men intensively for six months and send these vigorous free men into the field to win the final decision over the hosts of autocracy.

These antagonistic theories were tried out to a finish in the World War and the theory of democracy, developed in the training camps of America, Canada, Australia, Britain, France and Italy, triumphed. Especially in the training camps of America was the German theory disproved. There within six months the best fighting troops on earth were developed and trained in the most modern of war-time practices. Everything that Germany could devise found its answer in American ingenuity, American endurance and American skill.

The entrance of America into the tremendous conflict on April 6, 1917 was followed immediately by the mobilization of the entire nation. Business and industry of every character were represented in the Council of National Defense which acted as a great central functioning organization for all industries and agencies connected with the prosecution of the war. Executives of rare talent commanding high salaries tendered their services freely to the government. These were the "dollar a year men" whose productive genius was to bear fruit in the clothing, arming, provisioning, munitioning and transportation of four million men and the conquest of Germany by a veritable avalanche of war material.

Out of the ranks of business and science came Hurley, Schwab, Piez, Coonley to drive forward a record-breaking shipbuilding program, Stettinius to speed up the manufacture of munitions, John W. Ryan to coordinate and accelerate the manufacture of airplanes, Vance C. McCormick and Dr. Alonzo E. Taylor to solve the problems of the War Trade Board, Hoover to multiply food production, to conserve food supplies and to place the army and citizenry of America upon food rations while maintaining the morale of the Allies through scientific food distribution and a host of other patriotic civilians who put the resources of the nation behind the military and naval forces opposed to Germany. Every available loom was put at work to make cloth for the army and the navy, the leather market was drained of its supplies to shoe our forces with wear adapted to the drastic requirements of modern warfare.

German capital invested in American plants was placed under the jurisdiction of A. Mitchell Palmer as Alien Property Custodian. German ships were seized and transformed into American transports. Physicians over military age set a glorious example of patriotic devotion by their enlistment in thousands. Lawyers and citizens generally in the same category as to age entered the office of the Judge Advocate General or the ranks of the Four Minute Men or the American Protective League which rendered great service to the country in exposing German propaganda and in placing would-be slackers in military service. Bankers led the mighty Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamp drives and unselfishly placed the resources of their institutions at the service of the government.

Women and children rallied to the flag with an intensity of purpose, sacrifice and effort that demonstrated how completely was the heart of America in the war. Work in shops, fields, hospitals, Red Cross work rooms and elsewhere was cheerfully and enthusiastically performed and the sacrifices of food rationing, higher prices, lightless nights, gasolineless Sundays, diminished steam railway and trolley service were accepted with a multitude of minor inconvenience without a murmur. Congress had a free hand in making appropriations. The country approved without a minute's hesitation bills for taxation that in other days would have brought ruin to the political party proposing them. Billions were voted to departments where hundreds of thousands had been the rule.



THE UNITED STATES AN ARMED CAMP The map shows the location of the camps where the National Army and the National Guard were trained for war. Afterwards the entire forces were known as the United States Army

The true temper of the American people was carefully hidden from the German people by the German newspapers acting under instructions from the Imperial Government. Instead of the truth, false reports were printed in the newspapers of Berlin and elsewhere that the passage of the American conscription law had been followed by rioting and rebellion in many places and that fully fifty per cent of the American people was opposed to the declaration of war. The fact that the selective service act passed in May, 1917, was accepted by everybody in this country as a wholly equitable and satisfactory law did not permeate into Germany until the first American Expeditionary Force had actually landed in France.

America's fighting power was demonstrated conclusively to the Germanic intellect at Seicheprey, Bouresches Wood, Belleau Wood, Chateau-Thierry, and in the Forest of the Argonne. Especially was it demonstrated when it came to fighting in small units, or in individual fighting. The highly disciplined and highly trained German soldiers were absolutely unfitted to cope with Americans, Canadians and Australians when it came to matching individual against individual, or small group against small group.

This was shown in the wild reaches of the Forest of the Argonne. There the machine-gun nests of the Germans were isolated and demolished speedily. Small parties of Germans were stalked and run down by the relentless Americans. On the other hand, the Germans could make no headway against the American troops operating in the Forest. The famous "Lost Battalion" of the 308th United States Infantry penetrated so far in advance of its supports that it was cut off for four days without food, water or supplies of munitions in the Argonne. The enemy had cut its line of communication and was enforced both in front and in the rear. Yet the lost battalion, comprising two companies armed with rifles and the French automatic rifle known as the Chauchat gun, called by the doughboys "Sho Sho," held out against the best the overpowering forces of the Germans could send against them, and were ultimately rescued from their dangerous position.

The training of the Americans was also in modern efficiency that made America prominent in the world of industry. The reduction of the German salient at St. Mihiel was an object lesson to the Germans in American methods. General Pershing commanding that operation in person, assembled the newspaper correspondents the day before the drive. Maps were shown, giving the extent and locale of the attack. The correspondents were invited to follow the American troops and a time schedule for the advance was given to the various corps commanders.

In that operation, 152 square miles of territory and 72 villages were captured outright. For the reduction of the German defenses and for the creeping barrage preceding the American advance, more than 1,500,000 shells were fired by the artillery. Approximately 100,000 detail maps and 40,000 photographs prepared largely from aerial observations, were issued for the guidance of the artillery and the infantry. These maps and photographs detailed all the natural and artificial defenses of the entire salient. More than 5,000 miles of telephone wire was laid by American engineers immediately preceding the attack, and as the Americans advanced on the morning of the battle, September 12, 1918, 6,000 telephone instruments were connected with this wire. Ten thousand men were engaged in operating the hastily constructed telephone system; 3,000 carrier pigeons supplemented this work.

During the battle American airplanes swept the skies clear of enemy air-craft and signaled instructions to the artillery, besides attacking the moving infantry, artillery and supply trains of the enemy. So sure were the Americans of their success that moving-picture operators took more than 10,000 feet of moving picture film showing the rout of the Germans. Four thousand eight hundred trucks carried food, men and munitions into the lines. Miles of American railroads, both of standard and narrow gauge, carrying American-made equipment, assisted in the transportation of men and supplies. Hospital facilities including 35 hospital trains, 16,000 beds in the advanced sector, and 55,000 other beds back of the fighting line, were prepared. Less than ten per cent of this hospital equipment was used.

As the direct consequence of this preparation, which far outstripped anything that any other nation had attempted in a similar offensive, the Americans with a remarkably small casualty list took 15,188 prisoners, 111 guns, many of them of large caliber, immense quantities of munitions and other supplies, and inflicted heavy death losses upon the fleeing Germans.

Two selective service laws operated as manhood conscription. The first of these took men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one years inclusive. June 5, 1917, was fixed as registration day. The total number enrolled was 9,586,508. The first selective army drawn from this number was 625,000 men.

The second selective service legislation embraced all citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 inclusive, not included in the first draft. Over 13,000,000 men enrolled on September 12, 1918.

The grand total of registrants in both drafts was 23,456,021. Youths who had not completed their 19th year were set apart in a group to be called last and men between thirty-six and forty-five were also put in a deferred class. The government's plan was to have approximately 5,000,000 men under arms before the summer of 1919. The German armistice on November 11th found 4,000,000 men actually under arms and an assignment of 250,000 made to the training camps.

A most important factor in the training plans of the United States was that incorporated in the organization of the Students' Army Training Corps, by which 359 American colleges and universities were taken over by the government and 150,000 young men entered these institutions for the purpose of becoming trained soldiers. The following are the conditions under which the S. A. T. C. was organized:

The War Department undertook to furnish officers, uniforms, rifles, and equipment, and to assign the students to military duty, after a few months, either at an officers' training camp or in some technical school, or in a regular army cantonment with troops as a private, according to the degree of aptitude shown on the college campus.

At the same time a circular letter to the presidents of colleges arranged for a contract under which the government became responsible for the expense of the housing, subsistence, and instruction of the students. The preliminary arrangement contained this provision, among others:

The per diem rate of $1 for subsistence and housing is to govern temporarily, pending examination of the conditions in the individual institution and a careful working out of the costs involved. The amount so fixed is calculated from the experience of this committee during the last five months in contracting with over 100 collegiate institutions for the housing and subsistence of over 100,000 soldiers in the National Army Training Detachment. This experience indicates that the average cost of housing is 15 to 20 cents per day; subsistence (army ration or equivalent), 70 to 80 cents per day. The tuition charge is based on the regular per diem tuition charge of the institution in the year 1917-18.

A permanent contract was arranged later under these governing principles:

The basis of payment will be reimbursement for actual and necessary costs to the institutions for the services rendered to the government in the maintenance and instruction of the soldiers with the stated limitation as to cost of instruction. Contract price will be arrived at by agreement after careful study of the conditions in each case, in conference with authorities of the institution.

The War Department will have authority to specify and control the courses of instruction to be given by the institution.

The entity and power for usefulness of the institutions will be safeguarded so that when the contract ends the institutions shall be in condition to resume their functions of general education.

The teaching force will be preserved so far as practicable, and this matter so treated that its members shall feel that in changing to the special intensive work desired by the government they are rendering a vital and greatly needed service.

The government will ask from the institutions a specific service; that is, the housing, subsistence, and instruction along specified lines of a certain number of student soldiers. There will be no interference with the freedom of the institution in conducting other courses in the usual way.

The contract will be for a fixed term, probably nine months, subject to renewal for a further period on reasonable notice, on terms to be agreed upon and subject to cancellation on similar terms.

The story of the life of the American army behind the lines in France would fill a volume. The hospitality of the French people had something pathetic in it. They were expecting miracles of their new Allies. They were war sick. Nearly all of them had lost some father, or brother, or husband, and here came these big, hearty, joyous soldiers, full of ardor and confident of victory. It put a new spirit into all France. Their reception when they first landed was a scene of such fervor and enthusiasm as had never been known before and probably will not be known again. Soon the American soldier, in his khaki, with his wide-brimmed soft hat, became a common sight.

The villagers put up bunting, calico signs, flags and had stocks of American canned goods to show in their shop windows. The children, when bold, played with the American soldiers, and the children that were more shy ventured to go up and touch an American soldier's leg. Very old peasant ladies put on their Sunday black, and went out walking, and in some mysterious way talking with American soldiers. The village mayors turned out and made speeches, utterly incomprehensible to the American soldiers.

The engineering, building and machinery works the Americans put up were astonishing. Gangs of workers went over in thousands; many of these were college men. They dug and toiled as efficiently as any laborer. One American major told with glee how a party of these young workers arrived straight from America at 3.30 P. M. and started digging at 5 A. M. next morning, "and they liked it, it tickled them to death." Many of these draftees, in fact, were sick and tired of inaction in ports before their departure from America, and they welcomed work in France as if it were some great game.

Perhaps the biggest work of all the Americans performed was a certain aviation camp and school. In a few months it was completed, and it was the biggest of its kind in the world. The number of airplanes used merely for training was in itself remarkable. The flying men—or boys—who had, of course, already been broken-in in America, did an additional course in France, and when they left the aviation camp they were absolutely ready for air-fighting at the front. This was the finishing school. The aviators went through eight distinct courses in the school. They were perfected in flying, in observation, in bombing, in machine-gun firing. On even a cloudy and windy day the air overhead buzzed with these young American fliers, all getting into the pink of condition to do their stunts at the front. They lived in the camp, and it required moving heaven and earth for one of them to get leave to go even to the nearest little quiet old town.

An impression of complete businesslike determination was what one got when visiting the Americans in France. A discipline even stricter than that which applied in British and French troops was in force. In towns, officers, for instance, were not allowed out after 9 P. M. Some towns where subalterns discovered the wine of the country were instantly put "out of bounds." No officer, on any pretext whatsoever was allowed to go to Paris except on official business.

The postal censors who read the letters of the American Expeditionary Force were required to know forty-seven languages! Of these languages, the two least used were Chinese and German.

The announcement of the organization of the first American Field Army was contained in the following dispatch from France, August 11, 1918:

"The first American field army has been organized. It is under the direct command of General John J. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the American forces. The corps commanders thus far announced are Major-Generals Liggett, Bullard, Bundy, Read, and Wright.



Key The state of German civilian morale. Variations in Germany's military position Decree of political unity in Germany. The Food situation In North Germany. Condition of Austria-Hungary. U-Boat sinkings. (Monthly reports of tonnage sunk.) SECRETARY OF WAR'S OFFICIAL CHART This reproduction of Secretary Baker's chart, which hung in his office at Washington, illustrates graphically Germany's success and failure in the war.

"The creation of the first field army is the first step toward the coordination of all the American forces in France. This does not mean the immediate withdrawal from the British and French commands of all American units, and it is probable that divisions will be used on the French and British fronts for weeks yet. It is understood, however, that the policy of organizing other armies will be carried out steadily."

This announcement marked a milestone in the military effort of the United States. When the American troops first arrived in France, they were associated in small units with the French to get primary training. Gradually regiments began to function under French division commanders. Then American divisions were formed and trained under French corps commanders. Next, American corps began to operate under French army commanders. Finally, the first American army was created, because enough divisions and corps had been graduated from the school of experience.

An American division numbers 30,000 men, and a corps consists of six divisions, two of which play the part of reserves. With auxiliary troops, air squadrons, tank sections, heavy artillery, and other branches, a corps numbers from 225,000 to 250,000 men.



The main line in this graph—the heavy broken line—represents the state of civilian morale in Germany.

German morale is arbitrarily regarded as standing at 100 % in August. 1914.

Zero, for the same line, is taken to be the point at which an effective majority of the German people will refuse longer to support the war.

The degree of movement of this line is determined mainly by a consideration of the deflections of the secondary lines which represent the forces exerting the greatest influence on the German state of mind.

SHOWING GERMANY'S ROAD TO DEFEAT

Austria's fluctuations are indicated, as well as the morale, military position, political and food conditions and undersea enterprises of Germany.

The following were the general officers temporarily assigned to command the first five corps: First corps—Major-General Hunter Liggett. Second corps—Major-General Robert L. Bullard Third corps—Major-General William M. Wright. Fourth corps—Major-General George W. Read. Fifth corps—Major-General Omar Bundy.

Seven divisions and one separate regiment of American troops participated in the counter-offensive between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons and in resisting the German attack in the Champagne, it was officially stated on July 20. The 42d, or "Rainbow" Division, composed of National Guard troops from twenty-six states and the District of Columbia, including the New York 69th Infantry, now designated as the 165th Infantry, took part in the fighting in the Champagne east of Rheims. The six other divisions were associated with the French in the counter-offensive between Chateau-Thierry and Soissons. These divisions were the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th of the Regular Army, the 26th National Guard Division, composed of troops from the six New England States, and the 28th, composed of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Marines were included in this number. The separate regiment that fought in the Champagne was a negro unit attached to the new 93d Division, composed entirely of negro troops. It was also announced that the 77th Division was "in the line near Luneville" and was "operating as a division, complete under its own commander."