General Gregory for the arrest of sixty alleged ringleaders in German
plots, conspiracies and machinations throughout the United States. The
Department of Justice, which had long been gathering evidence in
connection with the suspects, had complete reports about their
activities. They were all German citizens, had participated in German
intrigues, and all were regarded as dangerous persons to be at large.

They were all arrested, bail was refused them, and they were locked up
for safekeeping. This was the first step in the general rounding up of
the conspirators throughout the country. The men were placed in three
groups: Those having previously been arrested charged with violation of
American neutrality in furthering German plots of various sorts and who
were at liberty under bond awaiting the action of higher courts; those
who had been indicted by Federal Grand Juries for similar offenses and
were at liberty under bond awaiting the action of the higher courts, and
persons who, although they had never been indicted or convicted, had
long been under surveillance by the Secret Service, or the investigators
of the Department of Justice.

These arrests were the first of alien enemies made in this country in
more than a century, under the direct order of the Attorney General
without reference to the courts or obtaining warrants. Under an act of
Congress passed in 1798 the President is empowered to adopt this course.
The right had not been invoked, however, since the war with Great
Britain in 1812.

ARREST OF GERMAN PLOTTERS.

The arrests were only the beginning of the work of the Secret Service
Department in a complete investigation of the activities of the
thousands of German reservists, stationed in the United States, and
suspected of being connected with plots which daily were cropping out.
These plots were being exposed constantly. Some were abandoned before
being completely worked out, owing to the fact that the Germans
suspected they were being shadowed. It was estimated that there were in
the United States at the time of the discoveries of conspiracies between
15,000 and 18,000 German reservists in the prime of life, whose energies
were undoubtedly being employed in the spreading of the German
propaganda. It was upon this army that the Secret Service men kept a
close watch, and who were generally found to have within their ranks the
men wanted at various times in connection with the advancement of German
plans.

Many of the Germans arrested were quasi-officials of the German
government. Some of them, it is alleged, were the instrumentalities
through which Captain Boy-Ed and Captain von Papen had carried out their
activities in this country against the Allies. A number of those
arrested were properly classed as spies. Camps were established for the
sailors taken from the interned German vessels, and many of them were
sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where they were held.

The far-reaching influence of the German spy system was at this time
laid before the American public, with all of its startling
ramifications. For months there had been stories of German intrigue and
conspiracies, and the Secret Service had unearthed innumerable plots to
destroy ammunition plants and industrial establishments, which would
have the effect of making it difficult for America to supply ammunition
to the Allies.

The most insidious scheme unearthed by the government was that which had
to do with the attempt of Germany to secure the alliance of Mexico and
Japan to make war on the United States.

Japan, through Mexican mediation, was to be urged to abandon her allies
and join in the attack on the United States.

Mexico, for her reward, was to receive general financial support from
Germany, reconquer Texas, New Mexico and Arizona--lost provinces--and
share in the victorious peace terms Germany contemplated.

MACHINATIONS OF GERMAN MINISTER.

Details were left to German Minister von Eckhardt in Mexico City, who by
instructions signed by German Foreign Minister Zimmerman, at Berlin,
January 19, 1917, was directed to propose the alliance with Mexico, to
General Carranza, and suggest that Mexico seek to bring Japan into the
plot.

These instructions were transmitted to von Eckhardt through Count von
Bernstorff, former German Ambassador.

Germany pictured to Mexico, by broad intimation, England and the entente
allies defeated, Germany and her allies triumphant and in world
domination by the instrument of unrestricted submarine warfare.

A copy of Zimmerman's instructions to von Eckhardt, sent through von
Bernstorff, is in possession of the United States government. It is as
follows:

     "Berlin, January 19, 1917.

     "On the first of February we intend to begin submarine warfare
     unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to
     keep neutral the United States of America.

     "If this attempt is not successful we propose an alliance on the
     following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and
     together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and
     it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in
     New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for
     settlement.

     "You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above,
     in the greatest confidence, as soon as it is certain that there
     will be an outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that
     the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate
     with Japan, suggesting adherence at once to this plan; at the same
     time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan.

     "Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the
     employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel
     England to make peace in a few months.

     "ZIMMERMAN."

BETHMANN-HOLLWEG'S FALSE STATEMENT.

This document was in the possession of the government at the very time
Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg was declaring that the United States had
placed an interpretation on the submarine declaration "never intended by
Germany," and that Germany had promoted and honored friendly relations
with the United States "as an heirloom from Frederick the Great."

Of itself, if there were no other, it is considered a sufficient answer
to the German Chancellor's plaint that the United States "brusquely"
broke off relations without giving "authentic" reasons for its action.

The document supplies the missing link to many separate chains of
circumstances, which until then had seemed to lead to no definite point.
It shed new light upon the frequently reported but indefinable
movements of the Mexican government to couple its situation with the
friction between the United States and Japan.

It added another chapter to the celebrated report of Jules Cambon,
French Ambassador in Berlin before the war, of Germany's world-wide
plans for stirring strife on every continent where they might aid her in
the struggle for world domination, which she dreamed was close at hand.
It added a climax to the operations of Count von Bernstorff and the
German Embassy in this country, which had been colored with passport
frauds, charges of dynamite plots and intrigue, the full extent of which
never had been published.

And last but not least, it explained in a very large degree the attitude
of the Mexican government toward the United States on many points.

UNCLE SAM NOT BOTHERED.

But the efforts of the German enthusiasts, which carried them beyond the
bounds of reasonable safety in the United States, did not bother Uncle
Sam much in the prosecution of his war plans. Within a short period
after the declaration of war the country had written a chapter in
national achievement unrivalled in the history of the world.

American destroyers were mobilized, outfitted and sent to the North Sea
within a few days after the nation entered the conflict. With them went
their own supply vessels and numerous converted craft adapted to naval
use. Their number and the exact duty they have assumed never have been
revealed, but that they have been recognized as a formidable part of the
grand allied fleet was evidenced by the designation of American Vice
Admiral Sims to command all the forces in the important zone off
Ireland.

The fleet began actual duty in the European waters on May 4, and the
presence of the vessels and the American sailors was the subject of
official correspondence. The British admiralty announced the arrival of
the American destroyers as follows:

"The British Admiralty states that a flotilla of United States
destroyers recently arrived in this country to co-operate with our naval
forces in the prosecution of the war.

"The services which the American vessels are rendering to the allied
cause are of the greatest value and are deeply appreciated."

Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty, commander of the British Grand Fleet,
sent the following message to Admiral Henry T. Mayo, commander of the
United States Atlantic Fleet:

"The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic Fleet will now share in
preserving the liberties of the world and maintaining the chivalry of
the sea."

Admiral Mayo replied:

"The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the
British Fleet and welcomes opportunities for work with the British Fleet
for the freedom of the seas."

GENERAL PERSHING IN ENGLAND.

Less than a month later Major General John J. Pershing, with his staff,
were safely in England ready to take command of the first expeditionary
force that ever set foot on the European shores to make war. General
Pershing's personal staff and the members of the General Staff who went
to perform the preliminary work for the first fighting force, numbered
57 officers and about 50 enlisted men, together with a civilian clerical
force.

The party landed at Liverpool on June 8, after an uneventful trip on the
White Star liner Baltic. The party was received with full military
honors and immediately entrained for London, where it was welcomed by
Lord Derby, the Minister of War; Viscount French, commander of the
British home forces, and a large body of American officials.

In London General Pershing was later received at Buckingham Palace by
King George.

He was presented to the King by Lord Brooke, commander of the Twelfth
Canadian Infantry Brigade. General Pershing was accompanied to the
palace by his personal staff of twelve officers. After the audience the
officers paid a formal call at the United States embassy.

PERSHING RECEIVES ROYAL GREETING.

After the formal reception the King shook hands with General Pershing
and the members of his staff, and expressed pleasure at welcoming the
advance guard of the American army. King George chatted for a few
moments with each member of General Pershing's staff. In addressing
General Pershing the King said:

"It has been the dream of my life to see the two great English-speaking
nations more closely united. My dreams have been realized. It is with
the utmost pleasure that I welcome you, at the head of the American
contingent, to our shores."

Major General Pershing's staff has been characterized as "one of live
wires." Most of the officers are West Pointers, but there are among them
some who rose from the ranks, including Major James G. Harbord, chief of
staff.

General Pershing reached France on June 13, where he was given a
tumultuous welcome. He landed at Boulogne in the morning and was met by
General Pelletier, representing the French government and General
Headquarters of the French army; Commandant Hue, representing the
Minister of War; General Lucas, commanding the northern region; Colonel
Daru, Governor of Lille; the Prefect of the Somme and other officials.

Among the latter were Rene Besnard, Under Secretary of War, representing
the Cabinet; Commandant Thouzellier, representing Marshal Joffre, and
Vice-Admiral Ronarch, representing the navy.

The scene in the harbor as General Pershing set foot on French soil was
one of striking beauty and animation. The day was bright and sunny. The
quays were crowded with townspeople and soldiers from all Entente
armies, with French and British troops predominating.

The shipping was gay with flags and bunting, many merchant craft
hoisting American flags, while along the crowded quays the American
colors were everywhere shown as a token of the French welcome.

PERSHING RECEIVES AN OVATION.

A great wave of enthusiasm came from the crowds as General Pershing
stepped upon the quay and as the band played the "Marseillaise" he and
the members of his staff stood uncovered. M. Besnard, in greeting the
American commander in behalf of the government, said the Americans had
come to France to combat with the Allies for the same cause of right and
civilization. General Pelletier extended a greeting to the Americans in
behalf of the army.

General Dumas, commandant of the region in which Boulogne is located,
said:

"Your coming opens a new era in the history of the world. The United
States of America is now taking its part with the United States of
Europe. Together they are about to found the United States of the World,
which will definitely and finally end the war and give a peace which
will be enduring and suitable for humanity."

General Pershing stood at parade as the various addresses were delivered
and acknowledged each with a salute.

British soldiers and marines lined up along the quays had rendered
military honors as the vessel flying the Stars and Stripes, preceded by
destroyers and accompanied by hydroplanes and dirigible balloons,
steamed up the channel. Military bands played "The Star-Spangled
Banner" and the "Marseillaise" as General Pelletier and his party
boarded the boat to welcome General Pershing.

After the representatives of the French authorities had been presented
to the American officers, the party landed and reviewed the French
territorials. The Americans then entered motor cars for a ride around
the city. All along the route they were followed by crowds of people who
greeted General Pershing with the greatest enthusiasm.

PERSHING IN PARIS.

The General and his staff were taken in a special train to Paris, where
General Pershing was received by Marshal Joffre, Ambassador Sharp and
Paul Painleve, French Minister of War. In the French capital General
Pershing and staff were received by the populace with wild enthusiasm,
and for several days they were feted and entertained.

There were, during the short period of entertainment, several incidents
which will long be noted in history, as when General Pershing visited
the Tomb of Napoleon and when he took from its case the sword of the
world conqueror and kissed it, and again when he placed a wreath on the
grave of Lafayette.

Within a few days General Pershing had established the army headquarters
in the Rue De Constantine and began the work preliminary to the campaign
on the firing line.

Second only to the enthusiastic reception tendered General Pershing and
his staff was that accorded the first United States Medical Unit, which
reached London in June. The vanguard of the American army, composed of
26 surgeons and 60 nurses, in command of Major Harry L. Gilchrist, was
received by King George and Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales and Princess
Mary, at Buckingham Palace.

The reception to General Pershing and the Medical branch was, however,
nothing as compared to the popular demonstration which marked the
arrival of the first of the American armed forces on European shores to
participate in war. The vanguard of the army reached France on June 27.
No official announcement was ever made of the number of men in the first
expeditionary force, but it is an incident of modern history that the
United States made a record for the transportation of troops across the
seas scarcely equalled by that of any other country.

ABSOLUTE SECRECY OBSERVED.

All America knew that troops were being sent to France, but no
information had been given as to the time of departure or as to their
destination. The world was, therefore, fairly electrified when the
announcement was made that in defiance of the German submarines,
thousands of seasoned regulars and marines, trained fighting men, with
the tan of long service on the Mexican border, in Haiti, or Santo
Domingo still on their faces, had arrived in France to fight beside the
French, the British, the Belgians, the Russians, the Portuguese and the
Italian troops on the Western front.

Despite the enormous difficulties of unpreparedness and the submarine
dangers that faced them, the plans of the army and navy were carried
through with clock-like precision.

When the order came to prepare immediately an expeditionary force to go
to France, virtually all of the men who first crossed the seas were on
the Mexican border. General Pershing himself was at his headquarters in
San Antonio. There were no army transports available in the Atlantic.
The vessels that carried the troops were scattered on their usual
routes. Army reserve stores were still depleted from the border
mobilization. Regiments were below war strength. That was the condition
when President Wilson decided that the plea of the French high
commission should be answered and a force of regulars sent at once to
France.

At his word the War Department began to move. General Pershing was
summoned quietly to Washington. His arrival created some speculation in
the press, but at the request of Secretary Baker the newspapers
generally refrained from discussion of this point.

There were a thousand other activities afoot in the department at the
time. All the business of preparing for the military registration of
10,000,000 men, of providing quarters and instructors for nearly 50,000
prospective officers, for finding arms and equipment for millions of
troops yet to be organized, of expanding the regular army to full war
strength, of preparing and recruiting the National Guard for war was at
hand.

PERSHING SETS UP HEADQUARTERS.

General Pershing dropped quietly into the department and set up the
first headquarters of the American expeditionary forces in a little
office, hardly large enough to hold himself and his personal staff.
There, with the aid of the general staff, of Secretary Baker and of the
chiefs of the War Department bureaus, the plans were worked out.

Announcement of the sending of the force under General Pershing was made
May 18. The press gave the news to the country and there were daily
stories.

There came a day when General Pershing no longer was in the department.
Officers of the general staff suddenly were missing from their desks. No
word of this was reported. Then came word from England that Pershing and
his officers were there. All was carried through without publicity.

Other matters relating to the expedition were carried out without a word
of publicity. The regiments that were to go with General Pershing were
all selected before he left and moving toward the seacoast from the
border. Other regiments also were moving north, east and west to the
points where they were to be expanded, and the movements of the troops
who were to be first in France were obscured in all this hurrying of
troop trains over the land.

Great shipments of war supplies began to assemble at the embarkation
ports. Liners suddenly were taken off their regular runs with no
announcement. A great armada was made ready, supplied, equipped as
transports, loaded with men and guns and sent to sea, and all with
virtually no mention from the press.

The navy bore its full share in the achievement. From the time the troop
ships left their docks and headed toward sea, responsibility for the
lives of their thousands of men rested upon the officers and crews of
the fighting ships that moved beside them or swept free the sea lanes
before them. As they pushed on through the days and nights toward the
danger zone, where German submarines lay in wait, every precaution that
trained minds of the navy could devise was taken.

A BRILLIANT CLIMAX.

The brilliant climax to the achievement was made public when it was
announced that not only had the last units of the expeditionary force
been landed on July 3, but that the American navy had driven off two
German submarines, probably sinking one of them, when the transport
ships and convoys had been attacked.

The last units of the American expeditionary force, comprising vessels
loaded with supplies and horses, reached France amid the screeching of
whistles and moaning of sirens. Their arrival, one week after the first
troops landed, was greeted almost as warmly as the arrival of the troops
themselves.

Many of the American soldiers crowded down to the wharf to greet the
last ships of the expedition and the American vessels in the harbor,
which had made up previous contingents of the force, joined in the
welcome. The late arrival of the supply ships was due not only to later
departure from America, but also to the fact that the vessels were
slower than those which had come before. The delay caused little
anxiety, although it worked temporary inconvenience to the troops, who
had been waiting for materials with which to work.

Probably the happiest man in port was Rear Admiral Gleaves, commander of
the convoy. From the bridge of his flagship he watched the successful
conclusion of his plans with characteristic modesty and insisted upon
bestowing the lion's share of credit for the crossing on the navigating
officers of his command.

ADVANCE PLANS BRIEFLY SKETCHED.

Sketching briefly the advance plans whereby all units of the contingent
had to keep a daily rendezvous with accompanying warships, he said,
that, thanks to his navigating officers and despite overcast skies,
which made astronomical observations impossible, each rendezvous had
been minutely and accurately kept by each unit. The orders he issued at
the outset, which comprised scores of details, were observed, the
Admiral declared, with such exactness that the contingent units and
convoying warships invariably met each other within half an hour of the
appointed time.

A big contributing factor in the crossing, according to officers of both
branches of the service, was the hearty co-operation between the army
and navy. From the time of the departure until the landing there was not
the slightest suggestion of friction, and co-ordination played its part
distinctively in the success of the expedition.

The startling fact of the entire journey across the sea was that the
Navy had won its first victory in driving off attacking submarines. The
news of the fight was given out by the Navy Department and the Committee
on Public Information, with the announcement of the final landing of the
troops and the safe arrival of the supply ships.

The announcement, sponsored by Secretary Daniels, of the Navy, shows
beyond the shadow of doubt that the Berlin Admiralty had been "tipped
off" that the American expeditionary force was on its way, and had
carefully planned to send the transports to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Realizing that an attack might be expected in the war zone, and that
every precaution would be taken to ward it off, the Germans moved far
out from land, in the hope of catching the American gunners napping.
They were fooled. Uncle Sam's jackies were at the guns when the fleet of
submarines stuck their periscopes above the waves and trained their
torpedo tubes on the lines of transports.

WAVES COVERED WITH SHELLS.

The torpedo boats and other craft opened up and covered the waves with
shells. The Germans soon lost at least one submarine and, having had
enough of the fight, they disappeared. As the little destroyers dashed
straight at the submarines and shot under water explosives in their wake
as they submerged, the transports dashed through the night at top speed
without having been scratched.

The extreme degree to which the Germans had prepared to destroy the
American force is shown by the second part of the official announcement,
which tells how another section of the transport fleet was waylaid under
cover of darkness, but how the American gunners were too quick for the
Germans.

The text of Secretary Daniels' announcement was:

"It is with the joy of a great relief that I announce to the people of
the United States the safe arrival in France of every fighting man and
every fighting ship. Now that the last vessel has reached port, it is
safe to disclose the dangers that were encountered and to tell the
complete story of peril and courage.

"The transports bearing our troops were twice attacked by German
submarines on the way across. On both occasions the U-boats were beaten
off with every appearance of loss. One was certainly sunk, and there is
reason to believe that the accurate fire of our gunners sent others to
the bottom.

"For purposes of convenience, the expedition was divided into
contingents, each contingent including troopships and a naval escort
designed to keep off such German raiders as might be met.

"An ocean rendezvous had also been arranged with the American destroyers
now operating in European waters in order that the passage of the danger
zone might be attended by every possible protection.

"The first attack took place at 10.30 on the night of June 22. What
gives it peculiar and disturbing significance is that our ships were set
upon at a point well this side of the rendezvous, and in that part of
the Atlantic presumably free from submarines. The attack was made in
force, although the night made impossible any exact count of the U-boats
gathered for what they deemed a slaughter.

HIGH SEAS CONVOY.

"The high seas convoy, circling with their searchlights, answered with
heavy gunfire, and its accuracy stands proved by the fact that the
torpedo discharge became increasingly scattered and inaccurate. It is
not known how many torpedoes were launched, but five were counted as
they sped by bow and stern.

"A second attack was launched a few days later against another
contingent. The point of assault was beyond the rendezvous and our
destroyers were sailing as a screen between the transports and all harm.
The results of the battle were in favor of American gunnery.

"Not alone did the destroyers hold the U-boats at a safe distance, but
their speed also resulted in the sinking of one submarine at least.
Grenades were used in firing, a depth charge explosive timed to go off
at a certain distance under water. In one instance, oil and wreckage
covered the surface of the sea after a shot from a destroyer at a
periscope, and the reports make claim of sinking.

"Protected by our high seas convoy, by our destroyers and by French war
vessels, the contingent proceeded and joined the others in a French
port.

"The whole nation will rejoice that so great a peril is passed for the
vanguard of the men who will fight our battles in France. No more
thrilling Fourth of July celebration could have been arranged than this
glad news that lifts the shadow of dread from the heart of America."

Upon receipt of the announcement, Secretary Baker wrote the following
letter to Secretary Daniels, conveying the army's thanks to the navy:

"Word has just come to the War Department that the last ships conveying
General Pershing's expeditionary force to France arrived safe today. As
you know, the navy assumed the responsibility for the safety of these
ships on the sea and through the danger zone. The ships themselves and
their convoys were in the hands of the navy, and now that they have
arrived, and carried, without the loss of a man, our soldiers who are
the first to represent America in the battle for democracy, I beg leave
to tender to you, to the Admiral and to the navy, the hearty thanks of
the War Department and of the army. This splendid achievement is an
auspicious beginning and it has been characterized throughout by the
most cordial and effective co-operation between the two military
services."

CHAPTER XXV.

A GERMAN CRISIS.

THE DOWNFALL OF BETHMANN-HOLLWEG--THE CROWN PRINCE IN THE LIME
LIGHT--HOLLWEG'S UNIQUE CAREER--DR. GEORG MICHAELIS APPOINTED
CHANCELLOR--THE KAISER AND HOW HE GETS HIS IMMENSE POWER.

The active participation of the United States in the war, as distinctly
marked by the sending of troops to France, aside from giving needed
inspiration to the Allied forces, may be said to have had a decided
effect in Germany. While the German subjects are loyal, there has
developed in the country, as in every other country, a large element of
Socialists and progressives.

Something of a climax was reached in the affairs of the Hohenzollern
dynasty just when the United States troops were preparing to take their
places on the battle line in France and when the first of the
conscripted forces of the country were being summoned to the colors.

With a suddenness that startled the entire world, Dr. von
Bethmann-Hollweg, the German Imperial Chancellor, resigned on July 14,
thus ending his career as the spokesman of the Kaiser, which he had
maintained for a surprisingly long period. At the same time Dr. Alfred
Zimmermann, Foreign Minister, who was responsible for the correspondence
which revealed the fact that Germany was trying to induce Mexico and
Japan to form an alliance against the United States, also quit his post.

The resignation of the Chancellor came quite unexpectedly, for von
Hollweg, in the prolonged party discussion and heated debates of the
main committee of the Reichstag which had been in progress, seemed to
have triumphed over his opponents.

His opponents had been clamoring for his head, but he made concessions,
and by the declaration that Germany was fighting defensively for her
territorial possessions evolved a formula which for a time seemed
satisfactory to both those who clamored for peace by agreement and those
who demanded repudiation of the formula, "no annexation and no
indemnities." In this position Dr. von Hollweg was backed by the
Emperor.

The advent of the Crown Prince upon the scene--summoned by his imperial
father to share the deliberations affecting the future of the
dynasty--seems to have changed entirely the position with regard to the
Imperial Chancellor. The Crown Prince at once took a leading part in the
discussions with the party leaders, and his ancient hostility toward Dr.
von Bethmann-Hollweg, coupled with his notorious dislike for political
reform, undoubtedly precipitated the Chancellor's resignation.

APPOINTMENT OF DR. GEORG MICHAELIS.

The resignation of Dr. von Hollweg was followed by the appointment of
Dr. Georg Michaelis, Prussian Under Secretary of Finance and Food
Commissioner.

The fall of Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg removed the last of the
statesmen who were in charge of the great Powers of Europe at the
beginning of the war, and brought to an end a career which in successful
playing of both ends against the middle was almost without parallel in
recent history.

Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, an aristocrat and personal friend of
the Emperor, stood out strongly against democratic agitation before the
war, and at times was sharply outspoken in his defiance of socialism and
his rejection of any move toward making the Chancellor and his
subordinates, the other Ministers, responsible to the Reichstag. Yet in
the early stages of the war he became known as a moderate, and it has
been generally accepted that his influence was usually employed against
the breaking of relations with America and ruthless submarine warfare.

PRESERVES A JUDICIOUS BALANCE.

When the opposition of the parties favoring the most desperate measures
became too strong for him, he conceded a little ground, taking up a
middle position in which he balanced himself for a long time against
both the Conservative Junkers and the National Liberal trust magnates on
the one side and the radical Socialists on the other. Neither side could
claim him; neither could interpret his ambiguous utterances as support
of its policies, and between the antagonisms of the two he maintained
his position until at last he was overthrown by the attack of Erzberger,
leader of the more liberal wing of the Catholic party, the traditional
holders of the middle ground.

Bethmann-Hollweg's agility was demonstrated by the fact that he survived
Asquith and Grey, Viviani, Sazonoff, Berchtold, Salandra, Jagow, and all
the rest of the statesmen who were in power in Europe in August, 1914.

In personality the Chancellor was studious, scholarly and pleasant,
lacking the brilliance of his predecessor, Von Buelow, but generally
regarded as one who was if anything too mild rather than too severe.

Dr. Georg Michaelis, the successor to Hollweg, was the first commoner to
be appointed to that high office, without even a "von" before his name.

The son of a Prussian official, he was born on September 8, 1857, in
Haynan, Silesia. He received a university education, making the law his
profession. In 1879 he became a court referee in Berlin, and in 1884 was
attached to the District Attorney's office in that city. Several years
later he went as professor of law and political economy to the
University of Tokio.

Returning to Germany in 1889, he was chosen District Attorney for
Berlin. His services won much praise and he was afterward sent by the
government as an official in the provisional government at Trevas,
Germany. In 1897 he was transferred to Westphalia, where he was Chief
Councilor for the government there.

In 1900 he was made Provisional President of Liebnitz and in 1902 First
Privy Councilor in Breslau. His work there won him an appointment as
Under Secretary of State in the Department of Finance, which post he
held in connection with his work as Food Commissioner.

Doctor Michaelis was selected for the post of Prussian Food Commissioner
in February, 1917, after all efforts of Adolph von Batocki's
organization--the food regulation board--had failed to lay hands on
large supplies of grain, potatoes and other produce which the Prussian
landlords were holding for the fattening of cattle and swine instead of
making them available for general consumption.

GOVERNMENT ORDERS DISREGARDED.

The orders of Herr Batocki and the Central Government for the surrender
of these supplies were disregarded or evaded at least, if not, as
charged in Germany, with the actual assistance and support of the
reactionary Prussian Minister of Agriculture, Baron von Schorlemer.

Doctor Michaelis was eventually selected as Food Controller as the
result of an agreement between von Bethmann-Hollweg and the military
authorities as a fearless, determined official, who would execute his
mission without fear or favor and produce results if such were possible.
The selection was justified.

The conditions in Germany which marked the ascendancy of the Crown
Prince in the deliberations of the Imperial Government and brought about
the upheaval in the Ministry are the logical result of the system under
which the country is ruled.

There is, in the mind of the public generally, a theory that Germany
with its Bundesrath and Reichstag has a government akin to that of
England and even the United States, but the impression is an erroneous
one. It is true that Germany has a dual system of government and
independent state sovereignties. There is, however, nothing democratic
about the system.

To begin with, the Kaiser is a constitutional monarch in his capacity as
German Emperor, but as King of Prussia he is a self-appointed and
arrogant ruler--all that he advertises himself to be in the way of a
God-chosen ruler.

STATUS OF GERMAN SOVEREIGNTY.

To understand the difference in relationship between the King of Prussia
and the German Emperor it is necessary to realize that the German
constitution describes the Emperor thus: "The presidency of the Union
belongs to the King of Prussia, who bears the title of German Emperor."
On the other hand the King of Prussia, who happens to be the Kaiser, has
his right to rule by birth. When the first king was crowned, about 1701,
he placed the crown upon his own head, and that right has descended to
King William. But as German Emperor the duties of the Kaiser are as
clearly defined as those of the ruler of a modern democracy.

The difference between the Kingdom and the Empire is that the German
Empire is a creation of sovereign states, ruled over by German Grand
Dukes, Princes, and whatnot, who trace their lineage back to the days
when might was right, and who won their power to rule by defeating their
fellow men. At one time there were several hundred of these ruling
princes. When Napoleon got through in Germany there were about
twenty-two left. The German Empire today consists of these twenty-two
states, and three free cities, comprising in all a group of twenty-five
communities. It is a bond or association. It consists, in fact, of the
twenty-five communities, of which it is composed, and represented by
twenty-five kings, dukes, princes, etc., and not by the 65,000,000
population of the communities themselves. The sovereignty rests with
the princes of the several states, who have bestowed a fixed power upon
the Kaiser. As Emperor his office dates back to 1871.

The legislative machinery which has been devised for the use of these
German sovereigns consists of the Bundesrath and the Reichstag.
Sometimes the Bundesrath is likened to our Senate, or to the hereditary
English House of Lords, while the Reichstag is compared to the House of
Representatives or the House of Commons. But comparisons are odious.

THE BUNDESRATH.

The Bundesrath is an assembly in which the German kings, grand dukes,
dukes, princes, etc., come together (by proxy) to direct the affairs of
the Empire. Each of these sovereigns sends a specified number of
delegates, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. Thus
the Kaiser, as the King of Prussia, sends seventeen delegates, while the
King of Bavaria sends six. The total number of delegates is fifty-eight,
so right in the beginning the Kaiser has a pretty good representation.

The delegations in the Bundesrath vote en masse--that is the "unit rule"
prevails. The seventeen delegates from Prussia must vote as instructed
by the Kaiser, and if there chanced to be but one member present he
still would cast seventeen votes for the delegation. The members of the
Bundesrath are referred to quite frequently as ambassadors. There is no
need for discussion in the body since the delegations vote, in any
event, as a unit.

The power of the German Bundesrath is, however, astonishing. Usually the
lower house is supposed to be the one in which originates legislation,
such as finance, affecting the people. But in Germany it is the
Bundesrath which has the power to tax, and the lower chamber, the
Reichstag, merely has the vetoing power.

This makes the taxing power in Germany primarily the privilege of the
crown.

The financial program is prepared by the Chancellor, who is the direct
representative of the Kaiser, and responsible only to him. In other
governments members of the ministry are appointed by the legislative
bodies, but the Chancellor is personally named by the Kaiser, and is not
even a member of the Reichstag. He has the right, however, to address
this body, as the privilege of a member of the Bundesrath of which, as
the personal representative of the Kaiser, he is the presiding officer.

Since the Bundesrath, as already shown, practically controls the German
Empire, and the King of Prussia, with his seventeen votes in the
Bundesrath holds sway in that body, it is easy to see how the Kaiser is
the dominating figure in the German Empire.

THE KAISER'S DUAL PREROGATIVE.

A unique provision of the German constitution is that fourteen votes in
the Bundesrath can defeat any proposed amendment, and since the Kaiser
controls seventeen votes, as King of Prussia, besides several others, he
has a voting strength which can block any attempt to change the regime.
Also, as King of Prussia, he can instruct his Chancellor to prepare laws
to be introduced in the Bundesrath.

It is the power which the Kaiser possesses, as the King of Prussia,
which gives him his control as the German Emperor. Prussia is the
largest of the German states, and when the Kaiser, as King of Prussia,
says that he is master in Prussia, he speaks the truth.

There is a ministry in Prussia, and the head of this body is usually the
same person who occupies the position of Imperial Chancellor, and the
Kaiser appoints this Minister as well as his associates, whom he can
remove without reference to the Ministry as a body. There are two
chambers in Prussian Ministry commonly known as the House of Peers, and
the House of Representatives.

Just to give the King of Prussia a little more control, he has the right
to appoint all the members of the House of Peers, and also to designate
the number. The House of Representatives, on the face of it, is a
popular body, because the members are supposed to be elected by
universal suffrage. The taxpayers vote for representation in this
chamber, but they do not vote directly nor on equal terms.

Members of the House of Representatives are chosen by an electoral
college, and several hundred of these colleges are selected at each
election. Though taxpayers vote for the electors, all the votes do not
have the same relative value. The taxpayers whose combined taxes
represent one-third of the whole amount of taxes in an electoral
district choose one-third of the members from that district to the
House. Those who pay the next one-third of the taxes choose another
third of the electors, and the remaining body of voters choose the last
third.

CHAPTER XXVI.

UNCLE SAM AND THE NEUTRALS.

PRESIDENT WILSON PUTS EMBARGO ON FOOD SHIPMENTS--SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES
FURNISHING SUPPLIES TO GERMANY INSPIRES ORDER--THE DIFFICULT POSITION OF
NORWAY, DENMARK, HOLLAND AND SWITZERLAND.

When America first declared its intentions there were in the United
States thousands who held to the theory that "America in War" simply
meant that we should shut ourselves within our borders, perhaps furnish
supplies to the Allied forces, lend money to England, France, Belgium
and Russia, use our navy to protect our merchant shipping and go about
our business, leaving the fighting to the forces joined in conflict
against Germany.

They were disabused when the English and French Commission and the
representatives of Belgium and Russia made it apparent that it would be
necessary for America to actually raise a fighting army and General
Pershing was sent to France. But they learned, too, that mobilizing the
forces of the country and waging warfare were not simple matters. The
truth was brought home that the whole nation must fight; that it must
use its brains, its money, its resources of every sort, its whole power,
both in an offensive and in a defensive way.

Not only must its soldiers and sailors face the guns of the Teutons, but
the machinery of government must be used to bring the arrogant
Hohenzollerns to their knees. Some startling things were discovered, and
the brains of the diplomatic force of the government were put to the
test. International problems arose which were never before encountered
in the history of nations.

England, with its blockade against Germany, and Germany with its
submarine warfare against British and neutral shipping, developed
problems which had to be solved relative to keeping Germany from
getting supplies which would enable her to withstand the siege, and also
as to the sending of supplies to England, Belgium, France and Russia,
and particularly to our own forces fighting with the Allies in France.

A BIG FACTOR IN WAR.

Unfortunate as it may seem, one of the biggest factors in waging
successful war is to prevent the enemy from getting food supplies. It is
a frequently repeated truism that "an army travels on its stomach," and
in the pleas for conservation and efficient management the leaders in
every country declared frequently that "the war would be won by the last
loaf of bread," or that it was not a question of ammunition, but of
wheat.

One of the serious problems which the government was therefore called to
face within a very short period after the American troops were first
landed in France was that of dealing with the food situation, both at
home and abroad. At that time the German U-boats had sunk merchant ships
having a total of more than 5,000,000 tonnage, and the food situation
was precarious in the Allied countries. Germany, on the other hand,
because of long preparation for the struggle, coupled with efficient
management and practices, was more largely independent of other
countries.

At this time it was learned that Germany was securing large quantities
of foodstuffs through the medium of some of the neutral countries.
America was, therefore, called upon to take steps to prevent the Germans
getting supplies from this country, through the intermediary of Holland
and the Scandinavian countries. As a result the government placed an
embargo on a long list of articles including fuel, oils, grains, meats
and fodder. The embargo, which was made effective by a proclamation of
President Wilson, forbade the carrying of such supplies as were
mentioned from the United States or its territorial possessions to
neutral countries.

The purpose of the embargo was not to prevent the neutral countries from
securing foodstuffs from America for their own consumption, but to
prevent their reselling such supplies at a profit to Germany. The
position of the government was made plain in the statement of President
Wilson, who said:

DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN NEEDS.

"It is obviously the duty of the United States in liberating any surplus
products over and above our own domestic needs to consider first the
necessities of all the nations engaged in war against the central
empires. As to neutral nations, however, we also recognize our duty. The
government does not wish to hamper them. On the contrary, it wishes and
intends, by all fair and equitable means, to co-operate with them in
their difficult task of adding from our available surpluses to their own
domestic supply and of meeting their pressing necessities or deficits.
In considering the deficits of food supplies, the government means only
to fulfill its obvious obligation to assure itself that neutrals are
husbanding their own resources, and that our supplies will not become
available, either directly or indirectly, to feed the enemy."

While the conservation of our resources had a great deal to do with the
issuing of the embargo, the action was partly taken as the result of
information lodged by England that Holland, Sweden and Norway had been
supplying Germany and her allies with food, despite the latter's hostile
action in sinking ships owned by the neutrals. The government made an
investigation and discovered that the shipment to these neutral
countries had become abnormally large. It was reported, particularly,
that many Holland business men had become fabulously wealthy by trading
in the supplies which came from America, and which they resold to
Germany.

The embargo became operative under a method of license procedure, so
that all shipments could be watched by the government authorities. The
order compelled all persons seeking to export goods to make application
for a license to the Secretary of Commerce, or bureaus designated in
various parts of the country.

In support of the contentions that the neutral countries were supplying
Germany, Great Britain furnished the Government with the following table
as representing the minimum of food exports from Scandinavia and Holland
to Germany in 1916: Butter, 82,600 metric tons; meat, 115,800 tons; pork
products, 68,800 tons; condensed milk, 70,000 tons; fish, 407 tons;
cheese, 80,500 tons; eggs, 46,400 tons; potato meal, 179,500 tons;
coffee, 58,500 tons; fruit, 74,000 tons; sugar, 12,000 tons; vegetables,
215,000.

These figures are most impressive, it is asserted, in relation to fats,
the scarcest thing in Germany. Fat, it is claimed, is the only food
seriously lacking now in the diet of the German people. Imports of this
food, the British declare, furnish one-fourth of the daily German fat
ration.

NATIONS WHO SUFFER FROM EMBARGO.

There are five neutral countries whose positions were anything but
enviable during the war, and it is perhaps worth interpolating a little
something about them at this particular point. Norway, Sweden, Holland,
Denmark and Switzerland were the neutrals at the time the embargo was
placed on foodstuffs.

Switzerland, as all the world knows, is one of the most picturesque
countries in Europe, and is a republic in the west central part of the
continent, bounded on the north by Baden, Wurtemburg and Bavaria; on the
east by the Tyrol, on the south by Italy and on the west by France.
There is no national tongue, three languages being spoken within the
boundaries of the republic. Where it comes in contact with the French
frontier, the French language is largely spoken; while Italian is the
language spoken in the southern part, where it is bounded by Italy. In
the northern section the German language is spoken. The country has an
area of 15,992 square miles.

In the main, Switzerland is mountainous, the chief valley being that of
the Rhone, in the southern part. The most level tracts are in the
northwestern section, where there are a number of mountain-locked
valleys. Mountain slopes comprise about two-fifths of the area of the
country, and practically all of the rivers are rapid and unnavigable.
The forests are extensive and consist of large trees. Cereals, along
with hemp, flax and tobacco, are raised, and the pasture lands are
fertile and abundant. Hence, the dairy products, as well as hides and
tallow, are produced in profusion. Fruits of the hardier varieties grow
well and profitably.

A FEDERAL UNION.

The republic consists of twenty-two States or Cantons which form a
Federal Union, although each is virtually independent in matters of
politics. The Swiss Constitution, remodelled in 1848, vests the ruling
executive and legislative authority in a Diet of two houses--a State
Council and a National Council. The former consists of 44 members--two
from each Canton--and corresponds in its functional action with the
United States Senate. The National Council is the more purely
representative body, and is composed of 128 members elected triennially
by popular suffrage. Both chambers combine and form what is called the
Federal Assembly.

The chief executive power is exercised by the so-called Federal Council,
or Bundesgericht, which is elected triennially. Its governing officers
are the President and Vice President of the republic. International and
inter-cantonal questions are discussed before and adjudicated by the
Bundesgericht, which serves as a high court of appeal. The army consists
of 142,999 regulars and 91,809 landwehr; total, 231,808 men of all arms.
Every adult citizen is de facto liable to military service, and
military drill and discipline are taught in all the schools. The
Protestant faith forms the ruling form of religion in 15 of the cantons,
Roman Catholicism prevailing in the rest. Education is well diffused by
numerous colleges and schools of a high grade; and its upper branches
are cared for at the three universities of Berne, Basle and Zurich.

Denmark, whose home possessions comprise 14,789 square miles, is, by the
way, barely one-half the size of Scotland. It consists of a peninsular
portion called Jutland, and an extensive archipelago lying east of it.
It has a number of territorial possessions in the Atlantic ocean, among
them the islands of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe islands in the
north.

GERMAN AMBITION FRUSTRATED.

One of its possessions in the West Indies was purchased by the United
States almost at the time America entered the war, and created a
situation which was not calculated to inspire the friendship of Germany
for the little country, since it was intimated that Germany would liked
to have had the island for a base. The islands cost the United States
about $25,000,000. Including the colonial possessions, the total area of
the Danish possessions is 80,000 square miles, the population being
2,726,000 persons.

Copenhagen is the capital, the other chief cities being Odense, Aarhuus,
Aalborg, Randers and Horsens. For administrative purposes Denmark is
divided into 18 provinces or districts, besides the capital, nine of
these making up Jutland and the other nine comprising the island
possessions. On the south Denmark is bounded by Germany and the Baltic,
on the west it is washed by the North Sea; while to the north lies
Norway, separated by the Skagerrack, and on the east lies Sweden,
separated by the Cattegat and the Sound.

The line of seaboard is irregular and broken, and the low, flat nature
of the country necessitates the construction of dykes, in many places,
in order to prevent the ocean from making inroads. There are few
rivers, and these are small and not of value commercially. Timber is not
abundant, and minerals are scarce and of little value. The climate is
generally moist and cold, fogs are frequent and the winters generally
severe. Cereals, potatoes, wool and dairy products are the principal
products. Cattle raising is carried on extensively, much of the beef
being exported.

The Danes, physically, are sturdy, and represent the truest physical
characteristics of Scandinavian types. The people are brave, sober and
industrious, and the sailors from this country are among the leading
navigators of the world. The government is a constitutional monarchy,
with the executive power vested in a king and a ministry, who are held
responsible to the Rigsdag, which is the parliament.

LANDSTHING AND FOLKSTHING.

This parliament consists of a Senate, or Landsthing, and a lower house,
or Folksthing. The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the State religion,
but all other persuasions are fully and freely tolerated. Education is
compulsory, and is largely disseminated. The army consists of 60,000
men, while the navy is quite small, having a personnel of about 4000
officers and men.

The authentic history dates from 1385, the year of the accession of
Margaret, the "Semiramis of the North," and wearer of the triple
Scandinavian crowns. The latest monarch, Frederick VIII, came to the
throne in 1906.

Holland, the most picturesque of the neutral countries, aside from
Switzerland with its wonderful scenery, is credited with having profited
very largely by the war. It rests along the North Sea and adjoins the
German Empire on the east and borders Belgium on the South. It contains
about 11 provinces, with a total area of 12,582 square miles and a
population of about 6,000,000.

Always one thinks of windmills, dykes, fat cattle, butter, eggs, ducks
and green farms when Holland is mentioned, and it is in many respects
one of the most highly developed commercial countries in the world. The
country manufactures many articles of world-wide distribution, including
chocolate, linens, fine damasks, pottery, chemical and pharmaceutical
products, and Amsterdam is a center of diamond-cutting.

It has a large mercantile marine and was at one time a tremendous
maritime power, doing an immense trading business in many waters. It
still has rich and extensive colonies, including the Dutch possessions
in the East Indies, comprising the Sunda Islands, except a portion of
Borneo and Eastern Timor, and New Guinea. Java and Madura are two of the
richest of the group and have a population of more than 30,000,000.
There are also possessions in the West Indies and in South America.

A SMALL BUT EFFICIENT ARMY.

The Dutch army has approximately 40,000 officers and men and is regarded
as one of the most efficient armies in the world of its size. There is
also a colonial army in the East Indies with 1300 officers and 35,183
men. Its navy has 4000 officers and men and has about 200 vessels of all
sorts, none of them of the modern dreadnought or super-dreadnought type.

The history of the rich little country is one of the most interesting in
literature. It was originally part of the Empire of Charlemagne.
Subsequently, it became divided into a number of petty principalities,
and by heritage became a possession of the Austrian monarchy. In the
long struggle against the Spanish power it became one of the Seven
United Provinces. The country made rapid progress, and during the 17th
century withstood the power of Louis the XIV of France, but later was
overrun by the French, and finally in 1806 was made a kingdom by
Napoleon, in favor of his brother Louis. Under the Treaty of Paris
Belgium and Holland were united to form the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
and this arrangement remained until 1830, when Belgium broke away.
Holland attempted to reduce the revolting province by force, but the
powers intervened and an adjustment was made. The last King was William,
III, who died in 1890, leaving his daughter Wilhelmina, then but 10
years old, Queen.

Of the neutral countries none endured more than heroic Norway. With a
long coast line practically undefended and with the full force of the
German navy anchored but a few hours away, and a none too friendly
country on her land border, possessing an army greater than her own,
Norway's position was extremely difficult.

Had she flung herself into the war with the Allies when the breach came
she would have been of little help to them, for she would have placed
them in the position of being called upon to help defend her long coast
line. It is probable also that a break with Germany would have let loose
the Swedish army on the side of the Teutons.

BETWEEN TWO FIRES.

The little country was between two fires, and she suffered great strain.
In the first place, while Norway attempted to maintain her export trade
and her shipping, the Allies inspected her import invoices and subjected
her to much annoyance, while Germany, without provocation, ruthlessly
attacked her merchant ships and sent many of them to the bottom of the
ocean.

There were intimations that Germany's real intent was to precipitate a
rupture which would justify her attack on the little country, which she
would be able to subdue with ease and seize the rugged coast and ports
of vantage. But Norway remained neutral, and was not at all pleased with
the embargo placed upon shipments by the United States, though it
developed that the restrictions would not prevent the country from
getting its share of grain and other supplies from America.

Norway is the western portion of the Scandinavian peninsula, and has an
area of about 125,000 square miles. Its northern coast is washed by the
cold waters of the Arctic Ocean, and against the northeast is Lapland,
while Sweden bounds it on the east and the famed North Sea on the south
and the broad Atlantic on the west.

The rugged country is separated from Sweden by the Kiolen, or the Great
Scandinavian chain of mountains, and in the hills and mountains are
found the wonderful Norway spruce and fir trees familiar in commerce.
Its fisheries and shipbuilding industry are also of great importance in
the world of business.

DEMOCRACY OF NORWAY.

The constitution of Norway is one of the most Democratic in all Europe.
Although a monarchy, its executive and legislative power is vested in
the parliament, called the Storthing, and the King has merely a nominal
command over the army and navy, with power to appoint the
governor-general only. The latter has a limited right to veto acts of
the parliament. Hereditary nobility was abolished in 1821.

Under the treaty of Vienna in 1814, and following the defeat of
Napoleon, it was arranged that Denmark must give up Norway, and the two
countries were united under the Swedish Crown. Norway demanded a
separate consular service in 1905, and the Storthing declared the union
with Sweden at an end. Prince Charles of Denmark then became King,
reigning as Haakon VII.

The country has a population of 2,340,000, and her full military force
mobilized for war is only 110,000 men.

Sweden, Norway's next-door neighbor on the Scandinavian peninsula, in
contradistinction to the latter, is a constitutional monarchy, with
extraordinary powers vested in the King, who is assisted in the
administration of affairs by a council of ministers. The Diet, or
legislature, consists of two chambers, or estates, both elected by the
people.

Like Norway, the country is very rugged. Lapland and Finland are at the
northeast, and on the east is the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic, and on
the south the Baltic, the Sound and the Cattegat. It joins Norway on the
west. Its area is 172,875 square miles, and its coast line is more than
1400 miles long.

Sweden, while it does not have a first-class navy, possesses a score of
armored vessels of small displacement, besides torpedo boats,
destroyers, etc., and has an army of 40,000 at peace strength. The
country is particularly rich in minerals, and some of the finest iron
ore in the world comes from its mines. Nickel, lead, cobalt, alum and
sulphur are also produced in large quantities; while it gives to the
world, too, immense quantities of lumber and larger quantities of hemp,
flax and hops.

The reigning monarch is King Gustavus V, who succeeded his father, Oscar
II, who died in 1907. The population of the country is about 5,000,000.

Of these neutrals, both Holland and Switzerland did a great deal for the
suffering Belgians when Germany pounded through the country of King
Albert, sending money for the relief of the sufferers and offering
refugees shelter.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE ACTIONS OF THE WAR.

FROM BOSNIA TO FLANDERS--MARNE THE TURNING POINT OF THE CONFLICT--THE
CONQUESTS OF SERVIA AND RUMANIA--THE FALL OF BAGDAD--RUSSIA'S WOMEN
SOLDIERS--AMERICA'S CONSCRIPTS.

The end of August, 1917, found twenty-one nations in a state of war and
five in what might be termed a condition of modified neutrality, with
nearly 40,000,000 summoned to arms and 5,000,000 killed in bitter
warfare.

This was the fiery reflection of the shots which caused the death of the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, of Austria, in the quiet little town of
Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia, in June, 1914. And so, with their backs
to the wall, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria faced Servia,
Russia, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Montenegro, Japan, Italy,
Portugal, Rumania, the United States, Cuba, Brazil, Greece, Siam, China
and little Liberia, while Guatemala, Panama, Haiti, Uruguay and Bolivia
stood by in a position of neutrality, but for the most part indicating a
willingness to help the Allies.

And in those elapsed three years after the Bosnia tragedy an Emperor of
Austria had died; a Czar had stepped from his throne, and a King had
been compelled to toss aside his crown. Prime Ministers and Ministers of
War in all of the principal countries, who held the confidence of their
peoples when the war started, were no more.

Cabinets had been dissolved and new ones set up, statesmen brushed aside
and commanders of the war forces compelled to step out that others might
carry on the battles.

Though it was Austria's ultimatum to Servia which precipitated the
world-wide struggle, it was Germany that took the first step and crossed
the French frontier with its armed forces. After Servia refused to
accede to all of the demands of Austria-Hungary and war had formally
been declared by the latter country, Russia began a partial mobilization
of her armed forces, since she had given warning that she would extend
protection to Servia. Germany retaliated by calling together her warring
forces and declaring war on the Czar; France came to Russia's aid. Then
when Belgium refused to permit the German army to pass through the
country and Germany disregarded international treaties and invaded the
territory, Great Britain declared war upon the Kaiser, and Montenegro
aligned itself with the Allies.

GERMANY'S DESIGNS ON PARIS.

Germany's action and subsequent events prove that the war lords had
planned to capture Paris by a swift attack from the north, before France
could gather her forces to resist and before Russia was prepared to
assist. Belgium, however, proved a stumbling block. The natives,
battling like demons for the protection of their homes and honor, held
the Teuton hordes at Liege for several weeks, or until the famous
fortifications there were reduced, and then the terrible machine of the
Germans swept forward until the soldiers were within fifteen miles of
the French capital.

It was here, within a few hours' march of Paris, that the French and
Allied troops showed their real metal. General Joffre met the German
hordes beside the River Marne and with his troops began the battle which
was to guarantee the security of the French capital and result in the
routing of the army of Von Kluck, regarded as the pick of the Prussian
forces. In the famed battle of the Marne there were fought a number of
separate engagements, which have been termed the battles of Meaux,
Sezanne, Vitry and Argonne.

The German forces were driven back step by step to the north bank of the
Aisne, where the army was able to entrench itself and the Germans and
the Allied forces began digging themselves into the ground in a manner
that had never before been practised in warfare.

While Germany was striking at France, the Russians had invaded Austria,
capturing Tarnapol and Lemberg and investing the great fortress of
Prezemsyl. Austria was compelled to call upon Germany for assistance and
four German army corps, under Von Hindenburg, were drawn from East
Prussia and went to the rescue. Instead of trying to stem the progress
of the Russians, he made a counter offensive with Warsaw as the
objective. Russia was compelled for a time to abandon its positions and
retreat, and Von Hindenburg got within seven miles of Warsaw before the
Russians rode down upon his forces with 100,000 horsemen and compelled
retreat. Von Hindenburg's strategy had, however, been successful, and
his action on the Eastern front at this time marked the first step
toward his pre-eminence as a military commander.

BRITISH AND GERMAN FORCES COMPARED.

During 1915 the Allied forces were able to do little more than hold
their positions. Lord Kitchener had builded up a British volunteer army
in which great hopes were placed, but in the matter of offensive
military tactics they could not cope with the formidable German forces,
nor had the Allies developed an offensive which would win without
terrible sacrifice, and in the encounters the very flower of Great
Britain's manhood, as well as thousands of the best fighting men of
France, were lost to the world forever. It was in this year, when
Germany made use of asphyxiating gas for the first time, that Canada
received its most stinging blow. The famous Princess Pats, the finest
military body of the Dominion, was practically annihilated, and in the
final formidable attack of the year made by the French against the
Germans in September, the latter were driven back several miles, but at
a cost of more than 100,000 French lives.

In this year, too, the Germans succeeded in capturing much territory and
a number of valuable positions which had been taken by the Russians, and
the combined forces of Von Hindenburg and Von Mackensen finally
conquered Poland. Warsaw was evacuated in July, and in August Prince
Leopold led the Bavarian into the Polish capital. On August 19 the great
stronghold of Kovno fell, and the conquest was made complete with the
surrender of Brest-Litovsk.

CONQUEST OF SERVIA.

The conquest of Servia by the Teutons also marked the year 1915. Among
the first shots of the war were those fired by the Austrians when they
bombarded Belgrade, the capital of Servia, and made an attempt to invade
the country. The Servians and Montenegrins almost annihilated Austrian
troops which attempted to cross the Danube into Servia, and the Austrian
invasion fell. But the combined Austro-German forces invaded the country
later as part of the Prussian program to conquer all the territory from
the Baltic to the Bosporus. The Entente Allies made an effort to save
the little country by landing troops at Salonica, but it was too late.
Just before winter set in, the Austro-German forces and the Bulgarian
forces, invading from opposite sides, met, and the conquest of the
country was complete.

It was in 1915, too, that what is conceded to have been one of the most
disastrous and futile campaigns of the war was attempted by England.
Constantinople was to be captured and the Turks crushed, with a view of
opening communication with Russia by way of the Black Sea. The British
fleet was sent out to bombard the Dardanelles, and the now famous
Anzacs--Australian and New Zealand troops--were landed on the peninsula
of Gallipoli to strike at the Turkish capital from behind. The campaign
was waged through the summer, but with little hope of success, and
finally abandoned after the British had lost more than 100,000 of its
most daring, hard-fighting and loyal Colonial soldiers.

After this came "Verdun"--that conflict in which France won immortal
glory and the German's attack upon the French fortress town of Verdun
was successfully repulsed. The battle raged for four months, beginning
in February, 1916. The German troops, with the German Crown Prince in
command, captured two forts close to Verdun, but little by little the
French troops drove them back, and finally, in command of General
Nivelle, with General Petain looking after the defense of Verdun, the
French, co-operating with the British, made an attack on the Somme, and
the Germans were compelled to abandon the Verdun offensive. In the
Verdun campaign the Germans lost more than 500,000 men, while the French
lost not half the number.

RUSSIA'S CONQUEST OF ARMENIA.

Russia's conquest of Armenia was one of the features of 1916. The troops
under General Brussiloff renewed their endeavors in Galicia and for
several months made great progress; then Rumania entered the war and the
Russian forces in Galicia slowed down. In Caucasus, however, Russian
troops gained Erzerum, one of the Turk fortresses, and captured the
seaport of Trebizond, practically gaining Armenia. Like the Germans in
retreat from Flanders, the Turks practiced unspeakable horrors. Their
cruelties were such as to almost exterminate the race.

The tragedy of the Balkans in 1916 was Rumania. With an army of more
than half a million men, she entered the war with the approval of the
Entente and entered Transylvania. But the Germans began a counter-attack
in Dobrudja, and the Rumanians were compelled to withdraw some of their
forces from Transylvania. The German commander then threw his forces
across the remaining Rumanians and drove them across the border, after
which he swung his own troops through the mountain passes into Rumania.
The two German forces invading Rumania met at Bucharest, and the
Rumanian capital was occupied.

Another fiasco was that of the British expeditionary force which was
sent from India by way of the Persian Gulf and up the Tigris river to
Bagdad. General Townsend succeeded in getting within 15 miles of Bagdad,
but he was defeated by a superior Turkish force and compelled to fall
back to Kut-el-Amara. Here his inadequate force, lacking medical and
transport facilities, was fairly starved out before he was relieved. He
was finally compelled to surrender the last week in April, 1916.

Little more than a year after the collapse of this expedition, however,
the famous old city of Bagdad was captured by the English after a
well-directed campaign under General Maude.

ITALY'S HELP TO THE ALLIES.

Italy, having begun active warfare with the Allies in 1915, waged war
along the Austrian border, compelling the Austro-German forces to
concentrate a larger body of troops for duty on the Italian frontier,
and to that extent materially assisted the Allies. At the same time the
Italians fought their way up over the mountains and won more than 500
square miles of territory and took nearly 90,000 prisoners.

The final alignment of the Greeks with the Allies marked the progress of
affairs in the middle of 1917, when Constantine was forced from his
throne in favor of his second son, and Venizelos was returned as
Premier. But the entrance of the Greeks did not materially alter the
situation.

The two most important events of 1917 were the entrance of America into
the conflict and the revolt in Russia, which caused the abdication of
the Czar and turned the great country into a republic. The ultimate in
Russia's history is still to be written, but the change was fraught with
disaster. The people let free, and unaccustomed to self-government,
could not be controlled, and the army became demoralized.

The element which had been loyal to the Romanoffs refused to fight for
liberty, and the Germans, taking advantage of the situation, drove the
Russian troops back over the frontiers and gained all that the Russians
had once taken in conflict. And out of this grew one of the most
picturesque incidents of the entire war. Russian women and girls, filled
with ideals and with a deep sense of the responsibilities which rested
upon the nation, formed a corps, and, dressed in full military costume,
went to the front and attacked the German troops. No soldiers of any
nation have shown more heroism, or more capability, for the women faced
the bullets, and, while they were being mowed down by the German guns,
they urged their men to face the enemy and fight--fight--fight.

BRITISH NAVY AN EFFECTIVE ASSET.

While there have been few of the picturesque battles on the seas, which
the world has long regarded as a necessary adjunct to a successful war,
the work of the British Navy has proved through the period of the
conflict to be one of the most powerful and effective assets of the
Allied forces. Through the operation of the British fleet, later
augmented by an American war fleet, the German ships have been corked up
in their home ports and chased from the seas.

The first naval battle of the war was an engagement between portions of
the British squadron in the Pacific and a superior German force. The
engagement occurred off the coast of Chili in November, 1915. Two
British vessels were lost and a third badly damaged. However, a few
months later, the German squadron, in command of Admiral von Spee, was
met off the Falkland Islands by a second British squadron, and in the
engagement four of the German vessels were sunk and a fifth damaged.
This vessel was later sunk.

The most important naval engagement was the battle of Jutland in May,
1916, when Admiral Beatty met a German fleet in the North Sea. The
German boats made a dash from the Kiel canal and engaged the British off
the coast of Denmark. Both England and Germany claimed victory, the
former declaring that Germany lost eighteen ships, while the German
Government claimed that the British lost fifteen vessels. Berlin
admitted a loss of 60,720 tons and 3966 men, while England conceded a
loss of more than 114,000 tons and 5613 men. But the English fleet which
engaged the German fighting ships was but a small portion of the force
on guard outside of Helgoland and the Kiel Canal, and the effect was to
keep the German navy from venturing forth again.

These are the main events which had punctuated the action of the world's
fighting machines at the close of August, 1917, when America was
preparing to thwart the German U-boats in their destruction of the
world's shipping, and had under actual call to arms more than 1,000,000
men, a minor part of which had been safely landed in France.

WORLD'S AWFUL MARITIME LOSS.

In the three months prior to August the German underseas boats had sunk
464 vessels, or an average of 426,000 tons of shipping a month, while
America, working with her fleets in conjunction with the British Navy to
foil the submarine in its endeavors, was also building more than 12,000
cargo-carrying craft and submarine chasers with which to flood the
traffic lanes of the sea.

Likewise, contracts had been awarded for 10,000 flying machines with
which to drive the "eyes of the German army," as the air machines are
called, from the heavens. Finally, as the Allies in the closing days of
August were driving the German hordes back under avalanches of shells,
629,000 of the youth of America, called to fight under the conscript
act, were preparing to move to camps in a dozen different sections of
the country to train themselves for invading foreign countries and
facing the brutal Teutons. Likewise, some 20,000 picked men were
training to officer these civilian forces, and half a million men of the
National Guards of the various States, formally mustered into the
service of the country, were moving by orders of the Government to
points whence they would find their way to the side of the loyal French
soldiers and the sturdy English, Scotch, Canadian, Australian and virile
Italian fighters.

The records of three years show that the American ambulance drivers;
daring thousands of our countrymen who fought with the French and
English because they believed the war was a just one, and without
compulsion; scores of Red Cross nurses, and aviators who hunted the
Teutons in the air, all Americans, have had their names written high in
the roster of heroes. Americans have always been pioneers and history
makers, and they are making history now.

With the approach of cold weather, and following months of intensive
training under the direction of French and English soldiers, the
American expeditionary forces began actual participation in the great
world war as a unit. Previously their achievements were principally in
connection with the French aviation corps and ambulance sections.

SINKING OF FIRST AMERICAN WAR BOAT.

The first untoward incident involving America's forces on land or sea
was the sinking of the transport Antilles on October 27, 1917, by a
German submarine, when 67 men--officers, seamen and soldiers--were lost.
The vessel was returning from a French port after having landed troops
and supplies. This was the first loss sustained by the United States,
and the event brought home the seriousness of the country's
participation in the war as no previous event had done.

Almost immediately following this the world awoke one morning to learn
that silently and unheralded the American soldiers had marched from
their quarters in a French village to the "front" and in a slough of mud
had entered the trenches, and for the first time in history United
States troops launched shells against the forces of Germany.

The initial shot was fired by artillerists at the break of day on
October 24, and America was formally made an active agent in the horrors
of warfare on "No Man's Land." Ten days later the brave Americans,
occupying a position in the trenches for instruction, early on the
morning of Saturday, November 3, received their baptism of fire, and in
the cause of Democracy 3 soldiers were killed, 5 wounded and 12 captured
by the Boche forces.

Cut off from the main line of the Allied forces, the Americans were
stormed under the protection of a heavy barrage fire by a German raiding
party and engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter. The 20
Americans, with several French instructors, according to official
report, were pitted against 210 picked Germans. A rain of shells from
Boche guns was laid back of the American section so that there was no
retreat. The lieutenant in command made a heroic attempt to reach the
main fighting line, but was caught in the barrage fire and rendered
unconscious from shell-shock.

Previously American scouts had captured a German prisoner--a mail
runner; Lieutenant de Vere H. Harden, of the Signal Corps had been
wounded by a bursting German shell, and a German gunner was reported
killed by an American sharpshooter, as opening incidents of the
skirmish.

And so at the beginning of November, 1917, with the whole United States
giving support to the Government in subscribing upwards of five billions
of dollars to the second Liberty Loan, and all forces working to
conserve food, furnish men, ships, ammunition, clothing and supplies to
her own troops and to her Allies, the world found America true to
traditions, battling for the right and giving her best that liberty
might endure and the burden of Prussianism be lifted from humanity.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

AMERICAN FORCES BECOME FACTOR.

UNITED STATES SOLDIERS INSPIRED ALLIED TROOPS--RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT
COLLAPSES--ITALIAN ARMY FAILS--ALLIED WAR COUNCIL FORMED--FOCH COMMANDS
ALLIED ARMIES--PERSHING OFFERS AMERICAN TROOPS--UNDER FIRE--U-BOAT BASES
RAIDED BY BRITISH.

The influence exerted by the actual presence of the American troops on
the western front was soon apparent. The spirits of the English, French
and Canadian troops were raised and the presence of the Americans was
heralded to the world as an evidence of complete unity on the part of
the Allies that meant ultimate death to Kaiserism.

The advent of Uncle Sam's fighting men on the firing line had, however,
one serious effect, viewed from the Allied standpoint. Germany realized
that every day she delayed in making attack meant the strengthening of
the Allied forces by the arrival of additional United States troops, and
it was seen by the English and French leaders that the Kaiser would make
an early drive to annihilate, if possible, the stubbornly resisting,
though somewhat tired and weakened, lines opposing his brutal soldiery.
Not for months, therefore, was it permitted the world to know anything
about the numerical strength of the American troops sent into France.

Simultaneously with the action of American troops in entering the
resisting line of Allied troops on the western front the Austro-German
troops had swept into the Italian plains, capturing 100,000 prisoners
and upward of 1,000 guns, taking several towns and compelling the
retreat of the Second and Third Italian armies. The Italian forces were
opposed by four times their number, but it was also said that the unity
of the Italian forces was broken by the spreading of German propaganda.

The failure of some of the troops was shown in an official dispatch from
Rome, in which it was stated:

"The failure to resist on the part of some units forming our second
army, which in cowardice retired without fighting or surrendered to the
enemy, allowed the Austro-German forces to break into our left wing on
the Julian front. The valiant efforts of other troops did not enable
them to prevent the enemy from advancing into the sacred soil of our
fatherland. We now are withdrawing our line according to the plan
prepared. All stores and depots in the evacuated places were destroyed."

ITALIAN HEADQUARTERS CAPTURED.

These troops were compelled to fall back along a front almost 125 miles
long and Undine, the Italian headquarters, was captured. Germany had
found the weakest spot in the Italian line and occupied about 1,000
square miles of territory before General Cadorna's forces were able to
establish a line of strong defense.

The retirement of the Italian troops was one of the most picturesque in
the history of the war, and Germany made her gains at terrible cost.

The retirement was accompanied by shielding operations of the rear
guard, which poured a deadly fire into the advancing columns and at the
same time destroyed powder depots, arsenals and bridges with the double
purpose of giving time for the withdrawal of the Italian heavy guns and
of preventing military stores falling into the hands of the enemy.

The Germans encountered stubborn resistance on the Bainsizza plateau,
and heaps of enemy dead marked the lines of their advance. Around Globo
ridge a bersaglieri brigade, outnumbered five to one, held back the
enemy while the main line had an opportunity to get its retreat in
motion. In one of the mountain passes a small village commanding the
pass was taken and retaken eight times during desperate artillery,
infantry and hand-to-hand fighting.

Before the Italians were able to establish a line of resistance they
were compelled to fall back to the Piave, and at some points to a much
greater distance. Meantime the Allies rushed assistance to the retiring
forces, and while the collapse of Cadorna's line was unfortunate, it had
the effect of making it more obvious that there should be more unity of
operation between the Allied forces.

Russia's republic, under the leadership of Premier Kerensky, collapsing
at the same moment, intensified the seriousness of the Allied situation,
and largely at the suggestion of America an Inter-Allied War Council was
formed.

REVOLT IN PETROGRAD.

Premier Kerensky called upon the United States to help Russia bear the
burdens of conflict until the forces could be reorganized by the new
government. Almost immediately there was revolt in Petrograd, and the
radicals under the leadership of Leon Trotsky, president of the
Executive Committee of the Petrograd Council of Soldiers' and Workmen's
Delegates, seized the telegraph wires, the State bank and Marie Palace,
where the preliminary parliament had suspended proceedings in view of
the situation.

The Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates assumed control of the City of
Petrograd and Kerensky was compelled to flee. The Winter Palace was
bombarded. A General Council of the Soldiers' and Workmen's Delegates
announced the taking over of government authority:

"We plan to offer an immediate armistice of three months, during which
elected representatives from all nations and not the diplomats are to
settle the questions of peace," said Nikolai Lenine, the Maximalist
leader, in a speech before the Workmen's and Soldiers' Congress today.

"We offer these terms," M. Lenine added, "but we are willing to
consider any proposals for peace, no matter from which side. We offer a
just peace, but will not accept unjust terms."

Meantime General Cadorna was relieved of command of the Italian armies
and General Diaz put at the head of the Italian forces, while General
Foch, chief of staff of the French War Ministry, and General Wilson,
sub-chief of the British Staff, were made members of an Inter-Allied
Military Committee serving with General Cadorna to straighten out the
Italian situation. This was the first step looking to the unifying of
the Allied forces which was brought about shortly thereafter by the
formation of the Inter-Allied War Council at Versailles. It was chiefly
at the suggestion of President Wilson that the War Council was called,
the President issuing a stirring appeal in which he pointed out the
necessity of unity of control, if the resources of the United States
were to be of the greatest value to the Allied interests.

SUPREME WAR COUNCIL.

The Supreme War Council, which was made a permanent body, was composed
of the Prime Minister and a member of the Government of each of the
Great Powers whose armies were fighting at the front. Each Power
delegated to the Supreme Council a permanent military representative
whose function was to act as adviser to the Council. As the result of
the deliberations of the War Council, and following the suggestion of
General Pershing, General Foch was made Commander-in-Chief of the Allied
Armies. General Foch was Commander of the French troops at Verdun and a
recognized authority on military strategy.

While the problem of solving the military phases of the situation was
being considered by the Allied War Council the Russian forces under
Kerensky and those under Trotzky, known as the Bolsheviki, clashed again
and again at Petrograd, Moscow and other points, and the hope of the
Allies as to any help from Russia sank. Germany entered into a peace
compact with Ukrainia, and the hand of the Kaiser was seen in the
Russian situation when officers of the German Army were reported in
Petrograd in conference with the representatives of the various Russian
factions. Russia suggested a separate armistice, or a separate peace,
against which both the U.S. and France protested.

The failure of the Russian Government to assume any degree of stability
made it possible for the Germans to withdraw many troops and transfer
them to the Italian and Western Fronts.

One result of the Allied War Council deliberations was to show the
necessity of rapid action on the part of the United States and get
troops into France so that they might take over a definite sector. While
it was estimated that several hundred thousand Americans were in France,
the necessity for a larger force was made apparent by the statement that
90 reserves are required for every 400 fighters on the line.

DROPPED THEIR TOOLS FOR RIFLES.

The first bitter attack in which American troops figured was when a
company of United States engineers, caught between cross-fires, dropped
their tools for rifles and joined the English troops in helping to
repulse the Germans near Cambrai.

A notable event in the progress of the war was the declaration of war
upon Austria by the U.S. on Dec. 8, 1917, Congress adopting a resolution
of war with but one dissenting vote.

Events which brought the seriousness of the war home to America began at
this point to occur rapidly. First the Torpedo Boat Destroyer Jacob
Jones was sunk in the war zone when nearly 30 men were reported lost.
This was followed shortly by a report to the War Department that 17
Americans caught in the cross-fire by the Germans at Cambrai were
missing or killed. The report of the sinking of the Alcedo, a patrol
boat, with the loss of several officers, was also received, as was that
of the sinking of the U.S. Destroyer "Chauncey" rammed in a collision,
when two officers and eighteen men were lost.

One of the high spots of the war and one of the notable events in the
history of the world, was the surrender of the City of Jerusalem to the
British on Saturday, December 8, 1917. Gen. Allenby entered the famed
city and established his troops on the ancient Jerico Road.

The capture of Jerusalem by the British forces marked the end, with two
brief interludes, of more than 1200 years' possession of the seat of the
Christian religion by the Mohammedans. For 673 years the Holy City had
been in disputed ownership of the Turks, the last Christian ruler of
Jerusalem being the German Emperor, Frederick, whose short-lived
domination lasted from 1229 to 1244.

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM.

Apart from its connection with the campaign being waged against Turkey
by the British in Mesopotamia, the fall of Jerusalem marked the definite
collapse of the long-protracted efforts of the Turks to capture the Suez
Canal and invade Egypt. Almost the first move made by Turkey after her
entrance into the war was a campaign against Egypt across the great
desert of the Sinai Peninsula. In November, 1914, a Turkish army,
variously estimated at from 75,000 to 250,000 men, marched on the Suez
Canal and succeeded in reaching within striking distance of the great
artificial waterway at several points. For several months bitter
fighting took place, the canal being defended by an Anglo-Egyptian army
aided by Australians and New Zealanders and French and British forces.

For the greater part of 1915 conflicting reports of the situation were
received from the belligerents, but in December of that year definite
information showed that the Turks had been driven back as far as El
Arish, about eighty-five miles east of the canal. A lull occurred then
which lasted for six months, and in June, 1916, the Turks again advanced
as far at Katieh, about fifteen miles east of the canal. Here they were
decisively defeated, losing more than 3000 prisoners and a great
quantity of equipment.

Another period followed in which the situation was greatly confused
through the vagueness and contradictory character of the official
statements, but in December, 1916, the British stormed El Arish and a
few days later severely defeated the Turks at Maghdabah, about sixty
miles to the south on the same front. Two weeks later the invaders had
been driven out of Egypt and the British forces crossed the border into
Palestine. On March 7 they captured El Khulil, southeast of Gaza.

By November 22 the British had pushed within five miles of Jerusalem, on
the northwest, and on December 7 General Allenby announced that he had
taken Hebron. Jerusalem thus was virtually cut off on all sides but the
east.

HISTORICAL INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS.

In sentimental and romantic aspect the capture of Jerusalem far exceeds
even the fall of fable-crowned Bagdad. The modern City of Jerusalem
contains about 60,000 inhabitants, and is the home of pestilence, filth
and fevers, but in historic interest it naturally surpasses, to the
Christian world, all other places in the world. Since the days when
David wrested it from the hands of the Jebusites to make it the capital
of the Jewish race Jerusalem has been the prize and prey of half the
races of the world. It has passed successively into the hands of the
Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Turks, the
Crusaders, finally to fall before the descendants of that Richard the
Lion-hearted who strove in vain for its possession more than 700 years
ago.

Early in January, 1918, evidence was forthcoming that Germany was
preparing to make a final drive on the Western Front to break through
and capture some English and French channel ports before America could
be of any great assistance to the Allied forces. As a result Great
Britain determined to call 500,000 more men to hold the Huns, and
Premier Lloyd George issued a stirring appeal to Labor affected by the
Manpower Bill, which provided for the increase taken largely from the
labor forces.

The German intent to launch an offensive was indicated by the withdrawal
of German lines north of Italy when important defensive positions were
abandoned, and dummy soldiers were left in trench to conceal movement to
the rear. Warnings of a great submarine offensive on American boatlines
to France, to be joined with a big drive on land, were received by
Secretary of War Baker, and on February 2, the American troops occupying
a sector of the Lorraine front in France faced the first big bombardment
in what was preliminary to the most bitter drive Germany had attempted
in four years of warfare.

SINKING OF THE TUSCANIA.

True to their promise the German submarines started their portion of the
offensive and sunk the U.S. troopship "Tuscania" a few days later off
the coast of Ireland. The liner carried 2,179 U.S. troops of various
divisions besides a crew of 200. The total number of persons lost was
113. The troops included engineers, members of the aero-squadron, and
regulars.

The Tuscania was the first troopship to be sunk en route to France,
though the Antilles was sunk in October, 1917. This boat, however, it
must be noted, was returning from France. At this time 70 lives were
lost. The comparatively small loss of life on the "Tuscania" was
accepted as evidence of the efficient training and bravery of American
troops under all conditions.

The Tuscania was torpedoed when entering what until that time were
considered comparatively safe waters. The ships were within sight of
land, which was just distinguishable in the dusk of evening when the
torpedo hit the Tuscania amidships. This was at about 7 o'clock.

When the crash came the khaki-clad young heroes of the American army
lined up as though on parade, and sang the "Star Spangled Banner" at the
top of their voices as the Tuscania sank by inches under them. Across
from them their British cousins of the crew came back with the echoing
"God Save the King," which too cool-headed exponents of what occurred in
a crisis of a sea disaster say accounts for the fact the Germans took
only a toll of 113 lives out of the 2,397 souls on board the Cunarder
when she met her fate.

AMERICAN COURAGE PRAISED.

If the singing man is a fighting man, he also is hopeful, and in the
combination of fight and hope there came the baffling of the German
attempt to reduce the American war forces by almost a full regiment.
Taking stock after the disaster, the officers of both the army and navy
praised the courage of the Americans as the chief reason for the saving
of more than 90 per cent of the men on board.

No submarine was seen until the torpedo struck the Tuscania fairly
amidships. A moment later another torpedo passed astern of the vessel.
There was a terrific explosion, and it is believed most of the
casualties were caused by this and by subsequent difficulties in
lowering the boats.

The vessel immediately took a heavy list and the men were called to
their lifeboat stations, but the list prevented the boats from being
properly lowered, some of the upper-deck boats falling to the lower
deck. Many of the men jumped into the water, and the difficulty in
lowering the boats was responsible for many casualties.

The survivors of the Tuscania landed at points in Ireland were received
with great honor in the various communities, and great tribute was paid
to the surviving soldiers by the Mayor of Dublin.

The American troops on the Tuscania were part of the forces being
hurried to France to hold the Germans in check, and at the time American
troops were holding a sector with the French in Lorraine, northwest of
Toul, while American artillery were supporting the French in Champagne.
The date set for the big German drive was announced as January 28, and
the fact that Germany made an open proclamation of the fact that they
proposed to wage offensive warfare was somewhat puzzling to the minds of
those studying the situation. Making her position more impregnable,
Germany halted her armies in Russia upon the acceptance of peace terms
by the Russian delegation at Brest-Litovsk, which were concluded on
March 1, 1918, and daily the activities of the German forces on the
Western Front grew in intensity. On March 6, in anticipation of the
drive, it was for the first time publicly stated that 81,000 troops of
American soldiers were holding an eight mile line on the Lorraine front,
with three full divisions in the trenches. The gathering together of
this force and other American troops in France drew Secretary of War
Baker to the scene of activities. He was the first American Cabinet
officer to cross the ocean after America entered the war.

SEIZURE OF ALL DUTCH VESSELS.

Holland having proved herself unwilling to come to a satisfactory
agreement at this time on the British-American demand regarding the use
of ships, President Wilson ordered the seizure of all Dutch vessels
within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States; the Allies
ordered a similar seizure abroad. The President's proclamation
authorized the navy to take over the vessels to be equipped and operated
by the Navy Department and the Shipping Board. A total of 77 ships were
added to the American Merchant Marine.

Holland's failure to act was on the propositions that the United States
and the Allies should facilitate the importation into Holland of
foodstuffs, and other commodities required to maintain her economic
life, and that Holland should restore her Merchant Marine to a normal
condition of activity.

On March 21 the greatest German offensive of the war actually began on a
front 50 miles long, running west and southwest of Cambrai. The
preliminary German bombardment covered a front from the River Serre
below St. Quentin, and the River Scarpe east of Arras.

FIERCEST BATTLE IN WORLD'S HISTORY.

Field Marshal Haig's report from British headquarters in France
described the German offensive as comprising an intense bombardment by
the artillery and a powerful infantry attack on a front of more than
fifty miles. Some of the British positions were penetrated, but the
German losses were exceptionally heavy.

It was reported at the end of the first day that the fiercest battle of
the world's history was in progress, and that 80,000 Germans were lost
in battle; while Berlin reported the capture of 16,000 Allied prisoners
and 200 guns.

The Associated Press correspondent reported that at least forty
divisions of German soldiers were identified as actively participating
in the attack. No such concentration of artillery had been seen since
the war began. The enemy had 1,000 guns in one small sector--one for
every twelve yards. The Germans in many sections attacked in three waves
of infantry, followed up by shock troops. As a result they suffered very
heavy casualties.

The German massed artillery was badly hammered by the British guns.

In the first stage of their offensive the Germans failed badly in the
execution of their program, as was attested by captured documents
showing what they planned to do in the early hours of their offensive.

By March 24 the attacks of the Germans had been redoubled, and it was
estimated that more than 1,000,000 Huns had been thrown into the
struggle against the British forces on which the attack was
concentrated.

The most notable feature of the attack from the spectacular viewpoint
was the bombardment of Paris by monster German cannon, located in the
forest of St. Gobain, west of Laon, and approximately 76 miles away from
Paris.

BIG GUN ONE HUNDRED FEET LONG.

Though no official description of the big gun was ever given, it was
stated by military authorities that it was approximately 100 feet in
length, and that several were in use, and more being built by the
Germans. At first the statement that a gun could shoot such a distance
was doubted, but when 75 persons were killed in Paris and one of the
shells hit a church doubt no longer existed. It also developed that the
gun was originally an American invention, and that similar weapons were
being built by the United States.

The use of the big gun was in the nature of a "side-issue" to bring
terror to the French, and in line with the policy of frightfulness
instituted by the German militarists. Its use was continued daily.
Meantime the German hordes swept on marching in close formation into the
very mouths of the rapid-fire guns and against the strongly fixed
British lines.

For ten days the hostilities continued, without cessation, with fighting
along a whole front such as had never been known before.

The Germans continued to hurl great forces of infantry into the
conflict, depending largely on weight of numbers to overcome the
increasing opposition offered by the heroically resisting British.

The battle on the historic ground about Longueval was perhaps the most
spectacular of any along the front. It was a battle of machine gunners
and infantry. The Germans were pursuing their tactics of working forward
in massed formation, and the British rapid-firers' squads and riflemen
reaped a horrid harvest from their positions on the high ground.
Notwithstanding their terrible losses, the Germans kept coming on,
filling in the places of those who had fallen and pressing their attack.
The British artillery in the meantime poured in a perfect rain of shells
on the enemy, carrying havoc into their ranks. In this section the
Germans operated without the full support of their guns, because of
their rapid advance.

ENEMY LOSES HEAVILY.

A fierce engagement was also waged about Le Verguier, which the Germans
captured, but not until the British infantry holding the place had
fought to the last man and inflicted extremely heavy losses on the
enemy. The British again fell back, this time to a line through
Hervilly, just east of Roisel and Vermand.

The work of the British airmen during the battle was one of the
brightest pages. Bitter battles in the air were fought by scores of
aviators and the service proved fully its ability to smother the German
airmen at a crucial time.

Within a few days it was stated that at least 130 German airplanes were
brought down. This compilation of losses has reference to only one
section of the battle front, comprising perhaps two-thirds of the line
affected.

An official statement regarding British aerial operations said their
airplanes were employed in bombing the enemy's troops and transport
massed in the areas behind the battlefront, and in attacking them with
machine-gun fire from low heights. Twenty-two tons of bombs were dropped
in this work, and more than 100,000 rounds were fired from the machine
guns.

By March 28 the German losses were estimated at 400,000. The forces of
the Germans were almost overwhelming, the Kaiser sacrificing the
manpower of his nation in a last desperate attack.

In consequence no greater stories of heroism have ever been told than
are related of the English, French and American troops. The Germans were
set for a drive against the English and French channel points with
Amiens as an objective, with the idea of breaking through the British
lines where they join the French.

AMERICAN FORCES OFFERED TO FRANCE.

The earnestness of the Americans in the situation was proclaimed to the
world by the English and French, and General Pershing placed his name
and that of his country and men high on the wall of fame by unselfishly
offering to France at the most critical period the use of his entire
force, to be disposed of and assigned wherever General Foch and his
staff decided to use them. Within a few days thereafter the American
troops which had been in training were marched in to relieve the
stressed English and French.

Everywhere the raging battle was marked by spectacular features not the
least of which were provided by a corps of thirty tanks, which waded
into the German hordes near Ephey and other points, recovering positions
which had been lost by the British.

Canadian armored motorcars also played an important part in checking the
Huns, the cars armed with rapid-fire guns being rushed up to support
weakening troops.

The progress of the Germans was halted on April 3, and in the following
days the British regained several lost positions and the French made
gains. But after a pause, during which several hundred thousand new
troops were brought in, the Huns renewed the offensive, delivering an
attack against the French near Montdidier on a front about 15 miles
long. An attack along a front of similar length was made against the
British on the Somme.

The first battalion of American troops answering to the call of the
French for support reached the British front-line in France, on April
10, on the very anniversary of the entrance of the United States into
the war, and within a few days the Americans began to bear the brunt of
battle, holding the Germans like veterans.

The first big attack of the Germans launched directly against an
American line occurred on April 30, in the vicinity of Villers-Bretonneaux,
below the Somme, where the Huns were repulsed with heavy losses. The German
preliminary bombardment lasted two hours and then the infantry rushed
forward, only to be driven back, leaving large numbers of dead on the
ground in front of the American lines.

AMERICANS BOMBARDED.

The German bombardment opened at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and was
directed especially against the Americans, who were supported on the
north and south by the French. The fire was intense and at the end of
two hours the German commander sent forward three battalions of
infantry. There was hand-to-hand fighting all along the line, as a
result of which the enemy was thrust back, his dead and wounded lying on
the ground in all directions. Five prisoners remained in American hands.

"Tell them back home that we are just beginning," said an American lad
who was in the thick of the fight and severely wounded with shrapnel.
"It was fine to see our men go at the Huns. All of us, who thought
baseball was the great American game, have changed our minds. There is
only one game to keep the American flag flying--that is, kill the Huns.
I got several before they got me."

Details of the engagement show the Americans stuck to their guns while
the Germans were placing liquid fire, gas and almost every other
conceivable device of frightfulness on them. One of them, who lay
wounded in an American hospital, had kept his machine gun going after
the chief gunners had been killed two feet away and he himself had been
wounded, thus protecting a turn in the road known as Dead Man's curve,
over which some of the American couriers passed in the face of a
concentrated enemy fire.

As indicating the violence of the offensive, French ambulance men who
went through the famous battle of Verdun declared today that,
comparatively speaking, the German artillery fire against the Americans
was heavier than in any single engagement on the Verdun front at any
time.

The German barrage began just before sunrise. In an attempt to put the
American batteries out of action the Germans used an unusually large
number of gas shells, but the American artillery replied vigorously,
hurling hundreds of shells across the Teuton lines. Though successful in
resisting the German attack, the Americans lost 183 men captured by the
Huns, according to the British report.

Nothing in the history of naval warfare is more picturesque than the
story of the raid made by English ships on the German submarine bases at
Ostend and Zeebrugge, on the Belgian coast, on April 22. Obsolete
cruisers filled with concrete were run aground and blown up in the
harbors. An old submarine filled with explosives was used to blow up the
piling beside the Mole at Zeebrugge.

One German destroyer was torpedoed, and the British lost a destroyer,
two coastal motorboats and two launches.

A fortnight later the old cruiser Vindictive was taken into the
submarine base at Ostend and sent to the bottom, blocking the channel,
making the attack thoroughly effective.

CHAPTER XXIX.

AMERICANS TURN WAR'S TIDE

BRILLIANT AMERICAN FIGHTING STOPS HUN ADVANCE--FRENCH AND BRITISH
INSPIRED--FAMOUS MARINES LEAD IN PICTURESQUE ATTACK--HALT GERMANS AT
CHATEAU-THIERRY--USED OPEN STYLE FIGHTING--THOUSANDS OF GERMANS
SLAIN--UNITED STATES TROOPS IN SIBERIA--NEW CONSCRIPTION BILL
PASSED--ALLIED SUCCESSES ON ALL FRONTS.

All history contains no greater story of bravery and heroism than that
which echoed around the world concerning the exploits of the American
soldiery in France as the war entered its fifth year.

Casting aside all precedent, ignoring the practices which had been
developed by the English, French and German commands during four years
of stubborn fighting, a little force of Americans--barely a handful, led
by the picturesque Marines--brought the Huns to a standstill in their
drive upon Paris and turned the tide of war.

Once again history repeated itself, for the Germans were turned back at
the beautiful river Marne, where the brave Americans and heroic French
smashed their lines. The spectacular event in which the Americans
participated was a mere incident of the great conflict raging across
France, but the story must ever be one of the outstanding features of
the war because of the effect it produced upon the whole situation.

In the struggle against the Huns the Belgian army had been reduced to
its lowest ebb; the manpower of France and England had been sapped by
constant call for reserves, and the Allied forces, while resisting and
fighting heroically, were without reserves to draw upon to effect a
decisive blow when the opportunity presented.

The German hordes had swept forward with hammer-like blows toward Paris
in what was a continuation of the giant offensive started in March. The
second movement was launched under the personal command of the German
Crown Prince on May 27, and was directed against four divisions of the
British troops and the Sixth French Army. Concentration was on a front
stretching from Soissons to Rheims, a distance of about 30 miles.

The Huns were driving on the entire front, but the Crown Prince with
crack troops was to have the honor for which he had long been
striving--that of crossing the famous Marne and taking Paris. His troops
had reached the river between Dormans and Chateau-Thierry at the very
spot where the Third German Army had swept across the stream on August
25, 1914. Paris was less than 50 miles away.

Here and there at other points the Germans had been held by the French
and English, but as part of the strategy of the French command the enemy
had been permitted to advance at this point through lines which would
cost him a terrible toll of lives. The French meantime were
concentrating on the enemy's flank with the hope of breaking through and
pocketing part of the Crown Prince's advancing forces.

Whatever the intent, the Germans were resisting the efforts to stop
them. The question was, where would the advance end? The answer was
furnished by America.

The enemy had attempted to broaden his Marne salient and had stretched
as far south as Chateau-Thierry. It is supposed his purpose was to
compel General Foch to meet shock with shock by throwing in his reserve
forces, since the German advance had then almost reached shelling
distance of Paris.

But the German command had not taken the Americans into their
calculations, for here the Prussians met Uncle Sam's fighting men and
their French supports and were smashed and thrown back.

Fighting in their own way, in the open, against superior forces, the
Marines and troops of the National American Army fought their way to
victory, routing the enemy and wresting from them positions absolutely
necessary to their further advance.

Immense forces of Germans had been thrown into the fray when the
American division, to which the Marines were attached, was ordered into
the breach. The bulk of the forces, called to help halt the Huns, were
hours away from the fighting front and were being brought up for the
purpose of holding a secondary position where they would take up the
fighting when the French fell back.

They had captured Cantigny after elaborate preparations under the
direction of the French, but here there were no preparations. The
American commanders wanted to attack the advancing enemy. The Allied
leaders doubted the ability of the Americans to stop the Boche in open
combat.

The American commanders pleaded to make war in their own way. Doubting,
yet hopeful, the Allied commanders gave consent. The Americans were
moved into position. There was no time for rest and they came forward
under forced draft, so to speak. Infantry, machine gun companies and
artillery swung into position and faced the enemy which aimed a blow at
the line where it was supported by the French on the left.

The Boche hordes swarmed across fields. The American gunners raked them
with hell's fire. The reputation of the Americans as sharpshooters and
marksmen was sustained. Under the most stressful circumstances and while
the French observers stood amazed, the Americans took careful aim and
shot as though at rifle practice. Every possible shot was made to tell.

The Germans wavered, then halted under the withering fire of machine
guns and rifle. On again they came, only to again be repulsed. The
ground was strewn with their dead and wounded. Then they began to break
and to crawl back to safer positions.

The enemy had been stopped but not driven. They had fallen back to
strong positions, the names of which must go down in history as scenes
of terrific fighting--Bouresches and Bois de Belleau--the latter a
wooded, rocky parcel of land on which German machine guns were
hidden--hundreds of them--while more than a thousand of the enemy's best
men were concealed in the thicket and underbrush and in the rocky
fissures.

The Americans drove into the wood and charged the stronghold. Sacrifice!
Yes, hundreds of brave young Americans died fighting, but not in vain.
American artillery swept the woods; little companies of men charged the
enemy machine-gun nests, silencing the guns and killing the operators or
taking them prisoners. There was no going forward in mass formation
under barrage or protecting curtain of fire, but out in the open the
Marines and infantrymen rushed on facing terrific fire.

Bois de Belleau was cleared of the Boche. Bouresches fell to the
Americans. The capture of the town was a repetition of the taking of the
first position. Machine guns protected the town everywhere. In cellar
windows, doorways and on roofs the Germans had set up their weapons. But
it was the old story--no hail of shot could stop the Americans. Almost
without sleep, unable to bring up supplies, the Americans had fought
four days with only canned foodstuffs to sustain them.

Stories of the fights are reminiscent of those in which American troops
engaged the Indians on the plains in the frontier days. Indeed American
Indians--children of the famous old Sioux and Chippewa tribes of Red
Men--acted as scouts for Uncle Sam in many of his troops' activities in
France, and the methods of the old Indian fighters proved too much for
the Germans.

It is estimated that 7000 were killed or wounded by the Americans in
this action, and that their prisoners numbered more than 1000. How
privates took command of squads and continued to outbattle the enemy
when officers were killed; how lone Americans or small groups of them
captured squads of Huns or annihilated them, are common stories of
heroism written into the official war records of the American
Expeditionary Forces in France, and sealed by medals of honor presented
to young Americans or confirmed by official words of commendation.

Let the words of General Pershing in an official order to his troops on
August 27, stand as part of the record:

"It fills me with pride to record in General Orders a tribute to the
service achievements of the First and Third Corps, comprising the First,
Second, Third, Fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-second and
Forty-second Divisions of the American Expeditionary Forces.

"You came to the battlefield at a crucial hour for the Allied cause. For
almost four years the most formidable army the world has yet seen had
pressed its invasion of France and stood threatening its capital. At no
time has that army been more powerful and menacing than when, on July
15, it struck again to destroy in one great battle the brave men opposed
to it and to enforce its brutal will upon the world and civilization.

"Three days later, in conjunction with our Allies, you counter-attacked.
The Allied armies gained a brilliant victory that marks the turning
point of the war. You did more than to give the Allies the support to
which as a nation our faith was pledged.

"You proved that our altruism, our pacific spirit and our sense of
justice have not blunted our virility or our courage.

"You have shown that American initiative and energy are as fit for the
tasks of war as for the pursuits of peace. You have justly won unstinted
praise from our Allies and the eternal gratitude of our countrymen.

"We have paid for successes with the lives of many of our brave
comrades. We shall cherish their memory always and claim for our
history and literature their bravery, achievement and sacrifice.

"This order will be read to all organizations at the first assembly
formations following its receipt."

Aside from being largely responsible for stopping the Huns once again at
the Marne, the exploits of the Americans filled the French and English
with confidence, aroused their spirits and gave them renewed hope.
Incidentally their efforts and methods made apparent the value of
surprise attacks and quick blows in dealing with the stolid Huns.

The Allied commanders, quick to take advantage of the situation, gave
the enemy no chance to consolidate their positions. The unified forces
of Allies attacked with renewed energy all along the line, and the Huns
were forced back with a sweep that astonished the world.

By September 1, the Germans had lost practically all that they had
gained in their drive from March 21, and in many places they had been
driven back across the famous Hindenburg line, the furthest point of
retreat of the Germans in 1914, when they were forced back by General
Joffre from the Marne, and dug themselves into pit and trench. Dozens of
towns were taken and more than 120,000 prisoners were bagged.

Almost as spectacular in its effect on the minds of the French and
English, as was the demonstration of American fighting, was the work
accomplished in France in providing for the transportation and care of
the incoming troops. Here great docks, storage plants, training camps,
aviation schools, motor assembling plants, base hospitals and
reclamation establishments and railroads, built in less than a year and
still growing, represented an investment of $35,000,000 on the part of
the United States Government in August, 1918.

Early in May the number of Americans in France was about 500,000. That
this number should have been sent across the ocean within the space of
one year after America entered the war was regarded as a distinct
achievement, but by September it was officially announced that the
number had increased to 1,500,000.

Some of these were sent to the Italian front to help in the drive
against the Austrians, and about 15,000 troops from the Philippines were
sent by the United States into Siberia to give moral support to the
Czecho-Slovaks.

The decision to send troops to Siberia was by agreement with the
Japanese, and followed a statement issued by the United States on August
4, in which it was stated that "military action was admissable in Russia
only to render such protection and help as possible to the
Czecho-Slovaks against armed Austrian and German prisoners who were
attacking them, and to steady any efforts at self-government or
self-defense in which the Russians themselves may be willing to accept
assistance." It was stated that the troops were for guard duty, and
under the agreement with Japan, the only other country in a position to
act in Siberia, each nation sent a small force to Vladivostok.

The British, French and United States Governments gave recognition to
the Czecho-Slovaks as an Allied nation--a geographical, political and
military entity--with three armies, one in Siberia, one in Italy and one
in France, where they had been fighting with the Allies to crush the
Huns. The territory which the Czecho-Slovaks claim as their own to
govern independently comprises Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Slavonika,
which lie between and are part of Austria-Hungary and Germany.

With the facilities for handling the troops abroad thoroughly organized
and the obvious necessity for furnishing greater manpower to bring about
an early defeat of Germany, the United States decided to increase the
scope of its conscription and to raise an army of 3,000,000 for
immediate service and adopted a new manpower bill which was passed by
Congress the last week in August and signed by President Wilson on
August 30.

The measure provided for the registration and drafting of all male
citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 years, allowing for deferred
classification of those engaged in essential work or having obligations
which made it impossible for them to render active military service.

Not only the Allied successes on the western front, but also those on
the Italian front and in the Balkans, where the French, Italians and
Greeks in Albania, with a million troops, advanced against the Germans,
Austrians and Turks, made apparent the necessity for further
concentration of manpower.

While losing ground on the western front and rapidly being forced to the
wall, Germany gave another spectacular twist to her military program by
carrying the war to America's doors. With her submarines she sank nearly
two score of ships, schooners, barges, tugs, and even a lightship,
within a few miles of New York, Boston, Norfolk, Charleston and the
Delaware Capes.

But while the U-boats were harassing, no effective assaults were made
against the ships which carried American troops abroad. In this
connection it should never be forgotten in the glamour of war that while
America performed wonders in getting her soldiers overseas, England
provided most of the ships, and that it was England's Navy which kept
the German Navy in check while America's war vessels and destroyers
convoyed the troopships and protected them from the submarines.

CHAPTER XXX.

VICTORY--PEACE.

THE GERMAN EMPIRE COLLAPSES--FOCH'S STRATEGY WINS--AMERICAN INSPIRATION
A BIG FACTOR--BULGARIA, TURKEY AND AUSTRIA QUIT WAR--MONARCHS FALL---
KAISER ABDICATES AND FLEES GERMANY--ARMISTICE SIGNED--NOVEMBER 11,
PEACE.

Then came the fall of autocracy--

Victory! Peace!

With a crash that echoed around the world the autocratic governmental
structure builded by the Kaiser and his forebears gave way and came
tumbling to the earth in ruins on Monday, November 11, 1918.

The most momentous event in ages had come to pass and victory was
perched upon the banner of democracy.

Out of the sacrifice of millions of lives, the desolation of homes and
countries, the expenditure of untold energy and incomprehensible
billions of dollars in money, there came everlasting, glorious peace.

The great German Empire lay a wreck, given into the hands of the people
for remaking, and the arrogant Emperor William Hohenzollern had fled
into Holland, and his example was imitated by the Crown Prince.

THE COMING OF THE END.

The end came swiftly and with dramatic action. Beaten back by the Allied
forces, which gathered strength and inspiration from the irresistible
American troops, the German army weakened all along the line from
Holland to the Swiss border. The press of power exerted against the
German strongholds on every side was felt within the domains and
produced internal strife and dissension which undermined and weakened
the military organization. Taking full advantage of this situation, the
Allied forces on every side quickened and intensified their blows.

The brilliant strategy of Marshal Foch, generalissimo of the Allied
armies, brought defeat to the Germans in less than four months. After
bringing to an end the German advance of March 21 to July 18 with the
second battle of the Marne, he compelled a hurried retirement to the
Hindenburg line with the evacuation of practically all the territory
conquered by the Huns.

Finally, in what may be termed the last phase of the war, he absolutely
demoralized the German forces. The thrust in this phase was started by
the Anglo-Belgian forces in Flanders and the Franco-American armies in
Lorraine on September 26.

The British also made a gigantic and brilliant drive between Cambrai and
St. Quentin. The whole colossal defense system of the Germans was
shattered and in less than three months more than 100,000 German
prisoners and 5,000 guns were taken and 8,000 square miles of French and
Belgian territory liberated.

VICTORIES ON OTHER FRONTS.

Not only was there great victory on the west, but in Syria the British
army broke the power of Turkey and liberated Syria, Mesopotamia and
Arabia. In Macedonia, too, an army made up of soldiers of many nations
under a French command compelled the surrender of Bulgaria and her
withdrawal, and swept the last vestige of German control from the
Balkans.

On the Austrian front likewise the Italian army, strengthened and
heartened by the presence of American and Allied forces, swept the
Austrians before them in one of the most picturesque offensives of the
war, capturing more than 300,000 prisoners and great quantities of guns
and supplies.

This in brief is the way the German command was driven to a point of
seeking peace to prevent the invasion of their territory.

The brilliant assaults of the various units and commands of the Allies
at points along the entire 200 miles of western front will go down in
history a wonderful military achievement.

AMERICAN VICTORIES ON THE EAST FRONT.

One of the wonderful attacks was that of the American First Army under
General Pershing, when St. Mihiel salient was annihilated. This salient
for four years resisted all efforts to penetrate it and stood a guardian