HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR

An Authentic Narrative of The World's Greatest War

By FRANCIS A. MARCH, Ph.D.
In Collaboration with
RICHARD J. BEAMISH
Special War Correspondent
and Military Analyst

With an Introduction
By GENERAL PEYTON C. MARCH
Chief of Staff of the United States Army

Illustrated with Reproductions from the Official Photographs of the United States, British and French Governments

FRANCIS A. MARCH

This history is an original work and is fully protected by the copyright laws, including the right of translation. All persons are warned against reproducing the text in whole or in part without the permission of the publishers.

WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF. WASHINGTON,

NOVEMBER 14, 1918. With the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the World War has been practically brought to an end. The events of the past four years have been of such magnitude that the various steps, the numberless battles, and the growth of Allied power which led up to the final victory are not clearly defined even in the minds of many military men. A history of this great period which will state in an orderly fashion this series of events will be of the greatest value to the future students of the war, and to everyone of the present day who desires to refer in exact terms to matters which led up to the final conclusion.

The war will be discussed and re-discussed from every angle and the sooner such a compilation of facts is available, the more valuable it will be. I understand that this History of the World War intends to put at the disposal of all who are interested, such a compendium of facts of the past period of over four years; and that the system employed in safeguarding the accuracy of statements contained in it will produce a document of great historical value without entering upon any speculative conclusions as to cause and effect of the various phases of the war or attempting to project into an historical document individual opinions. With these ends in view, this History will be of the greatest value. Signature [Payton C. March] General, Chief of Staff. United States Army.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM A Conflict that was Inevitable—The Flower of Manhood on the Fields of France—Germany's Defiance to the World—Heroic Belgium—Four Autocratic Nations against Twenty-four Committed to the Principles of Liberty—America's Titanic Effort—Four Million Men Under Arms, Two Million Overseas—France the Martyr Nation—The British Empire's Tremendous Share in the Victory—A River of Blood Watering the Desert of Autocracy

CHAPTER II. THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN The War Storm Breaks—Trade and Commerce Paralyzed—Homeward Rush of Travelers—Harrowing Scenes as Ships Sail for America—Stock Markets Closed—The Tide of Desolation Following in the Wake of War

CHAPTER III. WHY THE WORLD WENT TO WAR The Balkan Ferment—Russia, the Dying Giant Among Autocracies—Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe—Scars Left by the Balkan War—Germany's Determination to Seize a Place in the Sun.

CHAPTER IV. THE PLOTTER BEHIND THE SCENES The Assassination at Sarajevo—The Slavic Ferment—Austria's Domineering Note—The Plotters of Potsdam—The Mailed Fist of Militarism Beneath the Velvet Glove of Diplomacy—Mobilization and Declarations of War

CHAPTER V. THE GREAT WAR BEGINS Germany Invades Belgium and Luxemburg—French Invade Alsace—England's "Contemptible Little Army" Lands in France and Belgium—The Murderous Gray-Green Tide—Heroic Retreat of the British from Mons—Belgium Overrun—Northern France Invaded—Marshal Joffre Makes Ready to Strike

CHAPTER VI. THE TRAIL OF THE BEAST IN BELGIUM Barbarities that Shocked Humanity—Planned as Part of the Teutonic Policy of Schrecklichkeit—How the German and the Hun Became Synonymous Terms—The Unmatchable Crimes of a War-Mad Army—A Record of Infamy Written in Blood and Tears—Official Reports

CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE Joffre's Masterly Plan—The Enemy Trapped Between Verdun and Paris—Gallieni's "Army in Taxicabs"—Foch, the "Savior of Civilization," Appears—His Mighty Thrust Routs the Army of Hausen—Joffre Salutes Foch as "First Strategist in Europe"—Battle that Won the Baton of a Marshal

CHAPTER VIII. JAPAN IN THE WAR Tsing Tau Seized by the Mikado—German "Gibraltar" of the Far East Surrendered After Short Siege—Japan's Aid to the Allies in Money, Ships, Men and Nurses—German Propaganda in the Far East Fails

CHAPTER IX. CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST Invasion of East Prussia—Von Hindenburg and Masurian Lakes—Battle of Tannenberg—Augustovo—Russians Capture Lemberg—The Offer to Poland

CHAPTER X. STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY ON THE SEA The British Blockade—German Raiders and Their Fate—Story of the Emden's Remarkable Voyage—Appearance of the Submarine—British Naval Victory off Helgoland—U-9 Sinks Three British Cruisers

CHAPTER XI. THE SUBLIME PORTE Turkish Intrigues—The Holy War—Mesopotamia and Transcaucasia—The Suez Canal—Turkey the Catspaw of Germany

CHAPTER XII. RESCUE OF THE STARVING Famine in Belgium—Belgium Relief Commission Organized in London—Herbert C. Hoover—American Aid—The Great Cardinal's Famous Challenge

CHAPTER XIII. BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES German and British Squadrons Grapple off the Chilean Coast—Germany Wins the First Round—England Comes Back with Terrific Force—Graphic Picture of the Destruction of the German Squadron off Falkland Islands—English Coast Towns Bombarded for the First Time in Many Years.

CHAPTER XIV. NEW METHODS AND HORRORS OF WARFARE Tanks—Poison Gas—Flame Projectors—Airplane Bombs—Trench Mortars—Machine Guns—Modern Uses of Airplanes for Liaison and Attacks on Infantry—Radio—Rifle and Hand Grenades—A War of Intensive Artillery Preparation—A Debacle of Insanities, Terrible Wounds and Horrible Deaths.

CHAPTER XV. GERMAN PLOTS AND PROPAGANDA IN AMERICA Trailing the German Plotters—Destruction of Ships—Pressure on Congress—Attacks in Canada—Zimmerman's Foolish Effort to Embroil America with Mexico and Japan—Lies of the Propagandists After America Entered the War—Dumba, Von Bernstorff, Van Papen and Boy-Ed, a quartet of Unscrupulous Destructionists

CHAPTER XVI. SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA The Submarine Murderers at Work—Germany's Blackband Warning—No Chance for Life—The Ship Unarmed and Without Munitions—The President's Note—Germany's Lying Denials—Coroner's Inquest Charges Kaiser with Wilful Murder—"Remember the Lusitania" One of America's Big Reasons for Declaring War

CHAPTER XVII. NEUVE CHAPELLE AND WAR IN BLOOD-SOAKED TRENCHES War Amid Barbed-Wire Entanglements and the Desolation of No Man's Land—Subterranean Tactics Continuing Over Four Years—Attacks that Cost Thousands of Lives for Every Foot of Gain

CHAPTER XVIII. STEADFAST SOUTH AFRICA Botha and Smuts, Rocks of Loyalty Amid a Sea of Treachery—Civil War that Ended with the Drowning of General Beyers and the Arrest of General De Wet—Conquest of German Colonies—Trail of the Hun in the Jungle

CHAPTER XIX. ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA Her Great Decision—D'Annunzio, Poet and Patriot—Italia Irredenta—German Indignation—The Campaigns on the Isonzo and in the Tyrol

CHAPTER XX. GLORIOUS GALLIPOLI A Titanic Enterprise—Its Objects—Disasters and Deeds of Deathless Glory—The Heroic Anzacs—Bloody Dashes up Impregnable Slopes—Silently they Stole Away—A Successful Failure

CHAPTER XXI. THE GREATEST NAVAL BATTLE IN HISTORY The Battle of Jutland—Every Factor on Sea and in Sky Favorable to the Germans—Low Visibility a Great Factor—A Modern Sea Battle—Light Cruisers Screening Battleship Squadron—Germans Run Away when British Fleet Marshals Its Full Strength—Death of Lord Kitchener

CHAPTER XXII. THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN The Advance on Cracow—Van Hindenburg Strikes at Warsaw—German Barbarism—The War in Galicia—The Fall of Przemysl—Russia's Ammunition Fails—The Russian Retreat—The Fall of Warsaw—Czernowitz

CHAPTER XXIII. HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED Ferdinand of Bulgaria Insists Upon Joining Germany—Dramatic Scene in the King's Palace—The Die is Cast—Bulgaria Succumbs to Seductions of Potsdam Gang—Greece Mobilizes—French and British Troops at Saloniki—Serbia Over-run—Roumania's Disastrous Venture in the Arena of Mars

CHAPTER XXIV. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA British Army Threatening Bagdad Besieged in Kut-el-Amara—After Heroic Defense General Townshend Surrenders After 143 Days of Siege—New British Expedition Recaptures Kut—Troops Push on up the Tigris—Fall of Bagdad, the Magnificent

CHAPTER XXV. CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR By COL. GEORGE G. NASMITH, C. M. G. Enthusiastic Response to the Call to Action—Valcartier Camp a Splendid Example of the Driving Power of Sir Sam Hughes—Thirty-three Liners Cross the Atlantic with First Contingent of Men and Equipment—Largest Convoy Ever Gathered Together—At the Front with the Princess Pat's—Red Cross—Financial Aid—Half a Million Soldiers Overseas—Mons, the Last Stronghold of the Enemy, Won by the Men from Canada—A Record of Glory

CHAPTER XXVI. IMMORTAL VERDUN Grave of the Military Reputations of Von Falkenhayn and the Crown Prince—Hindenburg's Warning—Why the Germans Made the Disastrous Attempt to Capture the Great Fortress—Heroic France Reveals Itself to the World—"They Shall Not Pass"—Nivelle's Glorious Stand on Dead Man Hill—Lord Northcliffe's Description—A Defense Unsurpassed in the History of France

CHAPTER XXVII. MURDERS AND MARTYRS The Case of Edith Cavell—Nurse Who Befriended the Helpless, Dies at the Hands of the Germans—Captain Fryatt's Martyrdom—How Germany Sowed the Seeds of Disaster

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES The Canadians in Action—Undismayed by the New Weapon of the Enemy—Holding the Line Against Terrific Odds—Men from the Dominion Fight Like Veterans

CHAPTER XXIX. ZEPPELIN RAIDS ON FRANCE AND ENGLAND First Zeppelin Attack Kills Twenty-eight and Injures Forty-four—Part of Germany's Policy of Frightfulness—Raids by German Airplanes on Unfortified Towns—Killing of Non-Combatants—The British Lion Awakes—Anti-Aircraft Precautions and Protections—Policy of Terrorism Fails

CHAPTER XXX. RED REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA Rasputin, the Mystic—The Cry for Bread—Rise of the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates—Rioting in Petrograd—The Threatening Cloud of Disaster—Moderate Policy of the Duma Fails—The Fatal Easter Week of 1917—Abdication of the Czar—Last Tragic Moments of the Autocrat of All the Russias—Grand Duke Issues Declaration Ending Power of Romanovs in Russia—Release of Siberian Revolutionists—Free Russia

CHAPTER XXXI. THE DESCENT TO BOLSHEVISM Russia Intoxicated with Freedom—Elihu Root and His Mission—Last Brilliant Offensive in Galicia—The Great Mutiny in the Army—The Battalion of Death—Kerensky's Skyrocket Career—Kornilov's Revolt—Loss of Riga—Lenine, the Dictator—The Impossible "Peace" of Brest-Litovsk

CHAPTER XXXII. GERMANY'S OBJECT LESSON TO THE UNITED STATES Two Voyages of the Deutschland—U-53 German Submarine Reaches Newport and Sinks Five British and Neutral Steamers off Nantucket—Rescue of Survivors by United States Warships—Anti-German Feeling in America Reaching a Climax

CHAPTER XXXIII. AMERICA TRANSFORMED BY WAR The United States Enters the Conflict—The Efficiency of Democracy— Six Months in an American Training Camp Equal to Six Years of German Compulsory Service—American Soldiers and Their Resourcefulness on the Battlefield—Methods of Training and Their Results— The S. A. T. C.

CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW FOOD WON THE WAR The American Farmer a Potent Factor in Civilization's Victory—Scientific Studies of Food Production, Distribution and Consumption—Hoover Lays Down the Law Regulating Wholesalers and Grocers—Getting the Food Across—Feeding Armies in the Field

CHAPTER XXXV. THE UNITED STATES NAVY IN THE WAR Increase from 58,000 Men to Approximately 500,000—Destroyer Fleet Arrives in British Waters—"We Are Ready Now"—The Hunt of the U-Boats—Gunnery that is Unrivalled—Depth Charges and Other New Inventions—The U-Boat Menace Removed—Surrender of German Under-Sea Navy

CHAPTER XXXVI. CHINA JOINS THE FIGHTING DEMOCRACIES How the Germans Behaved in China Seventeen Years Before—The Whirligig of Time Brings Its Own Revenge—The Far Eastern Republic Joins Hands with the Allies—German Propaganda at Work—Futile Attempt to Restore the Monarchy—Fear of Japan—War—Thousands of Chinese Toil Behind the Battle Lines in France—Siam with Its Eight Millions Defies the Germans—End of Teuton Influence in the Orient

CHAPTER XXXVII. THE DEFEAT AND RECOVERY OF ITALY Subtle Socialist Gospel Preached by Enemy Plays Havoc with Guileless Italians—Sudden Onslaught of Germans Drives Cadorna's Men from Heights—The Spectacular Retreat that Dismayed the World—Glorious Stand of the Italians on the Piave—Rise of Diaz

CHAPTER XXXVIII. REDEMPTION OF THE HOLY LAND A Long Campaign Progressing Through Hardships to Glory—General Allenby Enters Jerusalem on Foot—Turkish Army Crushed in Palestine— Battle of Armageddon

CHAPTER XXXIX. AMERICA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS Government Ownership of Railroads, Telegraphs, Telephones—Getting the Men from Training Camps to the Battle Fronts—From Texas to Toul—A Gigantic System Working Without a Hitch

CHAPTER XL. SHIPS AND THE MEN WHO MADE THEM The Emergency Fleet Corporation—Charles M. Schwab as Master Shipbuilder—Hog Island the Wonder Shipyard of the World—An Unbeatable Record—Concrete Ships—Wooden Ships—Standardizing the Steel Ship—Attitude of Labor in the War—Samuel Gompers an Unofficial Member of the Cabinet—Great Task of the United States Employment Service

CHAPTER XLI. GERMANY'S DYING DESPERATE EFFORT The High Tide of German Success—An Army of Six Million Men Flung Recklessly on the Allies—Most Terrific Battles in all History—The Red Ruin of War from Arras to St. Quentin—Amiens Within Arms' Reach of the Invaders—Paris Bombarded by Long-Range Guns from Distance of Seventy-six Miles—A Generalissimo at Last—Marshal Foch in Supreme Command

CHAPTER XLII. CHATEAU-THIERRY, FIELD OF GLORY German Wave Stops with the Americans—Prussian Guard Flung Back—The Beginning of Autocracy's End—America's Record of Valor and Victory— Cantigny—Belleau Wood—Thierry—St. Mihiel—Shock Troops of the Enemy Annihilated—Soldier's Remarkable Letter.

CHAPTER XLIII. ENGLAND AND FRANCE STRIKE IN THE NORTH Second Terrific Blow of General Foch—Lens, the Storehouse of Minerals, Captured—Bapaume Retaken—British Snap the Famous Hindenburg Line—The Great Thrust Through Cambrai—Tanks to the Front—Cavalry in Action

CHAPTER XLIV. BELGIUM'S GALLANT EFFORT The Little Army Under King Albert Thrusts Savagely at the Germans—Ostend and Zeebrugge Freed from the Submarine Pirates—Pathetic Scenes as Belgians are Restored to Their Homes

CHAPTER XLV. ITALY'S TERRIFIC DRIVE Enemy Offensive Opens on Front of Ninety-Seven Miles—Repulse of the Austrians—Italy Turns the Tables—Terrific Counter-Thrusts from the Piave to Trente—Forcing the Alpine Passages—Battles High in the Air—English, French and Americans Back up the Italians in Humbling the Might of Austria—D'Annunzio's Romantic Bombardment of Vienna—Diaz Leads his Men to Victory

CHAPTER XLVI. BULGARIA DESERTS GERMANY Greece in the Throes of Revolution—Fall of Constantine—Serbians Begin Advance on Bulgars—Thousands of Prisoners Taken—Surrender of Bulgaria—Panic in Berlin—Passage Through the Country Granted for Armies of the Allies—Ferdinand Abdicates—Germany's Imagined Mittel-Europa Dream Forever Destroyed

CHAPTER XLVII. THE CENTRAL EMPIRES WHINE FOR PEACE Austria-Hungary Makes the First Plea—President Wilson's Abrupt Answer—Prince Max, Camouflaged as an Apostle of Peace, made Chancellor and Opens Germany's Pathetic Plea for a Peace by Negotiation—The President Replies on Behalf of all the Allied Powers—Foch Pushes on Regardless of Peace Notes

CHAPTER XLVIII. BATTLES IN THE AIR Conquering the Fear of Death—From Individual Fights to Battles Between Squadrons—Heroes of the Warring Nations—America's Wonderful Record—From Nowhere to First Place in Eighteen Months—The Liberty Motor

CHAPTER XLIX. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS OF THE AMERICAN FORCES Record of the Red Cross on all Fronts—A Gigantic Work Well Executed—Y. M. C. A.—Y. W. C. A.—Knights of Columbus—Jewish Welfare Association—Salvation Army—American Library Association—Other Organizations—Surgery and Sanitation

CHAPTER L. THE PIRATES OF THE UNDER-SEAS Germany's Ruthless Submarine Policy—A Boomerang Destroying the Hand that Cast It—Terrorism that Failed—One Hundred and Fifty U-Boats Sunk or Captured—Shameless Surrender of the German Submarines and of the Fleet They Protected

CHAPTER LI. APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGE Cutting the Railroads to Cambrai—Americans Co-operate with British in Furious Attack—Douai and St. Quentin Taken—The Battle Line Straightened for the Last Mighty Assault—All Hope Abandoned by the Kaiser

CHAPTER LII. LAST DAYS OF THE WAR American Troops Join with the Allies in Colossal Drive on 71-mile Front—Historic Sedan Taken by the Yanks—Stenay, the Last Battle of the War—How the Opposing Forces Greeted the News of the Armistice

CHAPTER LIII. THE DRASTIC TERMS OF SURRENDER Handcuffs for Four Nations—Bulgaria First to Fly the White Flag— Allenby's Great Victory Forces Turkey Out—Austria Signs Quickly— Germany's Capitulation Complete and Humiliating

CHAPTER LIV. PEACE AT LAST An Unfounded Rumor Starts Enormous Jubilation—Armistice Signed Four Days Later—Kaiser Abdicates and Flees to Holland—Cowardly Ruler Seeks Protection of Small Neutral Nation—Looking Into the Future—Cost of War to the Nations—Liberty Loans—Reconstruction Problems—McAdoo Resigns—American Ideals in the Old World

CHAPTER LV. AMERICA'S POSITION IN PEACE AND WAR President Wilson's Stirring Speech in Congress Which Brought the United States into the War—His Great Speech Before Congress Ending the War—The Fourteen Points Outlining America's Demands Before Peace Could be Concluded—Later Peace Principles Enunciated by the President

CHAPTER LVI. THE WAR BY YEARS Condensed Word-Picture of the Happenings of the Most Momentous Fifty-two Months in All History—Leading Up to the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month of 1918

CHAPTER LVII. BEHIND AMERICA'S BATTLE LINE General March's Story of the Work of the Military Intelligence Division—Of the War Plans Division—Of the Purchase and Traffic Divisions—How Men, Munitions and Supplies Reached the Western Front

CHAPTER LVIII. GENERAL PERSHING'S OWN STORY The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces Tells the Story of the Magnificent Combat Operations of his Troops that Defeated Prussia's Legions—Official Account Discloses Full Details of the Fighting.

CHAPTER LIX. PRESIDENT WILSON'S REVIEW OF THE WAR A Year in the Life of the United States Crowded with Great Events—Tribute to the Soldiers and Sailors, the Workers at Home Who Supplied the Sinews of the Great Undertaking, the Women of the Land Who Contributed to the Great Result—The Future Safe in the Hands of American Businessmen

SUMMARIZED CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR

FOREWORD

This is a popular narrative history of the world's greatest war. Written frankly from the viewpoint of the United States and the Allies, it visualizes the bloodiest and most destructive conflict of all the ages from its remote causes to its glorious conclusion and beneficent results. The world-shaking rise of new democracies is set forth, and the enormous national and individual sacrifices producing that resurrection of human equality are detailed.

Two ideals have been before us in the preparation of this necessary work. These are simplicity and thoroughness. It is of no avail to describe the greatest of human events if the description is so confused that the reader loses interest. Thoroughness is an historical essential beyond price. So it is that official documents prepared in many instances upon the field of battle, and others taken from the files of the governments at war, are the basis of this work. Maps and photographs of unusual clearness and high authenticity illuminate the text. All that has gone into war making, into the regeneration of the world, are herein set forth with historical particularity. The stark horrors of Belgium, the blighting terrors of chemical warfare, the governmental restrictions placed upon hundreds of millions of civilians, the war sacrifices falling upon all the civilized peoples of earth, are in these pages.

It is a book that mankind can well read and treasure.

CHAPTER I

A WAR FOR INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM

"My FELLOW COUNTRYMEN: The armistice was signed this morning. Everything for which America fought has been accomplished. The war thus comes to an end."

Speaking to the Congress and the people of the United States, President Wilson made this declaration on November 11, 1918. A few hours before he made this statement, Germany, the empire of blood and iron, had agreed to an armistice, terms of which were the hardest and most humiliating ever imposed upon a nation of the first class. It was the end of a war for which Germany had prepared for generations, a war bred of a philosophy that Might can take its toll of earth's possessions, of human lives and liberties, when and where it will. That philosophy involved the cession to imperial Germany of the best years of young German manhood, the training of German youths to be killers of men. It involved the creation of a military caste, arrogant beyond all precedent, a caste that set its strength and pride against the righteousness of democracy, against the possession of wealth and bodily comforts, a caste that visualized itself as part of a power-mad Kaiser's assumption that he and God were to shape the destinies of earth.

When Marshal Foch, the foremost strategist in the world, representing the governments of the Allies and the United States, delivered to the emissaries of Germany terms upon which they might surrender, he brought to an end the bloodiest, the most destructive and the most beneficent war the world has known. It is worthy of note in this connection that the three great wars in which the United States of America engaged have been wars for freedom. The Revolutionary War was for the liberty of the colonies; the Civil War was waged for the freedom of manhood and for the principle of the indissolubility of the Union; the World War, beginning 1914, was fought for the right of small nations to self-government and for the right of every country to the free use of the high seas.

More than four million American men were under arms when the conflict ended. Of these, more than two million were upon the fields of France and Italy. These were thoroughly trained in the military art. They had proved their right to be considered among the most formidable soldiers the world has known. Against the brown rock of that host in khaki, the flower of German savagery and courage had broken at Chateau-Thierry. There the high tide of Prussian militarism, after what had seemed to be an irresistible dash for the destruction of France, spent itself in the bloody froth and spume of bitter defeat. There the Prussian Guard encountered the Marines, the Iron Division and the other heroic organizations of America's new army. There German soldiers who had been hardened and trained under German conscription before the war, and who had learned new arts in their bloody trade, through their service in the World War, met their masters in young Americans taken from the shop, the field, and the forge, youths who had been sent into battle with a scant six months' intensive training in the art of war. Not only did these American soldiers hold the German onslaught where it was but, in a sudden, fierce, resistless counter-thrust they drove back in defeat and confusion the Prussian Guard, the Pommeranian Reserves, and smashed the morale of that German division beyond hope of resurrection.

The news of that exploit sped from the Alps to the North Sea Coast, through all the camps of the Allies, with incredible rapidity. "The Americans have held the Germans. They can fight," ran the message. New life came into the war-weary ranks of heroic poilus and into the steel-hard armies of Great Britain. "The Americans are as good as the best. There are millions of them, and millions more are coming," was heard on every side. The transfusion of American blood came as magic tonic, and from that glorious day there was never a doubt as to the speedy defeat of Germany. From that day the German retreat dated. The armistice signed on November 11, 1918, was merely the period finishing the death sentence of German militarism, the first word of which was uttered at Chateau-Thierry.

Germany's defiance to the world, her determination to force her will and her "kultur" upon the democracies of earth, produced the conflict. She called to her aid three sister autocracies: Turkey, a land ruled by the whims of a long line of moody misanthropic monarchs; Bulgaria, the traitor nation cast by its Teutonic king into a war in which its people had no choice and little sympathy; Austria-Hungary, a congeries of races in which a Teutonic minority ruled with an iron scepter.

Against this phalanx of autocracy, twenty-four nations arrayed themselves. Populations of these twenty-eight warring nations far exceeded the total population of all the remainder of humanity. The conflagration of war literally belted the earth. It consumed the most civilized of capitals. It raged in the swamps and forests of Africa. To its call came alien peoples speaking words that none but themselves could translate, wearing garments of exotic cut and hue amid the smart garbs and sober hues of modern civilization. A twentieth century Babel came to the fields of France for freedom's sake, and there was born an internationalism making for the future understanding and peace of the world. The list of the twenty-eight nations entering the World War and their populations follow:

Countries. Population. Countries. Population.
United States 110,000,000 Italy 37,000,000
Austria-Hungary 50,000,000 Japan 54,000,000
Belgium 8,000,000 Liberia 2,000,000
Bulgaria 5,000,000 Montenegro 500,000
Brazil 23,000,000 Nicaragua 700,000
China 420,000,000 Panama 400,000
Costa Rica 425,000 Portugal* 15,000,000
Cuba 2,500,000 Roumania 7,500,000
France 90,000,000 Russia 180,000,000
Gautemala 2,000,000 San Marino 10,000
Germany 67,000,000 Serbia 4,500,000
Great Britain 440,000,000 Siam 6,000,000
Greece 5,000,000 Turkey 42,000,000
Haiti 2,000,000 ————————-
Honduras 600,000 Total 1,575,135,000
* Including colonies

The following nations, with their populations, took no part in the World
War:

Countries. Population. Countries. Population.
Abyssinia 8,000,000 Argentina 8,000,000
Afghanistan 6,000,000 Bhutan 250,000
Andorra 6,000 Chile 5,000,000
Colombia 5,000,000 Paraguay 800,000
Denmark 3,000,000 Persia 9,000,000
Ecuador 1,500,000 Salvador 1,250,000
Mexico 15,000,000 Spain 20,000,000
Monaco 20,000 Switzerland 3,750,000
Nepal 4,000,000 Venezuela 2,800,000
Holland* 40,000,000 ————————-
Norway 2,500,000 Total 135,876,000
* Including colonies.

Never before in the history of the world were so many races and peoples mingled in a military effort as those that came together under the command of Marshal Foch. If we divide the human races into white, yellow, red and black, all four were largely represented. Among the white races there were Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Canadians, Australians, South Africans (of both British and Dutch descent) New Zealanders; in the American army, probably every other European nation was represented, with additional contingents from those already named, so that every branch of the white race figured in the ethnological total.

There were representatives of many Asiatic races, including not only the volunteers from the native states of India, but elements from the French colony in Cochin China, with Annam, Cambodia, Tonkin, Laos, and Kwang Chau Wan. England and France both contributed many African tribes, including Arabs from Algeria and Tunis, Senegalese, Saharans, and many of the South African races. The red races of North America were represented in the armies of both Canada and the United States, while the Maoris, Samoans, and other Polynesian races were likewise represented. And as, in the American Army, there were men of German, Austrian, and Hungarian descent, and, in all probability, contingents also of Bulgarian and Turkish blood, it may be said that Foch commanded an army representing the whole human race, united in defense of the ideals of the Allies.

It will be seen that more than ten times the number of neutral persons were engulfed in the maelstrom of war. Millions of these suffered from it during the entire period of the conflict, four years three months and fifteen days, a total of 1,567 days. For almost four years Germany rolled up a record of victories on land and of piracies on and under the seas.

[Illustration: TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY THE ALLIES UNDER THE ARMISTICE OF
NOVEMBER 11, 1918 (East/West: Brussels to Berlin; North South: Keil to
Bern)]
Dotted area, invaded territory of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and
Alsace-Lorraine to be evacuated in fourteen days; area in small
squares, part of Germany west of the Rhine to be evacuated in
twenty-five days and occupied by Allied and U. S. troops; lightly
shaded area to east of Rhine, neutral zone; black semi-circles
bridge-heads of thirty kilometers radius in the neutral zone to be
occupied by Allied armies.

Little by little, day after day, piracies dwindled as the murderous submarine was mastered and its menace strangled. On the land, the Allies, under the matchless leadership of Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the generous co-operation of Americans, British, French and Italians, under the great Generals Pershing, Haig, Petain and Diaz, wrested the initiative from von Hindenburg and Ludendorf, late in July, 1918. Then, in one hundred and fifteen days of wonderful strategy and the fiercest fighting the world has ever witnessed, Foch and the Allies closed upon the Germanic armies the jaws of a steel trap. A series of brilliant maneuvers dating from the battle of Chateau-Thierry in which the Americans checked the Teutonic rush, resulted in the defeat and rout on all the fronts of the Teutonic commands.

In that titanic effort, America's share was that of the final deciding factor. A nation unjustly titled the "Dollar Nation," believed by Germany and by other countries to be soft, selfish and wasteful, became over night hard as tempered steel, self-sacrificing with an altruism that inspired the world and thrifty beyond all precedent in order that not only its own armies but the armies of the Allies might be fed and munitioned.

Leading American thought and American action, President Wilson stood out as the prophet of the democracies of the world. Not only did he inspire America and the Allies to a military and naval effort beyond precedent, but he inspired the civilian populations of the world to extraordinary effort, efforts that eventually won the war. For the decision was gained quite as certainly on the wheat fields of Western America, in the shops and the mines and the homes of America as it was upon the battle-field.

This effort came in response to the following appeal by the President:

These, then, are the things we must do, and do well, besides fighting—the things without which mere fighting would be fruitless:

We must supply abundant food for ourselves and for our armies and our seamen not only, but also for a large part of the nations with whom we have now made common cause, in whose support and by whose sides we shall be fighting;

We must supply ships by the hundreds out of our shipyards to carry to the other side of the sea, submarines or no submarines, what will every day be needed there; and—

Abundant materials out of our fields and our mines and our factories with which not only to clothe and equip our own forces on land and sea but also to clothe and support our people for whom the gallant fellows under arms can no longer work, to help clothe and equip the armies with which we are co-operating in Europe, and to keep the looms and manufactories there in raw material;

Coal to keep the fires going in ships at sea and in the furnaces of hundreds of factories across the sea;

Steel out of which to make arms and ammunition both here and there;

Rails for worn-out railways back of the fighting fronts;

Locomotives and rolling stock to take the place of those every day going to pieces;

Everything with which the people of England and France and Italy and Russia have usually supplied themselves, but cannot now afford the men, the materials, or the machinery to make.

I particularly appeal to the farmers of the South to plant abundant foodstuffs as well as cotton. They can show their patriotism in no better or more convincing way than by resisting the great temptation of the present price of cotton and helping, helping upon a large scale, to feed the nation and the peoples everywhere who are fighting for their liberties and for our own. The variety of their crops will be the visible measure of their comprehension of their national duty.

The response was amazing in its enthusiastic and general compliance. No autocracy issuing a ukase could have been obeyed so explicitly. Not only did the various classes of workers and individuals observe the President's suggestions to the letter, but they yielded up individual right after right in order that the war work of the government might be expedited. Extraordinary powers and functions were granted by the people through Congress, and it was not until peace was declared that these rights and powers returned to the people.

These governmental activities ceased functioning after the war:
Food administration;
Fuel administration;
Espionage act;
War trade board;
Alien property custodian (with extension of time for certain duties);
Agricultural stimulation;
Housing construction (except for shipbuilders);
Control of telegraphs and telephones;
Export control.

These functions were extended: Control over railroads: to cease within twenty-one months after the proclamation of peace.

The War Finance Corporation: to cease to function six months after the war, with further time for liquidation.

The Capital Issues Committee: to terminate in six months after the peace proclamation.

The Aircraft Board: to end in six months after peace was proclaimed; and the government operation of ships, within five years after the war was officially ended.

President Wilson, generally acclaimed as the leader of the world's democracies, phrased for civilization the arguments against autocracy in the great peace conference after the war. The President headed the American delegation to that conclave of world re-construction. With him as delegates to the conference were Robert Lansing, Secretary of State; Henry White, former Ambassador to France and Italy; Edward M. House and General Tasker H. Bliss.

Representing American Labor at the International Labor conference held in Paris simultaneously with the Peace Conference were Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor; William Green, secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Workers of America; John R. Alpine, president of the Plumbers' Union; James Duncan, president of the International Association of Granite Cutters; Frank Duffy, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Frank Morrison, secretary of the American Federation of Labor.

Estimating the share of each Allied nation in the great victory, mankind will conclude that the heaviest cost in proportion to prewar population and treasure was paid by the nations that first felt the shock of war, Belgium, Serbia, Poland and France. All four were the battle-grounds of huge armies, oscillating in a bloody frenzy over once fertile fields and once prosperous towns.

Belgium, with a population of 8,000,000, had a casualty list of more than 350,000; France, with its casualties of 4,000,000 out of a population (including its colonies) of 90,000,000, is really the martyr nation of the world. Her gallant poilus showed the world how cheerfully men may die in defense of home and liberty. Huge Russia, including hapless Poland, had a casualty list of 7,000,000 out of its entire population of 180,000,000. The United States out of a population of 110,000,000 had a casualty list of 236,117 for nineteen months of war; of these 53,169 were killed or died of disease; 179,625 were wounded; and 3,323 prisoners or missing.

[Illustration: KINGS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE PRINCIPAL POWERS
ASSOCIATED AGAINST THE GERMAN ALLIANCE (King George V of England,
President Raymond of France, President Woodrow Wilson of the United
States, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium)]

[Illustration: Photograph of Clemenceau]
Copyright International Film Service.
THE "TIGER" OF FRANCE
George Benjamin Eugene Clemenceau, world-famous Premier of France, who
by his inspiring leadership maintained the magnificent morale of his
countrymen in the face of terrific assaults of the enemy.

[Illustration: THE RIGHT HONORABLE DAVID LLOYD GEORGE]
British Premier, who headed the coalition cabinet which carried
England through the war to victory.

[Illustration: KING GEORGE V] King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, who struggled earnestly to prevent the war, but when Germany attacked Belgium sent the mighty forces of the British Empire to stop the Hun.

To the glory of Great Britain must be recorded the enormous effort made by its people, showing through operations of its army and navy. The British Empire, including, the Colonies, had a casualty list of 3,049,992 men out of a total population of 440,000,000. Of these 658,665 were killed; 2,032,122 were wounded, and 359,204 were reported missing. It raised an army of 7,000,000, and fought seven separate foreign campaigns, in France, Italy, Dardanelles, Mesopotamia, Macedonia, East Africa and Egypt. It raised its navy personnel from 115,000 to 450,000 men. Co-operating with its allies on the sea, it destroyed approximately one hundred and fifty German and Austrian submarines. It aided materially the American navy and transport service in sending overseas the great American army whose coming decided the war. The British navy and transport service during the war made the following record of transportation and convoy:

Twenty million men, 2,000,000 horses, 130,000,000 tons of food, 25,000,000 tons of explosives and supplies, 51,000,000 tons of oil and fuels, 500,000 vehicles. In 1917 alone 7,000,000 men, 500,000 animals, 200,000 vehicles and 9,500,000 tons of stores were conveyed to the several war fronts.

The German losses were estimated at 1,588,000 killed or died of disease; 4,000,000 wounded; and 750,000 prisoners and missing.

A tabulation of the estimates of casualties and the money cost of the war reveals the enormous price paid by humanity to convince a military-mad Germanic caste that Right and not Might must hereafter rule the world. These figures do not include Serbian losses, which are unavailable. Following is the tabulation:

THE ENTENTE ALLIES THE CENTRAL POWERS
Russia 7,000,000 Germany 6,338,000
France 4,000,000 Austria-Hungary 4,500,000
British Empire (official) 3,049,992 Turkey 750,000
Italy 1,000,000 Bulgaria 200,000
Belgium 350,000
Roumania 200,000
United States (official) 236,117
Total 15,836,109 Total 11,788,000

Grand total of estimated casualties, 27,624,109, of which the dead alone number perhaps 7,000,000.

ESTIMATED COST IN MONEY
THE ENTENTE ALLIES THE CENTRAL POWERS
Russia $30,000,000,000 Germany $45,000,000,000
Britain 52,000,000,000 Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000
France 32,000,000,000 Turkey 5,000,000,000
United States 40,000,000,000 Bulgaria 2,000,000,000
Italy 12,000,000,000 —————————
Roumania 3,000,000,000 Total $77,000,000,000
Serbia 3,000,000,000
——————————
Total $172,000,000,000

Grand total of estimated cost in money, $249,000,000,000. Was the cost too heavy? Was the price of international liberty paid in human lives and in sacrifices untold too great for the peace that followed?

Even the most practical of money changers, the most sentimental pacifist, viewing the cost in connection with the liberation of whole nations, with the spread of enlightened liberty through oppressed and benighted lands, with the destruction of autocracy, of the military caste, and of Teutonic kultur in its materialistic aspect, must agree that the blood was well shed, the treasure well spent.

Millions of gallant, eager youths learned how to die fearlessly and gloriously. They died to teach vandal nations that nevermore will humanity permit the exploitation of peoples for militaristic purposes.

As Milton, the great philosopher poet, phrased the lesson taught to
Germany on the fields of France:

They err who count it glorious to subdue
By conquest far and wide, to overrun
Large countries, and in field great battles win,
Great cities by assault; what do these worthies
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave
Peaceable nations, neighboring or remote
Made captive, yet deserving freedom more
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind
Nothing but ruin wheresoe'er they rove
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy.

CHAPTER II

THE WORLD SUDDENLY TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

Demoralization, like the black plague of the middle ages, spread in every direction immediately following the first overt acts of war. Men who were millionaires at nightfall awoke the next morning to find themselves bankrupt through depreciation of their stock-holdings. Prosperous firms of importers were put out of business. International commerce was dislocated to an extent unprecedented in history.

The greatest of hardships immediately following the war, however, were visited upon those who unhappily were caught on their vacations or on their business trips within the area affected by the war. Not only men, but women and children, were subjected to privations of the severest character. Notes which had been negotiable, paper money of every description, and even silver currency suddenly became of little value. Americans living in hotels and pensions facing this sudden shrinkage in their money, were compelled to leave the roofs that had sheltered them. That which was true of Americans was true of all other nationalities, so that every embassy and the office of every consul became a miniature Babel of excited, distressed humanity.

The sudden seizure of railroads for war purposes in Germany, France, Austria and Russia, cut off thousands of travelers in villages that were almost inaccessible. Europeans being comparatively close to their homes, were not in straits as severe as the Americans whose only hope for aid lay in the speedy arrival of American gold. Prices of food soared beyond all precedent and many of these hapless strangers went under. Paris, the brightest and gayest city in Europe, suddenly became the most somber of dwelling places. No traffic was permitted on the highways at night. No lights were permitted and all the cafes were closed at eight o'clock. The gay capital was placed under iron military rule.

Seaports, and especially the pleasure resorts in France, Belgium and England, were placed under a military supervision. Visitors were ordered to return to their homes and every resort was shrouded with darkness at night. The records of those early days are filled with stories of dramatic happenings.

On the night of July 31st Jean Leon Jaures, the famous leader of French Socialists, was assassinated while dining in a small restaurant near the Paris Bourse. His assassin was Raoul Villein. Jaures had been endeavoring to accomplish a union of French and German Socialists with the aim of preventing the war. The object of the assassination appeared to have been wholly political.

On the same day stock exchanges throughout the United States were closed, following the example of European stock exchanges. Ship insurance soared to prohibitive figures. Reservists of the French and German armies living outside of their native land were called to the colors and their homeward rush still further complicated transportation for civilians. All the countries of Europe clamored for gold. North and South America complied with the demand by sending cargoes of the precious metal overseas. The German ship Kron Prinzessin with a cargo of gold, attempted to make the voyage to Hamburg, but a wireless warning that Allied cruisers were waiting for it off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, compelled the big ship to turn back to safety in America.

Channel boats bearing American refugees from the Continent to London were described as floating hells. London was excited over the war and holiday spirit, and overrun with five thousand citizens of the United States tearfully pleading with the American Ambassador for money for transportation home or assurances of personal safety.

The condition of the terror-stricken tourists fleeing to the friendly shores of England from Continental countries crowded with soldiers dragging in their wake heavy guns, resulted in an extraordinary gathering of two thousand Americans at a hotel one afternoon and the formation of a preliminary organization to afford relief. Some people who attended the meeting were already beginning to feel the pinch of want with little prospects of immediate succor. One man and wife, with four children, had six cents when he appealed to Ambassador Page after an exciting escape from German territory.

[Illustration: WHERE THE WORLD WAR BEGAN. Map showing 15 degrees East to 28 degrees East; 35 degrees North to 52 degrees North. Germany and Russia on the North; the Mediterranean on the South; the Adriatic Sea on the West; the Aegean and Western Turkey on the East.]

Oscar Straus, worth ten millions, struck London with nine dollars. Although he had letters of credit for five thousand, he was unable to cash them in Vienna. Women hugging newspaper bundles containing expensive Paris frocks and millinery were herded in third-class carriages and compelled to stand many hours. They reached London utterly fatigued and unkempt, but mainly cheerful, only to find the hotels choked with fellow countrymen fortunate to reach there sooner.

The Ambassador was harassed by anxious women and children who asked many absurd questions which he could not answer. He said:

"The appeals of these people are most distressing. They are very much excited, and no small wonder. I regret I have no definite news of the prospects or plans of the government for relief. I have communicated their condition to the Department of State and expect a response and assurances of coming aid as soon as possible. That the government will act I have not the slightest doubt. I am confident that Washington will do everything in her power for relief. How soon, I cannot tell. I have heard many distressing tales during the last forty-eight hours."

A crowd filled the Ambassador's office on the first floor of the flat building, in Victoria Street, which was mainly composed of women, school teachers, art students, and other persons doing Europe on a shoestring. Many were entirely out of money and with limited securities, which were not negotiable.

The action of the British Government extending the bank holiday till Thursday of that week was discouraging news for the new arrivals from the Continent, as it was uncertain whether the express and steamship companies would open in the morning for the cashing of checks and the delivery of mail, as was announced the previous Saturday.

Doctors J. Riddle Goffe, of New York; Frank F. Simpson, of Pittsburgh; Arthur D. Ballon of Vistaburg, Mich., and B. F. Martin, of Chicago, formed themselves into a committee, and asked the co-operation of the press in America to bring about adequate assistance for the marooned Americans, and to urge the bankers of the United States to insist on their letters of credit and travelers' checks being honored so far as possible by the agents in Europe upon whom they were drawn.

[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS] In the first weeks of the war the Germans occupied Rheims, but were driven out after von Kluck's retreat. On September 20, 1914, they were reported as first shelling the Cathedral of Rheims and the civilized world stood aghast, for the edifice, begun in 1212, is one of the chief glories of Gothic architecture in all Europe.