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Title: World's War Events, Volume III
Recorded by Statesmen, Commanders, Historians and by Men
Who Fought or Saw the Great Campaigns
Author: Various
Editor: Francis J. Reynolds
Allen L. Churchill
Release Date: August 12, 2005 [EBook #16513]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORLD'S WAR EVENTS, VOLUME III ***
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: IN FRONT IS GENERAL PETAIN ABOUT TO BE MADE A MARSHAL.
BEHIND HIM, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, ARE MARSHAL JOFFRE AND MARSHAL FOCH
(FRENCH), FIELD MARSHAL HAIG (BRITISH), GENERAL PERSHING (AMERICAN),
GENERAL GILLAIN (BELGIAN), GENERAL ALBRICCI (ITALIAN), GENERAL HALLER
(POLISH)]
WORLD'S WAR
EVENTS
RECORDED BY STATESMEN -- COMMANDERS
HISTORIANS AND BY MEN WHO FOUGHT OR SAW
THE GREAT CAMPAIGNS
COMPILED AND EDITED BY
FRANCIS J. REYNOLDS
FORMER REFERENCE LIBRARIAN -- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
AND
ALLEN L. CHURCHILL
ASSOCIATE EDITOR "THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR"
ASSOCIATE EDITOR "THE NEW INTERNATIONAL
ENCYCLOPEDIA"
VOLUME III
[Illustration]
PF COLLIER & SON COMPANY
NEW YORK
Copyright 1919
BY P.F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY
WORLD'S WAR EVENTS
VOLUME III
BEGINNING WITH THE DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST
AMERICAN DESTROYERS FOR SERVICE ABROAD
IN APRIL, 1917, AND CLOSING
WITH THE TREATIES
OF PEACE IN
1919
CONTENTS
ARTICLE PAGE
I. A DESTROYER IN ACTIVE SERVICE 7
_An American Officer_
II. EAST AFRICA 32
_Jan Christiaan Smuts_
III. GREECE'S ATONEMENT 54
_Lewis R. Freeman_
IV. THE ITALIANS AT BAY 69
_G. Ward Price_
V. BOTTLING UP ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND 101
_Official Narrative_
VI. WITH THE AMERICAN SUBMARINES 119
_Henry B. Beston_
VII. WOUNDED HEROES OF FRANCE 138
_Abbé Felix Klein_
VIII. THE BATTLE OF PICARDY 153
_J.B.W. Gardiner_
IX. BULGARIA QUITS 170
_Lothrop Stoddard_
X. THE FIGHTING CZECHO-SLOVAKS 183
_Maynard Owen Williams_
XI. SIX DAYS ON THE AMERICAN FIRING LINE 200
_Corporal H.J. Burbach_
XII. AN AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD 210
_Raoul Blanchard_
XIII. NIGHT RAIDS FROM THE AIR 229
_Mary Helen Fee_
XIV. THE AMERICAN ARMY IN EUROPE 242
_General John J. Pershing_
XV. THE AMERICAN NAVY IN EUROPE 271
_Admiral H.T. Mayo_
XVI. ARMISTICE TERMS SIGNED BY GERMANY 297
XVII. COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS 306
XVIII. TREATY OF PEACE WITH GERMANY 318
XIX. TREATY OF PEACE WITH AUSTRIA 365
INDEX 375
A DESTROYER IN ACTIVE SERVICE
BY AN AMERICAN OFFICER
APRIL 7.
[Sidenote: War accepted with equanimity.]
[Sidenote: Life on a destroyer is simple.]
Well, I must confess that, even after war has been declared, the skies
haven't fallen and oysters taste just the same. I never would have
dreamed that so big a step would be accepted with so much equanimity. It
is due to two causes, I think. First, because we have trembled on the
verge so long and sort of dabbled our toes in the water, that our minds
have grown gradually accustomed to what under other circumstances would
be a violent shock. Second, because the individual units of the Navy are
so well prepared that there is little to do. We made a few minor changes
in the routine and slipped the war-heads on to the torpedoes, and
presto, we were ready for war. One beauty of a destroyer is that, life
on board being reduced to its simplest terms anyhow, there is little to
change. We may be ordered to "strip," that is, go to our Navy yard and
land all combustibles, paints, oils, surplus woodwork, etc.; but we have
not done so yet.
We were holding drill yesterday when the signal was made from the
flagship, "War is declared." I translated it to my crew, who received
the news with much gayety but hardly a trace of excitement.
APRIL 13.
[Sidenote: Anxiety to get into the big game.]
There is absolutely no news. We are standing by for what may betide,
with not the faintest idea of what it may be. Of course, we are
drilling all the time, and perfecting our readiness for action in every
way, but there is a total absence of that excitement and sense of
something impending that one usually associates with the beginning of
war. Indeed, I think that the only real anxiety is lest we may not get
into the big game at all. I do not think any of us are bloodthirsty or
desirous of either glory or advancement, but we have the wish to justify
our existence. With me it takes this form--by being in the service I
have sacrificed my chance to make good as husband, father, citizen, son,
in fact, in every human relationship, in order to be, as I trust, one of
the Nation's high-grade fighting instruments. Now, if fate never uses me
for the purpose to which I have been fashioned, then much time, labor,
and material have been wasted, and I had better have been made into a
good clerk, farmer, or business man.
[Sidenote: The desire to be put to the test.]
I do so want to be put to the test and not found wanting. Of course, I
know that the higher courage is to do your duty from day to day no
matter in how small a line, but all of us conceal a sneaking desire to
attempt the higher hurdles and sail over grandly.
You need not be proud of me, for there is no intrinsic virtue in being
in the Navy when war is declared; but I hope fate will give me the
chance to make you proud.
APRIL 21.
[Sidenote: A chance to command.]
[Sidenote: Bringing a ship to dock.]
I have been having lots of fun in command myself, and good experience. I
have taken her out on patrol up to Norfolk twice, where the channel is
as thin and crooked as a corkscrew, then into dry dock. Later, escorted
a submarine down, then docked the ship alongside of a collier, and have
established, to my own satisfaction at least, that I know how to handle
a ship. All this may not convey much, but you remember how you felt
when you first handled your father's car. Well, the car weighs about two
tons and the W---- a thousand, and she goes nearly as fast. You have to
bring your own mass up against another dock or oilship as gently as
dropping an egg in an egg-cup, and you can imagine what the battleship
skipper is up against, with 30,000 tons to handle. Only he generally has
tugs to help him, whereas we do it all by ourselves.
[Sidenote: Justifying one's existence as an officer.]
This war is far harder on you than on me. The drill, the work of
preparing for grim reality, all of it is what I am trained for. The very
thought of getting into the game gives me a sense of calmness and
contentment I have never before known. I suppose it is because
subconsciously I feel that I am justifying my existence now more than
ever before. And that feeling brings anybody peace.
MAY 1.
Back in harness again and thankful for the press of work that keeps me
from thinking about you all at home.
[Sidenote: Orders to sail.]
Well, we are going across all right, exactly where and for how long I do
not know. Our present orders are to sail to-morrow night, but there
seems to be wild uncertainty about whether we will go out then. In the
meantime, we are frantically taking on mountains of stores, ammunition,
provisions, etc., trying to fill our vacancies with new men from the
Reserve Ship, and hurrying everything up at high pressure.
Well, I am glad it has come. It is what I wanted and what I think you
wanted for me. It is useless to discuss all the possibilities of where
we are going and what we are going to do. From the look of things, I
think we are going to help the British. I hope so. Of course, we are a
mere drop in the bucket.
MAY 5.
[Sidenote: Happier always for having taken the chance.]
As I start off now, my only real big regret is that through
circumstances so much of my responsibility has been taken by
others--you, my brother, and your father. I don't know that I am really
to blame. At least, I am very sure that never in all my life did I
intentionally try to shift any load of mine onto another. But in any
case, it makes me all the more glad that I am where I am, going where I
am to go--to have my chance, in other words. I once said in jest that
all naval officers ought really to get killed, to justify their
existence. I don't exactly advocate that extreme. But I shall all my
life be happier for having at least taken my chance. It will increase my
self-respect, which in turn increases my usefulness in life. So can you
get my point of view, and be glad with me?
[Sidenote: The best things of life.]
Now I am to a great extent a fatalist, though I hope it really is
something higher than that. Call it what you will, I have always
believed that if we go ahead and do our duty, counting not the cost,
then the outcome will be in the hands of a power way beyond our own. But
if it be fated that I don't come back, let no one ever say, "Poor
_R----_." I have had all the best things of life given me in full
measure--the happiest childhood and boyhood, health, the love of family
and friends, the profession I love, marriage to the girl I wanted, and
my son. If I go now, it will be as one who quits the game while the blue
chips are all in his own pile.
GENERAL POST OFFICE, LONDON
MAY 19.
[Sidenote: Rescuing a sailor.]
On the trip over, we were steaming behind the _R----_, when all at once
she steered out and backed, amid much running around on board. At first
we thought she saw a submarine and stood by our guns. Then we saw she
had a man overboard. We immediately dropped our lifeboat, and I went in
charge for the fun of it. Beat the _R----'s_ boat to him. He had no
life-preserver, but the wool-lined jacket he wore kept him high out of
water, and he was floating around as comfortably as you please, barring
the fact that his fall had knocked him unconscious. So we not only took
him back to his ship, but picked up the _R----'s_ boat-hook, which the
clumsy lubbers had dropped--and kept it as a reward for our trouble.
[Sidenote: Very little known about the U-boat situation.]
We are being somewhat overhauled, refitted, etc., in the British
dock-yard here. Navy yards are much the same the world over, I guess. I
will say, however, that they have dealt with us quickly and efficiently,
with the minimum of red tape and correspondence. We have become in fact
an integral part of the British Navy. Admiral Sims is in general
supervision of us, but we are directly in command of the British Admiral
commanding the station. Of the U-boat situation, I may say little. There
is nothing about which so much is imagined, rumored and reported, and so
little known for certain. Five times, when coming through the danger
zone, we manned all guns, thinking we saw something. Once in my watch I
put the helm hard over to dodge a torpedo--which proved to be a
porpoise! And I'll do the same thing again, too. We are in this war up
to the neck, there is no doubt about that--and thank Heaven for it!
Kiss our son for me and make up your mind that you would rather have his
father over here on the job than sitting in a swivel-chair at home doing
nothing.
MAY 26.
I never seem to get time to write a real letter. All hands, including
your husband, are so dead tired when off watch that there is nothing to
do but flop down on your bunk--or on the deck sometimes--and sleep. The
captain and I take watch on the bridge day and night, and outside of
this I do my own navigating and other duties, so time does not go
a-begging with me. However, we are still unsunk, for which we should be
properly grateful.
[Sidenote: War has become matter-of-fact.]
I have seen a little of Ireland and like New York State better than
ever. It is difficult to realize how matter-of-fact the war has become
with every one over here. You meet some mild mannered gentleman and talk
about the weather, and then find later that he is a survivor from some
desperate episode that makes your blood tingle. I would that we were
over on the North Sea side, where Providence might lay us alongside a
German destroyer some gray dawn. This submarine-chasing business is much
like the proverbial skinning of a skunk--useful, but not especially
pleasant or glorious.
JUNE 1.
[Sidenote: Glad to be in the big game.]
When I said good-bye to you at home, I don't think that either of us
realized that I was coming over here to stay. Perhaps it was just as
well. Human nature is such that we subconsciously refuse to accept an
idea, even when we know it to be a true one, because it is totally
new--beyond our experience. Pursuant to which, I could not believe that
my fondest hopes were to be realized, and that not only I, but the whole
of America, would really get into the big game. Oh, it is big all right,
and it grows on you the more you get into it.
Now, I realize that it is asking too much of you or of any woman to view
with perfect complacency having a husband suddenly injected into war.
But just consider--suppose I was a prosperous dentist or produce
merchant on shore, instead of in the Navy. By now you and I would be
undergoing all the agonies of indecision as to whether I should enlist
or no; it would darken our lives for weeks or months, and in the end I
should go anyhow, letting my means of livelihood and yours go hang, and
be away just as long and stand as good a chance of being blown up as I
do now. So I am very thankful that things have worked out as they have
for us.
[Sidenote: Little one is permitted to tell.]
There is very little to tell that I am allowed to tell you. The
technique of submarine-chasing and dodging would be dry reading to a
landsman. It is a very curious duty in that it would be positively
monotonous, were it not for the possibility of being hurled into
eternity the next minute. I am in very good health and wholly free from
nervous tension.
P.S. When despondent, pull some Nathan Hale "stuff," and regret that you
have but one husband to give to your country.
JUNE 8.
[Sidenote: Sleep, warmth and fresh food become ideals.]
Once more I get the chance to write. We are in port for three days, and
that three days looks as big as a month's leave would have a month ago.
Everything in life is comparative, I guess. When we live a comfortable,
civilized, highly complex life, our longings and desires are many and
far-reaching. Now and here such things as sleep, warmth, and fresh food
become almost the limit of one's imagination. Just like the sailor of
the old Navy, whose idea of perfect contentment was "Two watches below
and beans for dinner."
[Sidenote: Nothing causes excitement.]
You get awfully blasé on this duty--things which should excite you don't
at all. For instance, out of the air come messages like the following:
"Am being chased and delayed by submarine." "Torpedoed and sinking
fast." And you merely look at the chart and decide whether to go to the
rescue full speed, or let some boat nearer to the scene look after it.
Or, if the alarm is given on your own ship, you grab mechanically for
life-jacket, binoculars, pistol, and wool coat, and jump to your
station, not knowing whether it is really a periscope or a stick
floating along out of water.
JUNE 20.
Well, we got mail when we came into port this time, your letter of May
28 being the last one. I don't mind the frequent pot-shots the U-boats
take at us, but doggone their hides if they sink any of our mail! We
won't forgive them that.
[Sidenote: No joy-of-battle to be found.]
My health is excellent, better than my temper, in fact. I am beginning
to think that we are not getting our money's worth in this war. I want
to have my blood stirred and do something heroic--_à la_
moving-pictures. Instead of which it much resembles a campaign against
cholera-germs or anything else which is deadly but difficult to get any
joy-of-battle out of.
Do tell me everything you are doing, for it is up to you to make
conversation, since there is so little of affairs at this end that I can
talk about. It is a shame, for you always claimed that I never spoke
unless you said something first; and now I am doing the same thing under
cover of the letter.
JULY 2.
[Sidenote: Life so gray that shock of danger is beneficial.]
The other day, half-way out on the Atlantic, we sighted a periscope, and
some one at the gun sent a shell skimming over the _C----_, who was in
the way, and then the periscope turned out to be a ventilator sticking
up over some wreckage. However, the incident was welcome. You have no
conception of how gray life can get to be on this job, and the shock of
danger, real or imaginary, is really beneficial, I think. All hands seem
to be more cheerful under its influence.
JULY 4.
I was so glad to get your letters. A man who has a brave woman behind
him will do his duty far better and, incidentally, stand more chance of
coming back, than one who feels a drag instead of a push.
I am glad son had his first fight. You were perfectly right to make him
go on. Mother used to tell how, when brother was a wee boy, he came home
almost weeping, and said, "Mother, a boy hit me." Instead of comforting
him, she said, "Did you hit him back?" It almost killed her, he was so
utterly dumbfounded and hurt; but next time he hit back and licked.
[Sidenote: The life wears nerves and temper.]
I am well but get rather jumpy at times. Strangely enough, it is always
over more or less trivial matters. Every time we have a submarine scare,
I feel markedly better for a while--it seems to reëstablish my sense of
proportion.
It is a mighty nerve- and temper-wearing life--at sea nearly all the time
and with the boat rolling and bucking like a broncho, you can't
exercise. You can hardly do any work, but only hold on tight and wipe
the salt spray from your eyes. Sometimes I have started to shave and
found the salt so thick on my face that soap would not lather.
JULY 16.
[Sidenote: Time is passed navigating, standing watch, sleeping.]
Things are the same as before with us. Time passes quickly, with
navigating, standing watch and sleeping when you get a chance. One day
or two passes all too quickly. I wish there were more to do in the shape
of relaxation when we do get ashore. The people here are cordial enough,
according to their lights, but those that we meet are practically all
Army and Navy people, who have no abode here themselves and are almost
as much strangers as we are; and there is no resident population of
that caste that would ordinarily open its doors to foreign naval
officers.
[Sidenote: Little for diversion in Ireland.]
Ireland is a poor country comparatively. A town of 50,000 here shows
less in the way of facilities for diversion than the average town of
10,000 in the States.
[Sidenote: Mental privations hurt more than physical ones.]
Don't worry about my privations--"which mostly there ain't none." Such
as they are, they are necessary and unavoidable; and, above all, we are
fitted for them. You can't well sympathize with a man who is doing the
thing he has longed for and trained for all his life. Besides, physical
privations are nothing; it is the mental ones that hurt. A soldier in
the trenches, with little to eat and nothing but a hole to sleep in, can
feel happy all the same--particularly if life has something in prospect
for him if he lives. But a man out of work at home, sleeping in the park
and panhandling for food, is much more to be pitied, though his
immediate hardships may be no greater.
The weather over here is very passable at present, but they say it is
simply hell off the coast in winter. However, somebody said the war will
be over in November. I hope the Kaiser and Hindenburg know it, too!
JULY 26.
[Sidenote: Anxious to be in action.]
I haven't done anything heroic, which irks me. We would like to get in
on the ground floor, while all hands are in a receptive mood, and before
the Plattsburgers and other such death-defying supermen make it too
common.
JULY 22.
[Sidenote: A cheerful letter from home.]
Your two letters of July 7 and 8 came this afternoon, but I got the
latter first and expected from what you said in contrition that there
was hot stuff--gas-attack followed by bayonet-work--in the former;
therefore I was all the more ashamed to find you had dealt so leniently
and squarely with me. Why didn't you come back with a long invoice of
troubles of your own, as 99 per cent of women would? Evidently you are
the one-per-cent woman. I bitterly regretted my whines after having
written them, for their very untruth. Alas, how many people think the
world is drab-colored and life a failure, and so have done or said
something they regret all their lives, when a vegetable pill or a brisk
walk would have changed their vision completely! Why is it that people
sometimes deliberately hurt those they have loved most in the world? I
suppose it is because we are all really children at heart and want some
one else to cry too. The other day Smith shamefacedly abstracted from
the mail-box a letter to his wife, and tore it up, and I know--oh, I
know!
At a husbands' meeting on the ship the other day, we all agreed that the
heavy hand was the only way to deal with women; but it seemed on
investigation that no one had actually tried it the reason being
apparently a well-grounded fear that our wives wouldn't like it.
[Sidenote: Danger, but little action or variety.]
This war hasn't had as much action, variety, and stimulation for us as I
would like. Danger there always is, but being little in evidence, you
have to prod your nerves to realize it rather than soothe them down.
Lately, however, things have changed in a manner which, though involving
no more danger, furnishes a somewhat greater mental stimulation, and
thence is better for everybody. I regret to say that I am gaining in
weight. It was my hope to come back thin and gaunt and
interesting-looking. Instead of which, you will likely be mad as a
hornet to find me so sleek, while you at home have done all the thinning
down. Truth to tell, if you compare our relative peace and war status,
you are much more at war than I am.
[Sidenote: The highest form of courage.]
If you find son timid in some things, just remember that I was, too.
Lots of things he will change about automatically. At his age I had
small love for fire-crackers or explosives of any kind, but in two or
three years, and without any prompting, I became really expert in guns
and gunpowder. Try to get him to realize that the very highest form of
courage is to be afraid to do a thing--and do it!
AUGUST 3.
[Sidenote: U-boat score against destroyers is zero.]
Once in a while some one of us gets a torpedo fired at him, and only
luck or quick seamanship saves him from destruction. Some day the
torpedo will hit, and then the Navy Department will "regret to report."
But the laws of probability and chance cannot lie, and as the total
U-boat score against our destroyers so far is zero, you can figure for
yourself that they will have to improve somewhat before the Kaiser can
hand out many iron crosses at our expense.
[Sidenote: Picking up survivors.]
We had a new experience the other day when we picked up two boatloads of
survivors from the ----, torpedoed without warning. I will say they were
pretty glad to see us when we bore down on them. As we neared, they
began to paddle frantically, as though fearful we should be snatched
away from them at the last moment. The crew were mostly Arabs and
Lascars, and the first mate, a typical comic-magazine Irishman,
delivered himself of the following: "Sure, toward the last, some o' thim
haythen gits down on their knees and starts calling on Allah; but I sez,
sez I, 'Git up afore I swat ye wid the axe-handle, ye benighted haythen;
sure if this boat gits saved 't will be the Holy Virgin does it or none
at all, at all! Git up,' sez I."
[Sidenote: The deep sea breeds a certain fineness of character.]
The officers were taken care of in the ward-room--rough unlettered old
sailormen, who possessed a certain fineness of character which I
believe the deep sea tends to breed in those who follow it long enough.
I have known some old Tartars greatly hated by those under them, but to
whom a woman or child would take naturally.
What you say about my possibly being taken prisoner both amuses and
touches me. The former because it seems so highly unlikely a
contingency. Submarines do not take prisoners if they can help it, and
least of all from a man-of-war. But I have often thought of just what I
should do in such a case, and I have decided that it would be far better
to die than to submit to certain things. In which case, I should use my
utmost ingenuity to take along one or two adversaries with me.
AUGUST 11.
[Sidenote: The case for universal conscription.]
So the boys at home don't all take kindly to being conscripted, eh?
Well, I wish for a lot of reasons that the conscription might be as
complete and far-reaching as it is in, for instance, France. I think for
one thing that universal conscription is the final test of democracy.
Again, I think it would do every individual in the nation good to find
out that there was something a little bit bigger than he--something that
neither money, nor politics, nor obscurity, nor the Labor Union, nor any
one else could help him to wriggle out of. It would go far towards
disillusioning those many who seem to feel that they do not have to take
too seriously a government because they have helped to create it.
[Sidenote: Not a question of courage but of mental process.]
While I have precious little sympathy for slackers of any variety, one
must not judge them too harshly because their minds do not happen to
work the same as ours. In nine cases out of ten it is not a question of
courage, but one of mental process. Some people come of a caste to whom
war or the idea of fighting for their country is second nature. They
take it for granted, like death and taxes. If they ever permitted
themselves seriously to question the rightness of it; to submit
patriotism and courage to an acid analysis, they might suddenly turn
arrant cowards. How much harder is it, then, for people who have never
even faced the idea of it before to be suddenly placed up against the
actual fact!
AUGUST 18.
I have been having a little extra fun on my own hook recently. The poor
captain has had to have an operation, and will be on his back for some
weeks.
[Sidenote: Double duty on the bridge.]
Do I like going to war all on my own? Oh no, just like a cat hates
cream. It is a wee bit strenuous, as I have to do double duty; and one
night I was on the bridge steadily from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. But the funny
part is that I didn't feel especially all in afterward, and one good
sleep fixed me up completely.
[Sidenote: A submarine escapes.]
I had a big disappointment on my first run out. I nearly bagged a
submarine for you. We got her on the surface as nice as anything, but it
was very rough, and she was far away, and before I could plunk her, she
got under. If she had only--but, as the saying goes, if the dog hadn't
stopped to scratch himself, he would have got the rabbit (not, however,
that we stopped to scratch ourselves).
AUGUST 27.
[Sidenote: Responsibility for lives and ship.]
I am still in command of the ship and love it, but there is a difference
between being second in command and being It. It makes you introspective
to realize that a hundred lives and a $700,000 ship are absolutely
dependent upon you, without anybody but the Almighty to ask for advice
if you get into difficulty.
It is not so much the submarines, which are largely a matter of luck,
but the navigating. Say I am heading back for port after several days
out, the weather is thick as pea-soup, and I have not seen land or had
an observation for days. I know where I am--at least I think I do--but
what if I have miscalculated, or am carried off my course by the strong
and treacherous tides on this coast, and am heading right into the
breakers somewhere, or perchance a mine-field! Then the fog lifts a
little, and I see the cliffs or mountains that I recognize, and bring
her in with a slam-bang, much bravado, and a sigh of relief.
Don't you remember the days when you thought son was dying if he
cried--or if he didn't? Well, that's it!
[Sidenote: Recreations ashore.]
Don't get the idea that I have no recreations. We walk and play golf, go
to the movies on occasion, and there is always a jolly gang of mixed
services to play with.
SEPTEMBER 9.
Life here doesn't vary much. The captain is up and taking a few days'
leave, though I doubt if he will take command for two or three weeks
yet. But I am having a lovely time running her.
[Sidenote: A veteran New Zealander for dinner.]
The other night we had a very interesting chap for dinner--a New
Zealander he was, who has served in Egypt, Gallipoli, the trenches in
France, and is now in the Royal Naval Reserve. The tales he told were of
wonderful interest. He was modest and seemed to have been a decent sort,
but you could sense the brutalizing effect of war on him. Some of the
things he told were such jokes on the Germans that we laughed right
heartily.
[Sidenote: The beast in man is near the surface.]
The beast in man lies so close to the surface. We think we are human and
law-abiding of our own volition, whereas, as a matter of fact,
nine-tenths of it is from pure habit. It doesn't occur to us to be
anything else. But let all standards and customs be scrapped, let us see
the things done freely that never even entered our minds before, and a
lot of us are liable to develop ape and tiger proclivities. We nearly
all put unconscious limits to our humanity. The most chivalrous and
kindly Westerner or Southerner would admit that massacring Chinamen,
Mexicans, or Negroes is not such a great crime; and the most devoted
mother or father is prone to regard as unspanked brats children who to a
third party appear quite as well as the critic's own.
SEPTEMBER 20.
I am still in command and loving every minute of it. With any other
captain than ours it would be a come-down to resume my place as a
subordinate. But in his case I think that all mourn a little when he is
away.
SEPTEMBER 29.
[Sidenote: New knowledge of navigation and ship handling.]
Oh, it's great stuff, this being in command and handling the ship alone.
Particularly I enjoy swooping down on some giant freighter, like a hawk
on a turkey, running close alongside, where a wrong touch to helm or
engine may spell destruction, and then demanding through a megaphone why
she does or does not do so and so. I have learned more navigation and
ship-handling since being over here than in all my previous seagoing
experience. In the old ante-bellum days one hesitated to get too close
to another ship, even in daytime, far more so at night, even with the
required navigation lights on. Now, without so much light as a glowworm
could give, we run around, never quite certain when the darkness ahead
may turn into a ship close enough to throw a brick at.
However, I am back in the ranks again now, as the captain has come back
and resumed command.
OCTOBER 9.
[Sidenote: Job of an executive officer is thankless.]
You must not be resentful because of things you have gone through,
unappreciated by those perhaps for whom you have undergone them. It is
one of the laws of life, and a hard law too, but it comes to everybody,
either in a few big things or a multitude of little ones. Do the people
who keep the world turning around ever get due recognition? I was
thinking in much the same resentful vein myself to-day, in my own small
way, how thankless the job of an executive officer is; how you never
reach any big end, or even feel that you have made progress, but just
keep on the job, watching and inspecting and fussing to keep the whole
personnel-matériel machine running smoothly, and knowing that your
recognition is purely negative, in that, if all goes well, you don't get
called down. And then I calm down and realize that it is all in the
game, and that it is the best tribute so to handle your job in life that
nothing has to be said. If your car runs perfectly, you neither feel nor
hear it, and give it little credit on that account. But let it strip a
gear or something go!!
[Sidenote: Roller-skating for amusement ashore.]
I hate to tell you what I was doing this afternoon. You will think I am
not at war at all when I tell you that I have been roller-skating. I was
a bit rusty at first, but warmed up to it. It is about the only exercise
we can get on shore, for it rains all the time. Each shower puts an
added crimp in my temper, as I have been trying to get a new coat of
camouflage paint on the ship. I think, if some of the old
paint-and-polish captains and admirals could see her now, they would die
of apoplexy.
[Sidenote: No chance for wives to come over.]
I fear there is no chance for you to come over. Admiral Sims
disapproves--not of you personally--one cannot find a place to live
here, and there would be too many hardships. How would it be for you
when we had said good-bye, and you saw the ship start out into a howling
gale or go out right after several ships had been sunk outside? With you
at home among friends, I can keep my mind on my job, which I couldn't if
you were alone over here.
Let me say right now that the destroyer torpedoed was not ours. It was
hard on you all to have the news published that one had been and a man
killed, and not say what boat, as that leaves every one in suspense. I
suppose the relatives of the man were notified, but that doesn't help
other people who were anxious.
[Sidenote: A destroyer is torpedoed but does not sink.]
I don't suppose I can tell you which boat either, if the authorities
won't. You do not know any one on board of her, however. They saw it
coming, jammed on full speed, and nearly cleared it. It took them just
at the stern and blew off about 30 feet as neatly as son would bite the
end off a banana. The submarine heard the explosion, of course, from
below, and came to the surface to see the "damned Yankee" sink, only to
find the rudderless, sternless boat steaming full speed in a circle with
her one remaining propeller, and to be greeted by a salvo of four-inch
shells that made her duck promptly. The man killed saw the torpedo
coming and ran aft to throw overboard some high explosives stowed
there--but he didn't quite make it.
[Sidenote: Damaged destroyers somehow get back to port.]
Our destroyers are really wonderful boats--you can shoot off one end of
them, ram them, cut them in two, and still they float and get to port
somehow.
Some time ago, on a pitch-dark night, one of them was rammed by a
British boat and nearly cut in two. Was there a panic? Not at all. As
she settled in the water, they got out their boats and life-rafts, the
officers and a few selected men stayed on board, and the rest pulled off
in the darkness singing, "Are we downhearted? No!" and "Hail, hail, the
gang's all here." She floated, though with her deck awash; the boats
were recalled, and they brought her in. She is fixed up and back in the
game again now.
OCTOBER 25.
[Sidenote: British destroyers fight raiders.]
[Sidenote: The Admiral strict as a Prussian.]
Where did you hear that about two destroyers being sunk off the coast of
Ireland on September 3? False alarm. Of course, you have read in the
papers about the convoy destroyed in the North Sea by German raiders.
The two British destroyers with the convoy stood up to them and fought
as a bulldog would fight a tiger--and with the same result. Somebody was
arguing with the Admiral, our boss, to the effect that it would have
been better for them to have saved themselves, trailed the raiders, and
sent radio, so that the British cruisers could have intercepted and
destroyed them. Said the Admiral, "Yes, it would have been better, but I
would court-martial and shoot the man that did it." He's a wonder to
serve under, as grim and strict as a Prussian, but very just, and runs
things in a way that secures all our admiration--though we may fuss a
bit when, expecting two or three comfortable days in port, we get chased
out on short notice into a raving gale outside.
A BRITISH DOCK YARD, NOVEMBER 4.
[Sidenote: A friend on hospital duty.]
There are lots of our army people here. Some of them are just passing
through, while others are stationed at near-by training camps or
hospitals. I was wandering around the big hotel here, when I saw a
familiar face in army uniform, and who should it be but M----. Much joy!
He is near here, on temporary duty at a British hospital. I had him over
to the ship for lunch, and hope to see him again. I certainly respect
that boy. He has no military ambitions, and wishes the war were over, so
he could get back to his wife and children; but _he_ answered the call
while others were hiding behind volleys of language, and he is here to
see it through. I am afraid he is homesick and lonely, for it is harder
for a boy who does not know the English than for us hardened
mercenaries, who are accustomed to hobnob with everybody from Cubans to
Cossacks.
[Sidenote: The American uniform and the British.]
I will be glad when American Army and Navy uniforms are designed by a
tailor who really knows something about it. Alas, our people are
distinctly inferior to the British in the cut of their jib. I think it
is the high standing collar that queers us. It is only at its best when
one stands at Attention--head up, chest out, arms at side--being
distinctly a parade uniform. The British, with their rolling collar, and
coat tight where it may be, and loose where it needs to be, are, you
might say, less military and better dressed.
Tell the Enfant that I am very proud when he gets gold honor-marks on
his school-papers, and I think that it probably means about the same as
a star on a midshipman's collar. (That ought to get him.)
I must close and get a bit of sleep. It seems as if, when it is all
over, all the heaven I will want, is to be with you and son again,
perfectly quiet.
AT SEA, NOVEMBER 16.
[Sidenote: True democracy is in a way inefficient.]
I think a true democracy is necessarily inefficient in a way. The only
really efficient government in the world is the one which we intend to
pull down, or else go down ourselves, trying to!
Can't you imagine, in the dim Valhalla beyond, how the archer of
Pharaoh, the swordsman from the plains before Troy, and the Roman
legionary will greet the hurrying souls of the aviator, the
bomb-thrower, and the bayonet-man with, "Brother, what were you?"
I'd hate to have to explain to their uncomprehending ears what a
conscientious objector is!
DECEMBER 2.
[Sidenote: Assuming command.]
Well, to-day is one of the big days of my life, for I assumed command of
this little packet. I put on my sword and fixings and reported to
Captain Paine, who was most benevolent. Several of us went on shore to
celebrate with a little dinner. Some of the boys just over joined in,
and we became involved with some Highland officers of a fighting
regiment famous throughout Europe for the last three hundred years.
One's first ship, like the first baby is an event that cannot be
duplicated.
DECEMBER 21.
[Sidenote: A jammed rudder leaves the destroyer unmanageable.]
I needed your letter, being about twenty years older than I was a week
ago. No, no harm done. Just had my first experience of what it means
under certain circumstances to be in command. Went out with certain
others on a certain job. All went well, though we had a poor grade of
oil in our bunkers and were burning more than we should ordinarily.
Then, through certain chances, we had to go farther than expected.
Still, I figured to get back with a moderate margin, when the gale
struck us. You may have read of Biscay storms; well, believe me, they
are not over-rated. I have seen just as bad, perhaps, but not from the
deck of a destroyer. And while I am frantically calculating whether I
shall have enough fuel to make port or not, there is a wild yell from
the bridge that the rudder is jammed at hard-a-starboard and can't be
moved. She, of course, at once fell off into the trough of the sea, and
the big green combers swept clear over her at every roll, raising merry
hob. All the boats were smashed to kindling-wood; chests, and everything
on deck not riveted down, went over the side. In that sea you could no
more manoeuvre by your engines alone than you could dam Niagara with a
handful of sand. A man alongside of me aft, where we were working on the
steering-gear, was swept overboard, but, having a line around his waist,
was hauled back like a hooked fish.
All I could do was to steam in a big circle, and at one point would be
running before it, and could work for an instant or two with the seas
running up to our waists. When they get over your head, you probably
won't be there any longer. At that time I didn't really expect to stay
afloat, but was too busy with the matters in hand to care. Well, we
finally got it fixed, though we could only use about 15 degrees of
rudder instead of full.
[Sidenote: Lack of fuel causes worry.]
All this time we were drifting merrily to leeward at a rate that I hated
even to guess at, with the certainty, unless matters mended, of
eventually piling up on the Spanish coast, then not far away, though I
hadn't had sight of sun or stars in days, and didn't know within fifty
miles where I was. Well, when I finally headed up into it, I could just
about hold her, without making any headway to speak of. You cannot drive
a destroyer dead into a heavy sea at full speed without bursting her in
two. Still, the situation would have been nothing to worry about much if
I had had sufficient fuel. Now, you on shore may fancy that a ship just
keeps on steaming till she gets there, whether it takes a month or more;
but such is far from the case. Every mile you go consumes just so much
fuel, and, if your margin of safety is too small, you are liable to be
out of luck. And my calculations showed me that while I was using up oil
enough to be making ---- knots, in the teeth of the gale we were only
making ---- knots, and that at that rate I never would make port.
[Sidenote: Three courses are possible.]
[Sidenote: The destroyer makes France.]
[Sidenote: Steel the aristocrat among metals.]
There were three courses open to me: to let her drift, consuming my oil,
in the hope that it would blow over; to run into a Spanish port; or to
run for France, my destination, and, if I fell short of it, to yell for
help by radio, and trust to luck that they could send out and pick me
up. The first course was too risky. I would be making untold miles to
leeward all the time, would probably roll the masts and funnels out of
her, and maybe burst down anyhow, too far off for help. The second
choice was the safest. I could reach Ferrol or Vigo all right, but they
would probably try to intern me; and while I had heard that King Alfonso
was a regular guy and a good scout to run around with, the ensuing
diplomatic complications would make me about as popular in Allied
circles as the proverbial skunk at a bridge-party. So I took the final
alternative, and jammed her into the teeth of it for all I thought she
could stand without imitating an opera hat or an accordion. And, glory
be, she made it, the blessed little old cross between a porpoise and a
safety-razor blade! Whether the gale really moderated, or I got more
nerve, I don't know; but anyhow I gave her more and more, half a knot at
a time, until we were actually making appreciable headway against it. I
never thought any ship could stand the bludgeoning she got. It seemed as
if every rivet must shear, every frame and stanchion crush, under the
impact of the Juggernaut seas that hurtled into her. As a thoroughbred
horse starts and trembles under the touch of the whip, so she reared and
trembled, only to bury herself again in the roaring Niagara of water.
Oh, you thoroughbred high-tensile steel! blue-blooded aristocrat among
metals; Bethlehem or Midvale may claim you--you are none the less
worthy of the Milan casque, the Damascus blade, your forefathers!
Verily, I believe you hold on by sheer nerve, when by all physical laws
should buckle or bend to the shock!
[Sidenote: Torpedo detonators spilt on deck.]
And so we kept on. Don't you know, how in the stories it is always in a
terrific gale that the caged lion or gorilla or python breaks loose and
terrorizes the ship? We don't sport a menagerie on the ----, but I did
pick up the contents of the dry gun-cotton case, which had broken and
spilt the torpedo detonators around on deck contiguous to the hot
radiator! And, of course, the decks below were knee-deep in books,
clothes, dishes, etc., complicated in some compartments by a foot or two
of oil and water.
[Sidenote: Soundings and landmarks.]
Well, the next day we made a little more, and the seas were only
gigantic, not titanic. The oil was holding out better, too, as we struck
a better grade in some of our tanks, and I saw that we had a fighting
chance of making it. By night I felt almost confident we could, and I
really slept some. Next day I expected to make land, but, of course, had
little idea how far I might really be from my reckoning. Nevertheless,
we sighted ---- Light about where I expected to, and laid a course from
there into the harbor. It was a rather thick, foggy day, and pretty soon
I noted a cunning little rock or two, dead ahead, where they didn't by
any means belong. So I rather hurriedly arrested further progress, took
soundings, and bearings of different landmarks, and found that we were
some twenty-five miles from our reckoning--so far, in fact, as to have
picked up the next light-house instead of the one we thought.
After this 'twas plain sailing, though I had never been into that port
before. Made it about noon, took possession of a convenient mooring-buoy
inside the breakwater--which buoy I found out later was sacred to the
French flag-ship or somebody like that--called on our Admiral there, and
was among friends. Yes, by heck, I let 'em buy me a drink at the club--I
needed it! Had oil enough left for just about an hour more!
Copyright, Atlantic Monthly, April, 1918.
* * * * *
While the great campaigns were being waged on the western fronts, there
was being carried on in a more remote part of the world a series of
operations which involved as hard fighting and as many difficulties as
were encountered in any other field of action. The campaigns in East
Africa which resulted in driving the Germans from their former colonies
are described in the following narrative.
EAST AFRICA
JAN CHRISTIAAN SMUTS
[Sidenote: Learned South Africa in The Boer War.]
In the strenuous days of the Boer War I learned to know my South Africa
from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean as one learns a country only under
the searching test of war. I came to know the unfrequented paths, the
trackless parts of the bush, the wastes where people do not often go. I
believe it is generally admitted that I covered more country than any
other commander in the field on either side--and my movement was not
always in the direction of the enemy!
[Sidenote: Obtaining water on the Kalahari Desert.]
When the present war broke out, I proceeded once more on my extensive
travels, and I became something of an expert in the waterless, sandy
wastes of the southern half of German Southwest Africa. As for the
Kalahari Desert, over which the movement of men and transport was
supposed to be quite impossible, we did not rest until we had sunk
bore-holes for water for hundreds of miles, and until we had moved a
large force of thousands of mounted men across an area in which it was
thought no human being could ever move. One of the reasons of our
success in that campaign was that, moving through the Kalahari Desert,
we struck the enemy country at its very heart. The travels of
Livingstone, of Selous, who was a comrade of mine in this war, and of
other illustrious men in those vast solitudes of southern Africa were as
joy-rides to what we had to undergo in conducting a big campaign against
the enemy, and still more against nature.
[Sidenote: A campaign in East Africa.]
[Sidenote: Careful study of topography necessary.]
[Sidenote: Books of travelers all wrong.]
When that campaign was over, and I thought my traveling days were past,
the call came to East Africa, and 1916 was spent in traveling over the
vast tropical expanses of that fascinating country. I need scarcely say
that a military commander has often very special opportunities of
learning geography. He has to study the country with the eyes not of the
scientist or the traveler or the hunter, but of the soldier responsible
for the lives and the movements and supplies of large masses of men. It
is one thing to follow the track of the elephant or to stalk the lion or
antelope or to collect butterflies or other gorgeous things; it is quite
a different and, from the point of view of learning geography, certainly
a far more enlightening, task to lead a large army over those virgin
solitudes, where your problem involves the careful study not only of
topographical features, but of all the numerous natural conditions which
affect your progress. To provide for the needs of a small _safari_ may
be a light or delightful task; but the difficulties and requirements of
a large force, moving forward against an alert, ubiquitous foe, compel
you to probe into everything: the nature of the country, with its
mountains and rivers, forests and deserts, for scores of miles around;
its animal and human diseases; its capacity for supplies and transport;
its climate and soil and rainfall. And one of your first discoveries is
that the books of the travelers are mostly wrong. What to them was
perhaps a paradise of plant or animal life is to you, moving with your
vast impedimenta, a veritable purgatory. You soon come to agree with
Scripture that all men are liars, and from this rule you do not even
except the missionaries who write with their heads in the clouds; nor do
you except the writers of intelligence books compiled in Whitehall from
the hunting tales of the travelers or the fairy-tales of the
missionaries, and marked "very secret." But these secrets are like most
secrets of the African continent, very disconcerting to the simple,
trustful soul.
[Sidenote: The silence of the forest is broken by the tramp of armed
men.]
[Sidenote: Horses virtually unknown.]
These campaigning experiences were unique. Probably never before in the
history of the world had such things been seen: the stillness, the
brooding silence of the vast primeval forest where no, or few, white men
have ever been before, and the only path is the track of the elephant;
the silence of the forest, stretching for hundreds of miles in all
directions, broken by the tramp of tens of thousands of armed men,
followed by the guns and heavy transport of a modern army, with its
hundreds of motor-lorries, its miles of wagons, its vast concourse of
black porters; while overhead the aëroplane, or, as the natives call it,
the "bird," more dreaded and more feared than even the crocodile in the
river, passes on swiftly with its bombs for the foe retreating ahead.
And what an effect this movement, continued for many months over many
thousands of miles, produced on the minds of the native population,
looking on in speechless awe and amazement at the mystery of the white
man's doings! I have often stopped to wonder at the natives' state of
mind. It must have been not unlike what is told of one of my simple
countrymen, on whose farm an aviator descended with an aëroplane, never
seen or heard of before, and who calmly walked forward to shake hands
with the heavenly visitant, whom he believed none other than the Lord!
And since horses, because of the fly, are virtually unknown in most
parts of the country, the natives were dumfounded by our mounted men,
strange centaur-like animals that they called "Kabure," after my mounted
Boer forces, of whom at first they were mortally afraid. Even bodies of
well-trained armed native soldiers have been seen to throw away their
rifles and run for dear life into the bush at the first sight of mounted
men.
[Sidenote: Parallel mountain ranges rise in tiers.]
[Sidenote: The second belt or veldt.]
[Sidenote: Changes in rainfall.]
The whole east of the African continent from the cape in the south up to
Abyssinia in the north, and, I believe, farther, is marked by one
persistent feature, the existence of several more or less parallel
mountain-ranges rising in tiers from the coast. At the top of the last
and highest mountain-range lies the great elevated inland plateau,
stretching like a broad back along the continent. The first line of
hills or low mountains runs at a distance of from ten to fifty miles
from the coast of the Indian Ocean, and all the country between it and
the sea forms a low coastal belt, which seldom rises more than a few
hundred feet above sea-level, with a distinct coastal climate and
vegetation. Between these coastal hills and the next range lies the
second belt, called in South Africa the low veldt, again with a climate
and rainfall and vegetation of its own. Next and last, at a distance of
from a hundred to one hundred and fifty miles from the Indian Ocean,
runs a mountain system, often rising to great altitudes, on which rests
the great elevated inland plateau from four thousand to six thousand
feet above the level of the sea. This plateau continues for hundreds of
miles westward, and then begins to slope toward the Atlantic Ocean in
the far distance. Sometimes, as in Central Africa, the slope to the west
is very sudden, and another range of mountains forms the western
buttress of the great central plateau. All the great rivers of Africa,
with the exception of the Niger, rise on this plateau or on its
mountain-flanks, which have a very high rainfall. The bush, or great
forest, which is almost impenetrable in the coastal belt, becomes
somewhat more open in patches in the middle belt, while on the plateau
open, park-like country alternates with treeless, grassy plains, and
the forest is confined to the deep valleys or the mountain-slopes. The
rainfall, which is fair on the coast, becomes very light in the middle
belt, which in consequence tends to have an arid character; on the
plateau it is high or very high. Because of these marked differences the
economic character of the three regions varies considerably.
Semi-tropical products, such as maize, coffee, cotton, and millet, can
be raised on an almost unlimited scale on the plateau; while rice,
rubber, sisal, and copra are raised in the two lower belts.
[Sidenote: The chain of large lakes.]
[Sidenote: Extinct and active volcanoes.]
All along the mountains which mark the western edge of the high plateau
one will notice a chain of lakes, from Nyasa in the south through
Tanganyika and Kivu to Lake Albert in the north. In prehistoric time
some convulsion of nature broke the African continent all along its
spine, and formed this system of lakes. Another break occurs on the high
plateau, from Portuguese East Africa in the south to British East Africa
in the north, along the Great Rift Valley, with its magnificent
escarpments and weird scenery, prolonged through Lake Rudolf to the Red
Sea and on to the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley. Great volcanoes, now
mostly extinct, though some to the north of Kivu are still active, are a
still later feature of the country.
[Sidenote: Lakes and mountains a frontier for defense.]
I have referred to these lakes and to the great mountain-chain along the
lakes because they formed the western boundary of German East Africa,
and from the point of view of defense made a magnificent frontier so
strong that the Belgian forces moving from the Congo found it impossible
to invade the enemy territory from the west, and had to be moved in
large part northeast before they could strike south. Once there, with
their usual dash they did their work remarkably well.
[Sidenote: Seaplanes attack German vessels in the lakes.]
As soon as this northern column had reached Kigali, the capital of the
lofty Ruanda Province, the German forces fell back from the neighborhood
of Lake Kivu, and the remainder of the Belgian army was able to advance
from the west across the mountain barrier. Simultaneously, and in
coördination with their advance, strong British columns were moving
southward to the west of Victoria Nyanza. As soon as we had reached the
southern shores of the lake, a new concerted forward movement by the
British and Belgian columns was begun both from Victoria Nyanza and from
Tanganyika, where in the meantime the German armed vessels on the lake
had been bombed and destroyed by seaplanes, and Ujiji on the eastern
shore had been occupied. This movement did not stop until Tabora, with
the central railway, was occupied early in September, 1916.
[Sidenote: General Northey's advance across the mountain.]
At the same time a great movement was made in the south by General
Northey, who advanced from the line between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa
across the mountains flanking the great plateau on the west. This is a
very mountainous region; but he got over the mountains, and moving
north, took Bismarckburg, Neu Langenburg, and afterward Iringa, where
our main forces joined hands with his. These advances, all carried out
with great skill and energy against very great physical difficulties,
were subsidiary to the principal attack, which was being executed from
the north-east, in the neighborhood of Kilimanjaro.
[Sidenote: The River Rovuma a strategic line.]
[Sidenote: Pursuit of enemy across Rovuma is difficult.]
The southern boundary between German East Africa and Portuguese East
Africa was formed by the River Rovuma, which, coming from the high
plateau and the mountains to the east of Nyasa, is one of the large
African rivers. Except in its highest reaches near Lake Nyasa it is not
fordable, and makes an admirable strategic line. However, as Portugal
came into the war after most of the German colony had already been
occupied by us, this river acquired strategic importance only toward the
end of the campaign, and then in a sense adverse to us, as General Van
Deventer has found to his cost. After the remnants of the German native
forces had been driven across the Rovuma at the beginning of December,
1917, our forces found the swift pursuit across the river a difficult
task. We are, however, now operating against the roving bands into which
the enemy force has split, and if ever they try to break back to their
occupied colony, they will find the line of the Rovuma a very serious
barrier.
[Sidenote: The search for the German raider _Königsberg_.]
[Sidenote: The _Königsberg's_ guns accompany the enemy on land.]
The eastern boundary of the colony is the coast-line of the Indian Ocean
for almost five hundred miles, with some very beautiful harbors, and it
was dominated by our navy from the day that war was declared. The Royal
Navy has played a very active part in our African campaigns, and one of
the most fascinating episodes of the war was the search for the
_Königsberg_, lost after she had destroyed the _Pegasus_ and done much
damage in the Indian Ocean. She was discovered in a most secluded branch
of the Rufiji River, and ultimately destroyed by seaplanes and monitors
in her impenetrable lair. Yet, though destroyed, she made her voice
heard over all that vast country, for her ten big naval guns, each
pulled by teams of four hundred stalwart natives, accompanied the enemy
armies in all directions, and, with other naval guns and howitzers
smuggled into the country, made the enemy in many a fight stronger in
heavy artillery than we were.
[Sidenote: Extensive enemy fortifications at the mountain gap.]
[Sidenote: The rainy season worse than imagined.]
From a strategic point of view, the northern frontier was the most
difficult of all. It passed north of Kilimanjaro, to the west of which
is a desert belt. East of this desert belt and Kilimanjaro the enemy
colony was protected by an almost impassable mountain system, with a
very narrow, swampy, dangerous gap between the Usambara and Pare
Mountains, and another gap of about four or five miles between the Pare
Mountains and Kilimanjaro. It was impossible to move an army through the
first gap; the second gap at the foot of Kilimanjaro was the place where
the enemy had located himself early in the war on British territory, and
with patience and skill had dug himself in, with very extensive
fortifications, surrounded by dense forests and impassable swamps. Here
he lay waiting for eighteen months, threatening British East Africa.
From here he was driven in March, 1916, and by the end of that month our
forces had conquered the whole Kilimanjaro-Meru areas. It was at this
stage, and after our initial success, that the rainy season set in; and
that is another great feature of German East Africa. I had read much
about it, and I had heard more; but the reality far surpassed the worst
I had read or heard. For weeks the rain came down ceaselessly,
pitilessly, sometimes three inches in twenty-four hours, until all the
hollows became rivers, all the low-lying valleys became lakes, the
bridges disappeared, and all roads dissolved in mud. All communications
came to an end, and even Moses himself in the desert had not such a
commissariat situation as faced me.
[Sidenote: The enemy's line of retreat.]
When in the latter part of May the rains subsided, the advance against
the enemy was once more resumed. In order to create the maximum
difficulties for our advance, the enemy chose as his line of retreat the
great block of mountains which I have referred to as forming the eastern
buttress of the great central plateau. For the next three and a half
months our forward movement continued with only one short pause until
by the middle of September we had reached the great valleys of the
Rufiji and the Great Rwaha in the far south, and across the Rwaha we
could link up with General Northey at Iringa in the southwest.
[Sidenote: Difficulties of transport and supply in advance.]
[Sidenote: Poisonous insects and tropical diseases.]
[Sidenote: The campaign a story of human endurance.]
It is impossible for those unacquainted with German East Africa to
realize the physical, transport, and supply difficulties of an advance
over this magnificent, but mountainous, country, with a great rainfall
and wide, unbridged rivers in the regions of the mountains, and
insufficient surface water on the plains for the needs of an army; with
magnificent primeval forest everywhere, pathless, trackless, except for
the spoor of the elephant or the narrow footpaths of the natives. The
malaria mosquito is everywhere except on the higher plateaus; everywhere
the belts are infested with the deadly tsetse fly, which makes an end of
all animal transport; and almost everywhere the ground is rich black or
red cotton soil, which any transport converts into mud in the rain or
dust in the drought. Everywhere the fierce heat of equatorial Africa,
accompanied by a wild luxuriance of parasitic life, breed tropical
diseases in the unacclimatized whites. These conditions make life for
the white man in that country sufficiently trying. If in addition he has
to perform hard work and make long marches on short rations, the trial
becomes very severe; if, above all, huge masses of men and material have
to be moved over hundreds of miles in a great military expedition
against a mobile and alert foe, then the strain becomes almost
unendurable. And the chapter of accidents in this region of the unknown!
Unseasonable rains cut off expeditions for weeks from their supply
bases. Animals died by the thousand--after passing through an unknown
fly-belt. Mechanical transport got bogged in the marshes, held up by
bridges washed away, or mountain passes obstructed by sudden floods. And
the gallant boys, marching far ahead under the pitiless African sun,
with the fever raging in their blood, pressed ever on after the
retreating enemy, often on reduced rations, and without any of the small
comforts which in this climate are real necessities. In the story of
human endurance this campaign deserves a very special place, and the
heroes who went through it uncomplainingly, doggedly, are entitled to
all recognition and reverence. Their commander-in-chief will remain
eternally proud of them.
When in January, 1917, I relinquished the command to my successor,
General Hoskins, we were across the Rufiji River in the southeast, and
in the great valley formed by the principal tributaries, the Ulanga and
Ruhuje rivers in the west; but the rainy season which set in shortly
afterward stopped all advance until the following June.
[Sidenote: Enemy's forces evacuate German East Africa.]
Five months later our advance was resumed, and by the beginning of
December, 1917, the last remnants of the enemy's forces had evacuated
German East Africa across the Rovuma, while our forces were operating
against the enemy bands far south in Portuguese territory, as I have
already stated.
[Sidenote: Development of tropical Africa retarded by diseases.]
In economic value this region ranks very high among the tropical
countries of the African continent, and probably no part of all Africa
has a climate or soil more suitable for the production on an immense
scale of copra, cocoanuts, coffee, sugar, sisal, rubber, cotton, and
other tropical products, or of such semi-tropical products as maize and
millet. In common with the rest of tropical Africa, its full development
is still retarded by the undefeated animal and human diseases,
especially malaria. But the time is not far distant when science will
have overcome these drawbacks, and when Central and East Africa will
have become one of the most productive and valuable parts of the
tropics. But until science solves the problems of tropical disease, East
and Central Africa must not be looked upon as an area for white
colonization. Perhaps they will never be a white man's country in any
real sense. In those huge territories the white man's task will probably
be largely confined to that of administrator, teacher, expert, manager,
or overseer of the large negro populations, whose progressive
civilization will be more suitably promoted in connection with the
industrial development of the land.
[Sidenote: The Germans discouraged white settlement.]
[Sidenote: Natives compelled to work for planters.]
[Sidenote: German system more profitable one.]
It is clear from their practice in East Africa that the Germans had
decided to develop the country not as an ordinary colony, but as a
tropical possession for the cultivation of tropical raw materials. They
systematically discouraged white settlement; the white colonists, with
their small farms, gradually building up a European system on a small
scale, who are a marked feature of British colonies, were conspicuously
absent. Instead, tracts of country were granted to companies,
syndicates, or men with large capital, on conditions that plantations of
tropical products would be cultivated. The planters were supplied with
native labor under a government system which compelled the natives to
work for the planters for a certain very small wage during part of every
year; and as labor was very plentiful, with seven and a half millions of
natives, the future for the capitalist syndicates seemed rosy enough. No
wonder that under this _corvée_ system East Africa and the Kamerun were
rapidly developing into very valuable tropical assets, from which in
time the German Empire would have derived much of the tropical raw
material for its industries. The Germans realized better than most
people that the value of tropical Africa lay not in any openings for
white colonization, such as are being developed next door to their
colonies in British East Africa, but in the plantation system, where
white capital and black labor collaborate to establish an entirely
different order of things. Harsh as the German system undoubtedly is, I
am not prepared to deny that it is perhaps the more scientific one, and
that in the long run it is the more profitable form of exploiting the
tremendous natural resources of the tropics.
With regard to tropical Africa, so vast in area, so great in resources,
the first desideratum for its development is the opening up of
communication. The lakes, the Nile, and the Congo form the principal
natural links in any chains of communication with the seaboard; and the
question is, how far railways have come in or will come in to complete
these chains.
[Sidenote: Railways built in the Congo territory and connective.]
Two railways built during the war in the Congo territory have largely
extended the communications from east to west, and from the center to
the south. These two railways have opened up many routes in Central and
East Africa, and it is now possible to travel from the Indian Ocean at
Dar-es-Salaam by the German Central Railway to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika;
by steamer across the lake to Albertville; thence by train to Kabalo; by
steamer on to Kongolo; train to Kindu, and on by steamer and rail down
the Congo to the Atlantic Ocean.
[Sidenote: Railways in South Africa.]
Now, as to the communications in the south, one can travel from Cape
Town by rail to Bukama, and thence by steamer and rail either to Boma on
the Atlantic coast, or by rail and steamer to Dar-es-Salaam on the
Indian Ocean. Besides these through lines, there is the Uganda Railway
from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to the Victoria Nyanza, and there are
in contemplation two other railways from the east coast to Nyasa, one
from Kilwa, and one from Porto Amelia, in Portuguese East Africa. A
railway is also under construction from Lobito Bay on the Atlantic to
the Katanga copper areas, already reached from the south and east by the
railways from Cape Town and Beira.
[Sidenote: Communications to the northward.]
The question remains as to communications northward to the
Mediterranean. One can travel to-day from Alexandria by rail and river
to Khartoum, and thence by steamer up the Nile to Rejaf, near the Uganda
border. From Rejaf to Nimule, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles,
the Nile is impracticable for river transport, and therefore over that
distance a railway will have to be built. But from Nimule the river is
again navigable up to Lake Albert. The problem is to connect Lake Albert
with the Central and South African systems.
[Sidenote: Possible Belgian and British routes.]
[Sidenote: Tropical Africa a great problem in world politics.]
Three routes are possible, one wholly Belgian, one partly British and
partly Belgian, and one wholly British. That is on the assumption that
German East Africa remains British after this war. The Belgian project
is to construct the railway from the Congo bend at Stanleyville over the
gold-fields at Kilo to Mahagi on Lake Albert. The British project would
be to construct a line from the south of Elizabethville to Bismarckburg,
at the south of Lake Tanganyika, to proceed thence by steamer to Ujiji,
thence by the existing railway to Tabora, to construct a line from
Tabora to Mwanza on Lake Victoria Nyanza, and a line from Entebbe on
that lake to Butiabwa, on Lake Albert. The third or mixed
Belgian-British line would proceed by way of Butiabwa, Entebbe, Mwanza,
Tabora, and Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, but from there would make use of
the existing line to Kabalo on the Congo. It is probable that by one or
other of these three routes through communication from South Africa to
the Mediterranean may be established within the next ten years. With
this vital industrial aspect of tropical Africa there is wrapped up the
equally important political aspect, and these two problems are certain
to make of tropical Africa one of the great problems of future world
politics.
[Sidenote: Germans have no colonists to spare.]
Now, the Germans are not in search of colonies after the English model,
and those that they have in East and West Africa had no white population
to speak of before the war. Quite apart from the fact that tropical
Africa would be no suitable territory for white settlement, they have no
colonists to spare, since for the sake of their industrial and military
future in Germany they desire the largest concentration of population
possible in the fatherland. As Baron von Rechenberg, formerly governor
of German East Africa, has expressed it:
"Just as we lack suitable land for settling, so we lack suitable German
settlers.... For a number of years immigration into Germany has been
much greater than emigration from Germany.... Even in times of peace
German agriculture had not a surplus, but a shortage, of labor, and it
cannot possibly accord with our interests to increase the shortage by
encouraging emigration.... Regrettable though it is, there can be no
question at the conclusion of peace of acquiring territory for
settlement. There is no appropriate country, and there are no farmers to
settle on it."
[Sidenote: Germany desires not colonies but strategic positions.]
[Sidenote: Central Africa needed to supply raw materials.]
[Sidenote: Germany could use natives in war.]
German colonial aims are really not colonial, but are entirely dominated
by far-reaching conceptions of world politics. Not colonies, but
military power and strategic positions for exercising world power in
future, are her real aims. Her ultimate objective in Africa is the
establishment of a great Central African Empire, comprising not only her
colonies before the war, but also all the English, French, Belgian, and
Portuguese possessions south of the Sahara and Lake Chad and north of
the Zambezi River in South Africa. Toward this objective she was
steadily marching even before the war broke out, and she claims the
return of her lost African colonies at the end of the war as a
starting-point from which to resume the interrupted march. Or, rather,
as appears from Count Hertling's recent pronouncement, she claims a
reallocation of the world's colonies, so that she may have a share
commensurate with her world position. This Central African block, the
maps of which are now in course of preparation and printing at the
Colonial Office in Berlin, is intended in the first place to supply the
economic requirements and raw materials of German industry; in the
second and far more important place, to become the recruiting-ground for
vast native armies, the great value of which has been demonstrated in
the tropical campaigns of this war, and especially in East Africa; while
the natural harbors on the Atlantic and Indian oceans will supply the
naval and submarine bases from which both ocean routes will be
dominated, and British and American sea-power will be brought to naught.
The native armies will be useful in the next great war, to which the
German General Staff is already devoting serious attention, as appears
from the book of General von Freytag, the deputy chief of the German
General Staff, recently published here under the title "Deductions of
the World War."
[Sidenote: A great army on the flank of Asia.]
The untrained levies of the Union of South Africa would go down before
these German-trained hordes of Africans, who would also be able to deal
with North Africa and Egypt without the deflection of any white troops
from Germany; and they would in addition mean a great army planted on
the flank of Asia whose force could be felt throughout the middle East
as far as Persia, and who knows how much farther?
[Sidenote: African natives a part of Germany's plan of conquest.]
This is the grandiose scheme. It is no mere fanciful picture, but based
on the writings of great German publicists, professors, and high
colonial authorities, and chapter and verse could be quoted in full
detail for every feature of the scheme. The civilization of the African
natives and the economic development of the dark continent must be
subordinate to the most far-reaching schemes of German world power and
world conquest; the world must be brought into subjection to German
militarism. As in former centuries again the African native must play
his part in the new slavery. Dr. Solf, the present German Colonial
Secretary, in the "Colonial Calendar" for 1917, made the following
pronouncement as to the organic connection of German colonial aims with
her other aims of world power:
[Sidenote: Directions of German aims.]
"The history of our colonies in this world war has shown what was
hitherto wanting in the German colonial empire. It has shown that it was
not a proper 'empire' at all, but merely a number of possessions without
geographical and political connection, and without established
communications.... How greatly would the power of resistance of our
colonies have been increased if they had not been isolated!... These
experiences show what direction our aims must take. We shall achieve the
fulfillment of our desires if we remain conscious that the
colonial-political aim is not something which stands alone by itself,
but must be regarded in organic connection with all other aims which we
are determined to attain by the world war."
Prof. Delbrück, in a recent number of the "Preussische Jahrbücher," thus
sketches the new African Empire:
[Sidenote: Plan for a new African Empire.]
"If our victory is great enough, we can hope to unite under our hand the
whole of Central Africa with our old colony South-west Africa;
Senegambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Dahomey, well-populated
Nigeria with the port of Lagos, Kamerun, the rich islands of San Thomé
and Principe with their splendid ports, the Katanga ore district,
Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Mozambique, and Delagoa Bay, Madagascar,
German East Africa, Zanzibar, and Uganda; and in addition the great port
of Ponta Delgado in the Azores--one of the most important and most
frequented coaling stations--and Horta, one of the most important
centers of the transatlantic cable system. At present the Azores belong
to Portugal, which is at war with Germany. Portugal also owns the Cape
Verde Islands, with the port of Porto Grande, one of the most frequented
coaling stations in the Eastern Atlantic.
[Sidenote: The riches of the African territories.]
"All these territories together have over 100,000,000 inhabitants.
United in a single ownership, and with their various characteristics
supplementing one another, they offer simply immeasurable prospects.
They are rich in natural treasures, rich in possibilities of settlement
and trade, and rich in men who can work and also be used in war. To
demand them is not unjust, and does not offend against the principle of
equilibrium, since Germany would thus only be obtaining a colonial
empire such as England and Russia, France and America, have long
possessed."
Franz Kolbe, in the "Deutsche Politik," a year ago thus described the
future rôle for raiders in the South Atlantic:
[Sidenote: Importance of German-West African Coast in combating Great
Britain.]
"The whole coast of West Africa from the mouth of the Cross River to the
mouth of the Orange River would be in German possession. When one only
remembers what immense achievements were performed by the _Emden_ in
the Indian Ocean and by the _Karlsruhe_ in the Atlantic, without any
naval base, without any possibility of replenishing in port their
supplies of munitions, food, etc., it will be realized what the
fortification of half the West Coast of Africa would signify for Germany
and for England! As soon as, in the new war, the Suez Canal is closed
against England by the Turks, all traffic between England and India,
Australia, and South Africa must go round the Cape of Good Hope. But
then all the shipping must pass the coast of German Central Africa. It
would be impossible for England any longer to concentrate her whole
fleet in the North Sea and to menace Germany. She would be compelled to
station a considerable fleet in South Africa for the protection of her
trade, and that would mean a not inconsiderable weakening of her forces
in European waters."
In the same review Emil Zimmermann explains the rôle of German East
Africa in the future scheme of world power:
[Sidenote: German Africa would have balance of power in the East.]
"German Africa, which will find allies at once in Abyssinia and in
Mohammedan freedom movements, will make the employment of black troops
against our European frontiers impossible. German Africa alone will give
us a balance of power in the East and in Africa. It will remove the
Egyptian pressure on Asia Minor. German Africa will make us a world
power by enabling us to exert decisive influence upon the world
political decisions of our enemies and of other powers, and to exercise
pressure on all shaping of policy in Africa, Asia Minor, and southern
Europe."
And in another article in the "Preussische Jahrbücher," he says: "Nearer
Asia cannot continue to exist without this covering of its flank. That
is the meaning of the German colonial question." In other words,
Berlin-Bagdad is not safe without a great German Central or East
African Empire.
[Sidenote: British ambitions are different.]
[Sidenote: German policies dangerous.]
The point of view of the British Empire is very different indeed. In the
first place, it has never had any military ambitions apart from the
measure of sea-power essential to its continued existence; in Africa it
has never militarized the natives, has always opposed any such policy
and has tended to study the natives' interests and regard their point of
view with special favor, often to the no small disappointment of
individual white settlers. Indeed, no impartial person can deny that, so
far from exploiting the natives either for military or industrial
purposes, British policy has on the whole, over a very long stretch of
years, had a tender regard for native interests, and on the whole its
results have been beneficial to the natives in their gradual
civilization. In shaping this wise policy British statesmen have had a
very long and wide African experience to guide them, and in consequence
they have avoided the very dangerous and dubious policies which the
German new-comers have set in motion. Among these not the least
dangerous is to regard the native primarily as raw material to be
manufactured into military power and world power.
[Sidenote: The British Empire asks peace and security.]
In the second place, the objects pursued by British policy on the
African continent are inherently pacific and defensive. It desires no
man's territory; it desires only to live in peace and develop the great
African territories and populations intrusted to its care. And looking
at the future from the broadest points of view, looking at the magnitude
of its material African interests and the future welfare of the vast
native populations, and its difficult task of civilizing the dark
continent; looking further upon Africa as the half-way house to India
and Australasia, the British Empire asks only for peace and
security--international peace and security of its external
communications. It cannot allow the return of conditions which mean the
militarization of the natives and their employment for schemes of world
power; it cannot allow naval and submarine bases to be organized on both
sides of the African coast, to the endangerment of the sea
communications of the empire and the peace of the world. And it must
insist on the maintenance of conditions which will guarantee through
land communications for its territories from one end of the continent to
the other.
[Sidenote: Dependence on communications by sea and land.]
The British Empire is not like Germany, Russia, or the United States, a
compact territorial entity; it is scattered over the globe, and entirely
dependent on the maintenance of communications for its continued
existence. In future these lines of communication should proceed not
only by sea, but also by land. One of the most impressive lessons of
this vast war is the vulnerability of sea-power and sea communications
through the development of underwater transport, and the immense
importance of railway communication. In fact, to be really effective the
two should go hand in hand. Nor are we at the end of the chapter in
discovering new means of transportation. It is not only conceivable, but
probable, that aërial navigation may revolutionize the present transport
situation.
[Sidenote: Prussian militarism cannot be tolerated.]
[Sidenote: The dominions desire a Monroe Doctrine for the South.]
As long as there is no real change of heart in Germany and no final and
irrevocable break with militarism, the law of self-preservation should
be considered paramount; no fresh extension of Prussian militarism to
other continents and seas should be tolerated; and the conquered German
colonies can be regarded only as guaranties for the security of the
future peace of the world. This opinion will be shared, I feel sure, by
the vast bulk of the young nations who form the Dominions of the
British Empire. They have no military aims or ambitions; their tasks are
solely the tasks of peace; their greatest interest and aim is peace.
Voluntarily they joined in this war, and to their efforts is largely due
the destruction of the German Colonial Empire, and the consequent
prevention of the German military system being spread to the ends of the
earth. They should not be asked to consent to the restoration to a
militant Germany of fresh footholds for militarism in the Southern
Hemisphere, and thus to endanger the future of their young and rising
communities who are developing the waste places of the earth. They want
a new Monroe Doctrine for the South as there has been a Monroe Doctrine
for the West, to protect it against European militarism. Behind the
sheltering wall of such a doctrine they promise to build up a great,
new, peaceful world not only for themselves, but for the many millions
of black folk intrusted to their care.
[Sidenote: Germany's stubborn defense of her African colonies.]
The enemy's stubborn defence of his last colony has not only been a
great feat in itself, but is also a proof of the supreme importance
attached by the German Government to this African colony both as an
economic asset and as a strategic point of departure for the
establishment of the future Central African Empire to which I have
referred. At the conclusion of peace our statesmen will be bound to bear
in mind these wider and obscurer issues, fraught with such consequences
to the world and to the British Empire in particular. Perhaps I may be
allowed to express the fervent hope that a land where so many of our
heroes lost their lives or their health; where, under the most terrible
and exacting conditions, human loyalty and human service were poured out
lavishly in a great cause, may never be allowed to become a menace to
the future peaceful development of the world. I am sure my gallant boys,
dead or living, would wish for no other or greater reward.
* * * * *
Greece, as a result of the intrigues of the pro-German king and queen,
was a thorn in the flesh to the Allies for the first years of the war.
The deposition of King Constantine, and the resumption of power of
Premier Venizelos, brought Greece back to the place where her people
wished to be.
GREECE'S ATONEMENT
LEWIS R. FREEMAN
[Sidenote: A meeting with Venizelos.]
The Venizelists had been having a bad time of it from the first, but the
blackest hours of all were those toward the end of last April, when
Constantine was still strong in Athens, and before the Saloniki Allies
had found it practicable or expedient to welcome them to a full
brotherhood of arms. It was during this "dark before the dawn" period
that I had my first meeting with M. Venizelos, a conventional half
hour's interview in the suburban villa, midway along the curve of
Saloniki Bay where the Provisional Government had established its
headquarters.
[Sidenote: The attitude of Constantine.]
I had just come up from Athens, where I had found the Allied diplomats
still smarting under the memories of their ignominious experiences
following Constantine's spectacular coup of the previous December, and
it was by no means the least of these who had told me point-blank that
he could not conceive how it would be possible that Saloniki should be
returned to Greece after the war. Of course it was the Royalist
Government that my distinguished friend had had in mind when he spoke,
but there was not much to indicate at this time that the Greece of
Constantine and his minions was not also going to be the Greece of after
the war.
It was with this state of things in mind, and recalling his well known
ambitions to found a Greater Greece--by extending Epirus north along
the Adriatic, and bringing the millions of Greeks of Asia Minor at least
under the protection of the Government at Athens--that I mustered up my
courage and asked M. Venizelos offhand if he felt confident of being
able even to maintain the integrity of his country as it existed before
the war.
[Sidenote: What Greece must do for the Allies.]
"Not unless those of us Greeks who have remained faithful to the cause
of humanity and our honor are ultimately able to lend the Allies
material help in a measure sufficient to counterbalance the harm the
action of the Royalists has caused them," was the prompt reply; "and by
material help I mean military aid. We must fight, and fight, and keep on
fighting, for it is only with blood--with Greek blood--that the stain
upon Greek honor can be washed away. It is only our army that can save
us, and that is why we have been so impatient of the delay there has
been in equipping it and getting it to the front. The one division we
have in the trenches now, and the two others that are ready to go, are
not enough, but they are about all we have been able to raise so far.
Thessaly is for us (as you may have seen in traveling across it), and
would give us two more divisions at least; but our Allies have not yet
seen fit to allow us to go there after them."
[Sidenote: Venizelos determines to aid the Allies.]
M. Venizelos spoke of a number of other things before I left him
(notably of the extent to which the Russian revolution and the entry of
America had helped him in his fight to save Greece), but it was plain
that the problem uppermost in his mind was that of wiping out the score
of the Allies against his country by giving them a substantial measure
of assistance in the field.
"Do not fail to visit our force on the ---- sector before you leave the
Balkans," was his parting injunction. "There may be a chance of seeing
it in action before very long, and if you do, you will need no further
assurance of the way in which we shall make our honor white before our
Allies and all the world."
[Sidenote: Unenviable position of the Venizelists.]
[Sidenote: Elaborate precautions against treachery.]
The Serbian and two or three other Armies have been worse off in a
physical way, but no national force since the outbreak of the war has
been in so thoroughly an unenviable position on every other score as was
that of the Venizelists at this time. The Serbs and the Belgians had at
least the knowledge that the confidence and the sympathy of the Allies
were theirs. Also, they had chances to fight to their hearts' content.
The Venizelists had scant measure of sympathy, and still less of
confidence; and when their first chance to fight was at last given them,
they were allowed to face the foe only after elaborate precautions had
been taken against everything, from incompetence and cowardice on their
part to open treachery. That this was the fault neither of themselves
nor of their Allies, and had only come about through the perfidy of a
King to whom they no longer swore fealty, did not make the shame of it
much easier to bear for an army of spirited volunteers who had risked
their all for a chance to wipe out the dishonor of their country.
[Sidenote: Spies sent in the guise of deserters.]
The thing that for a while made it so difficult for the Allies to know
what to do with the Venizelist army was the almost ridiculous ease with
which, under the peculiar circumstances of its recruitment, it lent
itself to spying purposes. All the Royalists, or their German
paymasters, had to do to establish a spy in the Saloniki area was to
send over one of their Intelligence Officers in the guise of a deserter
from the Greek army to that of Venizelos, and there he was! To send back
information, or even to return in person, across the but partially
patrolled "Neutral Zone" was scarcely more difficult, and it was the
wholesale way in which this sort of thing went on that made it so hard
for the Allies to decide just who the bona fide Venizelists were, and
just how far it would be safe to trust a force to which the enemy still
had such ready means of access.
[Sidenote: Tact and common sense used.]
There was nothing else for the Allies to do but "go slow" and "play
safe" in dealing with the Venizelist army, and, under the circumstances,
there is no doubt that a difficult situation was handled with a good
deal of tact and common sense. Just how trying the situation of the
Venizelists was, however, I had a chance to see one day when I happened
to be at their Headquarters arranging for my visit to the Greek sector
of the Front. Their troops had acquitted themselves with great credit in
some gallantly carried out raiding operations, which must have made it
doubly hard for them to put up with a new restrictive order just
promulgated by the Supreme Command as a further precaution against the
leakage of information to the enemy.
Just as I was about to take my departure, a copy of the new order was
delivered to the Staff Officer with whom I had been conferring about my
visit to the Front. He read it through slowly, his swarthy face flushing
red with anger as he proceeded.
[Sidenote: A series of humiliations.]
"Have you heard of this?" he said, handing me the paper, and controlling
his voice with an effort, "No man or officer of our army is to cross the
---- bridge without a special permit from General Headquarters. It is
only the latest in the long series of humiliations we have had to put up
with. Just look at the way we stand. In Athens our names are posted as
traitors who can be shot on sight. Here it isn't quite like that,
but--well (he raised his hand above his head and let it fall limply in
a gesture of despair), all I can say is that the only officers of the
Venizelist army to be envied are those whose names are recorded here
(indicating a file at his elbow). It's the death-list from
day-before-yesterday's fighting."
[Sidenote: Venizelist troops succeed in big attacks.]
Owing to the delay in issuing my pass in Saloniki, I did not arrive at
Greek Headquarters until the evening of the day on which the big attack
had taken place, and it was day-break of the morning following before I
was able to make my way up to the advanced lines. The Venizelist troops
had taken all their objectives, and held them with great courage against
such counterattacks as the surprised Bulgars--who, not expecting an
attack from the Greeks, had made the mistake of massing too much of
their strength against the British and French attacks to east and
west--were able to organize against them. They had been busy all night
"reversing" the captured trenches in anticipation of a determined
attempt on the part of the reinforced enemy to retake them in the
morning.
[Sidenote: Movement carried out without confusion.]
The hilly but well-metaled cartroad, along which by the light of the
waning moon I cantered with an officer of the Greek staff, had been
thronged all night with the surging current of the battle traffic--an
up-flow of munition convoys and reinforcements, and back-flow of wounded
and prisoners--but I could not help remarking the comparative quiet and
absence of confusion with which the complex movement was carried on.
[Sidenote: The Greeks seem to understand the game of war.]
"Somehow this doesn't seem quite like the transport of a new army just
undergoing its baptism of fire," I said to my companion. "I've seen
things on the roads behind the western front in far worse messes than
any of these little jams we've passed to-night. These chaps are as
businesslike as though they'd been at the game for years."
[Sidenote: Veterans of the Balkan wars.]
"So they have," was the quiet reply. "Our army, as recruited so far, is
a new one only in name. The men who attacked yesterday were of the
famous S---- Division, which fought all through the last two Balkan wars
and gained no end of praise from all the foreign military attachés for
its great mountain work. It was this Division which scaled the steep
range beyond Doiran and drove the Bulgars out of Rupel Pass."
[Sidenote: The Battle of "Rupel Pass."]
"The S---- Division," "Rupel Pass." Instantly I recalled how a British
General, over on the Struma a few days previously, had pointed out to me
a steep range of serried snow-capped mountains towering against the
skyline to the northwest, and told me that the feat of the Greeks in
taking a division over it at a point where even the wary Bulgar had
deemed it impossible was one of the finest exploits in the annals of
mountain warfare.
"The Italians have fought the Austrians at a greater altitude in a
number of places in the Alps, and in our wars with the Himalayan
tribesmen we have sent our Gurkhas twice as high. But all of that was
after more or less preparation. Here, the Greeks simply started off and
went over that range with only their rifles and the packs on their
backs. I know of nothing to compare with it save the taking of
Kaymakchalan by the Serbs last November in the operations which freed
Monastir. Not many in Saloniki have had much good to say of the Greek as
a soldier of late, but you may be sure that we can do with more men of
the kind that crossed that mountain range, and there is no reason why
Venizelos should not be able to bring them to us."
[Sidenote: A favorable position for observation.]
The hill from which we were to follow the action jutted out of the
mountains into the plain like the bow of a battleship. So favorable was
its position for observation--from its brow a wide expanse of mountain
and valley was spread from twenty to sixty miles in three
directions--that the British and French as well as the Greeks maintained
posts there. We found the officers in both of the Allied "O. Pips"
[signal corps talk for O.P., meaning observation post] highly
enthusiastic over the work of the Greeks in their attack of the
preceding day.
[Sidenote: The evening bulletin.]
We found two officers in the British Observation Post chuckling over the
evening bulletin, which had just been delivered to them. "You have to
read between the lines of Sarrail's 'Evening Hope' if you want to get at
the real facts," said one of them. "It's what it fails to tell you, that
you really want to know. Now, you might be able to gather from this that
all the Balkan Allies have been doing quite a bit of attacking during
the last day or two at various parts of the Front from Doiran west to
Albania, but you have to go between the lines to find that our shifty
Bulgar friend over there gave most of them as good or better than they
gave him all the way. It's sad but true that in this, our 'Great Spring
Offensive,' as the papers at home have talked of it, the whole lot of
us--French, British, Russian, Italian, and even the Serb--have been
fought to a standstill by the Bulgar. Far as I can see, the only gain we
have to show for it is in the casualty lists."
I failed to see just what there was to chuckle about in such an
interpretation of the glowing lines of the evening bulletin, and said as
much.
[Sidenote: Successes of the little Venizelist army.]
"It isn't funny in the least," was the reply, "and it would seem still
less so if we could see at close range some of the things that are lying
out on a hundred miles of these accursed mountain sides as a
consequence of what has happened. But what _did_ strike us as a bit rich
was the fact that, of all the Allies, this little piece of the
Venizelist army, which we have held in leash all winter while we made up
our minds as to whether it would be safe to slip or not, is the only one
of the whole lot of us that has taken all the objectives set for it."
A sporting instinct and a grim sense of humor--the readiness to admire a
brave foe and the ability to extract amusement from discomfiture--are
the two things that have conspired to make the British soldier so
uniformly successful in treating those "twin impostors," Triumph and
Disaster, "just the same."
[Sidenote: The view across the Vardar.]
The sky was lightening and throwing into ghostly silhouette the line of
the mountain ridge across the Vardar by the time we had pushed on out
along the communication trench to the Greek Observation Post on the
extreme brow of the hill. Since midnight the enemy "heavies" had been
coughing gruffly under the mist-blanket that overlaid the plain,
dappling it with alternately flashing and fading blotches of light till
it glowed fantastically like a lamp-shade of Carrara marble;
star-shells, fired with a low trajectory, popped up and dove out of
sight again, throwing a fluttering green radiance over the white pall
which swathed the battlefield.
[Sidenote: The Bulgar preparing to go over the top.]
The mist-mask must have fended the day-break from the plain long after
it was light upon the hill from where we watched, for it was not until
the range of serrated peaks to the east of Doiran was all aglow with the
red and gold of sunrise that the higher-keyed crack of the enemy's
field-guns came welling up to tell us that the Bulgar was getting ready
to go over the top. The flame-spurts--paling from a hot red to faded
lemon as the light grew stronger--splashed up against the mist-pall as
the jet of an illuminated fountain rises and falls, and down where the
battered first-line trenches faced each other the dust-geysers of the
exploding shells rolled up in clouds to the surface of the thinning
vapors as the mud of the bottom boils up through the waters of an
agitated pool.
[Sidenote: The Allied artillery opens.]
For a minute or two the ragged line of the barrage wallowed forward
through the outraged mist alone. Then, as a sudden flight of rockets
spat forth from the Greek first line to warn that the enemy infantry was
on the way, all the Allied artillery that could be brought to bear
opened up and began dropping shells just behind where the murky
mist-clouds marked the swath of the Bulgar barrage.
For the space of perhaps two or three minutes the fog-bank swirled and
curled in swaying eddies as the shells came hurtling into it;
then--whether it was from a sudden awakening of the wind or through the
licking up of its vapors by the first rays of the now risen sun, I never
knew--almost in the wave of a hand, it was gone, revealing a broad
expanse of trench-creased plain with a long belt of gray figures moving
across it in a cloud of dust and smoke.
[Sidenote: Lively hand-to-hand fighting.]
"It isn't much of a barrage as barrages go on the western front," said
Captain X---- half apologetically. "Their artillery won't do much harm
to us, and, I'm afraid, ours not much to them. And we'll hardly be
having enough machine guns emplaced to sting them as they ought to be
stung for swarming up in masses like that. But if it's only a
second-class artillery show, I still think I can promise you--if only
the Bulgar has the stomach for it--a livelier bit of hand-to-hand
fighting than you might find in a whole summer of looking for it in
France. Do you see those little winking flashes all along where the
infantry are moving? Some of them are from bayonets, but most are from
knives. A great man with the knife is the Bulgar. Did you ever hear that
song about him they sang at a revue the British 'Tommies' had at
Saloniki? It was a parody on some other song that was being sung in the
halls in London, and went something like this:
[Sidenote: A Bulgar song.]
I'm Boris the Bulgar,
The Man With the Knife;
The Pride of Sofia,
The Taker of Life.
Good gracious, how spacious
And deep are the cuts,
Of Boris the Bulgar,
The Knifer--
"Now for it! Look at that!"
[Sidenote: The barrages lift and the Greeks advance to meet the
Bulgars.]
I never did hear just what it was that Boris was a knifer of, for at
that juncture the two barrages--having respectively protected and
harried to the best of their abilities the advancing wave of infantry
down to within a hundred yards or so of the Greek trenches--"lifted"
almost simultaneously on to "communications," and that lifting was the
signal for the opening of the climacteric stage of the action. Without
an instant's delay, a solid wave of Greeks in brown--lightly fringed in
front with the figures of a few of the more active or impetuous who had
outdistanced their comrades in the scramble over the top--rose up out of
the earth and swept forward to meet the line of gray. The gust of their
first great cheer rolled up to us above the thunder of the artillery.
"Now for it!" repeated X----, focussing down his telescope and steadying
himself with his elbows. "I think you'll find the show from now on worth
all the trouble of coming up to see."
[Sidenote: the Bulgars break and retreat.]
I do not attempt to account for what happened now; I only record it. It
may have been that the Allied artillery had wrought more havoc in that
advancing wave of men than had been apparent from a distance, or it may
have been that the enemy artillery had done less to the entrenched
defenders than it was expected to do; at any rate, the line of gray
began to break at almost the first impact of the line of brown, and the
great hand-to-hand fight that X---- had promised me was transformed into
a Marathon.
[Sidenote: Greeks have always beaten the Bulgars.]
"As I expected," muttered my companion. "'Boris' has no stomach for a
fight to-day with the man who licked him yesterday, and will lick him
to-morrow and go right on licking him to the end if they'll only give
him a show. The Bulgar never has stood up to the Greek, and he never
will."
[Sidenote: The Greek Staff is in a mountain valley.]
[Sidenote: Scarcity of nurses.]
The Greek Staff shared a round bowl of a mountain valley, a few miles
back from the front lines, with a clearing station. The equipment of the
little hospital had mostly been provided by the British Red Cross, but
the Venizelists had made a brave effort to furnish the staff themselves.
There were two French-trained Greek surgeons, a Greek matron, Greek
orderlies, and two Greek nurses. Since the attack began there had been
work for a dozen of the latter, but--as it had been impossible for the
women of most of the Venizelist families to get away from Old Greece--no
others were available. An English nurse, who had marched in the retreat
of the Serbians, and a French nurse from a Saloniki hospital had
volunteered to step into the breach, and these five women were
courageously trying to make up in zeal what they lacked in numbers.
[Sidenote: Working double hours.]
"We are not enough for a double shift since the fighting began," Madame
A----, the matron, had said to me the night of my arrival; "so we are
accomplishing the same end by working double hours. We are working to
atone for the dishonor our King has brought upon our country, just as
our men are fighting to atone for it; and the harder we all work and
fight the sooner it will come about."
The last thing to catch my eye as I looked back from the rim of the
valley when I rode away at midnight had been the flash of a bar of light
on a white uniform, as a tired figure had drooped against the flap of a
hospital tent for a breath of air.
[Sidenote: Women nurses go without sleep.]
"If any one of those women has had a wink of sleep in the last three
days," Captain X---- had said as we reined in to let a string of
ambulances go by, "it must have been taken standing. I have been up most
of the time myself, and never once have I looked across to the clearing
station but I saw some sign of a nurse on the move."
[Sidenote: Venizelos at the nurses' mess.]
Madame A---- had asked me to drop in at the nurses' mess for luncheon in
case I got back from the trenches in time, and this, by dint of hard
riding, I was just able to do. Three or four powerful military cars
drawn up at the hospital gate indicated new arrivals, but as to who they
were I had no hint until I had pushed in through the flap of the mess
tent and found M. Venizelos seated on a soap-box, _vis-à-vis_ Madame
A---- at a table improvised from a couple of condensed milk cases. At
the regular mess table, sitting on reversed water-buckets, were three
French flying officers and a civilian whom I recognized as the private
secretary of M. Venizelos. Two nurses were just rising from unfinished
plates of soup in response to word that a crucial abdominal operation
awaited their attendance at the theatre.
"Most of the Provisional Government has come out to pay us a visit this
morning," said Madame A----, showing me to a blanket-roll seat at one
end of the mess table, "and we are lunching early so that it can get
back to Saloniki to take up the reins of State again. The General has
carried off the Admiral and the Foreign Minister, but I have managed to
keep the President for _our_ banquet. He has made the round of the
hospital and spoken to every man here--that is," she added with a catch
in her voice, "to all that could hear him. We've--we've lost three men
this morning just because there wasn't staff to operate quickly enough."
[Sidenote: A strange banquet at which the guests contribute.]
That was, I think, one of the strangest little "banquets" I ever sat
down to. Every one travels more or less "self-contained" in the Saloniki
area, and whenever a party is thrown together the joint supplies are
commandeered for the common good. The mess menu was a simple one of
soup, tinned salmon, rice, and cheese, but by the time M. Venizelos's
hamper had yielded a box of fresh figs, a can of the honey of Hymettus,
and a couple of bottles of Cretan wine, and the French officers had
"anted up" cognac, some tins of _flageolet_ for salad, and a tumbler of
_confiture_, and the English nurse had brought out the last of her
Christmas plum-cake, and I had thrown in a loaf of Italian _pan-forte_
and a can of chocolates, the little crazy-legged camp-table had assumed
a passing festal air.
[Sidenote: No one speaks of war at the feast.]
A number of toasts were proposed and drunk, but no one spoke of the
nearer or remoter progress of the war. M. Venizelos adverted several
times to the wonder of the spring flowers as he had seen them from the
road, especially the great fields of blood-red poppies, and I overheard
him telling Madame A---- some apparently amusing incidents of his early
life in Crete. But it was not until, the banquet over, he had settled
himself in his car for the ride to Saloniki that he alluded to any of
the things with which his mind must have been so engrossed all the time.
"So you thought that our troops had all the best of the enemy this
morning?" he said with a grave smile as he shook my hand.
"Incomparably the best of it," I answered.
[Sidenote: Why Venizelos is confident in the power of Greece.]
"Then perhaps you will understand why I felt so confident that the
Bulgars would not have come into the war if they had known that Greece
would stand by Serbia. And you will also understand why I feel so
confident that our military help to the Allies will be a very real one,
perhaps enough of a one even to save Greece from herself."
This was, I believe, the latest occasion on which M. Venizelos visited
his troops at the front. Before another fortnight had gone by the forces
of the "Protecting Powers" were moving into Old Greece, and in a month
Constantine had abdicated and opened the way for the return of his
former Prime Minister to Athens.
[Sidenote: The maker and Savior of Modern Greece.]
From the time of the Balkan wars of 1912-13 to the outbreak of the
present one Venizelos was often referred to as "The Maker of Modern
Greece." After this war he may well be known as "The Savior of Modern
Greece"; and of the two achievements there can be no doubt that history
must record that the one of "saving" was incomparably greater than the
one of "making."
[Sidenote: What the influence of Venizelos may do.]
It is still too early to make it worth while to endeavor to forecast
what is on the knees of the capricious war-gods of the Balkans, and
there is no use in trying to deny that the Bulgar--just as long as
Germany has the power and will to back him up--will take a deal of
beating. But that Venizelos will be able to make the army of reunited
Greece a potently contributive factor in bringing about that
devoutly-to-be-wished consummation may now be taken as assured.
Copyright, World's Work, January, 1918.
* * * * *
We have seen in a previous narrative the difficulties which the Italians
encountered in conducting their campaign against Austria. As a result of
German falsehood and propaganda, the Italian line was weakened and
penetrated by a great German army, and the Italian lines were swept
back. They finally held, however, and the strength of their resistance
is indicated in the following pages.
THE ITALIANS AT BAY
G. WARD PRICE
[Sidenote: Udine as it seemed before the war.]
Udine was a typically quaint and sleepy little Italian town galvanized
into unnatural life and prosperity. Every one who has spent a week in
Italy can put the picture of the place before his imagination in a
moment: streets of dark, restful, Gothic cloisters; a broad piazza
flanked by a graceful loggia; remains of medieval fortification of which
the towering gate-houses still narrowed each entrance to the town; a
general air of pleasant tranquillity and of a well-being that was a
legacy from the more spacious days of centuries gone by. The nature of
the place was that of mellow old wine, very gracious, rich with
associations that brought a glow to the palate of memory, but for all
that something of which one wanted only little at a time. A glimpse of
Udine as she had been for centuries was delightful, to dwell there would
seem like being buried alive.
[Sidenote: Bustle and congestion when Udine becomes Army Headquarters.]
To this forgotten township of the old Venetian province had come
suddenly in the spring of 1913 all the bustle and congestion of the
headquarters of the whole Italian Army. For the next two and a half
years you could hardly find a room in Udine to sleep in; the people of
the place opened large modern restaurants and cafés for the officers and
soldiers who crowded its streets; big shops filled the gloom of the old
arcades with an incongruous expanse of plate-glass windows; the good
burgesses of Udine made money and waxed fat.
[Sidenote: A tactical dead-lock on the western front.]
It seemed, indeed, as if the steady shower of war prosperity that had
fallen upon them for two years might last until that indefinite, but to
most minds far-off, day when peace should come. For it was the general
opinion that in the West, at least, the war had reached a condition of
tactical dead-lock. Trench warfare had petrified movement, except in
laborious shifting of a few hundred yards at a time, hardly perceptible
on a small-scale map. The day of sweeping advances, of sudden
retirements, was over. At a reasonable distance behind that unbudging
wall of trenches you were as secure from personal displacement by the
war as if you were at the other end of Italy; indeed, no earlier than
the beginning of this month of October some people had arrived with
their families at Udine from other parts of the country to carry on
trades connected with the life of the army.
[Sidenote: General Cadorna praises the British batteries.]
I myself set foot in Udine for the first time on October 20. I was going
back to the Macedonian front, where for two years I had been the
official correspondent of the British Army, and I had asked the War
Office to authorize me to visit on the way the British batteries which
since April had been cooperating with the Italian Army on the Isonzo.
General Cadorna had given them high praise in a message to the British
Government after the fighting in which they had taken part in May, and I
thought it would be interesting to see British and Italian troops side
by side in the field for the first time.
[Sidenote: Visits to the Italian front yield important information.]
Visitors to the Italian front used to find most convenient arrangements
made to give them a rapid idea of conditions there. Lying almost
entirely among mountains, the line presented unusual opportunities for
survey from dominating heights, and there were many places where, at
leisure and in virtual safety, one could watch the Austrian
intrenchments from close range. Fast cars took you up to these
vantage-points, and a number of staff-officers, speaking perfect English
and knowing every detail of the front and its history, raised these
visits from the level of sight-seeing excursions to opportunities for
learning a great deal that was important and technical.
[Sidenote: The Austro-German offensive begins.]
The very last of these journeys, which had been made by visitors of
every country, took place on October 24, the day that the great
Austro-German offensive began, and I remember how, as we drove along in
the rain, all our talk was of the bad news of that morning--that the
enemy, reinforced by a huge number of divisions brought secretly from
the Russian front, and profiting by a night of rain and fog, had thrust
down into the valley of the Isonzo between Plezzo and Tolmino, carried,
apparently by surprise, two Italian lines across the ravine after a
short and very violent bombardment, and then, pushing on, had captured
Caporetto, thus cutting off the Italian troops on Monte Nero and the
other mountains beyond the Isonzo, and opening a most serious gap in the
very center of the Italian line.
[Sidenote: Gorizia has suffered from the war.]
[Sidenote: A shell interrupts the sight-seers.]
The day was one of evil omen. We went to Gorizia, that pretty Austrian
spa that was taken by the Italians last year, and has suffered from the
war as much as Udine, its neighbor across the old frontier, has
prospered. In the heart of the town its old castle towers up from an
isolated crag, and from the battlements you can look across the valley
to the Italian and Austrian lines on the slopes of San Marco opposite.
Scores of parties like our own had made this visit to Gorizia Castle,
and to-day the driving rain and valley mists made observation so bad
that it seemed more than usually safe to show oneself above the ramparts
on the side toward the enemy. Yet we had not been there three
minutes--a group of two well-known American correspondents and one
Italian, with an Italian officer, and myself--when an Austrian six-inch
shell burst with a crash hardly ten feet from the right-hand man of our
line. A black wall of flying mud towered up and blotted out the sky;
three of us were thrown headlong by the force of the explosion. Only the
fact that the shell had fallen deeply into the rain-softened bank of
earth on top of the battlements saved the names of the last four
visitors to the Italian front from being recorded on graves in Gorizia
cemetery.
"I've brought people here seventy or eighty times," said the officer who
was with us, "and nothing like that has ever happened before."
"We've evidently brought bad luck," said some one, and so, little though
we guessed it, we had.
[Sidenote: The Italians expect an Austrian push.]
During the first fortnight of October it had been a remark frequently
made throughout Italy that an Austrian push was probable before the real
winter set in. I had heard this likelihood discussed by people at the
Chamber of Deputies on my way through Rome, but without serious
significance being given to it. The Austro-Swiss frontier had been
closed for five weeks, always a sign that important movements of troops
were going on in the enemy's country; something more unusual was that
even the postal mails from Austria to Holland and Scandinavia had been
suspended.
[Sidenote: Cadorna believes the enemy will use large reserves.]
According to the talk one heard in Italy, Cadorna had already had in
mind the chance of a strong autumn attack on his army when he arrested
his own offensive in September after capturing by a brilliant stroke the
greater part of the Bainsizza plateau beyond the Isonzo, taking thirty
thousand prisoners and one hundred and fifty guns. The French and
British general staffs, it was said, had asked Cadorna whether he meant
to go on with his offensive, for which they had contributed contingents
of guns. Cadorna's reply had been that he had strong Austrian forces
against him, of which he knew the total, but that he also believed large
reserves of unknown quantity were available for use against him, owing
to the collapse of the Russian Army. In these circumstances he preferred
to consolidate and prepare rather than to continue to challenge forces
that could not be exactly estimated.
Both the increase of enemy strength on the Italian front and the
paralyzing uncertainty under which the Allies labored, were directly due
to the debacle of the Russian Army during the summer. The means by which
commanders-in-chief arrive at the indispensable knowledge of what forces
they have against them is through a highly organized intelligence
department, working in close cooperation with the similar departments of
the other Allied armies.
[Sidenote: How the enemy's strength is ascertained.]
Each of these departments, by interrogating prisoners and reading papers
found on enemy dead, by collating the reports of the air service, by
minutely sifting the enemy press, arrives at a fairly accurate knowledge
of the enemy's order of battle on the front of its own army. So
essential is this system to the successful carrying-on of operations
that raids are often specially organized on the enemy trenches with the
sole object of capturing prisoners who may be able to give information
that will clear up some point about which there is uncertainty. All the
knowledge of the enemy's dispositions thus collected by each of the
Allied armies is open to all of them; it is exchanged and compared and
collated, so that they finally arrive at a fairly complete knowledge of
the distribution of the enemy's forces in each one of the theaters of
war.
[Sidenote: The Russian intelligence department collapses.]
Now, when the Russian Army went to pieces in the summer, its
intelligence department collapsed with the rest. The Russian Army has
taken virtually no prisoners for a long time, and consequently the facts
about what troops the Austrians and Germans have on that front have not
been ascertainable. It was known that the enemy used to have about one
hundred and thirty divisions there, but no one could tell whether they
still remained or whether they had been brought away to be held in
reserve for some sudden operation on another front.
[Sidenote: The attack by the Austro-Germans a surprise.]
In this way it came about that the sudden attack by an unexpectedly
large Austro-German force upon the Isonzo line took the Italians by
surprise, with the result that they lost in three days not only all they
had won in two and a half years of hard fighting, by sacrifices and
sufferings and labors beyond human estimation, but also the larger part
of that rich north-eastern department of their country which was for
centuries the metropolitan province of the great Venetian republic.
[Sidenote: Enemy has a great number of fresh guns.]
On October 22 we learned at Italian headquarters that ten German
divisions, about one hundred and twenty thousand men, had arrived behind
the enemy front on the Isonzo and were concentrated in reserve round
Laibach. This was the first time in the whole war that German troops had
met the Italians on this front. The number of new Austrian divisions was
reported to be even greater. Many new batteries of heavy caliber had
also arrived and were registering their ranges; indeed, when the attack
actually came, it was found that the number of fresh guns was even
greater than had been thought, for some of them did not reveal their
position by registering, but, taking their ranges from guns earlier in
position, fired not a round until they joined in that terrific first
bombardment with which the attack opened on the morning of October 24.
[Sidenote: Italians expect to hold west side of Isonzo.]
Most serious was the situation, but even yet no one grasped how bad the
reality was going to be. It was generally accepted that all ground
beyond the Isonzo would have to be abandoned, but it seemed beyond all
doubt that the Italians would be able to make good their defense along
the steep ridge that forms the western side of the Isonzo valley. As you
looked from those heights across the river, it was like looking from the
wall of a medieval castle; you dominated everything, and behind you were
great Italian guns ready to fill the gorge of the Isonzo and the slopes
beyond with a barrier of bursting steel.
But one of those combinations that have often helped the Germans in this
war helped them to the success that seemed impossible. It was made up of
the secrecy with which they had been able to complete their
preparations, of the luck of surprise and bad weather, and above all of
the fatal failure in their duty of certain detachments of the Italian
forces.
[Sidenote: German propaganda has created disaffection in every Allied
country.]
[Sidenote: Soldiers everywhere are weary of war.]
One of the successes of this year's German offensive was the creation in
the heart of an efficient and gallant army of this canker of
disaffection by propaganda that has been as energetic and as dangerous
to our cause as any of the enemy's operations in the field. In every
Allied country it has been active; among the English it is at work
corrupting labor, preying on the nerves of the overstrained worker, and
whispering any subtle lie that will sap his will and undermine his
spirit. In France one fractional part of the widespread organization
that carries on this treacherous work is being exposed by the
revelations in the Bolo case. In Italy the Germans cunningly twisted
fanatics, both socialist and clerical, into agents for forwarding their
work, and they had flooded the country with money to corrupt the army
which they had not been able to beat in the field. The individual
soldiers of every country, including above all the Central empires
themselves, are dead-weary of the war, but the enemy alone has had the
cunning and the baseness deliberately to exploit this feeling to his
profit, working through the agency of bought traitors and hired spies.
And so the Austro-Germans had managed to imbue a limited part of the
Italian Army with the distorted idea that the quickest way to regain the
longed-for comforts of peace was to refuse to fight and thus open the
way for a rapid Austrian victory.
When this ferment of disloyalty had done its work, the Germans were
ready to attack the particular sector of the line held by the troops
that it had most affected. These were on the left wing of the Italian
Second Army, which held the front of the Isonzo from Plezzo down to
Tolmino, and it was on that point that the enemy directed his first
thrust.
[Sidenote: The news of the taking of Caporetto.]
The news of the taking of Caporetto on the morning of October 24 had
about as startling an effect at Italian headquarters as would be
produced on the British front if it were suddenly announced that the
Germans were in Ypres. Not only was Caporetto a town on the Upper Isonzo
which the Italians had seized by dashing forward across the frontier the
very morning that war was declared, but it also stood at the head of a
most important strategical valley leading back into the mountains on
which the Italian main line lay, and from the town lead several easy
roads that follow various routes into the plain beyond. Already the
enemy was pressing in force along those roads. The Italians had, indeed,
fallen back to reserve positions, but were the enemy to win through--as
he did within two days--he would be on the flank and almost in the rear
of the whole Italian Army of a million men.
[Sidenote: Rapid progress of the Germans is difficult to explain.]
[Sidenote: Italian outposts are surrounded.]
Just how the Germans progressed so fast that by noon on October 24 they
had a machine-gun posted on the square in Caporetto still remains, eight
days later, incompletely explained. All that is really known is this: at
2 a.m. they started a very violent bombardment. When the shelling
suddenly stopped after only two hours, the Italians regarded the
interruption merely as a lull, for the artillery preparation for an
infantry attack in force usually lasts much longer. With the valley
hidden by darkness, mist, and rain, and seeing more dimly than usual
through the mica of their gas-masks, the Italians knew nothing of the
German infantry's advance up the valley from the Santa Lucia bridgehead,
south of Tolmino, until the enemy had actually reached their wire. In
this way the Plec line of defense across that reach of the Isonzo known
as the Conca di Plezzo, a line specially designed to check an offensive
from Santa Lucia, was captured by surprise, and then German troops
poured down into the river gorge from Mrzli on its eastern side, until
the valley was full of the enemy, and Monte Nero and the other Italian
outpost positions on the heights beyond the Isonzo were completely
surrounded.
[Sidenote: Violent fighting on the Bainsizza plateau.]
The valley being in their possession, the Germans wasted no time.
Pushing northward along the river, one detachment occupied Idersko and
Caporetto; another proceeded to assault the height of Starijok, just
above Caporetto; yet another strong force made a frontal attack on the
ridge of Zagradan, which runs like a wall along the Italian side of the
river, and after fierce fighting took Luico, one of the pivots of the
defenses upon it. Elsewhere he had attacked at the same time with less
definite result. Mount Globocak was seized by surprise. It was an
Italian big-gun position, and orders were given for it to be retaken at
any cost. So a distinguished brigade of bersaglieri was sent up to
counter-attack, and drove the Germans from the captured guns down the
slopes of Globocak again. North of Caporetto, too, the angle of the
Italian line at Zaga had been assailed, but had resisted, and across the
river on the Bainsizza plateau the most violent fighting of all took
place, as a result of which the Italian line was withdrawn from Kal, and
the heavy guns and equipment were sent back across the Isonzo, though
the Italian counter-attacks on the Bainsizza were carried out with such
dash that they captured several hundred Austrian prisoners.
[Sidenote: Danger that the Italian Army may be trapped.]
Now the enemy's plan stood out in all its formidable strength and
strategy. He had opened a gap in the Italian front; through this gap he
was pouring overwhelming forces. Already the rest of the Italian Second
Army and the Third Army on the Carso to the south of it were outflanked.
If the whole of that great force was not to have its line of
communications cut and be surrounded, it must be immediately and rapidly
withdrawn for a great distance. An immense sacrifice of Italian
territory was imperative if the Italian Army was to be saved from a trap
by the side of which the fall of Metz was the capture of an outpost.
During the afternoon of October 25 the general order of retreat was
given.
[Sidenote: Austrians use seventeen-inch howitzers.]
I went up again to visit the British batteries which were with the Third
Army on the afternoon of the twenty-fifth, and from one of their
observatories watched the heavy shelling. The Austrians were using huge
seventeen-inch howitzers, and the explosions of their gigantic shells,
each weighing a ton, was like a small eruption. A solid block of piebald
smoke as big as a cathedral sprang into the air and it was a minute or
more before the last of it had drifted away.
[Sidenote: Monfalcone the most romantic point in the fighting line.]
And as the sun was setting I went down to Monfalcone, to a place which
could not be mentioned then, but which was at the same time probably the
oddest and the most romantic point of the world's fighting-line.
Monfalcone was for the Austrians a sort of combination of Birkenhead and
Bournemouth. There were important ship-building yards there, and it had
besides popularity as a seaside place. In the shipyard the Austrians had
left an eighteen-thousand-ton liner, of which the hull was complete and
the decks built in.
[Sidenote: Tools of constructive labor are dropped.]
To reach the ship you passed through a yard that was a rusty monument to
the futility of war. There were all the tools of constructive labor just
as they had been dropped when this nightmare of destructive passion
burst upon the world; weather-reddened traveling cranes rusted to the
tracks on which they will never move again; trucks overturned, a lathe
smashed by a shell that had torn a wide gap in the roof above. Here,
where the air used to tremble all day long with the clang of giant
hammers, there was now silence and desertion, and the offices from which
great ships were controlled on their voyages to far-off seas had become
the barracks of Italian artillery-men.
[Sidenote: The partly built Austrian liner.]
There was a big wooden staircase that the Italians had built leading up
to the various decks of the great liner, and, once on board, you could
walk out to the forward bridge of the ship where from a sort of
conning-tower you looked out at the Austrian trenches less than a mile
away without the possibility of being seen. An odd observation post,
neither asea nor ashore, and to make the confusion of elements more
complete, the gunners whose guns barked continually from just behind it
were sailors of the Italian Navy, dressed not in blue, but in military
gray-green.
[Sidenote: A view of coveted Triest.]
Triest, the coveted city, lay ten miles away in full view, and each
night the Italians saw its windows answer with flashes of dull gold the
last rays of the sun setting behind Italy. As you looked from Monfalcone
across the dreamy blue of the empty gulf between, the town lay like a
stone image, lifeless except for the white smoke curling gently from a
single tall chimney into the quiet evening air. Much nearer along the
coast was the Castle of Duina standing on an abrupt cliff. It belongs to
the Grand Duchess of Thurn and Taxis, who used to gather parties of
poets, painters, and writers there to stay in what was like a legendary
palace looking down from its high headland upon the sunlit, sail-flecked
Adriatic, stretching away into the shining distance.
[Sidenote: The Italians are evacuating the Bainsizza plateau.]
It was from that last fair glimpse of Triest that you turned back to the
grave realities of situation. On the next morning, the twenty-sixth, the
Italian supreme command announced that the Bainsizza plateau was being
evacuated. It had been won with great losses and gallantry in August,
and the Italians had laboriously equipped it with roads and military
establishments to create a firm taking-off place for the next attack
upon the crest of Mount Gabriele, which was expected to drive the
Austrians back for five miles up the Vippaco valley, on the way to
Laibach, one of the back-doors to Triest.
The same day came the news of the fall of the Italian Government, which
had been attacked during the fortnight by a strange combination of the
advanced wing of the pro-war party who considered that the ministry was
not displaying enough firmness in its conduct of the campaign, with the
pacifist socialist party who denounced the Government for infringing
the constitutional rights of the people in the interests of militarism.
A feeling of _malaise_ was in the air. All the elements of success were
present in the Italian Army except the most important of all, the
psychological element.
[Sidenote: Evacuation of Udine.]
By this time motor-lorries had already begun to pour back through Udine,
and in the streets the Signal Corps were taking down the
telegraph-wires. You saw little parties of father, mother, and children
suddenly emerge from house or shop, each with hand-luggage. If you
looked closely you generally saw that the woman was crying.
[Sidenote: Air fights between Germans and Italians.]
On the twenty-sixth there were frequent attempts to reach Udine by
German flyers who were new to the ground. It was the first time that the
Italian Air Corps had had to deal with a German attempt to contest their
supremacy and they came well out of the trial. Ten enemy machines were
brought down during the day, two individual Italian airmen accounting
for three each. When the enemy machines were sighted heading for Udine
the jarring scream of a siren gave the alarm, and the police cleared the
streets.
Saturday, October 27, was the day of general exodus.
[Sidenote: Batteries hold rearward positions.]
I left Udine early on Saturday morning, in the car of the British
general commanding our artillery contingent on the Italian front, to go
up to the batteries and see how they got on in the retreat. We crawled
out toward the front along roads blocked with rearward-moving traffic
for which there was no organization, and after lunching at the general's
headquarters at Gradisca, I went on to Rubbia, just across the Isonzo,
to the south of Gorizia, where was the group headquarters of the
batteries. Already the supply service of the Third Army were pouring in
a black mass along the road, screened at the side and overhead by
rushmats from the observation of the enemy. Voices and hammering under
the long wooden bridge across the Isonzo at Rubbia were signs that the
Italian engineers were putting in position charges of explosive to blow
it up when as much material as possible had been brought over. Some of
our batteries had already been withdrawn to rearward positions not far
from group headquarters and were firing as fast as the guns could be
reloaded. The others were still in their old emplacements a mile or so
farther forward, being shelled terrifically by the Austrian twelve-inch
batteries, but having extraordinary luck. They were using up as much of
their ammunition as they could, because it was becoming clearer every
moment that the Italian transport service was not going to be able to
supply the lorries to move the shells, which were big enough for fifty
of them to make a full lorry-load.
[Sidenote: Lack of motor lorries to move ammunition.]
A major from one of the batteries came into group headquarters while I
was in the mess. He was dark under the eyes after a couple of sleepless
nights, for his men had been working hard all round the clock to get the
ammunition back from the forward dumps, labor that afterward proved
wasted, as there were no lorries forthcoming to carry it farther on.
Sixty twelve-inch shells and one aeroplane bomb a yard away from one of
his four guns was the afternoon's experience of his battery, and only
one man wounded made up the casualty-list for the same period.
"And I'm going to have a damn good dinner to-night whatever happens," he
announced. "Goodness knows when we shall eat or sleep again. So the
fowls and the rabbits we had in the battery are being killed this
afternoon."
[Sidenote: English and French artillery dependent on Italian transport.]
There were Austrian shells falling on the hill by group headquarters,
but none fell on that dense-packed road along which military traffic of
every kind and shape crawled and stuck and crawled on again. The tension
grew greater at our headquarters. The guns needed tractors to move them,
and motor-lorries were required to carry the battery stores. For the
English artillery contingent had no transport of its own, the
arrangement having been that this should be supplied by the Italians.
The French artillery contingent with the Italian Army, on the other
hand, was independent in this respect.
The organization with regard to the transport of guns is different in
the Italian and the British armies. The British system is that every gun
shall have its motor or horse-haulage permanently assigned to it, so
that it is always mobile at a moment's notice. In the Italian army the
mechanical transport service provides haulage for all units when
required, and as it is only in extraordinarily exceptional circumstances
that every single thing in the army needs moving at once, they are able
to effect considerable economies over the British method, which
constantly keeps large numbers of lorries and tractors and cars,
together with their drivers and mechanics, idle, since the units to
which they are attached are not at the moment in need of transport.
[Sidenote: Doubtful if all the British guns can be moved.]
By the time it was dark on Saturday evening the likelihood of all the
British guns getting away seemed doubtful, and the Italian artillery
colonel who supervised their employment as corps artillery came to our
group headquarters to say that preparations must be made for blowing the
last of them up, and that in any case each tractor must tow more than
one gun and come back for others directly it had got its first tows
behind the Isonzo.
[Sidenote: Enormous conflagration of military stores.]
And now the darkening landscape suddenly began to spring out into
brilliant points of light, as everywhere behind the Italian front,
supply-depots, military stores, and vast collections of wooden sheds
were set in a blaze. Gorizia was the site of a special conflagration,
and the enemy gun-fire was steadily increasing, till sometimes the
barrage rose to a single prolonged roar, and you could not have got a
knife edge between the bursts.
By 7.30 p.m. six of our guns were across the river and the rest were now
firing like field artillery, with no other batteries between them and
the enemy. They kept up this protection of the retreat of the infantry
so long, in fact, that the last round of all, at about 10 p.m., was
fired just before the gun was hitched to the tractor, and there was yet
another gun that had its breech mechanism smashed for fear it might have
to be left behind.
[Sidenote: Abandoned ammunition is exploded.]
[Sidenote: Like a volcanic eruption.]
The bright moon hung in a pale-green sky, looking down on a dozen roads
each crawling like a black snake with the close press of retreating
troops. As I was making my way back to Gradisca the whole firmament
leaped into sudden brilliance and every feature in every face among the
throngs around me on the road stood out for several seconds under a
ghastly light. Then followed from behind Monte Michele, a deep, rolling
roar. It was the first of the explosions of the great abandoned stores
of gun-ammunition behind the front. From then till dawn the night sky
was continually breaking into a glare like that of gigantic sunset, and
the crash of destroyed artillery ammunition shook the ground. The less
brilliant, but steadier, glow of burning stores and sheds and houses was
constantly multiplied, and the flash of every new explosion revealed
fresh masses of black smoke rising in sharp outline against the lurid
horizon. It was an apocalyptic spectacle; nothing short of a volcanic
eruption could produce those tremendous effects of infernal
illumination. Millions of pounds' worth of material, all the fruits of
two and a half years of labor, were burned and blasted out of existence
in a few hours.
[Sidenote: The necessity for speed.]
[Sidenote: Valuable stores abandoned for lack of lorries.]
The difficulty that complicated the Italian evacuation of their war-zone
was the fact that every hour the need for speed became more urgent, if
utter disaster was to be averted. A unit would be given twelve hours to
get to the point on the railway where it was to entrain and then an hour
later its time-limit would be reduced to two hours. A headquarters might
be told that a sufficient supply of motor-lorries would be available to
evacuate all its material and that it had better begin getting rid of
chairs and tables and its superfluous stuff at once, but no sooner had
these less important stores gone than word would come that no more
transport was available and that all the immensely valuable stores and
reserves of ammunition that still remained, must be abandoned, as no
lorries could be found for them.
[Sidenote: Difficulties in a sudden retreat.]
[Sidenote: Every officer tries to save his supplies.]
Moving a great army is an affair of time-tables. There is room for only
a certain amount of men and material on the roads and railways at one
time, and every man and every wagon above that maximum becomes a factor
of confusion and retards the movement of the whole mass to a dangerous
degree. The sudden retreat of an army is often reduced to chaos, first,
because a thoroughly worked-out plan of general retirement exists but
rarely in the strong-boxes of any general staff, and secondly, because
in the absence of a time-table drawn up in detail and strictly enforced,
the elementary principle of self-preservation leads every unit of the
army to put itself on the road as quickly as it can get transportation.
This is not to say that confusion is an invariable indication of
personal panic; but it is very natural, and even very proper, that every
battery commander, the director of every military store and depot, and
the leader of every body of troops which is not definitely ordered to
remain, should have the individual determination that his particular
command shall not fall into the hands of the enemy. The artillery
officer firmly resolves that he will save his guns at all costs; the
heads of supply departments are in charge of valuable stores which their
army needs for its very existence and which would be of great aid to the
enemy if captured, and the troop-leader naturally argues that it would
be futile to allow his men to be cut off when a general retreat has
already been ordered. So if the organization of withdrawal is left to
the discretion of the people involved in it, as it has to be when the
whole thing has not been deliberately arranged beforehand, confusion is
almost inevitable.
[Sidenote: Fear of being cut off by the enemy.]
[Sidenote: Only severest means can stop civilian traffic.]
[Sidenote: Modern war is a wild fury of destruction.]
Moreover, the enemy always seems to be advancing much faster than he
really is. Under the discouragement that every army feels in falling
back, it is easy to credit the pursuer with exaggerated powers of rapid
motion; the defeated soldier forgets that the miles are just as long and
weary for his adversary trudging painfully after him as they are for
himself. Rumor, too, spreads wildly among tired and disheartened men.
Enemy cavalry, enemy armored motor-cars, hurrying ahead to cut him
off--that idea haunts the mind of each man in an enforced retirement. A
further complication is caused when, as was the case in the Italian
withdrawal, the civilian population is also desperately anxious to be
gone before the arrival of the enemy. The news of the forthcoming
evacuation of territory spreads backward with rapidity, and the roads
along the route of the retreating army fill at once with unregulated,
disorderly swarms of frightened civilians and their household baggage,
hastily stowed on slow-moving dilapidated carts that are likely to break
down at narrow points of the way and block whole miles of military
traffic for hours at a time. The Italian Army had to endure a great deal
of that kind of complication. Theoretically, of course, a general could
throw back cavalry and mounted police along the line of his retreat and
forbid any civilian traffic whatever under pain of military penalties;
but it is very difficult to use such measures against your own
countrymen threatened with invasion, specially when the whole aim and
object of your war is to free men of your own race from foreign
domination. And not only does the sentimental reason of saving
fellow-citizens from the yoke of an invader forbid this course, but also
considerations of common humanity. In the old wars, when the danger-area
of fighting was restricted to the places where opposing troops actually
came into contact, there was no particular danger for the civilian
inhabitants remaining in invaded territory; though their property might
suffer from the enemy's requisitions, their lives were likely to be
safe. But wars of this modern character spread destruction broadcast
over a whole region. A rear-guard action will involve a rain of shells
that may smash to pieces any village on the line of retreat; gas may be
used, creeping into the refuges where the non-combatant population has
taken shelter, and choking them there like vermin in a hole. War is no
longer a civilly organized affair of pitched battles; it is a wild fury
of destruction, raging across the whole country-side like a typhoon.
If the English batteries on the Italian front had brought with them to
Italy their full organization of transport, they could have saved all
their ammunition and stores, their ordnance workshops and supplies. As
it was, they had been incorporated in the Italian Army as corps
artillery on the Italian basis; they had to take their chance of getting
transport along with every one else, and consequently of all their
equipment they could save only the guns themselves, which after all was
what chiefly mattered.
[Sidenote: A marching army does not seem as numerous as the same in
confusion.]
Discipline is a camouflage of numbers. A thousand men marching past in
column of fours does not make upon the mind the same impression of
multitude as the sight of half that number in a disordered rabble.
Regularity and compactness reduce the appearance of mass; and you
receive a profounder suggestion of size from a comparatively small pile
of natural rocks than you do from the geometrical pyramids. In the same
way an army whose formations are suddenly relaxed seems to swell
enormously in numbers. You can drive through a region where a million
men are stationed under regular military organization and get no idea of
congestion, but if those men are suddenly dissolved from a closely knit
body into a crowd of individual persons, the same country-side seems
hardly large enough to hold them all.
[Sidenote: Discomforts of the retreat.]
So, as with that little party of Englishmen I started on the retreat in
the early morning hours of October 28, we seemed to be engulfed in a
constantly broadening flood of human beings. We were in a train, the men
in open trucks, miserable enough under the cold, streaming rain, the
officers crowded into a closed van with the baggage. When we started in
the dark we had the train to ourselves, but as I awoke three hours later
from an uneasy sleep and looked out of the van, the rest of the train
already swarmed with Italian soldiers who had clambered upon it as it
crept along at a snail's pace. And when dawn came we saw ahead of us a
long vista of trains stretching out of sight, while behind stood
another queue of them, whistling impatiently like human beings at a
ticket office; sometimes one of them would back a little and make the
others behind it back too, all screeching furiously with their whistles
exactly as if they were trying to shout, "Where are you coming to?"
[Sidenote: The one idea is to keep on moving.]
Along the railway, and on the roads at both sides of it, and across the
fields beyond the roads, moved at the same time a crawling mass of
people, all going in the same direction, all at about the same pace,
without stopping, without talking to one another, every one of them just
plodding slowly, wearily, persistently rearward. As you watched them you
knew that each man had in his mind just one idea, to keep on moving like
that until he knew that he was safe. There was no panic or fighting
during the retreat except at isolated times and places; the situation
was just this, that for the unique and imposed will that sways an army
there had been substituted a multitude of individual wills all striving
independently for the same end of self-preservation.
[Sidenote: People seem unaware of the others.]
These dark, sluggish streams of men and vehicles and beasts crept
tortuously over the country-side like the channels of a delta trickling
to the sea. Here and there little eddies of stragglers had been thrown
out to each side. It is a curious thing, which I have noticed under
similar conditions before, that each person or little group of persons
in this mass of human beings seemed almost unaware of the presence of
the rest. You would see a family party of peasants gathered round their
ox cart and making a meal of bread and raw red wine without so much as a
glance at the motley thousands streaming by at their elbows; a soldier
would strip off his wet clothes on the road's edge to change them for
some that he had looted from a wayside store with no apparent
perception of the women trudging past; nor did they seem to notice him.
The niceties of convention are quickly dulled by fatigue, and it is only
the easefulness of modern life that makes the coarser little realities
of human nature seem shocking.
[Sidenote: The crowds get clothes from stacked trucks.]
Among the trains that stretched out of sight along the line there were
some trucks stacked with bundles of military mackintoshes, woolen
helmets, shirts, thick socks. Some inquisitive soldier discovered these
and disinterred a complete outfit for himself. A few minutes later he
was a changed figure, with clean clothing in place of his own muddy,
rain-soaked things, and a stiff blue mackintosh and sou'wester hat over
all. The transfiguration attracted envious attention, and he was
besieged with questions. Soon those trucks with their piles of white
packages looked like giant sugar-basins swarming with wasps, and all
around were throngs jostling one another for the next place on the heap.
It was all quite good-humored; they were all laughing, waving their
arms, calling to friends on the trucks to throw them a shirt or a
waterproof, and when these things came flying down to them they turned
away with the satisfied smile of children. Nothing puts human beings in
such thoroughly good temper as to get something for nothing.
[Sidenote: A litter of old clothes on the road.]
[Sidenote: Two Italian ladies follow the track.]
In this way the whole track soon became a litter of old clothes, which
the retiring soldiers trampled into the mud. Amid all this chaos one
kept on meeting utterly incongruous figures, for with all the world
road-worn, shabby, and dirty, to be clean and well-dressed is to be
grotesque. Amid this multitude of haggard, unwashed, unshaven, dead-beat
males, I noticed two Italian ladies treading delicately over the rough
ballast of the railway-track. They had naturally brought with them in
their flight the most valuable of their possessions, which were of a
kind to be most conveniently carried on their persons. Against this gray
background of mud and rubbish and a disbanded army their two figures
glittered with a brilliance that would have been conspicuous in the rue
de la Paix. Heavy sable furs and muffs almost bowed their shoulders;
each finger had two or three rings that flashed in the light; round
their necks were gold chains hung with pendants, and yet, instead of the
air of self-satisfied ostentation that might well have gone with a
display so lavish, there were only two pathetically little, frightened,
perplexed faces, and an uncertain gait that did not promise much further
progress along that ankle-wrenching railway-line.
By this time I had left the train, which had taken thirty hours to cover
fifteen miles, and was walking ahead along the track. There was always
the chance that something might happen to the two bridges farther on
over the Tagliamento, and I wanted to be on the same side of the river
as the telegraph office when that occurred.
[Sidenote: The Tagliamento bridges dominate the retirement.]
These bridges were the feature that dominated the whole movement of
retirement. In military terms, they constituted a defile upon its route.
Everything had to converge upon one of those three narrow passages, and
until they were crossed there was no security for the Italian Army.
Rear-guard actions were, indeed, fought at intermediate places such as
the line of the Torre, west of Udine, where General Petiti di Roreto
made a stand with six brigades, the valley of the Judrio, the heights
above Cormons. But such efforts could do no more than delay the enemy's
advance; the respite that the Italian Army so urgently needed to pull
itself together, to reassemble its units, redistribute its artillery,
and, in short, gather into one hand again the scattered threads of
control, could be found only behind the Tagliamento River, forty miles
back from the old front line.
[Sidenote: Rain fills the Isonzo and holds back the enemy.]
Fortunately from Saturday night through Sunday night, the first period
of the retreat of the fighting troops as distinct from the rearward
services of the army, it poured torrentially with rain, and this, while
increasing the hardships endured by the men, contributed in two ways to
their salvation; for one thing it swelled the swift and now bridgeless
Isonzo, which the enemy had to cross, brimful, and turned the
Tagliamento, usually a trickle of water in an untidy stony bed across
which a man can wade, into a broad deep flood; it, furthermore, kept the
Austrian and German aeroplanes from following up to sweep with bomb and
machine-gun the tightly packed road where they could have massacred
victims by the hundred and might have turned the retreat into a hopeless
rout.
Though the men exposed in open trucks or sludging along the muddy roads
and swampy fields had cursed the rain bitterly, its value to our side
became conspicuously plain when Monday morning broke bright with autumn
sunshine.
[Sidenote: Troops fill the village of Latisana.]
It was about ten o'clock on that morning when I reached the village of
Latisana, where was the southernmost bridge across the Tagliamento. The
streets of the little town were simply chock-a-block with troops which
were pouring into it from converging roads. Two or three Italian
officers, splashed to the eyes with mud and hoarse with shouting, had
organized some control at this point, or otherwise nothing would have
moved at all. Pushing soldiers this way and that, seizing horses' heads,
straining their voices against the din of clattering motors, they held
up each stream of traffic in turn for a few minutes and passed the
other through.
[Sidenote: An English soldier keeps his air of efficiency.]
[Sidenote: Men in great need of food.]
Conspicuous in his khaki among this spate of Italian gray, stood an
English soldier contentedly munching dry brown bread. The motor-bicycle
at his side indicated him as a despatch-rider belonging to one of the
batteries. It would have been hard to say whether machine or man was the
more travel-stained. The cycle's front wheel was badly bent, evidently
by some collision; the soldier's hand was bound with a dirty rag, and
his face clotted with the blood of a congealed scratch, the result of
having been pushed off the road by a motor-lorry in the dark and falling
head-long down a stone embankment. Yet about both mount and man there
was still an air of efficiency and unimpaired fundamental soundness that
was encouraging, and the mud-plastered figure saluted the English
officer at my side with a flick of the wrist that would have passed on
the parade-ground at Wellington Barracks. Two guns of his battery, he
reported, were three or four miles back down the road; the men were
dead-beat, but the worst was that they had had nothing to eat for
thirty-six hours, owing to the tractor that had their rations on board
catching fire and burning them; they had picked up scraps of bread that
other troops had dropped, and some of them had tried and appreciated
cutlets from a dead mule; they needed food to restore their strength for
they had been working hard without sleep for two days and nights. It had
been forty-eight hours of continuous hauling on those heavy guns, which
were constantly getting edged off the road by other traffic, and which
had to be unhitched every time the tractor stopped because it was so
overloaded that it would not start with the full weight of its tow. So
the officer had sent him on ahead to scout for food, and he had just
found a _sosistenza_ where they had given him a sack of bread to take
back.
"You all right yourself?" asked my officer-companion.
"Quite all right, sir, thank you," he answered, and slinging the bulging
sack across his shoulders, the despatch-rider straddled his battered
bicycle and set off on a sinuous path through the wedged traffic, with
his bent front-wheel writhing like a tortured snake.
[Sidenote: Finding the way to reach Padua.]
[Sidenote: Walking single file through the mud.]
This news of the existence of a _sosistenza_ was good hearing. I myself
had not the least idea of how to get to Padua, the nearest place from
which I could hope to send a telegram, except by walking there; and
Padua was sixty miles along the railway-line. Two days' walking, two
brown loaves the gift of the Italian officer in charge of the
bread-depot, and a stick of chocolate; it was a prospect of no
allurement. I stepped into place in the long trail of refugees and
started, however. It needed no more than two hours of stumbling over
sleepers and crunching on the rough stone ballast of the track to make
of me as tired and dull-witted a hobo as the rest. We all walked in
single file, keeping as far as possible to a strip of soft mud at the
side of the line where the going was easier, and one's whole mind had
become before long entirely concentrated on nothing more than the
increasing soreness of two tired feet and the gradual development of a
blister on a big toe. From Portogruaro onward, however, my own personal
luck changed, and by getting one lift after another I reached Padua the
same night.
[Sidenote: British guns wait to cross.]
[Sidenote: An Italian colonel attempts to keep order on the bridge.]
[Sidenote: A panic is started.]
[Sidenote: Austrian aeroplanes are overhead.]
[Sidenote: Italian officers check panic.]
[Sidenote: Airplane opens fire on the road.]
Gradually the throng at the Latisana bridge increased, and eventually no
less than eleven of the British guns attached to the Italian army were
drawn up at the side of the road waiting their turn to cross. The
English colonel who commanded the group to which they belonged had
arrived and was using the funnel of the bridge to collect his scattered
units. The men refreshed with the bread that they had received from the
Italian food-depot, were resting by the side of the road; an Italian
artillery colonel, under whose command the guns had been when on the
Third Army front as corps artillery, was on the bridge trying to hold up
the onpressing, unbroken string of heterogeneous traffic long enough for
the English guns to be edged into the procession. Then suddenly one of
these things happened to which an army in retreat is peculiarly liable.
How it started no one seems to know. One theory is that Austrian
soldiers dressed in Italian uniforms had been hurried on ahead by the
enemy to mingle with the retreat and spread such panics. What actually
happened was that several men galloped up all at once on horseback
shouting, "The Austrians are here." Immediately the crowd, hitherto
patiently waiting its turn to cross the bridge, made one simultaneous
push toward its opening. Beyond the river there was the whole
country-side to scatter over; on this side they could expect no other
fate than to be caught helplessly in a trap. It was like a stampede in a
burning theater; the desperate eagerness of every person in the crowd to
get on the bridge stopped almost any one from getting there. Carts and
people at the edge of the road were shoved down the embankment by the
weight of the dense mass surging along its center. And then to add to
the terror of the moment there was heard above the shouts and oaths of
the struggling mob a low, foreboding hum, the characteristic drone of
Austrian aeroplanes. It is hard to see what could have come of the
situation but complete and bloody disaster if it had not been for the
decided action of some Italian officers. By main force they thrust into
the middle of the entrance to the bridge and checked the panic with
sheer personal determination. The sound of their authoritative voices
brought back the sense of discipline that had momentarily gone. Under
their orders the pushing throng sorted itself into some order. A jibing
mule was summarily shot to clear the road, and so in a few minutes,
despite the constant approach of the low-flying enemy aircraft, a way
was cleared for the English guns to cross the bridge. They were scarcely
over when the first Austrian machine, swooping down, dropped bombs and
opened fire with its machine-gun on the tight-packed road. The attack
did not do much damage, though one British Red Cross car was filled as
full of holes as a pepper-pot; but the experience showed how much worse
the retreat would have been had not the heavy rain of the week-end kept
the Austrian airmen in their hangars.
[Sidenote: The army reaches Tagliamento.]
So the retiring army reached the Tagliamento, and completed the first
stage of its retreat. Once behind that barrier the Italians could be
sure of a certain breathing space, but to secure its protection was the
most difficult part of their rearward movement. To the constant
convergence which the lack of more than three bridges rendered necessary
must be attributed much of the confusion of the retirement and the
abandonment of the military equipment that was still to the east of the
Tagliamento when the pressure of the enemy finally compelled their
destruction.
[Sidenote: Germans try to cross the upper course of Tagliamento.]
[Sidenote: Enemies who cross are killed or captured.]
The Germans fully realized the formidable obstacle to the retreat of the
Italians which this rain-swollen river constituted, and they made a
determined effort to secure for themselves a passage across its upper
course while the Second and Third Armies to the south were not yet
behind the stream. There is a bridge a few miles west of the town of
Gemona which was not being used by the retreating army because of its
comparatively flimsy construction. The Tagliamento, then very high, was,
like many mountain streams, subject to very rapid rises and falls.
Therefore, part of the enemy advance-guard, which was following up the
Italian retirement was pushed on ahead to try to obtain control of this
bridge at Gemona, for use at any rate when the waters had sunk a little.
This German detachment forced its way across the bridge with
considerable courage, some of them being swept away by the swift stream
pouring over it, but on the other bank they were immediately faced with
stout resistance by the Italian rear-guard, and with their backs to the
river virtually all the enemy who had crossed the Tagliamento were
killed or captured.
[Sidenote: Gallant conduct of the rear-guard.]
The gallant and skilful conduct of the rear-guard of the Italian army
is, indeed, the brightest part of the gloomy story of the retreat.
[Sidenote: The Italian armies are on the defensive.]
[Sidenote: The war now a struggle against invaders.]
The cavalry, specially, played a distinguished part in covering the
retirement. Charging machine-guns with the lance, and holding commanding
positions until they were virtually cut off, these regiments had very
heavy losses. A retreat where circumstances make it impossible to get
the whole of the army away imposes upon the rear-guard a call for
special self-sacrifice, since the moment never comes, when, the whole of
the main body being safely past, it can break off the combat and itself
retire, its duty done. In the withdrawal of the armies that were along
the front in the Cadore and Carnic Alps, occasions of this kind occurred
several times during the week throughout which the retreat lasted, when
rear-guard detachments were completely surrounded. At Lorenzago a force
in this position succeeded in cutting its way back to join the main body
again; west of Gemona, however, the remnants of the Thirty-sixth
Division were so thoroughly engulfed by the advancing Austro-German
forces that, having used up all their ammunition, they were obliged to
surrender. And so, gradually, not without moments of discouragement
almost amounting to despair, the Italian armies, which ten days before
had been fighting on Austrian territory with every prospect of carrying
still further a series of victories that had lasted two years and a
half, found themselves on the defensive far back of their own borders,
awaiting the attack of a triumphant and advancing foe. It had been a
terrible trial for them and for the nation at their back. Almost in one
night, dreams of imperial expansion, cherished with an enthusiasm that
gave them an air of virtual reality, faded into a remoteness beyond
reckoning. The war that had been from the first gloriously offensive,
was suddenly transformed into an outnumbered struggle against invaders
who had already seized half of one of the richest provinces of Italy.
Yet, though numbed by the shock and stricken to the heart by the
realization of her disaster, Italy reacted well. There was no talk of
yielding to be heard, only anxious discussion of the best means of
organizing the further resistance that would so soon be necessary.
For though the great majority of the Italian army had succeeded for the
moment in escaping from the grasp of the Austro-Germans, the enemy was
steadfastly pursuing. Encouraged by a victory that must have more than
realized his most ambitious hopes, reinforced by captured guns and
material, he would wait only long enough to get sufficient strength into
position before hurling the whole of his weight once more against the
Italian line.
[Sidenote: Impossible to meet the second shock on the Tagliamento.]
To meet this second shock on the Tagliamento was not possible. The river
itself quickly became, as the rain stopped and the waters fell, too
easily traversable an obstacle to be worth fortifying. The line which it
would have imposed upon the Italian army was, moreover, too long to be
held in the depth desirable for resistance to the attack of superior
numbers. So the Tagliamento was occupied as an intermediate position
only long enough to shield the further retreat of the army and its
transport behind the broader and deeper stream of the Piave.
[Sidenote: The new stand behind the Piave.]
[Sidenote: Winter rains will delay enemy's heavy guns.]
Here at the time of writing the Italian forces are in position and the
enemy's advanced detachments have begun to register ranges and destroy
possible observation posts across the river with such artillery as they
have so far had the time to bring up. Whether the Piave line and the
rest of the Italian front to the westward, which has had to be modified
in conformation with the general movement of retreat, can be held
indefinitely, will probably be a question of heavy guns. If the enemy
can bring up his larger artillery before reinforcements of the same
character arrive from France and England, a further retreat from north
and east to another river line may well be necessary. Fortunately the
winter rains that have set in make for delay in the arrival of such
cumbrous war-engines as the Austrian seventeen-inch mortars, and it may
be that persistent mud and rain will compel the Austrians to be
satisfied with holding the considerable tract of territory that they
have won.
[Sidenote: Danger that Venice must be abandoned.]
[Sidenote: Cathedrals and palaces are protected by sand bags.]
But all preparations are being made to face the conceivable eventuality
of another retirement. The most serious consequence that this would
entail would be the abandonment of Venice and the necessity of bringing
that inestimable city within close range of the destruction of war. Even
at this early stage, therefore, while the danger to Venice is as yet not
urgent, the Italian Government is doing its best to surround her with
the protection of such neutrality as the conventions of war, for what
they are worth, secure to undefended and unoccupied towns. No person in
uniform is allowed to enter the place and the civilian population is
being encouraged to leave by free railway transport and subventions to
support them until they can settle elsewhere. Even in such tragic hours
Venice keeps up her old tradition of light-heartedness. The cafés round
the great piazza are full in the evenings with a cheerful crowd.
Moreover, to go into St. Mark's is to enter a sort of neolithic grotto;
the pillars, set about with sand-bags, have the girth of the arcades of
a Babylonian temple; bulging poultices of sacks protect each fresco; as
a building it reminds one of a German student padded for a duel. The
Doge's Palace, too, is more hidden with scaffolding than it could have
been when it was being built; each of those delicate columns of
different design is set around with a stout palisade of timber balks.
Venice, indeed, looks like a drawing-room with the dust-sheets on the
furniture and the chandeliers in bags, and to complete the parallel, the
family is going away before one's eyes.
Sad days for Italy, days unimaginable a month ago. There must, indeed,
be virtue in the Allies' cause since such ordeals as these still leave
our courage high.
Copyright, Century, March, 1918.
* * * * *
The bottling up of the Harbor of Zeebrugge and the attempted closing of
the Harbor of Ostend formed what was probably the most brilliant single
naval exploit of the war. These daring and successful attempts are
described in the narrative following.
BOTTLING UP ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND
THE OFFICIAL NARRATIVE
[Sidenote: The _Vindictive_ as she lies in Ostend Harbor.]
Those who recall High Wood upon the Somme--and they must be many, as it
was after the battles of 1916--may easily figure to themselves the decks
of H.M.S. _Vindictive_ as she lies to-day, a stark, black profile,
against the sea haze of the harbor amid the stripped, trim shapes of the
fighting ships which throng these waters. That wilderness of debris,
that litter of the used and broken tools of war, lavish ruin and that
prodigal evidence of death and battle, are as obvious and plentiful here
as there. The ruined tank nosing at the stout tree which stopped it has
its parallel in the flame-thrower hut at the port wing of _Vindictive's_
bridge, its iron sides freckled with rents from machine-gun bullets and
shell-splinters; the tall white cross which commemorates the martyrdom
of the Londoners is sister to the dingy, pierced White Ensign which
floated over the fight of the Zeebrugge Mole.
[Sidenote: The _Iris_ and the _Daffodil_ which shared the honors.]
Looking aft from the chaos of her wrecked bridge, one sees, snug against
their wharf, the heroic bourgeois shapes of the two Liverpool
ferry-boats (their captains' quarters are still labelled "Ladies Only")
_Iris_ and _Daffodil_, which shared with _Vindictive_ the honors and
ardors of the fight. The epic of their achievement shapes itself in the
light of that view across the scarred and littered decks, in that
environment of gray water and great still ships.
[Sidenote: The three cruisers that were sunk at Zeebrugge.]
Their objectives were the canal of Zeebrugge and the entrance to the
harbor of Ostend--theirs, and those of five other veteran and obsolete
cruisers and a mosquito fleet of destroyers, motor-launches and coastal
motor-boats. Three of the cruisers, _Intrepid_, _Iphigenia_ and
_Thetis_, each duly packed with concrete and with mines attached to her
bottom for the purpose of sinking her, _Merrimac_-fashion, in the neck
of the canal, were aimed at Zeebrugge; two others, similarly prepared,
were directed at Ostend. The function of _Vindictive_, with her
ferry-boats, was to attack the great half-moon Mole which guards the
Zeebrugge Canal, land bluejackets and marines upon it, destroy what
stores, guns, and Germans she could find, and generally create a
diversion while the block-ships ran in and sank themselves in their
appointed place. Vice Admiral Keyes, in the destroyer _Warwick_,
commanded the operation.
[Sidenote: The conditions favorable for the attack.]
There had been two previous attempts at the attack, capable of being
pushed home if weather and other conditions had served. The night of the
22nd offered nearly all the required conditions, and at some fifteen
miles off Zeebrugge the ships took up their formation for the attack.
_Vindictive_, which had been towing _Iris_ and _Daffodil_, cast them off
to follow under their own steam; _Intrepid_, _Iphigenia_, and _Thetis_
slowed down to give the first three time to get alongside the Mole;
_Sirius_ and _Brilliant_ shifted their course for Ostend; and the great
swarm of destroyers and motor craft sowed themselves abroad upon their
multifarious particular duties. The night was overcast and there was a
drift of haze; down the coast a great searchlight swung its beams to and
fro; there was a small wind and a short sea.
[Sidenote: The _Vindictive_ heads for the Mole.]
[Sidenote: The wind helps make a smoke-screen.]
From _Vindictive's_ bridge, as she headed in towards the Mole with her
faithful ferry-boats at her heels, there was scarcely a glimmer of
light to be seen shorewards. Ahead of her, as she drove through the
water, rolled the smoke-screen, her cloak of invisibility, wrapped about
her by the small craft. This was a device of Wing-Commander Brock,
R.N.A.S., "without which," acknowledges the Admiral in Command, "the
operation could not have been conducted." The north-east wind moved the
volume of it shoreward ahead of the ships; beyond it, the distant town
and its defenders were unsuspicious; and it was not till _Vindictive_,
with her bluejackets and marines standing ready for the landing, was
close upon the Mole that the wind lulled and came away again from the
south-west, sweeping back the smoke-screen and laying her bare to the
eyes that looked seaward.
[Sidenote: The star shells discover the ships and battle opens.]
[Sidenote: The _Vindictive_ reaches the Mole.]
There was a moment immediately afterwards when it seemed to those in the
ships as if the dim coast and the hidden harbor exploded into light. A
star shell soared aloft, then a score of star shells; the wavering beams
of the searchlights swung round and settled to a glare; the wildfire of
gun flashes leaped against the sky; strings of luminous green beads shot
aloft, hung and sank; and the darkness of the night was supplanted by
the nightmare daylight of battle fires. Guns and machine-guns along the
Mole and batteries ashore woke to life, and it was in a gale of shelling
that _Vindictive_ laid her nose against the thirty-foot high concrete
side of the Mole, let go an anchor, and signed to _Daffodil_ to shove
her stern in. _Iris_ went ahead and endeavored to get alongside
likewise.
[Sidenote: Captain Carpenter in the flame-thrower hut.]
The fire, from the account of everybody concerned, was intense. While
ships plunged and rolled beside the Mole in an unexpected send of sea,
_Vindictive_ with her greater draught jarring against the foundation of
the Mole with every plunge, they were swept diagonally by machine-gun
fire from both ends of the Mole and by heavy batteries ashore. Commander
A.F.B. Carpenter (now Captain) conned _Vindictive_ from her open bridge
till her stern was laid in, when he took up his position in the
flame-thrower hut on the port side. It is to this hut that reference has
already been made; it is marvellous that any occupant of it should have
survived a minute, so riddled and shattered is it. Officers of _Iris_,
which was in trouble ahead of _Vindictive_, describe Captain Carpenter
as "handling her like a picket-boat."
[Sidenote: The _Vindictive's_ false high deck and gangways.]
_Vindictive_ was fitted along the port side with a high false deck,
whence ran the eighteen brows, or gangways, by which the storming and
demolition parties were to land. The men were gathered in readiness on
the main and lower decks, while Colonel Elliot, who was to lead the
Marines, waited on the false deck just abaft the bridge, and Captain
H.C. Halahan, who commanded the bluejackets, was amidships. The gangways
were lowered, and scraped and rebounded upon the high parapet of the
Mole as _Vindictive_ rolled; and the word for the assault had not yet
been given when both leaders were killed, Colonel Elliot by a shell and
Captain Halahan by the machine-gun fire which swept the decks. The same
shell that killed Colonel Elliot also did fearful execution in the
forward Stokes Mortar Battery.
[Sidenote: Landing on the Mole.]
"The men were magnificent." Every officer bears the same testimony. The
mere landing on the Mole was a perilous business; it involved a passage
across the crashing, splintering gangways, a drop over the parapet into
the field of fire of the German machine-guns which swept its length, and
a further drop of some sixteen feet to the surface of the Mole itself.
Many were killed and more were wounded as they crowded up to the
gangways; but nothing hindered the orderly and speedy landing by every
gangway.
Lieutenant H.T.C. Walker had his arm carried away by a shell on the
upper deck and lay in the darkness while the storming parties trod him
under. He was recognized and dragged aside by the Commander. He raised
his remaining arm in greeting, "Good luck to you," he called, as the
rest of the stormers hastened by; "good luck."
[Sidenote: The wounded and dying cheer.]
The lower deck was a shambles as the Commander made the rounds of his
ship; yet those wounded and dying raised themselves to cheer as he made
his tour. The crew of the howitzer which was mounted forward had all
been killed; a second crew was destroyed likewise; and even then a third
crew was taking over the gun. In the stern cabin a firework expert, who
had never been to sea before--one of Captain Brock's employees--was
steadily firing great illuminating rockets out of a scuttle to show up
the lighthouse on the end of the Mole to the block ships and their
escort.
[Sidenote: The _Daffodil's_ part in the fight.]
The _Daffodil_, after aiding to berth _Vindictive_, should have
proceeded to land her own men, but now Commander Carpenter ordered her
to remain as she was, with her bows against _Vindictive's_ quarter,
pressing the latter ship into the Mole. Normally, _Daffodil's_ boilers
develop eighty pounds' pressure of steam per inch; but now, for this
particular task, Artificer Engineer Button, in charge of them maintained
a hundred and sixty pounds for the whole period that she was holding
_Vindictive_ to the Mole. Her casualties, owing to her position during
the fight, were small--one man killed and eight wounded, among them her
Commander, Lieutenant H. Campbell, who was struck in the right eye by a
shell splinter.
[Sidenote: The _Iris_ finds her work difficult.]
_Iris_ had troubles of her own. Her first attempts to make fast to the
Mole ahead of _Vindictive_ failed, as her grapnels were not large
enough to span the parapet. Two officers. Lieutenant Commander Bradford
and Lieutenant Hawkins, climbed ashore and sat astride the parapet
trying to make the grapnels fast till each was killed and fell down
between the ship and the wall. Commander Valentine Gibbs had both legs
shot away and died next morning. Lieutenant Spencer, B.N.R., though
wounded, conned the ship and Lieutenant Henderson, R.N., came up from
aft and took command.
[Sidenote: Terrible casualties on the _Iris_.]
_Iris_ was obliged at last to change her position and fall in astern of
_Vindictive_, and suffered very heavily from the fire. A single big
shell plunged through the upper deck and burst below at a point where
fifty-six marines were waiting the order to go to the gang-ways.
Forty-nine were killed and the remaining seven wounded. Another shell in
the ward-room, which was serving as sick bay, killed four officers and
twenty-six men. Her total casualties were eight officers and sixty-nine
men killed and three officers and a hundred and two men wounded.
[Sidenote: The demolition parties on the Mole dynamite buildings.]
The storming and demolition parties upon the Mole met with no resistance
from the Germans, other than the intense and unremitting fire. The
geography of the great Mole, with its railway line and its many
buildings, hangars, and store-sheds, was already well known, and the
demolition parties moved to their appointed work in perfect order. One
after another the building burst into flame or split and crumpled as the
dynamite went off.
[Sidenote: The enemy fights with the machine-guns.]
A bombing party, working up towards the Mole extension in search of the
enemy, destroyed several machine-gun emplacements, but not a single
prisoner rewarded them. It appears that upon the approach of the ships,
and with the opening of the fire, the enemy simply retired and contented
themselves with bringing machine-guns to the shore end of the Mole. And
while they worked and destroyed, the covering party below the parapet
could see in the harbor, by the light of the German star shells, the
shapes of the block ships stealing in and out of their own smoke and
making for the mouth of the canal.
[Sidenote: The _Thetis_ shows the road to all the ships.]
_Thetis_ came first, steaming into a tornado of shell from the great
batteries ashore. All her crew, save a remnant who remained to steam her
in and sink her, had already been taken off by the ubiquitous motor
launches, but the remnant spared hands enough to keep her four guns
going. It was hers to show the road to _Intrepid_ and _Iphigenia_, who
followed.
[Sidenote: The _Thetis_ is sunk.]
She cleared the string of armed barges which defends the channel from
the tip of the Mole, but had the ill-fortune to foul one of her
propellers upon the net defence which flanks it on the shore side. The
propeller gathered in the net and rendered her practically unmanageable;
the shore batteries found her and pounded her unremittingly; she bumped
into a bank, edged off, and found herself in the channel again, still
some hundreds of yards from the mouth of the canal, in a practically
sinking condition. As she lay she signalled invaluable directions to the
others, and here Commander R.S. Sneyd, D.S.O., accordingly blew the
charges and sank her. A motor launch, under Lieutenant H. Littleton,
R.N.V.R., raced alongside and took off her crew. Her losses were five
killed and five wounded.
[Sidenote: The _Intrepid_ follows.]
_Intrepid_, smoking like a volcano and with all her guns blazing,
followed; her motor launch had failed to get alongside outside the
harbor, and she had men enough for anything. Straight into the canal she
steered, her smoke blowing back from her into _Iphigenia's_ eyes, so
that the latter, blinded and going a little wild, rammed a dredger with
a barge moored beside it, which lay at the western arm of the canal.
She got clear though, and entered the canal pushing the barge before
her. It was then that a shell hit the steam connections of her whistle,
and the escape of steam which followed drove off some of the smoke and
let her see what she was doing.
[Sidenote: Sinking of the _Intrepid_ and the _Iphigenia_.]
Lieutenant Stuart Bonham-Carter, commanding the _Intrepid_, placed the
nose of his ship neatly on the mud of the western bank, ordered his crew
away, and blew up his ship by the switches in the chart-room. Four dull
bumps was all that could be heard; and immediately afterwards there
arrived on deck the engineer, who had been in the engine-room during the
explosion and reported that all was as it should be.
[Sidenote: Probable that the canal is effectively blocked.]
Lieutenant E.W. Billyard-Leake, commanding _Iphigenia_, beached her
according to arrangement on the eastern side, blew her up, saw her drop
nicely across the canal, and left her with her engines still going to
hold her in position till she should have bedded well down on the
bottom. According to latest reports from air observation, the two old
ships with their holds full of concrete are lying across the canal in a
V position; and it is probable that the work they set out to do has been
accomplished and that the canal is effectively blocked.
A motor launch, under Lieutenant P.T. Deane, R.N.V.R., had followed them
in to bring away the crews, and waited further up the canal towards the
mouth against the western bank. Lieutenant Bonham-Carter, having sent
away his boats, was reduced to a Carley float, an apparatus like an
exaggerated lifebuoy with a floor of grating. Upon contact with the
water it ignited a calcium flare, and he was adrift in the uncanny
illumination with a German machine-gun a few hundred yards away giving
him its undivided attention.
What saved him was possibly the fact that the defunct _Intrepid_ was
still emitting huge clouds of smoke, which it had been worth nobody's
while to turn off. He managed to catch a rope as the motor launch
started, and was towed for a while till he was observed and taken on
board. Another officer jumped ashore and ran along the bank to the
launch. A bullet from the machine-gun stung him as he ran, and when he
arrived, charging down the bank out of the dark, he was received by a
number of the launch's crew who attacked him with a hammer.
[Sidenote: Shells make incessant geysers in the harbor.]
The whole harbor was alive with small craft. As the motor launch cleared
the canal, and came forth to the incessant geysers thrown up by the
shells, rescuers and rescued had a view of yet another phase of the
attack. The shore end of the Mole consists of a jetty, and here an old
submarine, commanded by Lieutenant R.D. Sandford, R.N., loaded with
explosives, was run into the piles and touched off, her crew getting
away in a boat to where the usual launch awaited them.
[Sidenote: An old submarine is blown up.]
Officers describe the explosion as the greatest they ever witnessed--a
huge roaring spout of flame that tore the jetty in half and left a gap
of over 100 feet. The claim of another launch to have sunk a
torpedo-boat alongside the jetty is supported by many observers,
including officers of the _Vindictive_, who had seen her mast and funnel
across the Mole and noticed them disappear.
[Sidenote: The splendid heroism of men and officers.]
Where every moment had its deed and every deed its hero, a recital of
acts of valor becomes a mere catalogue. "The men were magnificent," say
the officers; the men's opinion of their leaders expresses itself in the
manner in which they followed them, in their cheers, in their demeanor
to-day while they tidy up their battered ships, setting aside the
inevitable souvenirs, from the bullet-torn engines to great chunks of
Zeebrugge Mole dragged down and still hanging in the fenders of the
_Vindictive_. The motor launch from the canal cleared the end of the
Mole and there beheld, trim and ready, the shape of the _Warwick_, with
the great silk flag presented to the Admiral by the officers of his old
ship, the _Centurion_. They stood up on the crowded decks of the little
craft and cheered it again and again.
[Sidenote: The _Warwick_ takes off the men from the canal.]
While the _Warwick_ took them on board, they saw _Vindictive_, towed
loose from the Mole by _Daffodil_, turn and make for home--a great black
shape, with funnels gapped and leaning out of the true, flying a vast
streamer of flame as her stokers worked her up--her, the almost
wreck--to a final display of seventeen knots. Her forward funnel was a
sieve; her decks were a dazzle of sparks; but she brought back intact
the horseshoe nailed to it, which Sir Roger Keyes had presented to her
commander.
[Sidenote: One destroyer, the _North Star_, is sunk.]
[Sidenote: Monitors and siege guns bombard the enemy.]
Meantime the destroyers _North Star_, _Phoebe_, and _Warwick_, which
guarded the _Vindictive_ from action by enemy destroyers while she lay
beside the Mole, had their share in the battle. _North Star_, losing her
way in the smoke, emerged to the light of the star-shells, and was sunk.
The German _communiqué_, which states that only a few members of the
crew could be saved by them, is in this detail of an unusual accuracy,
for the _Phoebe_ came up under a heavy fire in time to rescue nearly
all. Throughout the operations monitors and the siege guns in Flanders,
manned by the Royal Marine Artillery, heavily bombarded the enemy's
batteries.
[Sidenote: The attack on Ostend.]
The wind that blew back the smoke-screen at Zeebrugge served us even
worse off Ostend, where that and nothing else prevented the success of
an operation ably directed by Commodore Hubert Lynes, C.M.G. The coastal
motor boats had lit the approaches and the ends of the piers with
calcium flares and made a smoke-cloud which effectually hid the fact
from the enemy. _Sirius_ and _Brilliant_ were already past the Stroom
Bank buoy when the wind changed, revealing the arrangements to the
enemy, who extinguished the flares with gunfire.
[Sidenote: The _Sirius_ runs aground.]
The _Sirius_ was already in a sinking condition when at length the two
ships, having failed to find the entrance, grounded, and were forced
therefore to sink themselves at a point about four hundred yards east of
the piers, and their crews were taken off by motor launches.
[Sidenote: Operations cannot be rehearsed.]
The difficulty of the operation is to be gauged from the fact that from
Zeebrugge to Ostend the enemy batteries number not less than 120 heavy
guns, which can concentrate on retiring ships, during daylight, up to a
distance of about sixteen miles. This imposes as a condition of success
that the operation must be carried out at night, and not late in the
night. It must take place at high water, with the wind from the right
quarter, and with a calm sea for the small craft. The operation cannot
be rehearsed beforehand, since the essence of it is secrecy, and though
one might have to wait a long time to realize all the essential
conditions of wind and weather, secrecy wears badly when large numbers
of men are brought together in readiness for the attack.
[Sidenote: The _Vindictive_ makes for Ostend.]
The _Sirius_ lies in the surf some two thousand yards east of the
entrance to Ostend Harbor, which she failed so gallantly to block; and
when, in the early hours of yesterday morning, the _Vindictive_ groped
her way through the smoke-screen and headed for the entrance, it was as
though the old fighting-ship awoke and looked on. A coastal motor-boat
had visited her and hung a flare in her slack and rusty rigging; and
that eye of unsteady fire, paling in the blaze of the star-shells or
reddening through the drift of the smoke, watched the whole great
enterprise, from the moment when it hung in doubt to its ultimate
triumphant success.
[Sidenote: Unforeseen conditions add to the difficulties.]
[Sidenote: German destroyers guard the coast.]
The planning and execution of that success had been entrusted by the
Vice-Admiral, Sir Roger Keyes, to Commodore Hubert Lynes, C.M.G., who
directed the previous attempt to block the harbor with _Sirius_ and
_Brilliant_. Upon that occasion, a combination of unforeseen, and
unforeseeable, conditions had fought against him; upon this, the main
problem was to secure the effect of a surprise attack upon an enemy who
was clearly, from his ascertained dispositions, expecting him. _Sirius_
and _Brilliant_ had been baffled by the displacement of the Stroom Bank
buoy, which marks the channel to the harbor entrance, but since then
aerial reconnaissance had established that the Germans had removed the
buoy altogether and that there were now no guiding marks of any kind.
They had also cut gaps in the piers as a precaution against a landing;
and, further, when towards midnight on Thursday the ships moved from
their anchorage, it was known that some nine German destroyers were out
and at large upon the coast. The solution of the problem is best
indicated by the chronicle of the event.
[Sidenote: A still sea and no moon.]
It was a night that promised well for the enterprise--nearly windless,
and what little breeze stirred came from a point or so west of north; a
sky of lead-blue, faintly star-dotted, and no moon; a still sea for the
small craft, the motor-launches and the coastal motor-boats, whose work
is done close in shore. From the destroyer which served the Commodore
for flagship, the remainder of the force was visible only as swift
silhouettes of blackness, destroyers bulking like cruisers in the
darkness, motor-launches like destroyers, and coastal motor-boats
showing themselves as racing hillocks of foam. From Dunkirk, a sudden
and brief flurry of gunfire announced that German aeroplanes were
about--they were actually on their way to visit Calais; and over the
invisible coast of Flanders the summer-lightning of the restless
artillery rose and fell monotonously.
[Sidenote: _Vindictive_ passes.]
"There's _Vindictive_!" The muffled seamen and marines standing by the
torpedo-tubes and the guns turned at that name to gaze at the great
black ship, seen mistily through the streaming smoke from the
destroyer's funnels, plodding silently to her goal and her end.
Photographs have made familiar that high-sided profile and the tall
funnels, with their Zeebrugge scars, always with a background of the
pier at Dover against which she lay to be fitted for her last task; now
there was added to her the environment of the night and the sea and the
greatness and tragedy of her mission.
[Sidenote: Small craft guide the _Vindictive_.]
She receded into the night astern as the destroyer raced on to lay the
light buoy that was to be her guide, and those on board saw her no more.
She passed thence into the hands of the small craft, whose mission it
was to guide her, light her, and hide her in the clouds of the
smoke-screen.
[Sidenote: Precise orders are planned for each stage of operation.]
There was no preliminary bombardment of the harbor and the batteries as
before the previous attempt; that was to be the first element in the
surprise. A time-table had been laid down for every stage of the
operation; and the staff work beforehand had even included precise
orders for the laying of the smoke barrage, with plans calculated for
every direction of wind. The monitors, anchored in their
firing-positions far to seaward, awaited their signal; the great siege
batteries of the Royal Marine Artillery in Flanders--among the largest
guns that have ever been placed on land-mountings--stood by likewise to
neutralize the big German artillery along the coast; and the airmen who
were to collaborate with an aerial bombardment of the town waited
somewhere in the darkness overhead. The destroyers patrolled to seaward
of the small craft.
[Sidenote: The signal is given for the guns to open.]
The _Vindictive_, always at that solemn gait of hers, found the
flagship's light-buoy and bore up for where a coastal motor-boat,
commanded by Lieutenant William R. Slayter, R.N., was waiting by a
calcium flare upon the old position of the Stroom Bank buoy. Four
minutes before she arrived there, and fifteen minutes only before she
was due at the harbor mouth, the signal for the guns to open was given.
Two motor-boats dashed in towards the ends of the high wooden piers and
torpedoed them. There was a machine-gun on the end of the western pier,
and that vanished in the roar and the leap of flame and debris which
called to the guns. Over the town a flame suddenly appeared high in air,
and sank slowly earthwards--the signal that the aeroplanes had seen and
understood; and almost coincident with their first bombs came the first
shells whooping up from the monitors at sea. The surprise part of the
attack was sprung.
[Sidenote: The attack is a complete surprise.]
The surprise, despite the German's watchfulness, seems to have been
complete. Up till the moment when the torpedoes of the motor-boats
exploded, there had not been a shot from the land--only occasional
routine star-shells. The motor-launches were doing their work
magnificently. These pocket-warships, manned by officers and men of the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, are specialists at smoke-production; they
built to either hand of the _Vindictive's_ course the likeness of a
dense sea-mist driving landward with the wind. The star-shells paled and
were lost as they sank in it; the beams of the searchlights seemed to
break off short upon its front. It blinded the observers of the great
batteries when suddenly, upon the warning of the explosions, the guns
roared into action.
[Sidenote: Heavy batteries on the Ostend coast open fire.]
There was a while of tremendous uproar. The coast about Ostend is
ponderously equipped with batteries, each with its name known and
identified: Tirpitz, Hindenburg, Deutschland, Cecilia, and the rest;
they register from six inches up to monsters of fifteen-inch naval
pieces in land-turrets, and the Royal Marine Artillery fights a war-long
duel with them. These now opened fire into the smoke and over it at the
monitors; the Marines and the monitors replied; and, meanwhile, the
aeroplanes were bombing methodically and the anti-craft guns were
searching the skies for them, Star-shells spouted up and floated down,
lighting the smoke banks with spreading green fires; and those strings
of luminous green balls, which airmen call "flaming onions," soared up
up to lose themselves in the clouds. Through all this stridency and
blaze of conflict, the old _Vindictive_, still unhurrying, was walking
the lighted waters towards the entrance.
It was then that those on the destroyers became aware that what had
seemed to be merely smoke was wet and cold, that the rigging was
beginning to drip, that there were no longer stars--a sea-fog had come
on.
[Sidenote: Destroyers keep in touch by lights and sirens.]
The destroyers had to turn on their lights and use their sirens to keep
in touch with each other; the air attack was suspended, and
_Vindictive_, with some distance yet to go, found herself in gross
darkness.
[Sidenote: The fog and smoke are dense.]
[Sidenote: A motor-boat leads the way for _Vindictive_.]
There were motor-boats to either side of her, escorting her to the
entrance, and these were supplied with what are called Dover
flares--enormous lights capable of illuminating square miles of sea at
once. A "Very" pistol was fired as a signal to light these; but the fog
and the smoke together were too dense for even the flares. _Vindictive_
then put her helm over and started to cruise to find the entrance. Twice
in her wanderings she must have passed across it, and at her third turn,
upon reaching the position at which she had first lost her way, there
came a rift in the mist, and she saw the entrance clear, the piers to
either side and the opening dead ahead. The inevitable motor-boat dashed
up, raced on into the opening under a heavy and momentarily growing
fire, and planted a flare on the water between the piers. _Vindictive_
steamed over it and on. She was in.
[Sidenote: A hail of lead falls upon the _Vindictive_.]
The guns found her at once. She was hit every few seconds after she
entered, her scarred hull broken afresh in a score of places and her
decks and upper works swept. The machine-gun on the end of the western
pier had been put out of action by the motor-boat's torpedo, but from
other machine-guns at the inshore ends of the pier, from a position on
the front, and from machine-guns apparently firing over the eastern
pier, there converged upon her a hail of lead. The after-control was
demolished by a shell which killed all its occupants. Upper and lower
bridges and chart-room were swept by bullets, and Commander Godsal,
R.N., ordered his officers to go with him to the conning-tower.
[Sidenote: The _Vindictive_ prepares to turn.]
They observed through the observation slit in the steel wall of the
conning-tower that the eastern pier was breached some two hundred yards
from its seaward end, as though at some time a ship had been in
collision with it. They saw the front of the town silhouetted again and
again in the light of the guns that blazed at them; the night was a
patchwork of fire and darkness. Immediately after passing the breach in
the pier. Commander Godsal left the conning-tower and went out on deck,
the better to watch the ship's movements; he chose his position, and
called in through the slit of the conning-tower his order to starboard
the helm. The _Vindictive_ responded; she laid her battered nose to the
eastern pier and prepared to swing her 320 feet of length across the
channel.
[Sidenote: A shell strikes the conning-tower.]
It was at that moment that a shell from the shore batteries struck the
conning-tower. Lieutenant Sir John Alleyne and Lieutenant V.A.C.
Crutchley, R.N., were still within; Commander Godsal was close to the
tower outside. Lieutenant Alleyne was stunned by the shock; Lieutenant
Crutchley shouted through the slit to the Commander, and, receiving no
answer, rang the port engine full speed astern to help in swinging the
ship. By this time she was lying at an angle of about forty degrees to
the pier, and seemed to be hard and fast, so that it was impossible to
bring her further round.
[Sidenote: The order is given to abandon ship and the _Vindictive_ sinks
in the channel.]
After working the engines for some minutes to no effect, Lieutenant
Crutchley gave the order to clear the engine-room and abandon ship,
according to the programme previously laid down. Engineer
Lieutenant-Commander Wm. A. Bury, who was the last to leave the
engine-room, blew the main charges by the switch installed aft;
Lieutenant Crutchley blew the auxiliary charges in the forward six-inch
magazine from the conning-tower. Those on board felt the old ship shrug
as the explosive tore the bottom plates and the bulk-heads from her; she
sank about six feet and lay upon the bottom of the channel. Her work was
done.
It is to be presumed that Commander Godsal was killed by the shell which
struck the conning-tower. Lieutenant Crutchley, searching the ship
before he left her, failed to find his body, or that of Sub-Lieutenant
MacLachlan, in that wilderness of splintered wood and shattered steel.
In the previous attempt to block the port, Commander Godsal had
commanded _Brilliant_, and, together with all the officers of that ship
and of _Sirius_, had volunteered at once for a further operation.
Most of the casualties were incurred while the ship was being abandoned.
The men behaved with just that cheery discipline and courage which
distinguished them in the Zeebrugge raid.
[Sidenote: Recall rockets are fired from the flagship.]
Always according to programme, the recall rockets for the small craft
were fired from the flagship at 2.30 a.m. The great red rockets whizzed
up to lose themselves in the fog; they cannot have been visible half a
mile away; but the work was done, and one by one the launches and
motor-boats commenced to appear from the fog, stopped their engines
alongside the destroyers and exchanged news with them. There were
wounded men to be transferred and dead men to be reported--their names
called briefly across the water from the little swaying deck to the
crowded rail above. But no one had seen a single enemy craft; the nine
German destroyers who were out and free to fight had chosen the
discreeter part.
[Sidenote: Ostend Harbor is thus made impracticable.]
It is not claimed by the officers who carried out the operation that
Ostend Harbor is completely blocked; but its purpose--to embarrass the
enemy and make the harbor impracticable to any but small craft and
dredging operations difficult--has been fully accomplished.
* * * * *
Too little was heard during the war of the work of the American
submarines, but they performed most efficient and useful service. A
sketch of the life aboard one of these little vessels follows.
WITH THE AMERICAN SUBMARINES
HENRY B. BESTON
[Sidenote: A view of the Embankment.]
A London day of soft and smoky skies, darkened every now and then by
capricious and intrusive little showers, was drawing to a close in a
twilight of gold and gray. Our table stood in a bay of plate-glass
windows overlooking the Embankment close by Cleopatra's Needle. We
watched the little double-decked tram-cars gliding by, the opposing,
interthreading streams of pedestrians, and a fleet of coal barges coming
up the river, solemn as a cloud.
[Sidenote: Submarine folk are a people apart.]
Behind us lay, splendid and somewhat theatric, the mottled marble, stiff
white napery, and bright silver of a fashionable dining-hall. Only a few
guests were at hand. At our little table sat the captain of a submarine
who was then in London for a few days on richly merited leave, a
distinguished young officer of the "mother ship" accompanying our
underwater craft, and myself. It is impossible to be long with submarine
folk without realizing that they are a people apart, differing from the
rest of the naval personnel even as their vessels differ. A man must
have something individual to his character to volunteer for the service,
and every officer is a volunteer. An extraordinary power of quick
decision, a certain keen, resolute look, a certain carriage; submarine
folk are such men as all of us like to have by our side in any great
trial or crisis of our life.
Guests began to come by twos and threes--pretty girls in shimmering
dresses, young army officers with wound-stripes and clumsy limps. A
faint murmur of conversation rose, faint and continuous as the murmur of
a distant stream.
Because I requested him, the captain told me of the crossing of the
submarines. It was the epic of an heroic journey.
[Sidenote: How the submarines crossed the Atlantic.]
[Sidenote: The mother-ship and submarines leave.]
"After each boat had been examined in detail, we began to fill them with
supplies for the voyage. The crew spent days manoeuvring cases of
condensed milk, cans of butter, meat, and chocolate, down the
hatchways--food which the boat swallowed up as if she had been a kind of
steel stomach. Until we had it all neatly and tightly stowed away, the
_Z_ looked like a corner grocery store. Then, early one December
morning, we pulled out of the harbor. It wasn't very cold, merely raw
and damp, and it was misty dark. I remember looking at the winter stars
riding high just over the meridian. The port behind us was still and
dead, but a handful of navy-folk had come to one of the wharves to see
us off. Yes, there was something of a stir--you know, the kind of stir
that's made when boats go to sea: shouted orders, the plash of dropped
cables, vagrant noises. It didn't take a great time to get under way; we
were ready, waiting for the word to go. The flotilla--mother-ship, tugs
and all--was out to sea long before the dawn. You would have liked the
picture: the immense stretch of the grayish, winter-stricken sea, the
little covey of submarines running awash, the gray mother-ship going
ahead, as casually as an excursion steamer, into the featureless dawn.
"The weather was wonderful for two days,--a touch of Indian summer on
December's ocean; then, on the night of the third day, we ran into a
blow, the worst I ever saw in my life. A storm--oh, boy!"
He paused for an instant. One could see memories living in the fine,
resolute eyes. The broken noises of the restaurant, which had seemingly
died away while he spoke, crept back again to one's ears. A waiter
dropped a clanging fork--
[Sidenote: A terrific storm comes on toward night.]
"A storm. Never remember anything like it. A perfect terror. Everybody
realized that any attempt to keep together would be hopeless. And night
was coming on. One by one the submarines disappeared into that fury of
wind and driving water, the mother-ship, because she was the largest
vessel in the flotilla, being the last we saw. We snatched her last
signal out of the teeth of the gale, and then she was gone, swallowed up
in the storm. So we were alone.
[Sidenote: Rough water the next day.]
"We got through the night somehow or other. The next morning the ocean
was a dirty brown-gray, and knots and wisps of cloud were tearing by
close over the water. Every once in a while a great hollow-bellied wave
would come rolling out of the hullabaloo and break thundering over us.
On all the boats the lookout on the bridge had to be lashed in place,
and every once in a while a couple of tons of water would come tumbling
past him. Nobody at the job stayed dry for more than three minutes; a
bathing-suit would have been more to the point than oilers.
[Sidenote: The boat registers a roll of seventy degrees.]
[Sidenote: The cook provides food after a fashion.]
"Shaken, you ask? No, not very bad: a few assorted bruises and a
wrenched thumb; though poor Jonesy on the _Z-3_ had a wave knock him up
against the rail and smash in a couple of ribs. But no being sick for
him; he kept to his feet and carried on in spite of the pain, in spite
of being in a boat which registered a roll of seventy degrees. I used to
watch the old hooker rolling under me. You've never been on a submarine
when she's rolling,--talk about rolling--oh, boy! We all say seventy
degrees, because that's as far as our instruments register. There were
times when I almost thought she was on her way to make a complete
revolution. You can imagine what it was like inside. To begin with, the
oily air was none too sweet, because every time we opened a hatch we
shipped enough water to make the old hooker look like a start at a
swimming tank; and then she was lurching so continuously and violently
that to move six feet was an expedition. The men were
wonderful--wonderful! Each man at his allotted task, and--what's that
English word?--carrying on. Our little cook couldn't do a thing with the
stove, might as well have tried to cook on a miniature earthquake; but
he saw that all of us had something to eat--doing his bit, game as could
be."
He paused again. The Embankment was fading away in the dark. A waiter
appeared, and drew down the thick, light-proof curtains.
"Yes, the men were wonderful--wonderful. And there wasn't very much
sickness. Let's see, how far had I got?--Since it was impossible to make
any headway, we lay to for forty-eight hours. The deck began to go the
second morning, some of the plates being ripped right off. And
blow--well, as I told you in the beginning, I never saw anything like
it. The disk of the sea was just one great ragged mass of foam being
hurled through space by a wind screaming past with the voice and force
of a million express trains.
[Sidenote: The submarines run on the surface to save electricity.]
"Perhaps you are wondering why we didn't submerge. We simply couldn't
use up our electricity. It takes oil and running on the surface to
create the electric power, and we had a long, long journey ahead. Then
ice began to form on the superstructure, and we had to get out a crew to
chop it off. It was something of a job; there wasn't much to hang on
to, and the waves were still breaking over us. But we freed her of the
danger, and she went on--
"We used to wonder where the other boys were, in the midst of all the
racket. One ship was drifting toward the New England coast, her compass
smashed to flinders; others had run for Bermuda, others were still at
sea.
[Sidenote: Good weather at last.]
"Then we had three days of good easterly wind. By jingo, but the good
weather was great! Were we glad to have it?--oh, boy! We had just got
things shipshape again when we had another blow, but this second one was
by no means as bad as the first. And after that we had another spell of
decent weather. The crew used to start the phonograph and keep it going
all day.
[Sidenote: Reaching a friendly coast.]
"The weather was so good that I decided to keep right on to the harbor
which was to be our base over here. I had enough oil, plenty of water;
the only possible danger was a shortage of provisions. So I put us all
on a ration, arranging to have the last grand meal on Christmas day. Can
you imagine Christmas on a little storm-bumped submarine some hundred
miles off the coast? A day or two more and we ran calmly into--shall we
say, 'deleted' harbor?
[Sidenote: The men rejoice at food and baths.]
"Hungry, dirty; oh, so dirty! We hadn't had any sort of bath or wash for
about three weeks; we all were green-looking from having been cooped up
so long, and our unshaven grease-streaked faces would have upset a
dinosaur. The authorities were wonderfully kind, and looked after us and
our men in the very best style. I thought we could never stop eating,
and a real sleep--oh, boy!"
"Did you fly the flag as you came in?" I asked.
"You bet we did!" answered the captain, his keen, handsome face lighting
at the memory. "You see," he continued in a practical spirit, "they
would probably have pumped us full of holes if we hadn't."
And that is the way the American submarines crossed the Atlantic to do
their share for the Great Cause.
[Sidenote: A guest on the mother-ship.]
I got to the port of the submarines just as an uncertain and rainy
afternoon had finally decided to turn into a wild and disagreeable
night. Short, drenching showers of rain fell, one after the other, like
the strokes of a lash; a wind came up out of the sea, and one could hear
the thunder of surf on the headlands. The mother-ship lay moored in a
wild, desolate, and indescribably romantic bay; she floated in a
sheltered pool, a very oasis of modernity, a marvelous creature of
another world and another time. There was just light enough for me to
see that her lines were those of a giant yacht. Then a curtain of rain
beat hissing down on the sea, and the ship and the vague darkening
landscape disappeared--disappeared as if they had melted away in the
shower. Presently the bulk of the vessel appeared again. At once we drew
alongside, and from that moment on, I was the guest of the vessel,
recipient of a hospitality and courtesy for which I here make grateful
acknowledgment to my friends and hosts.
[Sidenote: The ship is most skillfully handled.]
The mother-ship of the submarines was a combination of flagship,
supply-station, repair-shop, and hotel. The officers of the submarines
had rooms aboard her, which they occupied when off patrol, and the crews
off duty slung their hammocks 'tween decks. The boat was pretty well
crowded, having more submarines to look after than she had been built to
care for; but thanks to the skill of her officers, everything was going
as smoothly as could be. The vessel had, so to speak, a submarine
atmosphere. Everybody aboard lived, worked, and would have died for the
submarine. They believed in the submarine, believed in it with an
enthusiasm which rested on pillars of practical fact.
[Sidenote: The heroism of the men who tried the first submarine.]
The chief of staff was the youngest captain in our navy; a man of hard
energy and keen insight; one to whom our submarine service owes a very
genuine debt. His officers were specialists: the surgeon of the vessel
had been for years engaged in studying the hygiene of submarines, and
was constantly working to free the atmosphere of the vessels from
deleterious gases and to improve the living conditions of the crews. I
remember listening one night to a history of the submarine, told by one
of the officers of the staff; and for the first time in my life I came
to appreciate at its full value the heroism of the men who risked their
lives in the first cranky, clumsy, uncertain little vessels, and the
imagination and the faith of the men who believed in the type. Ten years
ago, a descent in a sub was an adventure to be prefaced by tears and
making of wills; to-day submarines are chasing submarines hundreds of
miles at sea, are crossing the ocean, and have grown from a tube of
steel not much larger than a lifeboat, to underwater cruisers which
carry six-inch guns.
Said an officer to me, "The future of the submarine? Why, sir, the
submarine is the only war vessel that's going to have a future!"
[Sidenote: The submarines are moved alongside.]
On the night of my arrival, once dinner was over, I went on deck and
looked down through the rain at the submarines moored alongside. They
lay close by, one beside the other, in a pool of radiance cast by a
number of electric lights hanging over each open hatchway. Beyond this
pool lay the rain and the dark; within it, their sides awash in the
clear green water of the bay, their gray bridges and rust-stained
superstructures shining in the rain, lay the strange, bulging,
crocodilian shapes of steel. There was something unearthly, something
not of this world or time, in the picture; I might have been looking at
invaders of the sleeping earth. The wind swept past in great booming
salvoes; rain fell in sloping, liquid rods through the brilliancy of
electric lamps burning with a steadiness that had something in it
strange, incomprehensible, and out of place in the motion of the storm.
And then a hand appeared on the topmost rung of the nearer ladder, and a
bulky sailor, a very human sailor in very human dungarees, poked his
head out of the aperture, surveyed the inhospitable night, and
disappeared.
[Sidenote: Submarines are going out to-night.]
"He's on Branch's boat. They're going out to-night," said the officer
who was guiding me about.
"To-night? How on earth will he ever find his way to the open sea?"
"Knows the bay like a book. However, if the weather gets any worse, I
doubt if the captain will let him go. Branch will be wild if they don't
let him out. Somebody has just reported wreckage off the coast, so there
must be a Hun round."
"But aren't our subs sometimes mistaken for Germans?"
"Oh, yes," was the calm answer.
[Sidenote: The boats may never come back.]
I thought of that ominous phrase I had noted in the British
records,--"failed to report,"--and I remembered the stolid British
captain who had said to me, speaking of submarines, "Sometimes nobody
knows just what happened. Out there in the deep water, whatever happens,
happens in a hurry."
My guide and I went below to the officers' corridor. Now and then,
through the quiet, a mandolin or guitar could be heard far off twanging
some sentimental island ditty; and beneath these sweeter sounds lay a
monotonous mechanical humming.
"What's that sound?" I asked.
"That's the Filipino mess-boys having a little festino in their
quarters. The humming? Oh, that's the mother-ship's dynamos charging the
batteries of Branch's boat. Saves running on the surface."
[Sidenote: The captain of the patrol cheerful.]
My guide knocked at a door. Within his tidy little room, the captain who
was to go out on patrol was packing the personal belongings he needed on
the trip.
"Hello!" he cried cheerily when he saw us; "come on in. I'm only doing a
little packing up. What's it like outside?"
"Raining same as ever, but I don't think it's blowing up any harder."
[Sidenote: Reading matter is in demand.]
"Hooray!" cried the young captain with heartfelt sincerity; "then I'll
get out to-night. You know the captain told me that if it got any worse,
he'd hold me till to-morrow morning. I told him I'd rather go out
to-night. Perfect cinch once you get to the mouth of the bay; all you
have to do is submerge and take it easy. What do you think of the news?
Smithie thinks he saw a Hun yesterday. Got anything good to read?
Somebody's pinched that magazine I was reading. Thirteen, fourteen,
fifteen--that ought to be enough handkerchiefs. Hello, there goes the
juice!"
The humming of the dynamo was dying away slowly, fading with an effect
of lengthening distance. The guitar orchestra, as if to celebrate its
deliverance, burst into a triumphant rendering of Sousa's "Stars and
Stripes."
My guide and I waited till after midnight to watch the going of Branch's
_Z-5_. Branch and his second, stuffed into black oilskins down whose
gleaming surface ran beaded drops of rain, stood on the bridge; a number
of sailors were busy doing various things along the deck. The electric
lights shone in all their calm unearthly brilliance. Then slowly, very
slowly, the _Z-5_ began to gather headway, the clear water seemed to
flow past her green sides, and she rode out of the pool of light into
the darkness waiting close at hand.
"Good-bye! Good luck!" we cried.
A vagrant shower came roaring down into the shining pool.
"Good-bye!" cried voices through the night.
[Sidenote: The submarines disappear in the dark.]
Three minutes later all trace of the _Z-5_ had disappeared in the dark.
[Sidenote: Night and day are the same on a submarine.]
Captain Bill of the _Z-3_ was out on patrol. His vessel was running
submerged. The air within--they had but recently dived--was new and
sweet; and that raw cold which eats into submerged submarines had not
begun to take the joy out of life. It was the third day out; the time,
five o'clock in the afternoon. The outer world, however, did not
penetrate into the submarine. Night or day, on the surface or submerged,
only one time, a kind of motionless electric high noon, existed within
those concave walls of gleaming cream-white enamel.
Those of the crew not on watch were taking it easy. Like unto their
officers, submarine sailors are an unusual lot. They are _real_ sailors,
or machinist sailors--boys for whose quality the navy has a flattering,
picturesque, and quite unprintable adjective. A submarine man, mind you,
works harder than perhaps any other man of his grade in the navy,
because the vessel in which he lives is nothing but a tremendously
intricate machine.
[Sidenote: Life on board.]
In one of the compartments the phonograph, the eternal, ubiquitous
phonograph of the navy, was bawling its raucous rags and mechano-nasal
songs, and in the pauses between records, one could just hear the low
hum of the distant dynamos. A little group in blue dungarees held a
conversation in a corner; a petty officer, blue cap tilted back on his
head, was at work on a letter; the cook, whose genial art was
customarily under an interdict while the vessel was running submerged,
was reading an ancient paper from his own home town.
[Sidenote: News of a German submarine.]
Captain Bill sat in a retired nook, if a submarine can possibly be said
to have a retired nook, with a chart spread open on his knees. The night
before, he had picked up a wireless message saying that a German had
been seen at sundown in a certain spot on the edge of his patrol. So
Captain Bill had planned to run submerged to the spot in question, and
then pop up suddenly in the hope of potting the Hun. Some fifteen
minutes before sundown, therefore, the _Z-3_ arrived at the place where
the Fritz had been observed.
"I wish I knew just where the bird was," said an intent voice; "I'd drop
a can right on his neck."
[Sidenote: The sentiments of the captain of a destroyer.]
These sentiments were not those of anybody aboard the _Z-3_. An American
destroyer had also come to the spot looking for the German, and the
gentle thought recorded above was that of her captain. It was just
sundown; a level train of splendor burned on the ruffled waters to the
west; a light, cheerful breeze was blowing. The destroyer, ready for
anything, was hurrying along at a smart clip.
"This is the place all right, all right," said the navigator of the
destroyer. "Come to think of it, that chap's been reported from here
twice."
Keen eyes swept the shining uneasy plain.
[Sidenote: How a submarine crew takes orders.]
Meanwhile, some seventy feet below, the _Z-3_ manoeuvred, killing
time. The phonograph had been hushed, and every man was ready at his
post. The prospect of a go with the enemy had brought with it a keen
thrill of anticipation. Now, a submarine crew is a well-trained machine.
There are no shouted orders. If a submarine captain wants to send his
boat under quickly, he simply touches the button of a Klaxon; the horn
gives a demoniac yell throughout the ship, and each man does what he
ought to do at once. Such a performance is called a "crash dive."
"I'd like to see him come up so near that we could ram him," said the
captain, gazing almost directly into the sun. "Find out what she's
making."
[Sidenote: Getting up speed.]
The engineer lieutenant stooped to a voice-tube that almost swallowed up
his face, and yelled a question to the engine-room. An answer came,
quite unheard by the others.
"Twenty-four, sir," said the engineer lieutenant.
"Get her up to twenty-six."
The engineer cried again through the voice-tube. The wake of the vessel
roared like a mill-race, the white foam tumbling rosily in the setting
sun.
[Sidenote: Seventy feet below the surface.]
Seventy feet below, Captain Bill was arranging the last little details
with the second in command.
[Sidenote: The plan of attack.]
"In about five minutes we'll come up and take a look-see [stick up the
periscope], and if we see the bird, and we're in a good position to send
him a fish [torpedo], we'll let him have one. If there is something
there, and we're not in a good position, we'll manoeuvre till we get
into one, and then let him have it. If there isn't anything to be seen,
we'll go under again and take another look-see in half an hour. Reilly
has his instructions." (Reilly was chief of the torpedo-room.)
[Sidenote: Wreckage all about.]
"Something round here must have got it in the neck recently," said the
destroyer captain, breaking a silence which had hung over the bridge.
"Didn't you think that wreckage a couple of miles back looked pretty
fresh? Wonder if the boy we're after had anything to do with it. Keep an
eye on that sun-streak."
[Sidenote: A crash dive to avoid a destroyer.]
An order was given in the _Z-3_. It was followed instantly by a kind of
commotion--sailors opened valves, compressed air ran down pipes, the
ratchets of the wheel clattered noisily. On the moon-faced depth-gauge,
with its shining brazen rim, the recording arrow fled swiftly, counter
clockwise, from seventy to twenty, to fifteen feet. Captain Bill stood
crouching at the periscope, and when it broke the surface, a greenish
light poured down it and focused in his eyes. He gazed keenly for a few
seconds, and then reached for the horizontal wheel which turns the
periscope round the horizon. He turned--gazed, jumped back, and pushed
the button for a crash dive.
"She was almost on top of me," he explained afterwards, "coming like
hell! I had to choose between being rammed or depth-bombed."
There was another swift commotion, another opening and closing of
valves, and the arrow on the depth-gauge leaped forward. Captain Bill
was sending her down as far as he could, as fast as he dared. Fifty
feet, seventy feet--ninety feet. Hoping to throw the destroyer off, the
_Z-3_ doubled on her track. A hundred feet.
Crash! Depth-charge number one.
[Sidenote: Depth bombs explode near by.]
[Sidenote: The submarine's peril.]
According to Captain Bill, who is good at similes, it was as if a giant,
wading along through the sea, had given the boat a vast and violent
kick, and then, leaning down, had shaken her as a terrier shakes a rat.
The _Z-3_ rocked, lay on her side, and fell through the water. A number
of lights went out. Men picked themselves out of corners, one with the
blood streaming down his face from a bad gash over his eye. Many of them
told later of "seeing stars" when the vibration of the depth-charge
traveled through the hull and their own bodies; some averred that "white
light" seemed to shoot out of the _Z-3's_ walls. Each man stood at his
post waiting for the next charge.
Crash! A second depth-charge. To everyone's relief, it was less violent
than the first. A few more lights went out. Meanwhile the _Z-3_
continued to sink and was rapidly nearing the danger-point. Having
escaped the first two depth-charges, Captain Bill hastened to bring the
boat up to a higher level. Then, to make things cheerful, it was
discovered that the _Z-3_ showed absolutely no inclination to obey her
controls.
[Sidenote: Anxious moments before the submarine rises again.]
"At first," said Captain Bill, "I thought that the first depth-bomb must
have jammed all the external machinery; then I decided that our measures
to rise had not yet overcome the impetus of our forced descent.
Meanwhile the old hooker was heading for the bottom of the Irish Sea,
though I'd blown out every bit of water in her tanks. Had to--fifty feet
more, and she would have crushed in like an egg-shell under the wheel of
a touring-car. But she kept on going down. The distance of the third,
fourth, and fifth depth-bombs, however, put cheer in our hearts. Then,
presently, she began to rise; the old girl came up like an elevator in a
New York business block. I knew that the minute I came to the surface
those destroyer brutes would try to fill me full of holes, so I had a
man with a flag ready to jump on deck the minute we emerged. He was
pretty damn spry about it, too. I took another look through the
periscope, and saw that the destroyer lay about two miles away, and as I
looked she came for me _again_. Meanwhile, my signal-man was hauling
himself out of the hatchway as if his legs were in boiling water."
[Sidenote: The Stars and Stripes signal to the destroyer.]
"We've got her!" cried somebody aboard the destroyer, in a deep American
voice full of the exultation of battle. The lean rifles swung, lowered.
"Point one, lower." They were about to hear "Fire!" when the Stars and
Stripes and sundry other signals burst from the deck of the misused
_Z-3_.
"Well, what do you think of that!" said the gunner. "If it ain't one of
our own gang. Say, we must have given it to 'em hard."
"We'll go over and see who it is," said the captain of the destroyer.
"The signals are O.K., but it may be a dodge of the Huns. Ask 'em who
they are."
In obedience to the order, a sailor on the destroyer's bridge wigwagged
the message.
"_Z-3_," answered one of the dungaree-clad figures on the submarine's
deck.
[Sidenote: No resentment of the adventure.]
Captain Bill came up himself, as the destroyer drew alongside, to see
his would-be assassin. There was no resentment in his heart. The
adventure was only part of the day's work. The destroyer neared; her bow
overlooked them. The two captains looked at each other. The dialogue was
laconic.
"Hello, Bill," said the destroyer captain. "All right?"
"Sure," answered Captain Bill, to one who had been his friend and
classmate.
"Ta-ta, then," said he of the destroyer; and the lean vessel swept away
in the twilight.
[Sidenote: The cook's opinion of the destroyers.]
Captain Bill decided to stay on the surface for a while. Then he went
below to look over things. The cook, standing over some unlovely slop
which marked the end of a half a dozen eggs broken by the concussion,
was giving his opinion on destroyers. The cook was a child of Brooklyn,
and could talk. The opinion was not a nice opinion.
"Give it to 'em, cooko," said one of the crew, patting the orator
affectionately on the shoulder. "We're with you."
And Captain Bill laughed to himself.
The breakfast-hour was drawing to its end, and the very last straggler
sat alone at the ward-room table. Presently an officer of the
mother-ship, passing through, called to the lingering group of
submarine officers.
[Sidenote: The first of the flotilla to return.]
"The _X-4_ is coming up the bay, and the _X-12_ has been reported from
signal station."
The news was received with a little hum of friendly interest. "Wonder
what Ned will have to say for himself this time." "Must have struck
pretty good weather." "Bet you John has been looking for another chance
at that Hun of his."
[Sidenote: The appearance of the crew.]
The talk drifted away into other channels. A little time passed. Then
suddenly a door opened, and, one after the other, entered the three
officers of the first home-coming submarine. They were clad in various
ancient uniforms which might have been worn by an apprentice lad in a
garage: old gray flannel shirts, and stout grease-stained shoes; several
days had passed since their faces had felt a razor, and all were a
little pale from their cruise. But the liveliest of keen eyes burned in
each resolute young face, eyes smiling and glad.
A friendly hullabaloo broke forth. Chairs scraped, one fell with a
crash.
"Hello, boys!"
"Hi, Ned!"
"For the love of Pete, Joe, shave off those whiskers of yours; they make
you look like Trotzky."
"See any Germans?"
"What's the news?"
"What's doing?"
"Hi, Manuelo"--this to a Filipino mess-boy who stood looking on with
impassive curiosity--"serve three more breakfasts."
"Anything go for you?"
"Well, if here isn't our old Bump!"
[Sidenote: Captain Ned begins his story.]
The crowd gathered round Captain Ned, who had established contact (this
is a military term quite out of place in a work on the navy) with the
eagerly sought, horribly elusive German.
"Go on, Ned, give us an earful. What time did you say it was?"
[Sidenote: An enemy submarine that escaped.]
"About 5 a.m." answered the captain. He stood leaning against a door,
and the fine head, the pallor, the touch of fatigue, all made a very
striking and appealing picture. "Say about eight minutes after five. I'd
just come up to take a look-see, and saw him just about two miles away,
on the surface, and moving right along. So I went under to get into a
good position, came up again, and let him have one. Well, he saw it just
as it was almost on him, swung her round, and dived like a ton of lead."
The audience listened in silent sympathy. One could see the
disappointment on the captain's face.
"Where was he?"
"About so-and-so."
"That's the jinx that got after the convoy sure as you live."
[Sidenote: Two blind ships that tried to find each other under water.]
The speaker had had his own adventures with the Germans. A month or so
before, he had shoved up his periscope and spotted a Fritz on the
surface in full noonday. The watchful Fritz, however, had been lucky
enough to see the enemy almost at once, and had dived. The American
followed suit. The eyeless submarine manoeuvred about, some eighty
feet under, the German evidently "making his getaway," the American
hoping to be lucky enough to pick up Fritz's trail, and get a shot at
him when he rose again to the top. And while the two blind ships
manoeuvred there in the dark of the abyss, the keel of the fleeing
German had actually, by a curious chance, scraped along the top of the
American vessel and carried away the wireless aerials!
All were silent for a few seconds, thinking over the affair. It was not
difficult to read the thought in every mind, the thought of _getting at
the Germans_. The characteristic _aggressiveness_ of the American mind,
heritage of a people compelled to subdue a vast, wild continent, is a
wonderful military attribute. The idea of our navy is, "Get after 'em,
keep after 'em, stay after 'em, don't give 'em an instant of security or
rest." And none have this fighting spirit deeper in their hearts than
our gallant boys of the submarine patrol.
"That's all," said Captain Ned. "I'm going to have a wash-up." He lifted
a grease-stained hand to his cheek, rubbed his unshaven beard, and
grinned. "Any letters?"
"Whole bag of stuff. Smithie put it on your desk."
[Sidenote: "Trotzky" and "Rasputin."]
Captain Ned wandered off. Presently, the door opened again, and three
more veterans of the patrol cruised in, also in ancient uniforms. There
were more cheers; more friendly cries. It was unanimously decided that
the "Trotzky" of the first lot had better take a back seat, since the
second in command of the newcomers was "a perfect ringer for Rasputin."
"See anything?"
[Sidenote: A British patrol hunts a lost torpedo.]
"Nothing much. There's a bit of wreckage just off shore. Saw a British
patrol boat early Tuesday morning. I was on the surface, lying between
her and the sunrise; she was hidden by a low-lying swirl of fog; she saw
us first. When we saw her, I made signals, and over she came. Guess what
the old bird wanted--_wanted to know if I'd seen a torpedo he'd fired at
me!_ An old scout with white whiskers; one of those retired captains, I
suppose, who has gone back on the job. He admitted he had received the
Admiralty notes about us, but thought we acted suspicious. Did you ever
hear of such nerve?"
[Sidenote: Courage of the submarine patrol.]
When the war was young, I served on land with _messieurs les poilus_. I
have seen the contests of aviators, also trench-raids and the fighting
for Verdun. Since then I have seen the war at sea. To my mind, if there
is one service of this war which more than any other requires those
qualities of endurance, skill, and courage whose blend the fighting men
call--Elizabethanly, but oh, so truly--"_guts_," it is the submarine
patrol.
Copyright, Atlantic Monthly, October, 1918.
* * * * *
France took tender care of her wounded heroes, and the following
narrative gives a number of touching incidents observed by one who
visited several of the French hospitals and received stories and
experiences from the wounded soldiers.
WOUNDED HEROES OF FRANCE
ABBÉ FELIX KLEIN
The descriptions which are to follow belong to history already ancient;
to the end of 1917 and the beginning of 1918. So rapid is the march of
events with us now!
[Sidenote: The enthusiasm of a wounded soldier in 1914.]
The soldier wounded during the first months of the War came to us
overflowing with enthusiasm, eager to express himself. His mind was full
of picturesque and varied impressions and he asked for nothing better
than to tell about them. Willingly he described the emotions and spirit
of the moment of departure; his curiosity in the presence of the
unknown, the shock of the first contact with the enemy, the dizzy joy of
initial successes. He confessed the amazement and pain of the first
checks and the headlong retreat which followed them. He spoke of the
famous Joffre's "_ordre du jour_" when, in the battle of the Marne, the
men were told to take the offensive. They stopped the enemy. They
pursued him. They experienced the intoxication of a victory that gave
back to France her old prestige and felt with certainty, although at
first confusedly, that their battle was a decisive event in human
history.
[Sidenote: The wounded of 1918 reflect the long tragedy.]
[Sidenote: They have faced terrible new weapons.]
To this brilliant and epic beginning succeeded a long and sombre
tragedy, to this _Iliad_ worthy of a Homer an _Inferno_ worthy of a
Dante. So we cannot wonder that the wounded of 1918 differed from those
of 1914, and that their faces, like the face of the Florentine poet
returning from hell, reflected the terrible things through which they
had passed. The suffering of years, the eternal waiting for a decision
of arms that did not come, the increasing horror of confronting weapons
unknown in the early months--heavy artillery, gas, liquid fire,
aëroplane attacks--left their mark upon our soldiers.
Dante imagines the terrible things he recounts. Our soldiers have seen
them face to face. New Year after New Year has come and gone, and found
them living underground, in constant danger of unseen and unavoidable
forms of death, huddled together in damp, dark holes, exposed to rain
and snow and shell fire. Rarely was there fighting--as we used to
understand the term--but daily death took its toll, and ill and wounded
were evacuated to the rear.
[Sidenote: Modern battle has become a scientific operation.]
Ardor they certainly retained for the assault, and heroism for
confronting sheets of fire, or clouds of asphyxiating gas; but in the
scientific operation which the modern battle has become, most things
that are purely personal are more to be dreaded than desired, a fiery
temper counts for much less than coolness, discipline, mastery of self,
the spirit of abnegation and self-sacrifice. And when the battle was
won, that is to say, when they had taken, not a town with a resounding
name, but the ruins of a village, a treeless forest, a dismantled fort,
a hill thirty metres high, the survivors still had a task before them
which had lost none of its roughness or austerity. They had to organize
the new position in haste, dig other shelters, undergo bombardments and
reject counter-attacks, all the more violent because the enemy,
supported in the rear by positions prepared in advance, was more furious
than ever after defeat. Thus it continued--until now, even now, when
under the irresistible pressure of the French, the English and the
Americans, the German wall is crumbling. At last it will be broken, and
the victorious flood of the armies of democracy will pass through. Then
our invaded provinces and the sacred soil of Belgium will be freed; then
the conditions of just and honorable peace among all the nations of the
earth may be dictated on the banks of the Rhine--or farther, if
necessary.
[Sidenote: Patience and tenacity are necessary.]
But to support, while we waited, the monotonous trench-life to
accomplish the rapid nocturnal raids or the formidable exploits of the
great days and weeks of offensive, required more than that brilliant
quality of our fathers, the _furia francese_ that was the synonym of
overwhelming courage and the ardor which commands victory. Patience to
wait, resignation to accept, tenacity to prolong efforts, deliberate and
indomitable will to overcome trials, within and without and to press on
to the distant goal of final victory were above all things necessary.
[Sidenote: "To the end!"]
These qualities, summed up in one expression: "To the end!" so
profoundly different from those which hitherto have passed as
characteristic of our race, were the ones most noticeable in our
combatant of the fourth year of the War. Youthful enthusiasm was no
more; each man numbered the dangers run, each man took clear account of
those to come.
[Sidenote: Patriotism becomes a passion.]
Only austere love of duty can sustain a man at such a height. A
schoolmaster-sergeant of Lyon, Philippe Gonnard, voices it to a friend
inclined to pity him: he was ill enough to get his freedom, but wished,
nevertheless, to keep at his post until he was killed: "I intend to stay
at the front.... Patriotism for me is a passion. Does that mean that I
am happy here far from all I love? You do not think that and I have
often said I am not, in prose and verse. But from now until peace, no
man of heart can be happy. If I came back, I should be still less happy,
because instead of being dissatisfied with my lot, I should be
dissatisfied with myself."
[Sidenote: Strong will and nobility of soul.]
More or less consciously, this was the rock bottom of the character of
the soldier of France after three and a half years of war: "Will always
on the stretch, anguish conquered, melancholy transformed into nobility
of soul--as long as literature does not portray these essential traits
of the soldier," says one of our best author-combatants, "all it creates
will only be artificial and bear no relation to reality."
[Sidenote: "No matter, it is for France."]
"No matter, it is for France!" says the wounded soldier to the comrades
bending over him, and if it is during an attack he tells them not to
stop, not to carry him away "because it is no longer worth while," but
to continue without him the noble work for which he is offering his
life. Let a chaplain bring him divine help in time and he will die more
than resigned, joyous and radiant in the faith of his childhood,
bewailing his sins and kissing the crucifix like the French of the
Middle Ages. How many times, in the horrible frame of modern war, have
words been uttered, scenes enacted, agonies suffered which echoed the
most sublime passages of the _Chanson de Roland_!
[Sidenote: Most of the wounded recover.]
[Sidenote: Many times wounded.]
But, thank God, among those who fall without being killed outright, the
minority are mortally wounded. Most of them are destined to get well or
at least to survive: they know it, and are glad. As soon as they regain
consciousness after the shock, the first idea is: "Am I really not
dead?" To be wounded does not disconcert them at all. "We are here for
that!" said, the other day, one of my young friends of the class 1915,
who by exception has been preserved until now. The alternative, in this
present War, is not to come out of it wounded, or unwounded, but wounded
or dead: to escape death is all that one can reasonably ask. Men who
have only been wounded once, are more and more scarce, some have
returned to the front four or five times. We had at the hospital a year
ago an American sergeant of the Foreign Legion, engaged at Orleans in
August, 1914, who having fought in Champagne, on the Somme and in
Alsace, had received three wounds, the last at the end of 1915, at
Belloy-en-Santerre, when a German bomb had badly damaged his left thigh:
"the last" up to that time, for he had to go back under fire and will in
all probability receive a fourth wound.
[Sidenote: The slightly wounded are lucky.]
[Sidenote: The most unfortunate.]
Those slightly wounded have not much merit, it must be confessed, in
being resigned or even joyful. After a rapid dressing at the first
station they will rest several days at the hospital at the front, and
then get leave of convalescence which they will pass with their
families. A wound for them, who can bear a little suffering, means an
unexpected holiday and supplementary permission. They are only sorry if
they are hit stupidly, out of action or at the beginning of a
well-prepared attack, and prevented from going on with it. Let us leave
them to their good luck, and stay longer with the severely wounded,
those, for instance, who have a leg or arm broken, a fractured jaw,
vertebra or ribs bruised, or are deprived of one of their senses--blind,
deaf, paralyzed. We unhesitatingly acknowledge that these three last
categories of wounded feel their misery profoundly, and need time to get
used to it. Those, happily much more numerous, who have only temporarily
or permanently lost the use of one of their limbs, generally consider
themselves very fortunate. "I have the good wound!" they affect to say,
meaning that the War is over for them. So at least they express
themselves, not at all wishing to be admired, and trying as it were, to
minimize their courage in bearing their trial.
[Sidenote: Self-sacrifice of the wounded.]
[Sidenote: "Arise, ye dead!"]
But aside from this paradoxical attitude, they frequently speak and act
in the most simple, touching way! It is common to hear one say to the
stretcher-bearer who comes to fetch him: "Take my comrade here first; he
is much more wounded than I; I can wait...." And that when it means
lying on the ground under the bombardment, thirsty, feverish, feeling
his strength ebb with his blood. Before any one comes back to get him,
often he will try again, if he has a sound arm left, to fire his rifle
or his machine-gun once more. Glory surrounds the epic incident of the
trench where the only unwounded soldier, seeing the enemy arrive, cried
out as if in delirium: "Arise, ye dead!" and the dying really rose, and
succeeded, some of them, in firing once more before they fell again, and
the assailants fled. A more recent and simpler deed is also worth
recording.
[Sidenote: A dead observer protects his pilot.]
Returning from a bombardment of the enemy's factories in broad daylight,
a French machine conducted by two men was attacked by several aviators.
The observer, hit by a ball in the chest, dropped down into the
_carlingue_. The pilot seeing this prepared to turn back. But hearing
his machine-gun firing again, he concluded that the observer was not
seriously hurt. As soon as he landed in France: "Well, what about that
wound?" he asked. No answer. He bent down and saw that his companion was
dead. Even in his agony he had continued to protect his comrade.
In the beginning of the War the wounded stayed a long, a very long time
without being rescued, at the place where they fell, or in the shelter
to which they had been able to crawl. Our stretcher-bearers of the
American Ambulance found, after the battle of the Marne, many who had
lain for days and nights in shell holes, at the foot of trees, in
ruined barns or churches! One may guess what the mortality might be!
Today, happily, it is no longer so. The field of action is more
restricted and the aid is better organized.
[Sidenote: Transportation is painful and dangerous.]
[Sidenote: Relief at the first dressing station.]
[Sidenote: The nurses devoted and the sufferers resigned.]
If transportation, however, is less retarded than three years ago, it is
still painful and rather dangerous. Even when a special passage has been
dug before the attack for the evacuation of the wounded, all jolts are
not avoided in this dark and narrow way; but in going through the
ordinary passage-ways, dangerous and unseen obstacles are often
encountered--crumbling earth, perhaps, or convoys going in the opposite
direction. If they heeded the wounded soldier, the stretcher-bearers
would go on open ground. This he frequently does, if he is at all able
to get on without aid; once hit he thinks himself invulnerable--a
singular illusion which has brought about many catastrophes. At the
first dressing-station and at the front hospital, relief begins. In
ordinary times, this will be quite complete, and the wounded will not be
carried to the rear until they are really able to stand the journey. But
while the battle is on, they must go in the greatest haste: the worst
cases are thoroughly cared for; the badly hurt who can be moved receive
the attention which enables them to depart speedily; the slight cases
have to be content with summary consideration. Here one sees the
devotion of the nurses and the resignation of the sufferers, and better
than resignation: the noble effort not to moan, the murmured prayer, the
forgetfulness of self, eagerness to ask news of the fight. Among the
falsities of a book a thousand times too vaunted (falsities due not so
much to the lie direct as to the constant dwelling on odious details,
and the suppression of admirable facts), nothing is farther from the
truth than the picture of a hospital at the front where one hears and
sees only blaspheming and rebellious men. With most of the wounded who
have spoken to me about it in our hospital, and who certainly had the
right to bear witness, we proclaim loudly that if the French army had
been such as the work in question paints it in this passage and in many
others, the War would have ended long ago, and history would never have
known the names of the Marne, nor the Yser, nor Verdun, nor the
Chemin-des-Dames.
[Sidenote: A true picture of our Ambulance at the front.]
A true picture of an Ambulance at the front, overflowing with wounded
the evening of a battle, I find in these lines by an eyewitness: "Some
moderate complaints among the crowded stretchers: one asks for a drink,
one wants relief for pain, a bed, a dressing, to be quickly attended.
But let some story be told in the group, some incident come out like a
trumpet-call, all faces brighten, the men lift themselves a little, the
mirage of glory gives them heart again. I commemorate with piety the
anonymous example of a little Zouave, doubled over on himself, holding
his bullet-pierced abdomen in both hands, whom I heard gently asked:
'Well, little one, how goes it?' Oh, very well, _mon Lieutenant_, our
company has passed the road from B---- to the south; we had gotten there
when I was knocked out. It's all right; we are smashing them!"
[Sidenote: Their first thought for victory.]
I, personally, received such answers from wounded who came to us from
the Chemin-des-Dames, or from the fort of Malmaison. When I asked for
news, my mind preoccupied with their individual sufferings, their first
thought was to tell me of the victory. The ordinary French phrase for
"How are you? _Comment ça va-t-il?_" (literally: How goes it?) may apply
to an event or to a person. This being so, it is never of himself that
the newly-wounded soldier thinks, but of what is interesting to
everybody--the common success. I went to welcome a patient brought in
October 26th and asked: "You came tonight?"
"Yes, Father."
"Not too tired by the journey?"
"No, not too much."
"What wound?"
"Jaw pierced by a bullet, arm broken, wound in the thigh."
"How goes it?"
[Sidenote: The wounded are delighted with the success of the attack.]
"Very well! The wounded who came to the hospital at the front were
delighted, we had gotten everything we were trying for!"
"You were in the attack?"
"Unfortunately no, I was wounded the day before."
"In the bombardment?"
"Yes, while we were filling up the trenches to make a way for the tanks
toward the fort of Malmaison."
"That must have been pretty constant thundering?"
"Yes, but very soon we did not think of it. In the little bombardments
you hear the shells coming and try to get to shelter, but, in those
great days, when it is going on all the time, you can no longer
distinguish anything, it is a continual noise, a kind of huge snoring.
Then you are quite calm."
[Sidenote: They do not speak of what they have done or seen.]
These are a few illustrations, a few rays of light, such as one still
gets sometimes. I do not know if they will become more frequent with the
new evolution of the War. They have been rare, and never followed by
long expansiveness. Our wounded soldier of the fourth year of the War
did not like to speak of what he had done nor of what he had seen. What
may be the reasons for his silence? In seeking to interpret them we
penetrate a little into the psychology of this taciturn man.
[Sidenote: The soldier plays an impersonal part.]
First, his impressions of the War are no longer fresh and now he would
have some difficulty in analyzing them. It is as with ourselves in a new
country: at first we have a thousand things to describe in our letters;
after that nothing strikes us any longer. This passage to a sort of
unconsciousness is the easier for the soldier as he plays a more
impersonal part in the War; a simple cell in a great organism, a simple
wheel in an enormous machine, quite beyond his comprehension in its
learned complication. Catastrophes happen to him but no adventures: he
may be wounded, he may be killed, nothing else. This is no material for
fine stories.
A deeper reason for the silence of the witness, or rather the actor, in
the great drama of the War, is a very just realization of the
impossibility of conveying any idea of it to those who have never been
there. It is so very different from anything they know; so out of
proportion to the normal life of human beings.
[Sidenote: The wounded man does not like to think of war.]
To these intellectual motives may be added one of feeling. The wounded
soldier does not like to speak of the War because he does not like to
think of it: there are too many horrors; he has had to bear too many
privations, too much suffering. As soon as he finds himself out of it,
he tries to turn his mind away from it as much as possible, and to shake
off the impression of it, as the sick man in the morning shakes off his
fevered nightmare. Later on, doubtless, when his memories have lost
their keen edge, they may attract him again. All he asks for the moment
is to forget. One thing especially afflicts his heart and tightens his
lips: it is the thought of the comrades he has lost.
Such are the reasons why the later wounded, differing from those at the
beginning of the War, shut themselves up in a silence full of gravity.
[Sidenote: The men in hospital are grateful.]
[Sidenote: Infirmities are less felt.]
In spite of this, however, you would have a false idea of the military
hospital if you thought of it as a place of mournful desolation.
Doubtless our earlier patients regained their spirits more quickly,
having no years of suffering behind them. But the quiet and serious
resignation which reigns in the hospital of to-day does not exclude a
certain sweetness; the wounded man appreciates the intelligent and
devoted care lavished upon him, he congratulates himself and thanks God
for having escaped from mortal peril, for not having fallen to the
bottom of the abyss, for remounting now the slope at the summit of which
he has a glimpse of the recovery of his strength and activity. If his
wound leaves no serious traces, he rejoices to live again as he did
before; if it has deprived him of the use of his limbs or of some
necessary organ, he consoles himself by the thought that the War is over
for him and that soon he will take his place at home. His infirmities,
which perhaps will weigh more heavily upon him later, he feels less
here, where they are the normal thing and where it is the exception to
appear intact.
It is a rest for him not to hear the voice of the cannon. And he likes
the moral peace with which the wise kindness of the doctors, the
devotion of the nurses, the friendship of the chaplain, surround him; he
especially enjoys the many letters he receives from his family, and
those which he slowly writes himself, or dictates to an amiable
neighbor. Often he has friends and relatives in the neighborhood who
come to see him, but what he likes best of all is the visit from his
family, his mother, father, wife, his young children.
[Sidenote: A dying man is decorated.]
[Sidenote: A legacy of honor for his family.]
Another joy in the life of our wounded is the announcement and then the
presentation of his decoration. Once, however, I saw the Cross of Honor
received with no sign of satisfaction at all, but that was because it
came too late, and its recipient, one of my friends, a brave officer,
was about to receive another recompense in heaven. It was very affecting
to see the decoration laid on that already gasping breast, without any
consciousness on the part of the poor hero. His mother and wife, at
least, before they buried him, could take the glorious emblem to hand
down as heirloom and as instruction to his three little ones. It is a
noble idea of the French Government, to give the decorations of soldiers
killed by the enemy to their families--their widows, their orphans, or,
if they are not married, to their old parents. During these years filled
with emotion, few spectacles have impressed me so deeply as the ceremony
of "taking arms" in the court of honor of the Invalides, when in this
historic monument, built by Louis XIV. and now the tomb of Napoleon, a
General of the Third Republic gave the emblem of the brave to women and
children dressed in mourning, at the same time as to rough soldiers
newly healed of their wounds and ready to return to the front.
[Sidenote: The return to the front.]
[Sidenote: Often impatient to rejoin his comrades.]
Return to the front!... This is the almost invariable ending of the
history of our wounded soldier of the fourth year of the War. Return to
the front! Never will the heroism required for the acceptance of such a
duty be sufficiently admired! After three years of fatigue, privations,
of unheard-of dangers, after one or several wounds which brought him
within an inch of death, this man who has for long months felt the
sweetness, the care, the calm of a comfortable hospital; has had a taste
of the charms of family life once more; has little by little turned his
thought away from the horrors of war, now he is sent back, to the depot,
from which he knows that before long he will be called again to the
front! And he submits, resigns himself: what do I say? Often impatient
of inaction, of the little rules which annoy his independent temper, he
asks to go in advance of the call, to rejoin as a volunteer and without
further delay his comrades of Champagne, Lorraine, Flanders or Picardy.
He reenters his regiment as the traveler reenters his own country, and
his only sadness is to find that during his absence so many old comrades
have fallen, so many newcomers have filled the gaps. But the welcome of
the survivors warms his heart.
[Sidenote: He goes into the trenches at night.]
Although it is night--for only at night do they go into the
trenches--the sky is ploughed with illuminating fireworks, with
projections and projectiles, of various kinds which bursting sow quick
flashes of light, and a death often as prompt. In a maze of narrow and
complicated paths our friend advances without knowing where and feeling
his way: nearer and nearer he approaches to enemies whose sleepless hate
growls menacingly below his feet in the ground, around him on the earth,
above him in the sky filled with sinister gleams. He goes his way
without enthusiasm, but without hesitation, without boasting, but
without fear, knowing by long experience what peril he runs, but
offering himself calmly to his formidable destiny, ready to answer:
"Present!" if God and his country demand his life.
[Sidenote: There are no heroes in past history so grand.]
What hero in all the centuries of history attains to the grandeur of our
hero? Who ever defended, in a war so terrible, a cause so important to
the future of the world? Who has striven so hard, suffered so much, so
often passed through death? To prove himself equal to his high mission,
he has had to rid himself of all egoism, renounce lucre and vain honors,
sacrifice family joys; many times he has known the worst extremes of
weariness, thirst, hunger and cold; he equals and surpasses in
austerity the severest of monks; he practices an obedience and humility
that monasteries and Thebaîdes know nothing of, constantly ready to
expose himself, as soon as he receives the order, to a terrible and
invisible death. No one ever more completely obeyed the counsels of
Christ: "If you will be perfect, leave your father and mother, your
wife, forsake your possessions, renounce yourself, take up your cross
and follow Me."
[Sidenote: Humanity has never shown such moral grandeur.]
Those among these brave men who have faith, are conscious of such
supernatural life and their letters--admirable collections have been
published--reflect a light of authentic saintliness. The others, too,
without knowing it, walk in the footsteps of Christ; at the moment of
supreme sacrifice He will enlighten them with the brightness of His
grace and will admit them, like their believing brothers, into the
heaven promised to those who suffer for righteousness. Humanity which
has never known horrors like those it is enduring now, has also never
shown such moral grandeur, and it is not astonishing that in face of
such great crimes and such great virtues, our soul should pause,
breathless, incapable of expressing the excess of its emotion.
[Sidenote: The devoted war of the American public for the wounded.]
I cannot speak to the great American public about our wounded, without
saying how much we appreciate the fact that it has followed them, with
admirable solicitude, all the length of their hard Calvary. Its
stretcher-bearers have helped us rescue them at the front, its
ambulances have carried them to our hospitals, where they have found its
doctors, its nurses to tend their wounds, its offerings of all kinds to
assure their material well-being and their moral comfort. And in
after-care it has not been less solicitous: teaching the blind,
reeducating the maimed and giving them the costly apparatus which take
the place of their lost limbs. When they could not survive, despite
efforts of science and devotion, it contributed toward assuring the
future of their widows and orphans.
America to-day gives us even her blood; she has from the first given us
her gold, given her heart!
Copyright, Catholic World, October, 1918.
* * * * *
The great series of battles, known in general as the Battle of Picardy,
formed a prelude to the final acts of the war. A stirring account of
these battles is given in the narrative which follows.
THE BATTLE OF PICARDY
J.B.W. GARDINER
[Sidenote: Possibly the decisive battle of the war.]
[Sidenote: Germany will emerge victor or vanquished.]
On March 21st, 1918, Germany opened the great engagement which will
probably prove to be the decisive battle of the war. This designation
has already, but not altogether correctly, been given to the Battle of
the Marne. The Marne did decide that the Germans were not to capture
Paris in their first great rush through Belgium and France. It did not
only halt the German advance, but threw it back behind the Aisne, thus
preventing Germany from winning the war in 1914. But it did not defeat
the German army decisively. Nor did it make an ultimate German victory
impossible. It left the German army still in the field, its strength
practically unimpaired, still capable of strong defense, still with
great striking power in attack. It made possible for the future a
decisive Allied victory, but it did not achieve it. The German defeat at
Verdun, indeed, did more harm to the German army, lessened to a greater
extent its power of defense and its strength to attack than did the
Marne, because through the French defense and counter-efforts, the
German army lost nearly half a million men. But the battle now raging,
which for convenience of reference is called the Battle of Picardy
(although it embraces Picardy, Artois, and Flanders), will do more than
did either the Marne or Verdun. It will place irrevocably and
unmistakably upon Germany the laurel of victory or the thorny crown of
defeat. It is, therefore, the decisive battle of the war. It is the
final struggle of the civilized world against the domination of the
beast. It is Germany's final effort, and, in order that this may be
appreciated, it is necessary only to recount the conditions which
impelled Germany to take the offensive at this time.
[Sidenote: Germany's eastern ambitions attained.]
[Sidenote: A peace by compromise would be a German victory.]
The developments in Russia, so entirely favorable to Germany, led many
to believe that, having attained so completely their eastern ambitions,
the German leaders would rest content with what they had, and,
strengthening their lines in the west through reinforcements drawn from
the Russian front, remain on the defensive on the western front until a
peace could be arranged. With the German talons firmly fixed in the
throat of Ukraine; with Poland, Courland, and Lithuania practically
annexed, there was a certain element of reason in this contention. It
was entirely conceivable that with such strength in the west, Germany
could set in motion the machinery of a peace propaganda, and obtain a
peace conference which would enable her to work out a programme of
concessions in the west for concessions in the east--a peace by
compromise which would answer present needs while furnishing all future
requirements in case she decided to provoke another war. Thus Germany
would end the war with a victory just as truly as if she had won it on
the field of battle, and without the terrific loss in man power that an
offensive on the western front would entail.
[Sidenote: The Allies refuse a peace by compromise.]
In constructing this theory, however, certain essentials were ignored.
German voraciousness can never be satisfied. It is a bottomless pit
which can be filled only by pouring into it the world. When there is
nothing more to be had, Germany would perforce rest content. The
possession of Russia only whetted her appetite for France and Belgium
and the life of England. Moreover, the Allies, having now learned
Germany, and having acquired a sense of their own safety and of the
future peace of the world, had no thought of permitting Germany to
remain in possession of western Russia, of Serbia, and of Rumania, and
thereby not only perpetuating but actually aggravating the condition out
of which grew the present war. They had, therefore, notified Germany
that they would lay down arms only when she was willing to disgorge what
she and her allies had swallowed, and had rectified their frontiers in
accordance with President Wilson's fourteen conditions and with Lloyd
George's statement on the same subject.
In other words, Germany was to be permitted to emerge from the war with
a profit only through military victory; she would have to defend her
conquests. This negatived the idea of a peace through negotiation.
[Sidenote: The German people equally to blame with their government.]
[Sidenote: The letter to Prince Sixtus.]
[Sidenote: Austria might make a separate peace.]
[Sidenote: There is suspicion among thieves.]
Having absorbed the fundamental fact that the Allies proposed to
continue the fight to the end, what then was Germany's position? I am
not one of those who cherish the fatuous delusion that this is a war in
which the German people are not equally involved with their government.
At the same time, it is undeniable that there existed in both the German
and the Austrian empires a considerable internal pressure, induced by
hunger and by privations (but not by any moral or ethical
considerations), to bring the war to a close. The cupboards of Russia
were neither so full nor so readily available as had been anticipated.
Suffering was general, and, with the scarcity not only of food but of
wool and of cotton, made the prospect of going through another winter of
war a gloomy contemplation. In Austria the situation was worse than in
Germany. The letter of the Austrian Emperor to his brother-in-law,
Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, which the French Government published
in April, gives sufficient indication of the Austrian need for peace. It
shows also that Germany must have had doubt of the loyalty of her ally,
and German knowledge that conditions had come to such a pass in Austria
that a separate peace would be more welcome to Austria than no peace at
all, regardless of the sacrifices which had to be made to obtain it. How
long Austria could be held Germany did not know, but it was evident that
she was not to be trusted too far. Austria is as unscrupulous, as
hypocritical as is Germany, and Germany knows it. And while there may be
honor among thieves, there is also suspicion.
[Sidenote: Germany must resume the offensive.]
But, aside from internal and political considerations, the military
situation itself was one which demanded immediate action or none at all.
It is an elemental military fact that a war cannot be won by defensive
action alone. Defeat may be averted by such means; but victory cannot be
achieved. Germany, with the exception of a single incident south of
Cambrai, had been on the defensive since the close of the battle of
Verdun early in the summer of 1916. The necessity for offensive action
at some time was therefore absolute if Germany was to win. But there
were many considerations which made that time the present. Germany could
not afford to wait.
[Sidenote: Divisions are brought from Russia.]
The middle of March found Germany at the height of her man power. Never
before since the outbreak of war had the opportunity been presented for
the concentration on the western front of practically her entire
effective strength in both men and guns. For this, of course, Russia was
responsible. The divisions which were holding the Russian lines had been
carefully picked over, and from men thus selected new divisions were
formed and old ones filled up. All were sent to France as rapidly as
possible, the movement occupying the time from September, 1917, to
March of this year. Similarly, all available artillery was concentrated
in the west, the eastern front being practically denuded. Germany then
was in immediate danger of being diverted by activities of the Allies in
other fields.
[Sidenote: America could not furnish numbers in 1917.]
The Allies on the other hand were by no means at their full strength.
America, who stepped into the war just in time to take Russia's place,
still remained impotent, unable to place in Europe numbers in any way
commensurate with the situation. But America was gathering impetus as
she went. And while she was a negligible force in 1917--except in the
matters of food and money--and would probably be a negligible force in
1918 subject to the same exception, in 1919 she was almost certain to
turn the tide strongly against the Central Powers. Even in 1918 there
could be expected a steady though small stream of men across the ocean,
who being fresh, eager, and unwearied, might cause trouble. Germany then
had the one chance to win, and that chance demanded that she strike with
all her power before America reached the field. To delay meant not a
drawn game but certain defeat. For if Germany is ever confronted in
Europe with the full strength of America in men and in the machinery of
war, she will be crushed.
[Sidenote: Germany must strike before America reaches the field.]
[Sidenote: The Russian situation is disquieting.]
Finally, the situation in Russia boded ill for Germany. Great rejoicing
has taken place in Berlin and in Vienna over peace with Russia. But it
is a peace which has not altered Germany's inability to keep faith with
any Power. Her persistent worship of materialism and force has created a
situation in Russia not at all to Germany's liking. Once the Russian
border was absolutely undefended and the way to Petrograd and Moscow
wide open, Germany could not resist the temptation to march on in
continued aggression, regardless of treaty or promises or peace or
morality. And Russia has furnished strong evidence that she is not at
all complacent under such aggression.
[Sidenote: A new Russian national army is formed.]
[Sidenote: Danger of guerilla warfare.]
The Russians are in a stage of transition, and are, therefore, unstable,
mentally unsettled. They are completely dissatisfied at Germany's
interpretation of the peace terms. They see themselves being starved
that Germany may fatten on their granaries. They are reaching the point
where organized resistance is the only answer of which the situation is
capable. Steps have already been taken to form a new national army, to
offer organized resistance to further encroachments. There are also
large elements which have never accepted the unconditional surrender and
which never will. At any moment in this land of instability, the fires
which have been kindled by German bad faith and duplicity may break into
a conflagration. There is no danger at the present time--there is danger
that before the year is out public dissatisfaction and unrest may
crystallize and Germany be faced with the most colossal guerilla war the
world has seen; and while warfare of this kind cannot defeat Germany, it
can neutralize many divisions of German troops and pin them down to the
eastern front while the Allies make the finishing stroke in the west.
This situation, out of which anything can grow, made it strongly
advisable that Germany should act before the crystallization should take
place.
[Sidenote: Ready for a great blow in the West.]
Realizing that she could not wait without serious danger to herself,
Germany mustered all her resources in the west for the great blow she
was to deliver. The problem which confronted the German General Staff
was to destroy one of the two great armies, that of France or that of
England. Both could not be handled together. Germany did not have the
strength. The attack had to be delivered against one or the other. Which
should it be?
[Sidenote: The French losses much greater than the British.]
An attack against the French had certain advantages. The French army was
unmistakably the weaker of the two. In the early days of the war, while
the British army was being formed, it was the French who had to stand
the brunt of the fighting. At Verdun it was the French who from February
to July beat back the German assaults along the Meuse time after time in
the most tremendous duel of the war. In the Battle of the Somme it was
the French who fought their way forward south of the river to the
outskirts of Péronne and Chaulnes. The French losses had, therefore,
been very much greater than the British. As the populations of France
and of the United Kingdom are about the same, the French people had,
therefore, suffered much more than had the British, and were
correspondingly less able to stand such a blow as Germany was able to
deliver.
[Sidenote: Much of French front is invulnerable.]
But there was one great disadvantage in attacking France. The blow could
not be delivered against the front from St. Mihiel to the Swiss
frontiers. This front is vulnerable only where the Vosges Mountains are
broken by the great gaps at Belfort, Epinal, and Nancy; and these gaps
are easy to defend and well backed up in rear by great bases of supply
excellently served by many radiating railroad lines. It could not be
delivered at Verdun, because France had not only retaken all the ground
of military value which had been lost; but Verdun had become to France a
religion, a fanaticism. To France it was a symbol of French love of
country, of French patriotism. Verdun meant France. Germany, therefore,
had no desire to test this fortified area again. This left only the
Champagne line between the Argonne Forest and Rheims.
[Sidenote: Reasons for not striking on the Champagne line.]
[Sidenote: The Allied armies would be left intact.]
If Germany had attacked this front, the British army, the stronger of
her enemies, would soon have struck, and whether Germany so elected or
not, she would nevertheless be running two major operations at the same
time--one offensive in Champagne, the other defensive in Picardy or in
Flanders. Again, suppose her army did bend the French line back, as it
undoubtedly would, how far back would it have to go in order for Germany
to reach a complete military decision? There would indeed be no such
decision in sight, almost regardless of the depth of penetration. The
lines might have to be rectified; Verdun might have to be abandoned; the
Vosges frontier line might have to be drawn in. But even so the French
and British armies would both be intact; both biding their time when,
with full force of their own and a million or more American troops,
Germany could be beaten. In short, an attack against the French at any
point, while promising new gains in territory, promised nothing in the
way of a decision, and, be it remembered, this is Germany's last effort;
it must reach either victory or defeat. The Battle of Picardy must and
will produce a definite, positive result. It cannot end in indecision.
[Sidenote: British army trained only for trench warfare.]
[Sidenote: The French positions.]
[Sidenote: The British railway connections might be taken.]
An attack against the British offered none of the disadvantages which
attended an attack against the French. The British were stronger it is
true. But this army, unlike that of the French, was trained for but one
thing--trench warfare. If Germany could restore war in the open--a war
of movement--this strength might be offset by a wider experience. In
attacking the British, the French could be held in check by defensive
tactics with not a great deal of difficulty; as in such operations the
terrain was greatly in Germany's favor. To take a hurried glimpse of the
French positions, we find them in the valley of the Ailette north of
the Chemin des Dames facing the high slopes of the plateau on which is
found Laon. In the Champagne they are facing a high rolling country,
studded with good artillery positions and points of observation. In the
Vosges, their problem is identical with that of the Germans--forcing the
gaps in a barrier otherwise impassable. There would be then a minimum of
danger from the French while Germany was engaged on the British front.
Moreover, behind the British line was, first, Amiens, through which
passed the great railroad systems from Calais, Boulogne, and Abbeville,
binding together the British north of the Somme to the French in the
south. With Amiens in German hands this connection would be badly
ruptured. And farther on still was the sea, which, if Germany could
reach it, would physically separate the great Allied army into two
armies, without connection, each of which could be dealt with
separately. And unlike an advance through Champagne, the farther the
Germans pushed through, the closer the Allies came to total disaster and
defeat. Germany, therefore, selected the British front for attack and
took up the task of destroying the British army.
[Sidenote: The main blow is to fall along the Oise.]
[Sidenote: Plan to drive through Amiens.]
[Sidenote: High ground near Lens and Ypres to be retaken.]
The German plan of campaign was simple in its essence, although
involving great numbers of men and an inconceivable mass of material. It
was to strike the main blow along the Oise on the front between St.
Quentin and La Fère, while a subsidiary attack was to be simultaneously
delivered on the northern side of the Cambrai salient between Cambrai
and Arras. This subsidiary attack was designed to break the salient and
destroy the danger of a flank attack against the movement to the south.
In the main attack, delivered with 15,000 men to the mile of front, it
was intended to break the connection between the British and the French
along the Oise, push a great wedge through at the point of rupture, and
then roll the British line back to the north, leaving the French to be
taken care of later. Failing in this (and Germany had taken into account
the possibility of failure), the British were to be forced back through
Amiens to the sea, and the split in the armies accomplished by
interposing between the parts a section of the seacoast. This operation
would automatically flank the positions held by the British at Arras,
force the British to fall back from Vimy Ridge, and from Lens toward St.
Pol, and, as they retreated, to uncover the Ypres salient and the
positions held in the high ground to the east and south of Ypres--that
is, the Messines and the Passchendaele ridges.
[Sidenote: The Germans use eighty divisions the first day.]
[Sidenote: The Allies retreat.]
After a brief but very intense bombardment the German infantry went
forward on March 21, 1918. They were favored by a heavy mist which
concealed their movements until they were within fifty yards of the
British trenches, between La Fère and St. Quentin. By sheer weight of
numbers these trenches were overrun and the German infantry poured
through the gap. The line to the north was at once affected by the break
in the southern line, and taken in flank, was also forced to fall back.
But a few hours after the attack was launched, the entire fifty miles of
line north of La Fère was ablaze and the British were in retreat. In
this attack the Germans threw in on the first day 80 divisions--about
one million men--nearly 20,000 men to the mile--a heavier concentration
of men than had ever been used in an attack since the war began. Against
this number the British, in the opening attack could oppose only 5,000
men to the mile. It is not surprising in view of this disparity in
numbers that the British were completely overwhelmed. In spite of the
rapidity of the initial German advance and the strength of the German
attack, the hoped-for rupture of the Allied line at the Oise did not
occur. The British and French, though retreating steadily, kept in close
touch and preserved intact the continuity of their line.
[Sidenote: The French extend their left to keep in touch with the
British.]
As the British section of the line withdrew, the French, in order to
preserve this continuity, were necessarily affected. The French extreme
left withdrew behind the Oise to throw this defensive screen before the
German attack, gradually extending their left as the British retreat
continued, passed Noyons and Pont l'Eveque. As the Allies in their
retreat approached the Somme River, the German progress became slower,
the efforts were labored. From this point indeed, the huge battle took
on something of the nature of the battle of Verdun. It became a fight
for limited objectives. Each village offered resistance and became the
object of an independent battle. The German advance, however, though
slow was not the less persistent and steady.
[Sidenote: The Somme divides the field into two areas.]
[Sidenote: Montdidier falls.]
[Sidenote: French check the Germans at Villers-Bretonneux.]
With the crossing of the Somme and the Somme-Aisne Canal on the front
between Peronne and Noyons, the battle was automatically divided into
two well defined areas by the east and west course of the Somme between
Peronne and Amiens. In the southern area, the Allied line was held by
both British and French in about equal proportions. But the French were
not yet in great force. The Germans, having passed both the Somme and
the Canal, fought their way westward step by step, in total disregard of
losses, until the line of the Avre River was reached. Here the French,
who held the line from the Luce River south and then east, made a
position stand, and a series of pitched battles occurred for the river
crossing. The first of these to fall was Montdidier at the head waters
of the Avre. This enabled the German army to reach westward of the river
and spread out after crossing to flank the defenses to the north.
Gradually the left bank of the river was cleared as far north as
Moreuil. Here the high ground on the left bank between Moreuil and the
mouth of the Luce enabled the French to beat off all German attacks for
several days. Finally, however, both Moreuil and Morisel were taken and
later the village of Cassel, the Avre being thus cleared of the Allied
troops as far north as the mouth of the Luce. From Cassel to the Somme,
however, the German forces found themselves in serious difficulties.
About Hangard, particularly, the fighting was exceptionally heavy; but
after changing hands several times, the Germans were finally thrown
across to the southern bank of the Luce and there held in place. From
Hangard north to the Somme the result was the same. After struggling for
days against the troops on the high plateau of which Villers-Bretonneux
is the centre, the Germans were brought to a standstill in their
attempts to approach Amiens by way of the Avre-Somme angle.
[Sidenote: The British retire behind the Ancre.]
[Sidenote: Albert is taken; but Germans are soon held.]
In the battlefield north of the Somme, the British retired slowly until
they were safely behind the Ancre River, which figured so prominently in
the battle of the Somme in 1916. Taking Albert, an important British
base, the Germans tried desperately to push beyond and reach the
railroad which runs along the lower Ancre from Amiens to Albert. Failing
in this, they struck heavily in the angle between the Somme and the
Ancre in order to flank the line north of Albert from the high ground
north-east of Corbie. Here also they met with defeat, so that from
Beaumont-Hamel southward the Allied line became stationary.
[Sidenote: The situation of the Germans.]
[Sidenote: To win peace the Germans must destroy an army.]
At this point in the battle the Germans found themselves in this
situation: from Montdidier westward the French lines were firmly
established first along a series of small but well defined heights as
far as Noyons and thence along the southern bank of the Oise as far as
the lower forest of Coucy. This side of the wedge was firmly fixed and
capable of great resistance. Moreover, to expend time and men in an
attack on this front would mean a serious departure from the German
plan, as success here would mean an advance toward Paris instead of
toward the sea. And at this stage of the war, peace cannot be obtained
by the capture of any city, even the French capital. The price of peace
is the destruction of an army, either that of the British or that of the
French. This can be accomplished only through reaching the sea at some
central point such as Abbeville at the mouth of the Somme.
Therefore, the German problem had of necessity to find its solution
north of Montdidier--between that town and Albert. There is not much
doubt that by concentrating sufficient artillery and by the expenditure
of sufficient men, the German leaders would be able to push their way
farther westward, even beyond Amiens. But as the wedge deepened it would
gradually draw down to a point so that the ultimate situation would be
that the German lines would form an acute angle, the vortex of which
would be on the Somme at or west of Amiens, one side passing through
Albert, or possibly through the village of Bucquoy, the other through
Montdidier. Such a formation would mean positive disaster. It would be
worth a quarter of a million men to the Allies to strike both north and
south across the base of this angle and snuff it out. It would mean to
Germany the loss of a mass of artillery and tens of thousands of men.
And the Allies would not be slow to see this opportunity and strike. The
German High Command, therefore, did not dare to take the chance with
matters as they then were.
[Sidenote: Necessary to advance north of the Somme.]
[Sidenote: The defenses of the British northern wing.]
[Sidenote: The fight for Vimy and Notre Dame de Lorette.]
In order that the German army might continue its march to the sea then,
it was necessary that the line north of the Somme should advance,
synchronizing its movement with the point of the wedge along the river.
Thus only would the wedge be sufficiently wide to avoid disaster. But
the entire northern wing of the British army was guarded by Vimy Ridge
and the heights of Notre Dame de Lorette. It was impossible that the
advance could be made, leaving these positions directly on the flank.
The combination of these two heights forms a huge semicircle concave
toward the south. The British batteries posted on these heights could
continue to rake the German advancing troops in flank and rear with most
destructive effect. Therefore, after the fighting in the south came to a
halt, the Germans undertook to open the way by forcing these two
positions. Using seven divisions--about 90,000 men--the Germans attacked
on a front not exceeding ten miles from Arleux to Fampoux on the Scarpe.
The attack continued for two days, but was an absolute failure. The
German advance had to be made down the slopes of one hill, across a
stretch of flat, open valley, and up the sides of another. Down in the
valley were the British outpost positions which were overwhelmed and
driven in. But in attempting to cross the valley floor the Germans
literally withered under machine gun and rifle fire. At the end of two
days' fighting, during which the greater part of these divisions were
cut to pieces, the attack had to be abandoned. The fighting then from
Lens southward to the Avre came to an end with the Germans completely
halted. The first definite stage of the decisive battle of the war was
thus concluded.
[Sidenote: The attack about Bucquoy.]
[Sidenote: Considerable initial successes.]
[Sidenote: A stand at the edge of the Forest of Nieppe.]
[Sidenote: The Germans take Messines Ridge.]
But the Germans were by no means ready to acknowledge defeat. The
Lens-Arras sector had to be cleared up. The attack from the south,
crystallizing about Bucquoy, and from the east both having broken down,
there remained but to attack from the north. Utilizing to the utmost the
advantages of the great railroad system which parallels this front,
connecting in a single chain all of their great advance bases, the
Germans effected a heavy concentration at Lille, and, using about twenty
divisions (which were afterward increased to thirty), struck the British
line between Givenchy--just north of La Bassée--and Warneton on the Lys
River. The initial successes were considerable. The Germans penetrated
to a maximum depth of more than four miles in the centre, although on
both right and left the line held fast. North of Armentières, however,
the British line gave ground, which enabled the Germans to pocket this
city and to capture it on the second day of the attack. On the
succeeding days, the British centre continued to give way until the edge
of the Forest of Nieppe was reached. The German position at this point
in the attack became practically untenable. The northern side of this
wedge was lined with heights from which the British artillery was
pouring a devastating plunging fire. These heights, beginning farther
east, began with the famous Messines-Wytschaete Ridge and extended due
west through Kemmel to Cassel. Moreover, in falling back the British
pivoted on Messines, which left this strong bastion from which to strike
out against the very heart of the salient. Accordingly, to remove this
danger the German leaders swung the attack north against the Messines
Ridge. After days of fighting in which Bailleul was taken and the foot
of the Kemmel series of hills was reached, the Messines Ridge was taken
in reverse and the British line was withdrawn until it passed over the
ridge just north of Wytschaete. Still pressing on the north, the Germans
attacked the Kemmel position, but the British, now reinforced by the
French, threw the attacks back as rapidly as they formed. Failing here
and at the centre in Nieppe Forest, still another attack was delivered,
this time against the southern side of the wedge from Givenchy to St.
Venant. The first two days of this fighting was also disastrous to the
Germans who were entirely unable to dent the British positions. In
brief, the Germans were then enclosed in a huge semicircle about fifteen
miles in diameter. All parts of the area enclosed were subject to
artillery fire from three sides and the Germans were striking first on
one side then on the other in frantic efforts to break the Allies'
grip--and giving no indication of sufficient power to succeed.
[Sidenote: Objectives of the Germans in the North.]
[Sidenote: The British gradually retire about Ypres.]
The objects of the German effort in the north were several. Primarily it
was intended as a means of breaking the defenses of Arras and of Lens by
cutting in behind the heights of Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy Ridge.
Again it was intended to take Hazebrouck, Bethune, St. Pol, Aire, and
St. Omer, through which the distribution of supplies and men landing at
Calais is effected. Finally it was intended to take from the British the
high ground in Flanders, uncover Ypres, and open the way to the coast.
But for many reasons, now that the Allies had caught their breath for a
moment, so to speak, the advantage appeared to have passed from German
hands. The element of surprise, so essential to success even in trench
warfare, was no longer possible. The gradual retirements of the British
around Ypres were not costly nor did they "open a way" to the channel
ports as the Germans hoped. The Germans had fixed the points of
attack--and these were the only possible points: southern Flanders and
from the Avre to the Scarpe. Germany had already used in the offense 130
divisions out of 204; and of these 50 had been in action twice--while
the British had been heavily engaged from the outset, the French have
had but few divisions in action. There was, therefore, apparently much
greater reserve strength behind the Allies' battle line than Germany
could possibly muster. And it is reserve strength which must ultimately
decide the issue.
[Sidenote: The crisis of the Great War is at hand.]
Germany has taken the great plunge--the concentration and utilization of
her entire resources in man power in a final effort to win. It is
Germany's last bid for victory before the peace propaganda is launched.
Germany must win or go down to defeat. But Germany cannot stop. She must
go on and on regardless of cost. She has expended literally hundreds of
thousands of men, not for territorial conquest as the German press has
pointed out and emphasized, but to destroy the British army. What
figment of pretense is left if the battle remains indecisive? None the
less, for the Allies as well the situation is serious though not
critical. The crisis of the Great War is truly at hand. None can doubt
the outcome who has any belief in honor and justice among civilized
nations.
Copyright, World's Work, June, 1918.
* * * * *
For many months prior to the end of the war Bulgaria had sought an
opportunity to make peace. The people were wearied with fighting and it
was plain to them that a German victory was hopeless. Finally a complete
collapse occurred, King Ferdinand fled, and Bulgaria surrendered, as is
described in the following pages.
BULGARIA QUITS
LOTHROP STODDARD
[Sidenote: "Mitteleuropa" crumbles.]
Bulgaria's withdrawal from the Teutonic block and her frank capitulation
to the Allies is easily the most dramatic episode of the World War.
Almost overnight the massive bridge of "Mitteleuropa" has crumbled at
its central span, leaving exhausted Turkey foredoomed to speedy
surrender and laying distracted Austria open to the combined assaults of
Allied arms and domestic revolution. So stupendous are the possibilities
flowing from the Allies' September offensive in Macedonia that we are
almost tempted to believe that the age of miracles is come again.
[Sidenote: The war-spirit of Bulgaria weakens.]
Yet in such hours we should clarify our vision by insistent remembrance
of Clausewitz's famous saying that war is but the extension of politics.
For brilliant as was the Franco-Serbian escalade of mid-September,
storming successive mountain walls as though they were mere trench lines
and shearing through war-hardened Bulgarian divisions like a knife
through rotten cheese, there was more than fighting involved. For the
last year and even longer a combination of circumstances had been
weaning Bulgaria from her former solidarity with the Central powers, and
this disruptive process, proceeding with special rapidity during the
last few months, had been steadily sapping the morale of the Bulgarian
people and the war-spirit of the Bulgarian soldiery. From the broader
point of view, therefore, the Allies' Macedonian offensive must be
deemed not merely a skilful military operation, but even more a
well-timed garnering of fruits ripe for the plucking. In such masterly
combinations of strategy and politics lies the secret of decisive
victory.
[Sidenote: Bulgaria's political evolution.]
The accurate gaging by Allied statesmanship of Bulgaria's political
evolution is specially noteworthy because that evolution was both
complicated and obscure. In fact, its roots reach down to the
fundamental aspirations of the Bulgarian people. Bulgaria's present
volte-face is no chance product of panic, but a logical step in her
national policy. Its consequences thus promise to be not ephemeral, but
lasting. An understanding of the factors that brought about the existing
situation is therefore worth careful study.
[Sidenote: The Prussians of the Balkans.]
[Sidenote: Desire to attain race unity.]
The Bulgarians have often been called the Prussians of the Balkans, and
in this characterization there is a large measure of truth. A
hard-working, tenacious folk, capable of great patience, docile to iron
discipline, and appreciative of governmental efficiency, the material
progress made by the Bulgarians during their forty years of independence
is as striking in its way as the similar progress of the German people.
Unfortunately, the Bulgarians resemble the Prussians not only in their
virtues, but in their most unlovely qualities as well. There are the
same tactlessness, brutality, overweening ambition, and cynical
indifference to the means by which those ambitions are to be attained.
This has shown itself clearly throughout Bulgarian history. When
Bulgaria gained her independence of Turkey in 1878 she started with a
perfectly legitimate ambition, the attainment of Bulgarian race-unity
through the annexation of those Bulgar-inhabited portions of Macedonia
that remained under Turkish rule. For this the Bulgarian people toiled
and taxed themselves without stint. For this they built up a military
machine relatively the most formidable on earth.
[Sidenote: Projects of the leaders.]
But that was by no means the whole story. Race-unity may have been the
goal for which the simple Bulgarian peasant drilled and delved. His
leaders had more grandiose projects in view. This was specially true of
the Bulgarian monarch, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a man of great
political sagacity, but of a cynical unscrupulousness rivaling
Machiavelli's "Prince." Ferdinand's dream was a great Bulgarian empire
embracing the entire Balkan Peninsula, with its seat at Constantinople
and his exalted self occupying the imperial throne. This implied both
the expulsion of the Turks from Europe and the subjugation of the other
Christian Balkan peoples. In the Balkan War of 1912 Bulgaria's hour
seemed to have struck, but Ferdinand for once overplayed his hand, and
Bulgaria's Balkan rivals beat her on the battle-field and forced her to
the humiliating Peace of Bukharest in 1913.
[Sidenote: the Peace of Bukharest.]
The Peace of Bukharest was not a constructive settlement. It was an
attempt on the part of embittered enemies to punish Bulgaria's ambitions
and keep her permanently down. The result was most unfortunate. Playing
upon their balked desire for race-unity, Ferdinand bound his subjects to
his wider imperialistic designs. Raging under their humiliations and
their failure to redeem their Macedonian brethren, the Bulgarians
declared themselves ready to league with the devil if they might thereby
tear up the Bukharest parchment and revenge themselves upon their
enemies.
[Sidenote: The opportunity for revenge.]
The opportunity was not long in coming. The Pan-German devil was already
preparing his stroke for world dominion, and when the blow fell in 1914,
Bulgaria's alinement was almost a foregone conclusion. The military
losses in the recent Balkan Wars had of course so weakened her that
cautious diplomatic jockeying was a preliminary necessity, but when
Russia had succumbed to Hindenburg's hammer-strokes in the summer of
1915 and the Germanic hosts menaced Serbia in the autumn, Bulgaria threw
off the mask, struck Serbia from the rear, and joined the Teutonic
powers. Thus did the "Berlin-Bagdad" dream grow into solid fact, and
Mitteleuropa became a hard reality.
[Sidenote: The people give hearty assent.]
[Sidenote: Germany promises cessions from Turkey.]
[Sidenote: Victory over Serbia and Rumania.]
There can be no question that when Bulgaria entered the war on the
Teutonic side in the autumn of 1915 she did so with the hearty assent of
the vast majority of her people. The Germans had promised Bulgaria those
things which Bulgarians most desired. A Teutonic alliance offered
Bulgaria immediate possession of Serbian Macedonia, where lived the bulk
of the Bulgarian element still outside Bulgaria's political frontiers,
together with the practical destruction of the Serbian arch-enemy. The
Teutonic alliance likewise offered prospects of reclaiming the Bulgarian
populations of Greek Macedonia and of the southern Dobrudja, annexed by
Rumania, in 1913, should Greece and Rumania, both notoriously pro-Ally,
strike in on the Entente side. Lastly, the German Government agreed to
use its good offices with its ally, Turkey, to obtain for Bulgaria a
Turkish cession of the Demotika district of Thrace west of the Maritza
River, thereby giving Bulgaria direct railroad communication with
Dedeagatch, her one practicable outlet on the Ægean Sea. All these
things presently came to pass. Serbia lay crushed, and Serbian Macedonia
was under Bulgarian control before the close of 1915. Turkey soon
yielded Demotika. In the spring of 1916 the quarrel between the Greek
King Constantine and the Entente powers permitted Bulgaria to occupy the
coveted Drama-Serres-Kavala districts of Greek Macedonia, while that
same autumn Rumania's intervention on the Allied side resulted in her
speedy defeat, with Bulgarian troops overrunning the whole Dobrudja as
far as the Danube mouth, and Bulgarian regiments triumphantly parading
through the streets of Bukharest. Small wonder that up to the close of
1916 Bulgaria remained a loyal member of Mitteleuropa, thoroughly
contented with her bargain.
[Sidenote: Effects of defeats on Russia.]
[Sidenote: The Russian Revolution.]
[Sidenote: Bulgaria only a link in Mitteleuropa.]
The year 1917, however, saw the beginning of that estrangement from
Germany which has finally caused Bulgaria's abandonment of the Teutonic
cause. The first rift in the lute was the Russian Revolution. This event
was a great shock to Ferdinand and the Sofia politicians. When Bulgaria
had joined Germany in the autumn of 1915 her political leaders had
divined the fact that Russia's war spirit was broken by the crushing
defeats inflicted upon her by the Germans and that she would ultimately
retire from the war. But Sofia had looked forward to a Russian
retirement under imperial auspices and thereafter to a Russo-German
rapprochement in which Bulgaria should be the connecting-link,
extracting a profitable brokerage by playing off one against the other
in Balkan affairs. The idea was subtle, yet not without reason when we
remember that it was toward this very state of things that the last
czarist governments of Stürmer and Golytzin were feeling their way.
However, Bulgarian expectations were completely dashed by the credo of
Revolutionary Russia, which renounced imperialism and eschewed all those
near-Eastern ambitions which had been the watchword of the old régime.
Now, Bulgaria did not like the new situation. For though Russia was
definitely out of the Balkans, Germany and Austria were emphatically
not, and their weight was too heavy to be borne pleasantly even by their
friends. It was one thing for Bulgaria to be the connecting link of
Mitteleuropa, with mighty Russia always potentially present to redress
the balance. It was quite another matter to be just the link. That this
was to be Bulgaria's future rôle in Mitteleuropa, Germany's new attitude
made increasingly plain. The progressive disintegration of Russia
through 1917 riveted Teutonic domination on the Balkans and even offered
alternative routes to the East. This meant that Germany no longer needed
to show Bulgaria special consideration, and what that fact implied to
Teutonic minds was quickly shown by the series of bitter
disillusionments that Bulgaria had to experience.
[Sidenote: Germany disposes of the Dobrudja.]
The first shock came regarding the Dobrudja. When the Teuton-Bulgar
armies had swept the Rumanians out of the Dobrudja at the close of 1916,
Bulgaria had expected to acquire the entire peninsula. But Germany soon
showed that she had other ideas on the matter. The Dobrudja not only
controlled the mouth of the Danube, but also contained the port terminus
of the main railroad trunk-line from Central Europe to the Black Sea.
These things Germany had no intention of placing in Bulgarian hands.
Accordingly, Bulgaria was given only the southern Dobrudja, the rest of
the peninsula being held "in common." And when in the spring of 1918
Russia's final collapse forced Rumania to make peace with the Central
powers, it was to them, and not to Bulgaria, that Rumania ceded the
Dobrudja prize. Of course Germany temporized, and extended the Dobrudja
"condominium" until the final peace settlement, but Bulgaria could see
with half an eye that her hopes in this quarter would never be realized.
[Sidenote: The dispute with Turkey about Thrace.]
A second shock was presently administered by Turkey. In return for
Bulgaria's extension of territory in the southern Dobrudja, Turkey
demanded compensation by Bulgaria's retrocession of the Demotika
district of Thrace. This district, it will be remembered, was vital to
Bulgaria's railway communications with her Ægean seaboard. Bulgaria
therefore angrily rejected the proposal, Turkey as vehemently insisted,
and by the beginning of 1918 a very pretty quarrel was on between the
two allies, culminating in at least one bloody mix-up between Turkish
and Bulgarian troops. In these circumstances Bulgaria appealed to
Germany, but was deeply chagrined to receive from the Wilhelmstrasse a
Delphic utterance which might have been interpreted as an indorsement of
Turkish claims. The reason for this was that Germany was then
overrunning the Ukraine preparatory to the occupation of Transcaucasia
and the penetration of the middle East. For such far-flung projects
zealous Turkish cooperation was a prime necessity. Accordingly, Turkey
had to be favored in every possible way. As for Bulgaria, she must not
embarrass Germany in her march to world dominion.
[Sidenote: Germany does not promise Saloniki.]
[Sidenote: Reservation regarding Macedonia.]
A third shock was in store. Ever since the spring of 1916 Bulgaria had
occupied the Drama-Serres-Kavala districts of Greek Macedonia. In 1916,
Greece was clinging to an ambiguous neutrality, but a year later the
Entente powers deposed King Constantine, and Greece ranged herself
squarely on the Allied side, with a declaration of war against Bulgaria
as one of the first consequences. Thereupon Bulgaria urged Germany to
allow her definitely to annex the occupied districts and to promise her
Saloniki when victory should crown the Teuton-Bulgar arms. But here
again Bulgaria discovered that Germany had other fish to fry. Ex-King
Constantine and the Greek royalists might yet be very useful to Berlin.
Therefore they must not be alienated by giving Bulgaria territories
which would render every Greek an irreconcilable foe to Mitteleuropa.
Also Saloniki, the great Ægean outlet of central Europe was far too
valuable a prize to be committed exclusively to Bulgarian hands. But
Saloniki could be reached from central Europe only across Macedonia.
Therefore in the final Balkan settlement there must be reserves
regarding Bulgaria's control of the Macedonian railroad system. For that
matter, this might have to be applied to Bulgaria's own railroad system,
since it was the trunk-line from central Europe to the East.
[Sidenote: German interests first.]
So reasoned the suave German diplomats. The effect upon Bulgarian
sensibilities can be imagined. How far removed was this drab reality
from roseate dreams of imperial Bulgaria dominating the entire Balkans
and treating with Teutonic partners as a respected equal! The grim truth
was this: Bulgaria's promised gains were being whittled away according
to the shifting exigencies of German policy. Was anything certain for
the future? No. Because German interests came first, and the junior
colleagues must "do their part." Here once more appeared the Nemesis of
Prussian _Realpolitik_, that sinister heresy the crowning demerit of
which is that it is not even "real," since it reposes on short-sighted
egoism and disregards those moral "imponderables," good faith,
fair-dealing, etc., which weigh most heavily in the end. Having turned
the neutral world into enemies, _Realpolitik_ was now ready to turn
Germany's allies into neutrals.
[Sidenote: Bulgaria is discontented.]
[Sidenote: Bulgaria suffers also from previous wars.]
Thus by the opening months of 1918 Bulgaria was no longer a contented
member of central Europe. Most of her political leaders were profoundly
disillusioned, and uncertain as to the future. Of course these political
matters were still somewhat veiled from the masses. But meanwhile the
Bulgarian peasant had been undergoing a little educative process of his
own. German diplomats might ask Bulgaria to make sacrifices. The
Bulgarian peasant could answer roundly that this was already the case.
For Bulgaria was suffering--suffering in every fiber of her being. When
she entered the European struggle in 1915, Bulgaria was still weak from
two bloody wars. True, the Bulgarian conscripts had marched gladly
enough once more, because they were told that it was a matter of a
single short campaign, ending in a speedy peace. But two long years had
now passed, and Bulgaria's manhood still stood mobilized in distant
Macedonia, while at home the fields went fallow, and the scanty
harvests, reaped by women and children, had to be shared with the
German. Everywhere there was increasing want, sometimes semi-starvation.
Bulgaria, like Russia, was proving that a primitive agricultural people
may make a fine campaign, but cannot wage prolonged modern war.
[Sidenote: Premier Radoslavov resigns.]
All this discontent, both above and below, presently focused itself in
the parliamentary situation. The opposition groups in the Bulgarian
Sobranje steadily gained strength until on June 17, 1918, Premier
Radoslavov was forced to resign. Radoslavov had been in power since
1913. He had been the architect of the Teuton-Bulgar alliance and was
known to be a firm believer in the Mitteleuropa idea. His successor,
Malinov, naturally gave lip-service to the same program, but his past
leaning had been toward Russia, and he had never displayed marked
enthusiasm for the Teutons.
Of course this change of ministry did not mean that Bulgaria was then
ready to make a separate peace with the Entente Allies. Every Bulgarian
knew that such an act would mean the abandonment of Bulgaria's whole
imperialistic dream and the immediate relinquishment of supremely prized
Macedonia. But it did mean that Bulgaria was discontented with her
present situation and that she was resolved to take a more independent
stand toward her Teutonic allies even though Germany was in the full
flush of her great Western offensive and dreaming of a speedy entry into
Paris.
[Sidenote: The changes of fortune in the West.]
[Sidenote: Peace demonstrations.]
[Sidenote: The tales of Bulgarian prisoners.]
[Sidenote: The capitulation.]
But just a month after Malinov's accession came the dramatic shift of
fortune in the West. The German offensive broke down, and the Allies
began their astounding succession of victories. Instantly the Balkan
situation altered. Bulgaria knew that the spring offensive had been
Germany's supreme bid for victory. To fill the ranks for the rush on
Paris and the channel ports the last German veterans had been withdrawn
from the East. Gone were those field-gray divisions which had stiffened
the Macedonian front and kept down popular discontent by garrisoning
Bulgarian towns. The peasant voice was at last free to speak, and it
spoke in no uncertain terms for an end of the war. Agrarian disturbances
increased in frequency. Peace demonstrations occurred in Sofia. In fact,
some of these demonstrations were tinged with revolutionary red.
Bolshevism, that wild revolt against the whole existing order to-day
manifest in every quarter of the globe, had not passed Bulgaria by. Of
course there was the army, but the army itself was not immune. By early
July, Bulgarian deserters and prisoners taken on the Macedonian front
were telling the Allied intelligence officers strange tales--tales of
midnight soldiers' meetings at which "delegates" were chosen in true
Russian fashion, and which Bulgarian regimental officers found it wisest
to ignore. Such was the situation in early summer. By the first days of
autumn Bulgaria was cracking from end to end. It was in mid-September
that General Franchet d'Espérey, the Allied commander, ordered the
Macedonian offensive. Small wonder that within a fortnight Bulgaria had
surrendered and retired from the war.
[Sidenote: Turkey's doom sealed.]
The consequences of Bulgaria's capitulation should be both momentous and
far-reaching. In the first place, Turkey's doom is sealed. Cut off from
direct communication with the Teutonic powers save by the Black Sea
water-route and staggering under her Palestine defeats, Turkey is now
menaced at her very heart. By the terms of the recent armistice Bulgaria
has agreed to allow the Allies free passage across her territory,
including the full use of her railways. This means that the Allies can
move through Bulgaria upon Turkish Thrace, the sole land bastion
protecting Constantinople. Turkey's military situation is thus hopeless,
and it is not impossible that before these lines appear in print Turkey
will have followed Bulgaria's example and will have thrown up the
sponge.
[Sidenote: Rumania to be freed.]
A second possibility is the liberation of Rumania. The "peace" imposed
upon Rumania by the Central powers last spring was one of the most
shameless acts of international brigandage in the annals of modern
history, and though dire necessity compelled Rumania to sign, it was
plain that she would submit to her new slavery only so long as the
Teutonic pistol was held to her head. This pistol took the form of a
Teutonic army of ten divisions camped upon her soil. But to-day Rumania
is thrilling to the great news, and when Allied bayonets begin flashing
south of the Danube these heliographs of liberty will light a flame of
revolt which second-rate German divisions will be unable to stamp out.
With the ground burning under their feet the Teutons will probably
evacuate Rumania with only the most perfunctory resistance to the
advancing Allies.
[Sidenote: German prestige in the East crumbles.]
And southern Russia is in much the same case. To-day it is bowed beneath
the Teuton yoke, yet the Teutonic corps of occupation are mere islets
lost in its vast immensity and ruling more by prestige than by physical
power. But German prestige is crumbling fast, and when Turkey's
surrender opens the Black Sea to the Allied fleets, southern Russia,
like Rumania, should be in a blaze. From the Ukraine to the Caucasus the
land is already seething with disaffection. The Don Cossacks have never
been subdued. Will the Germans dare to hold their thin communication
lines till the guns of Entente warships are thundering off Odessa and
Batum?
[Sidenote: Austria's condition is desperate.]
Lastly, there is Austria-Hungary. Bulgaria's capitulation opens the way
for the liberation of Serbia and an Allied push to the Austrian border
on the middle Danube. Beyond lie whole provinces full of mutinous
Jugoslavs and Rumanians. For that matter, all the non-German and
non-Magyar peoples of the Dual Empire are in a state of suppressed
revolt, held down by armies largely composed of their disaffected
brethren. Perhaps the Balkan winter may delay the Allied advance,
perhaps Germany may find enough troops to stifle Austrian disaffection,
but the condition of the Hapsburg realm is at best a desperate one, full
of explosive possibilities.
[Sidenote: Bulgars are disillusioned about Germany.]
[Sidenote: There may be a Balkan confederation.]
These are the major consequences which seem likely to flow from
Bulgaria's surrender. There remains the question of the future attitude
of Bulgaria herself. Will she remain a passive spectator of these
momentous happenings, or will she, striking in on the Allies' side, do
her share toward bringing them to pass? The latter eventuality is more
than possible. The Bulgarians, from czar to peasant lad, are realists,
not given to vain sacrifices. They see that Germany's game is up and
that her Balkan grip is broken forever. They have also been bitterly
disillusioned about Mitteleuropa, and must to-day realize that under
Mitteleuropa whatever Balkan territories might have been colored
"Bulgarian" upon the map, they themselves would have been virtually
serfs of a Germany whose idea of empire was the outworn concept of a
master race lording it over submissive slaves. With their eyes thus
opened, the Bulgarians are in a position to appreciate the Allies'
profession of faith with its program of freedom for the smallest peoples
and fair-dealing even toward the foe. Imperialistic dreams must of
course be banished forever. But solicitude for race-brethren outside
Bulgaria's present frontiers is a sentiment which the Allies recognize
as wholly legitimate and which they are pledged to satisfy either by
permitting annexation to the homeland or, where this is impossible owing
to superior claims of intervening races, by assuring the unredeemed
Bulgars full cultural liberty. The Allies' hope is a Balkan
confederation in which its varied races may pull together in common
interest and mutual respect instead of rending one another in vain
dreams of barren empire achieved through blood and iron. Is it too much
to hope that so level-headed a people as the Bulgarians will come to
realize that in such a Balkan settlement their lasting interests will be
far safer than in a Balkans precariously dominated by a Bulgarian
minority holding down a majority of sullen and vengeful race enemies?
Copyright, Century, December, 1918.
* * * * *
The most picturesque army raised during the great war was that formed by
large numbers of Czecho-Slovaks, formerly prisoners of war in Russia and
deserters from the Austrian armies. This force fought its way through
Russia and Siberia, opposed by the Bolsheviks who had promised them safe
conduct to France. A description of these famous fighters is contained
in the following pages.
THE FIGHTING CZECHO-SLOVAKS
MAYNARD OWEN WILLIAMS
[Sidenote: The romantic Czecho-Slovak army.]
The Czecho-Slovak Expeditionary Force is one of the most romantic armies
of the ages and an important step toward world democracy and idealism. I
learned to know the Czechs in a journey across Siberia on one of their
trains. They furnished me a bed when beds were scarce, transportation
when transportation was scarcer, and shoes when shoes were necessary. I
have never seen a real Czech that I could not endorse.
[Sidenote: Two methods of travel in Russia.]
[Sidenote: A journey on a Czecho-Slovak train.]
Last March there were two ways to travel in Russia. If one was an
American--relief worker, correspondent, Y.M.C.A. man--one could get a
private car. Many Americans rode that way for a trifling cost and
without inconvenience. And it was in such cars that some of Russia's
severest critics traveled. The other way was intimate travel with the
common herd. I started thus. It was at Irtishevo, a junction point near
the lower Volga, that I changed. In a crowded station in the Russian
disorder, I suddenly found myself looking into the eyes of a spirited,
smiling young officer, who had evidently learned that I was an American
journalist and who was explaining to me in three languages that there
was no way out of my riding to Vladivostok with his military train. He
wore a red and white ribbon. His alert bearing and enthusiasm marked him
in the numbers of nondescript soldiers who were still traveling in the
Russian chaos of last spring. I was about to protest mildly in French
when three of his fellow soldiers of fortune seized my baggage, carried
it around a countless number of trains and stowed it away in a
compartment from which another officer, warned of our arrival just in
time, was removing his personal effects. He may have stood up all night.
Anyway, I was a quite willing captive on one of the forty odd trains of
the Czecho-Slovaks which had started to cross Russia and Siberia to
fight for their liberty in France.
My friend was of medium height, well knit, deep chested, smart in
bearing. The red and white ribbon on his cap was the badge of the
Czechs. Before I had left them at Vladivostok five weeks later I could
have picked a Czech out from any crowd by his air of determination
backed by an enthusiastic good cheer which everywhere won its way from
Austrian prisoner to warmhearted Russian peasant woman. All that night I
heard them singing in that splendid, low, group chorus of theirs along
the entire line of the train.
[Sidenote: The Czechs are finely disciplined.]
I found these finely disciplined fellows next morning sitting in the
doorways of their freight cars. Some were playing on violins they had
whittled out in the prison camps. The future of their cross country
jaunt to the Pacific worried them not at all. They had fought their way
out of the Ukraine, where German elements had tried to stop them. As
former citizens of the Central Powers, they were quite happy in the
chance to fight again for what their ancestors of five centuries before
had stood. Bolsheviks there were among them. But a Czech Bolshevik
differs from a Russian in that he shaves and thinks before he acts.
Never have I seen more sharp salutes or stricter discipline, and these
men were in Russia where discipline was a curiosity. A Czech is so
anxious to accomplish that he is willing to discipline himself. When a
Czech marches, he marches irresistibly. In theory, he may be a
Socialist. In action, he is a patriot.
[Sidenote: Teaching English to Czech officers.]
I found my place on the expedition as teacher of English to a group of
Czech officers and members of the National Assembly. My class wanted
English in order to be able to understand President Wilson's speeches as
they traveled across the United States, for they rank the President with
their own national leader, Masaryk. The Czech is literate in several
languages, and if he wants another he gives a week-end to it. In my
class were university graduates, artisans, engineers and musicians. The
Czech is a natural-born good mixer.
[Sidenote: The young men make friends everywhere.]
When our train would reach a town, these young men of action won friends
wherever they went. Milk woman and bread seller all along the
Trans-Siberian liked them, for they pay spot cash, deal honorably and
don't know what ruffianism means.
The miracle accomplished by the Czechs is the result of discipline and
courage rather than strategy. Their rise to power was on their own
initiative. They could have stayed passive as have so many times their
number among the prisoners from other parts of Austria. But their stand
for freedom from the Austrian yoke is uncompromising. They started out
determined to fight for France and victory. The great bulk of the
remaining Austrian prisoners are completely satisfied if only they can
keep away from war. The Czechs are passionate in their burning
patriotism. The Austrian prisoners in Russia who still feel a certain
degree of loyalty to Austria are passive in their sentiment. Most of
them shrink from enforced military service--either back in Austria or in
a German-Austrian prisoner offensive on the spot in Siberia.
[Sidenote: Groups that have no love for the Germans.]
[Sidenote: Willing to join the Czechs.]
This Czechish heart centre of virile independence acted as a powerful
magnet wherever their bands moved. All through Russia and Siberia, there
are refugee groups from Poland, Lithuania, Courland and the Riga
District. These people have no love for the Germans who drove them from
their homes nor for the Junkers of their own communities who handed
their lands over to the Germans rather than have them divided by the
Bolsheviks. Germany is finding that there is a difference between saving
landed proprietors from hostile peasants and workingmen and the huge
task of enslaving these same peasants under the Prussian yoke. Hundreds
of these elements in Russia's great refugee population wanted to enter
the Czech expedition, but these fighters were compelled to keep their
army small, compact and homogeneous. Transportation was insufficient.
Even Czech artisans were refused a place in the trains unless they could
pass rigid examinations. The willingness of other forces to unite with
the Czechs may well be counted on when the call for them comes in
Siberia and Russia.
[Sidenote: The National Assembly of Bohemia.]
[Sidenote: Attractive decorations of the cars.]
The General Staff train on which I rode carried, in addition to the cars
for officers and men, a hall for the National Assembly meetings, a
complete printing outfit, a photographic dark-room, with full equipment
for still and motion pictures, a bakery, kitchens and a laundry. It was
on this moving train, all parts of which were connected by telephone
with the car of the commanding officer, that the plans for a New Bohemia
were being worked out. A daily four-page newspaper was published on the
General Staff train. It gave the ideals of the expedition, the current
news translated into Czechish, lessons in French for the use of the
forces on landing in France, and quotations from Professor Masaryk.
About four thousand copies of this paper were printed every day and
distributed not only among the Czechs but among many of the Austrian war
prisoners, who were thus informed of the ambitious plans these fighting
independents saw before them. Their trains showed their versatility and
love for decoration and home-making. Not only were they clean, but
hundreds of the cars were decorated with life-size drawings, and with
quaint designs in evergreens. To enable the men to find their friends, a
roster of the occupants of the car was printed on the red flanks of
their freight wagons. On the roofs, model aeroplanes and wind-mills spun
in the breeze. A Czech train reminded me of a picnic, and, aside from
the earnestness, it was.
[Sidenote: Study and athletic contests.]
For some travelers, the Trans-Siberian trip is monotonous. It was not
for the Czechs. They read and studied. They were always busy--even
before their clashes with the Bolsheviks began to take up some time. The
Y.M.C.A. had secretaries with some of the trains and sent supplies of
literature and games. The Bohemians are the champion gymnasts of the
world and athletic contests were arranged at every station, until at the
call of a bugle the train would pull out, picking up sweating, happy men
as it gathered speed.
[Sidenote: The Czechs distribute President Wilson's speeches.]
At the larger stations we spent sometimes hours, sometimes days. That
gave a chance for the Czechs to mix with the Russian people. It gave the
people an awakening sense of acquaintance with this happy race, who,
while going from war to war around the world, were distributing the
words of President Wilson to prove the sanity of their cause and the
folly of the Russian collapse. The President's speeches were widely
read and much appreciated. But these enthusiastic, friendly Czech
soldiers were the living examples of the President's rather abstruse
lessons of democracy. President Wilson might seem a political Messiah,
but the Czechs were the John the Baptists who made the initial
impression upon the Russian and Siberian peasants.
An Austrian prisoner at a Siberian station shouted one day so all could
hear: "What is this freedom that you talk about?"
Immediately a thick-chested Czech strode forward.
"It is the one thing that makes a man a man," he replied. "It is the
thing that links men together without weakening them individually. It is
the thing that will wipe out tyranny, because a free man won't stand a
tyrant."
As he talked to the slow-minded Russians and the slouching Austrian,
this ruddy-cheeked Czech exemplified the advantages he preached. There
was no slouch in his body, or character. The power that had gathered
together a group which had been dispersed all over Russia and welded it
into a fighting unit was not only passionate desire for freedom and
willingness to fight for it, but the power of self-discipline which made
both possible.
[Sidenote: The spirit of crusaders.]
The Czech army was gay without license. In Irkutsk, during the Easter
holidays, it ate ice-cream sandwiches or went up in tiny Ferris wheels
in the true spirit of the reveler at a dry-town carnival. In Omsk one
night it stood silent for hours, listening to the art of a Czech
violinist playing for the wounded in the Red Cross car. It paraded the
streets with a smile and an air of pride. It is boyish, open-hearted,
lovable. It makes friends. Neat in dress, erect in bearing, enthusiastic
in outlook--the Czechs win the Russian masses. There is the spirit of
the Crusaders in these fighters, a spirit of personal and national
cleanliness. Liberty to them is not a thing to wave a flag over but to
die for, if necessary. They are too sincere to be dramatic.
[Sidenote: A force in establishing confidence.]
Having come out of Armenia, with its remnant race of human wrecks, and
after months of the demoralizing fatalism and moral laxity of the
Russian, I was astounded by the miracle of stability of the tiny Czech
force in establishing an economic frontier between the Germanophile
sections of Russia and freedom-loving Siberia. Not only is this force
the key to the military problem of opposing Germany in Siberia. But from
the standpoint of sympathetic friendship between confused Russia and
America, the Czecho-Slovaks offer the most helpful force in establishing
confidence and turning into fact the good will which America bears to
Russian citizenry.
They can best tell their own story. Lieutenant B---- of my English class
was typical.
"When war was declared, I was in Switzerland," he told me. "Late in July
I climbed to the heights overlooking Austria. I could throw a stone over
into that land of oppression. That very day, when I went down into the
Swiss village, I heard that the Austrian mobilization had been ordered.
I could not believe that war would come. I returned to the land I hated
and in two days I had joined my class. We were to fight Russia. This was
unthinkable. Better to mutiny against our German and Magyar officers
than murder our brother Slavs.
[Sidenote: Czech regiments went over to Russia by companies.]
"And so it was that the word was secretly passed through whole regiments
of our men to desert to the Russians. The opportunity came when we faced
Brusiloff's army. The Russians knew and were ready to receive us. We
walked over in companies, with banners flying and bands playing and men
falling before the shots that rang out behind us. We hoped to turn and
fight against our oppressors. And for a while some of us did. But one by
one those of us who had entered the Russian ranks were removed and sent
to prison camps, whence we were scattered among the homes and factories
of Russia. My own band of companies was soon thoroughly broken up and
dispersed from Turkestan and the Caucasus to Tobolsk and Irkutsk. As
German influences strengthened at the Russian court we were sent to
worse and worse positions, malarial and barren territories. But we
prospered in spite of all that was done to oppress us.
[Sidenote: Waiting the time to strike for liberty.]
"For a while I managed a cotton factory in Turkestan and later I went to
open some mines further in the country. But all the while we kept in
touch with one another and day by day we waited for the time when we
could strike for liberty and Bohemia. Professor Masaryk was to give the
signal for the blow for liberty.
[Sidenote: The Russian Revolution.]
[Sidenote: Czechs ask to go to France.]
"Then came the Russian Revolution. With the Czar, the German influences
at Court were overthrown. We left our farm work and our shop benches. We
poured out of the dark mines and united in Czech battalions to fight in
the armies of Kerensky. At Zborov, we pierced six enemy lines but were
forced to retreat because the other fighters failed to advance as fast
as we. Then came the long wait for the time when Russia should find
herself, as she is still trying to do. The Slav is not a coward once his
mind is trained. There is hope for his ultimate recovery. The power of
Czardom was enforced ignorance, and this made possible the infamous
treaty of Brest-Litovsk. But we saw that there was no hope for a mere
handful of us to hold the Russian front, and to attempt this would be to
antagonize the Russian people. So we applied for permission to leave
Russia and go to France.
[Sidenote: The journey to Vladivostok.]
"Everyone said that it could not be done. It meant going almost round
the world. But we were determined and soon we had gained the support of
the French Government and the permission of the Bolshevik leaders, who
were glad enough to get us out of the country. They feared we would
start a counter-revolution. But here we are in Siberia and the hardest
part of our journey is over. Two weeks more should find us in
Vladivostok and from there we can go very quickly to France, where
thousands of our fellows are already fighting for the cause of liberty."
[Sidenote: The men are classified by occupation.]
Captain H---- was in Omsk. Behind him, as I talked with him, was a card
index file showing the occupation and residence of forty thousand Czech
artisans resident in Siberia. Typewriters clicked in the bright office
and outside a Czech wagon arrived with a ton of meat en route to the
cold storage cellar which he had built in the outskirts of Omsk.
[Sidenote: Food is obtained at high prices.]
"I arrived here alone and with only a few rubles," said Captain H----.
"But I heard that some day my fellows would come through on their way to
France. So I began organizing our resources. Many of our men have made
much money as prisoners in Russia. They were generous. Men began to
flock in and we took off their Austrian uniforms and put them into
Russian uniforms--the uniform of our expeditionary force. Fighting men
were listed and trained. Artisans we merely listed, and there are forty
thousand names classified by occupation and residence in those files. In
three weeks we have taken in 610 Czech prisoners and sent them out in
the uniform of the expeditionary force to France. Every shoe and belt
and uniform is utilized and nothing is wasted except the hated Austrian
uniform, which is in most cases worn to shreds anyway. We have
established friendly relations with the people. Theoretically we are not
supposed to be doing this. Theoretically, we are not securing food. But
actually we are getting enough and to spare. Ten trains a week get
several days' supplies here. Only in disorganized Russia could such
things be. But we have to pay the secret agents of the local Soviet
sixty-five rubles for meat. Its market price is thirty-five."
[Sidenote: Professor Masaryk in America is the leader.]
In my note-book, I cannot find the names of a dozen leaders of the Czech
expedition. In a sense, there were no leaders. The outstanding fact in
the Czech army is the democracy of it. The leaders are men who have been
trained, but they owe their position to popular choice. Yet there is no
foolish idea that military decisions can be made by a committee of
soldiers. The Czech sacrifices personal ambition to his cause and that
is why his cause is worth fighting for. The Russian cause, a thing of
chaos, is losing force every day. I might almost say that the Czechs, in
Siberia, were led by Professor Masaryk, in America, through the
influence of his words in the daily paper. As prominent a figure among
the Czechs as any one man in the expedition is Kenneth Miller of New
York, director of the Y.M.C.A., and held on a high pedestal in the
affection of 10,000 men. He has had much to do with the moving of the
Czech trains in all their complicated travel arrangements.
[Sidenote: How the Czechs came to control Siberia.]
The democracy of the Czech army and the ease with which it made friends
continually surprise me. The officer who induced me to join them was a
mere lieutenant, yet he never consulted anyone about taking me in. Was I
not an American? Each day some officer was told off to arrange matters
with the station masters. They moved their trains without bluff or
bluster. Sometimes the Soviets hindered them in order to get what guns
and supplies they could. But not till weeks after they started did any
Soviet have the temerity to try to stop or disarm the men. The Russian
masses were quickly won to friendship for the Czechs and the only force
that tried to interfere was the Bolshevik battalions who acted under
orders from distant points, where the man who gave the order enjoyed
comparative safety. The way that their control of Siberia through an
attempt to disarm them came about is as romantic as any feature of their
story.
[Sidenote: They have passes to leave the country.]
The presence of forty thousand well-disciplined Czech soldiers whose
loyalty to the cause of freedom was stronger than that of the rapidly
changing Russian proletariat made it seem desirable to the Bolshevik
authorities to rid the country of men so willing to fight and so little
subject to the extreme socialistic doctrines then rife in Russia. Both
Lenine and Trotzky by agreement with Professor Masaryk furnished these
men with passes for leaving the country and in spite of the chaotic
condition of transportation ample rolling stock, amounting to about
sixty trains of forty freight cars each, was placed at their disposal or
secured by the Czechs through their own efforts. Arrangements had
already been made with representatives of the French Government so that
plenty of money was provided for provisioning, equipping and
transporting a minimum of forty thousand men over about six thousand
miles.
[Sidenote: Military equipment being taken away.]
[Sidenote: The Czechs resist.]
Before these trains had gone far one local Soviet after another had
insisted on their leaving behind the armored motor cars, aeroplanes,
machine-guns and other military equipment which had been allotted to
them by the Russian Government during the Kerensky offensive. By the
time Penza--one day's run west of the Volga--was reached, after
machine-guns had been mounted on the engines in fighting their way
through the Germanized Ukrainian districts, the arms of each train had
been reduced to 140 rifles and ammunition. But the Czechs knew enough
about Russian conditions to realize the necessity for at least one gun
to a man and when the Bolsheviki, early in June, started to disarm them,
guns and rifles appeared from secret hiding places, to the extreme
consternation of the disarmers.
[Sidenote: Siberian Soviets delay the Czechs.]
[Sidenote: The Czechs overcome their captors.]
The reason for their being in the district of the Urals is one part of
the romance of their adventurous life. Out across Siberia, near the
Manchurian frontier, during April and May, the Cossack General Semenoff
was operating. He had closed to traffic the Trans-Siberian line by way
of Harbin, so that the first twelve thousand Czechs had had to use the
single track Amur Railway line to the north by way of Khabarovsk. By May
4 an international proletariat army thoroughly mercenary in character
and numbering possibly three thousand men, largely Austrian prisoners of
war, was enlisted to repulse Semenoff from the region of the railway
junction at Karuimskaya. Obviously since it was known that the Czechs
were financed by France and that France favored intervention in Siberia
it was indiscreet to allow thousands of Czech soldiers whose bravery was
unquestioned to pass within fourteen miles of the army under the command
of Semenoff. Fictitious floods on the Amur and some well-founded stories
of the poor condition of the single track Amur line were conjured up by
the Siberian Soviets as a reason for temporarily preventing the Czechs
from proceeding to France. The only real service performed by Semenoff's
provocative army of mercenaries and Chinese and Japanese irregulars, was
the indirect one of detaining the Czechs in Siberia, a service on which
the Cossack leader never figured. There is no question but that to get
to France was the sincere desire of the Czechs and there was no
suggestion that their forces could be or desired to be used in Siberia.
Having left the Austrian army rather than fire on their brother Slavs
the Czechs could scarcely be expected to have much enthusiasm for
fighting Russians over an ill-defined intervention program through
thousands of miles of Siberia. Chafing under the enforced delay, these
soldiers insisted that they be allowed to proceed to France. This seemed
out of the question to the Bolsheviki whose only alternative was to
disarm them. The Czechs who had carefully avoided any aggression upon
Russians until then, immediately set up a stout resistance, quickly
overcoming their would-be captors and thus almost miraculously putting
the small force which had then probably reached one hundred thousand men
in control of thousands of miles of railway reaching from Novo
Nikolayevsk to Tcheliabinsk and thence along the two branches leading to
Ekaterinburg and Zlatoust. This virtually established an economic
boundary between Siberia and Russia along the line of the Urals, since
the unsettled condition of the country makes the railway the only
practicable line of communication.
[Sidenote: How control of the railway is secured.]
[Sidenote: The Russian peasants friendly.]
The control of the railways was easily secured. At each of the important
stations Czech trains held the sidings. Due to the delay the trains
which should have been en route to France piled up at the stations, and
even in European Russia at Samara, Simbirsk and Suizran, a sufficient
number of Czechs held the station points to make their capture by
Bolsheviki forces a difficult matter. The Czechs made no attempt to
seize the towns located some distance from the stations or any other
territory. They wanted only to make secure their railroad travel. The
high prices which they paid for their necessarily large supplies of
provisions and the fact that they paid cash while the Bolshevik forces
and Soviets often requisitioned food supplies, likewise their good cheer
and personal magnetism, won for them the friendship of the peasant and
artisan classes in many of the villages so that when the clash came only
such Bolshevik forces as were definitely put to the task of disarming
them were actually hostile. The easy-going and friendly Russian peasant,
supine under the violent political changes, is a traditional friend and
an unwilling enemy. This characteristic, which the Allied Governments
have harshly criticized, may be counted upon to work to the advantage of
the Allies under any fair scheme for economic aid and peaceful
penetration which does not give grounds upon which active German
propaganda could construct open hostility.
One may well wonder why the hundreds of thousands of Austrian war
prisoners in Siberia have not blown up tunnels, destroyed tracks and
otherwise tried to stop the Czech expedition. It may be that the
Austrians secretly admired these men and were too tired of war to take
the initiative in Siberia.
[Sidenote: Seizure of Vladivostok.]
[Sidenote: The people welcome the Czechs.]
The seizure of Vladivostok by the Czechs was characteristic. From their
arrival, they attracted the attention and admiration of the people, many
of whom were planning an anti-Bolshevik demonstration. Every ship
commander in the harbor had his men ready for landing parties in case of
trouble. But there was no disorder on the day of the demonstration and
not till a month later did a Bolshevik disturbance give the Czechs a
chance to free an anti-Bolshevik city from its oppressors. Japanese,
Chinese, English or Americans from the war-ships could have done it. But
when the Czechs did it, a Slavic, Russian-speaking people gained
control of a city that gladly welcomed their intervention. The same idea
explains their marvelous success in Russia. Having braved death rather
than fight Russians, the Czechs can now fight oppressive Russian
elements without having their motives misunderstood or their plans
opposed.
[Sidenote: Marriages of war prisoners and peasant women.]
Siberia has afforded an interesting race study ever since the Teuton
prisoners began to arrive. From the very first, German and Austrian
prisoners mated with the sturdy peasant women of Siberia and settled to
a happy and unhampered life in the undeveloped lands of the great
plains. Some of the women had husbands at the front, but _nichevo_ never
means "never mind" to a greater extent than it does in Russian marital
affairs. A man's a man for a' that, and there was little trouble until
the two parents of different nationality and language discussed which
language the children should be taught. German and Russian produce the
same tow-headed stock. With the downfall of the Russian army the Russian
husband sometimes returned and though quite willing to assume
responsibility for the new offspring, insisted on asking the Austrian
substitute at his bed and board to leave. As often as not the Austrian
left. There were always a better farm and frau to be had elsewhere, and
some Russian women are tiresome anyway.
[Sidenote: Many Austrians do not go home.]
When conditions are like this in Siberia, why should an Austrian return
to a hungry country to fight a heroic enemy? A happy home in Siberia,
which some other man has founded, or starvation in Austria? No wonder
the Austrians in Siberia are a mercenary and unpatriotic lot. I saw many
in the Bolshevik army. Most of those I talked with were under arms for
the sake of the 200 rubles per month, equipment and food they were paid
by the Bolsheviks, without, as they told me, planning to run any
unnecessary chances of losing their lives in actual fighting against the
Czechs or any other enemy of the Bolsheviks for that amount of money, if
they could avoid it; not a very difficult matter.
Allied military support of the Czechs in Siberia is not Japanese
intervention, and sentiment in Russia and Siberia against intervention
to-day is now what it was six months ago. If the Bolsheviki do not
represent the people of Russia, the only way the Russian people can
develop confidence in themselves, and strength, is to throw off the
Bolsheviki. The Archangel and Siberian regions have started such moves.
Siberia seems ready to welcome the Czechs, and if the Allied forces in
Siberia keep themselves sufficiently in the background, Siberia will
probably welcome the friends of the Czechs. The Allies have failed in
Russia in the past because they have trusted upon material equipment
rather than upon education of the people in the ideals of our cause. A
certain amount of military intervention is necessary in Siberia if we
are to protect the Czechs and protect the supplies which an economic
mission would furnish. The danger lies in taking the control of that
military intervention out of the hands of the Czechs. If my observation
among all classes in Siberia counts for anything, the day the non-Slavic
forces of the Allies, especially the Japanese, whom the Russians
despise, move ahead of the Czechs who have already the confidence of the
Russians as no Allied army could, that day the Allied army will
encounter difficulties. This may spell tragedy for the cause of
democracy.
[Sidenote: Siberia differs from Russia.]
In general the Volga divides Siberia, the home of the freedom-seeking
exile, from Russia, in which for years German ideas have been encouraged
to the exclusion of French and English. Whole sections of Russia and
Siberia will starve this winter. If we follow the Czechs into Siberia
with economic aid, repairing and consolidating the railroad lines behind
them, installing modern methods of distribution we can then say to the
stricken people--"Some of you are starving, but this is in spite of all
the aid we can give." But across the Volga in Russia the people will say
to Germany--"We are starving because you took our food, because you
forced disorganization which has ruined us." Spring will allow the
intelligent Russian peasant to compare such Americanism with the blight
of Prussianism. Never fear that the object lesson will be in vain!
[Sidenote: A nucleus for the forces of freedom.]
Can the Czechs become an actual nucleus for the forces of freedom in
Russia and Siberia? They already are. The extent of their influence in
Siberia, in the region of the Don and in the heart of the Central Powers
themselves, is only limited by the support they receive from the Allies
and the restraint of the latter in independent action. The fate of
history may depend on the working out of the Czecho-Slovak miracle--a
plain gift of fortune to the cause of freedom.
Copyright, Asia, Journal of the American Asiatic Association, September,
1918.
* * * * *
The spirit which animated the American soldiers in France was a
revelation to the Allies, although it was precisely the spirit which
Americans at home knew would inspire them when they reached the actual
fighting line. Some instances of this spirit, and of experiences on the
American firing line, are told in the following pages.
SIX DAYS ON THE AMERICAN FIRING LINE
CORPORAL H.J. BURBACH
"We have arrived!"
[Sidenote: We reach the front.]
The French Army officer, who, skilled through years of actual artillery
service on the French fronts, had been my instructor through weeks of
training, and my guide up to the Front, stood still and spoke most
casually, as if our destination had been a Chicago restaurant.
[Sidenote: My comrades are hidden in the fog.]
"Yes, sir." I tried to be as casual, but could not disguise the
excitement that filled me. "Shall--the guns--" and I stopped, startled
at the tone of my own voice. It sounded as if it were coming from some
person a dozen feet away. And as I stood there a sense of elation, that
was possibly partly fear, swept over me. I looked about me, toward the
direction of the French officer who had spoken, toward the fellows of my
battery who had accompanied me up to the Front. I say toward their
direction, for I could not see my comrades--the fog that had come over
the land at sunset was too heavy to allow one to see an arm's length.
The officer snickered.
"Is this all that there is to it? Are we really on the firing line?" I
asked aloud. "Why, it's as quiet here as the Michigan woods!"
The officer laughed again.
"At this minute, yes," he said; then, "Wait here, I will be back
directly, and no noise!"
[Sidenote: The firing line seems a lonely place.]
He went off through the fog, and I have never experienced such a
feeling of loneliness as swept over me at that minute--loneliness, and I
really believe disappointment,--for I had imagined the firing line to be
a place of constant terror.
"Gee, this is what we've been training for all these months!" I heard
one of the fellows say. "Well, all I've got to say is it won't be so
quiet over on the Boches' land when we get started," and they all
laughed.
[Sidenote: An experience of many sensations.]
It is absolutely impossible to describe the sensations that come over a
fellow when he realizes that he is going under fire. I think that you
pass through various stages that include every sensation in life. You
are frightened, you are glad to get into the fight. You are anxious to
begin--you wish you had a few weeks' longer training to become a better
shot.
I am not sure how long we stood there waiting for the return of the
French officer who was tutoring us for our baptism of fire, but suddenly
he was at my side.
[Sidenote: The first need is a signal station.]
"The battery is to be over there," he pointed through the night, "and we
will set up a signal station right here. The first thing to do is to dig
in the telephone wires, for headquarters reports that there is
considerable rifle fire about here in the daytime. Order a detachment of
men to help you!"
[Sidenote: Digging in the telephone wires.]
"Yes, sir," and I went quickly back toward where I knew the men were
waiting, happy to think that there was work to be done at once. I gave
the orders that had been handed to me, and in about twenty minutes we
were turning over the earth. While we were working others were just as
busy, for our battery was being placed in position, and some fifty feet
behind the battery the others of the signal service detachment, of which
I was a member, were setting up a receiving station. As I helped in the
digging of that small trench for telephone wires my heart sang, and I
lived again the months that I had served in order that I might be fit
for the service I was performing that minute.
It might be well, before going further into this narrative, to say that
the fellows who had accompanied me were the first American troops to
take charge of a sector of the French line, a sector which some day will
be moved into the heart of Germany and make old friend Hun wish that
there was a way for him to change his nationality and viewpoint.
[Sidenote: The artillery training camp.]
The training camp where we had prepared for the front after our arrival
in France had been purchased by the United States from the French, and
had been in use since the beginning of the war for the purpose of
putting the high spots on the training of men belonging to both the
heavy and light artillery. It was a spacious place; we had comfortable
quarters and lots of good food. I had been on the Mexican border, so
that sound of the heavy guns that were being used for training purposes
did not annoy me, though to about ninety per cent. of the rest of the
fellows this was a new sound, and orders were issued that cotton was to
be put in the ears.
[Sidenote: The French officers are fine fellows.]
Except for the return fire, we might have been at the front, for the
camp was an exact duplication of conditions under fire. Our equipment
was largely French, and the officers who tutored us in modern warfare
were all French--and as fine a bunch of fellows as ever lived.
[Sidenote: Buying a village for a target.]
One of the exciting incidents of the Camp was the day that news arrived
that the American government had purchased a small village just beyond
the Camp (France is honeycombed with small villages,--it is almost
impossible to walk a mile without passing through a village) and that
it was to be used as a target for the American boys.
We practiced in turn, a battery going out for a few hours' work, and
then returning. Both light and heavy Artillery used the village as a
target, and it was not long before there was only a heap of rubbish to
tell where there had once been houses.
[Sidenote: The instructors praise American marksmanship.]
One of the things that the American fellows felt proud of was the fact
that they were constantly being praised by their French instructors
because of their very superior marksmanship. Several men told me that
the American troopers learned in two weeks' time as much of the
craftsmanship of war as the French learned in three months. As the story
was on themselves, I guess it must be true.
[Sidenote: Good care close to the firing line.]
[Sidenote: A question of high prices.]
We worked hard in camp, but the fellows liked it. We had good food, lots
of fresh vegetables, and meat. It is a fact that the closer you get to
the firing line the better care you get. There was plenty of recreation
through the Y.M.C.A. activities, but we did not have many furloughs.
Remember that at the time I am writing of, the American boys were new in
France. One of the reasons for the lack of furloughs was that in many of
the towns near the great camps that were set apart for the Americans the
merchants had decided that it was harvest time, and prices had gone very
high. General Pershing himself ordered that no member of the American
force should buy anything in these towns until the matter of prices was
adjusted, and this was speedily done.
[Sidenote: A journey in motor trucks.]
[Sidenote: Making the new quarters sanitary.]
I had been in the training camp about a month, making a special study of
telephone work as carried on between the front-line trenches and
outposts regimental headquarters, and the various gun batteries of the
regiment. At the end of that time I was detached from my regular
battery and assigned as Signal Sergeant to work with another battery
proceeding immediately to the American sector of the Front. We did not
travel forward in gradual stages as is the usual custom of approaching
the firing line for the first time, but made the journey as quickly as
possible, in motor trucks--a never-to-be-forgotten journey. Our
destination was a village between five and ten miles from the Front,
where we were to be billeted, and where the American troops would spend
their time while not actively in the trenches. We got there in the
afternoon, and a batch of the men were detached to make the place clean
and perfectly sanitary. It needed their work. The village had been used
by the French soldiers for some time, and there had been no time or
opportunity for repair work. With the coming of the Americans it was
different. Cleanliness is a strictly enforced rule with the fellows of
our fighting force, and from a standpoint of sanitation we are literally
introducing soap, water and whitewash into France.
[Sidenote: The order to advance.]
Later that afternoon, when it was growing dusk, came the orders to go
forward--and at nightfall I found myself walking beside the French
officer across rough ground, a very occasional dull boom telling us that
there was an enemy before us--but all other sounds seemed natural.
As I said before, it is impossible to accurately describe the sensations
that come over a fellow when he discovers that he is on the firing line,
and I welcomed the work to which I was so quickly assigned, and which we
rapidly accomplished. I marveled at the precision with which I had gone
to work that first night on the front, but everyone had their work to
do, and did it so quickly and coolly that we had no time to think of
personal feelings.
[Sidenote: An interesting day on the firing line.]
The first day on the firing line was very interesting. The battery kept
up a constant fire, getting range from the map which is issued daily--as
well as the given ranges, targets, etc. (which arrived over the field
telephone). That night we stood ready to do any work required, but no
orders came through, and I had my first experience in sleeping in a gun
pit.
Our food, by the way, was brought up daily from the headquarters at the
village and was prepared in rolling field kitchens.
[Sidenote: Food is good and abundant.]
As an example of the care that the fellows are getting, I might say that
we were given bread and milk, fruit, excellent coffee, eggs, or possibly
hash, and, of course, bread for breakfast; a heavy meal of soup, steak
or some roast meat, potatoes and vegetables, coffee and sweets, came
next, with a meal of canned foods for supper. All of it well cooked and
mighty tasty. Believe me, Uncle Sam was taking mighty fine care of his
soldier boys!
[Sidenote: The telephone system is demolished.]
The following day started as the first, but in the middle of the
afternoon the telephone system of our sector was demolished by rifle and
it was impossible to get into communication with either the headquarters
or the trenches.
"That stops work for today!" the officer told me. "No more gun fire till
we get it fixed."
I can remember asking anxiously what we could do.
"Nothing just this minute," he laughed at my eagerness, "but tonight you
and I will crawl out on our bellies and find that broken wire. Then we
will fix it, and unless they find us with a shell we'll crawl back."
[Sidenote: We go out to mend the wire.]
The prospect was exciting, and I waited anxiously for night. Then, armed
with the necessary tools, we started to crawl along the trench
containing the wires. We had no light, we could not stand upright. We
went about a half mile, feeling every inch of wire for the break, and
then suddenly I ran my hand along the wire that suddenly came to a
point. We had found the break.
"I've got it," I called in my best whisper, but before I could receive a
reply there was a noise from the German trenches.
"Star shell, star shell," my French companion called excitedly.
[Sidenote: A star shell bursts above us.]
Suddenly the shell burst above us, and it was more brilliant than day.
Frightened! Say, that light is so great and the knowledge that if the
Germans spot you you're a goner, makes you just lie there and forget to
breathe! It does not take many seconds for a star shell to die away to a
glow, but in those seconds you go right through life and back to the
present. When the light was gone I lay there fairly panting for breath.
"We'll have to work quickly," came the inspiring voice at my elbow, and
we did. We had not finished work before a new star shell was sent up.
[Sidenote: The repair work is finished.]
The repair work did not take many minutes, and we started back again. We
were halted several times by star shells, and after the second or third
time I began to reassure myself by saying that the Germans did not know
I was out there, that they had nothing against me individually.
Afterwards I heard one of the officers say that they were probably
suspicious because of the sudden cessation of the gun fire that
afternoon, and were looking for a raiding party to cross no-man's-land.
[Sidenote: The noise of the shells.]
During the time that I was at the front, it was the custom for men to
spend six days at the front, then go back to the village in which they
were billeted--always well beyond the firing line--and there rest for
about two weeks. By the end of my third day I had become quite
acclimated to the noise. One afternoon a scouting aeroplane must have
reported some fancied movement of troops in a village two or three miles
back of us, for the Germans started a heavy barrage which went singing
over our heads. The shells went high, but just the same they made
everyone uncomfortable for a few minutes. Fellows that have been on the
line, however, will tell you that you don't mind the noise of shell
fire--for you figure it out that the bullet that hits you is the bullet
you never hear--and while that doesn't seem a very comfortable thought,
you soon forget to think of danger.
[Sidenote: Shifting the gun's position.]
Perhaps the most exciting incident, and at the same time the one that
sent more terror to our hearts than any other, occurred late one
afternoon. It was foggy, though fog always hung over our battery--in
fact, the climate of the front that has been assigned to our troops is
notorious for its winter fogginess. Orders had been sent out to shift
the position of our gun, and as the afternoon wore away--and the thick
smoke-like pall that hung over us made it impossible to recognize the
fellow standing next to you when he was half a dozen feet away--it was
decided that there was no use to wait till night, but that we could
shift the gun at once.
[Sidenote: A German aeroplane right overhead.]
All the crowd started to work, the new gun pit was ready, and the signal
station was all moved. It was just as we got the gun into the position
and were straightening it into position that a faint breeze came
stealing down from the mountains. In a minute the breeze was stronger,
and we could see a hundred yards away. In another minute we could see
three times that distance, and at the end of the third minute we could
see clear up into the heavens--and there was a German plane flying
straight for us.
Did you ever stand waiting for death? I suppose not--but that was what
happened to our gun crews. The plane swooped low and seemed to hang
right over us. We waited, hardly daring to breathe. I saw the
perspiration running from one fellow's face, and guess it was running
down mine. I know that I had a most pressing desire to run--anywhere, so
long as I was moving. As I was looking down I glanced at my wrist watch
about every thirty seconds and lived minutes between each glance. No one
spoke--it was as if we had suddenly been turned to wood. Then after
fifteen minutes of observation the Hun plane circled away from us--and
we had lived several lifetimes in that short time.
[Sidenote: Army trucks take us back to the village.]
It was the fog that got me--and sent me back to the United States. Two
years before, coming home from drill at the armory (I was then a member
of the National Guard) I fell asleep on the train and contracted a
severe cold. The cold never seemed to leave me, and now, after a week of
fog, after sleeping in a gun pit, I grew hoarse and developed a nasty
cough. I was not really sick when I left the firing line after my six
days and returned to the billet, but I felt pretty miserable. I can
remember being glad when, after a several miles' walk back of the lines,
we found the army trucks ready to carry us to the village where we were
quartered.
[Sidenote: A month at the base hospital.]
I spent four days in the billet receiving further instruction from my
French officer, and then after ten days I started back to the training
camp, where I was to help in the instruction of the fellows of my
division who had not as yet been under fire. By the time I reached the
camp I was what might be termed all in, down and out. I went to the
hospital, and when I was able I was moved in an ambulance to a U.S. Army
Base hospital far removed from the firing line. I was at the base
hospital a month, and spent most of the time in the sunshine trying to
get rid of the heavy bronchial condition that had fastened itself to me.
The hospital was full--but not with Americans. I was surrounded by
fellows from all the allied nations, and had the chance to talk with
them. They're a great lot, and anybody who has any doubt about whether
we are going to win this war needs only a few minutes' conversation with
some of the chaps that have been over there for years. You bet we're
going to win--there isn't a thought of anything else but victory.
[Sidenote: Orders to go home.]
At the end of my month at the base hospital it was decided that I was
not fit for the firing line. Uncle Sam is mighty good to his fellows--he
does not believe in placing them under unnecessary risks, and when the
doctors said that my bronchial condition was practically chronic, and
the life on the firing line would only aggravate it, I got my orders to
go home and take up service in a climate where there was less chance of
my becoming a liability and where there was just as much work for me to
do as in France, though of a different nature.
It was a disappointment, but I'm glad to think that I had those six days
on the firing line, and proud to think that I was with the first batch
of Americans to see service in the fight against autocracy.
Copyright, The Forum, May, 1918.
* * * * *
That portion of France in which the American army did its most active
fighting is a country filled with historic and romantic associations. It
is also a country of great scenic beauty. The following article
describes graphically the general aspect of this portion of France.
AN AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD
RAOUL BLANCHARD
[Sidenote: A glorious battlefield.]
Terrific battles, ushering in the dawn of victories which will ensure
the freedom of the world, were fought in July and August, 1918, between
the Marne and Vesle rivers, from Château-Thierry to Soissons and Fismes.
In this soul-stirring struggle the young American troops played a large
part, and played it with heroism and success. It has occurred to us,
therefore, that the American people will be glad to become acquainted
with the battlefield made glorious by their sons, with the soil which
will some day be a consecrated goal of pilgrimage for the entire nation.
[Sidenote: The field once the most beautiful country.]
This field of death, bristling with ruins still smouldering, was
formerly, and will soon be once more, a beautiful stretch of country.
Here we are in the heart of the Ile de France, and the countryside
displays all the gracious charm of a typical French landscape. With its
undulating plateaus, pleasant vales, broad green valleys, forests and
greensward, châteaux and villas, small towns, and dear old villages
thronged with souvenirs of the past, the district between the Marne and
the Aisne was peculiarly representative of France--the France of the
Merovingians and Capets as well as of the twentieth century.
There is no manufacturing and little commercial activity; but a
skillful, varied, and persistent culture of the soil, with special
attention to those most exacting of crops, the vine and vegetables,
which are successfully raised only by dint of hard labor, and to the
production of vast quantities of sugar-beets and cereals.
[Sidenote: The villages are built of stone.]
The villages, built of the beautiful stone of the district, have, one
and all, an air of dignity and prosperity which gives animation to the
landscape. The very names are among the most pleasant to the ear, and
often among the most illustrious in the language. Our great men of
letters, La Fontaine and Racine, Pope Urban II, who preached the First
Crusade, and other statesmen and princes, all born in the province, had
already made it a genuinely historic spot; and the memory of the battles
fought by Napoleon at Château-Thierry and Soissons, against the invaders
of 1814, has not yet faded. When they turned the enemy back from Paris,
the Americans were fighting in the most truly French of all the
districts of France, and their gallantry has imparted to it a new charm,
a more resplendent glory.
[Sidenote: Topography from the Marne to the Vesle.]
But this attractive region does not exhibit everywhere the same
features. The topography of the Ile de France is so varied that one can
distinguish several families, or groups, of landscapes between the Marne
and the Vesle. Let us follow them, in the order followed by the
different stages of the battle.
The southern portion is the most elevated and most picturesque; it
includes the shores of the Marne, from Epernay to Château-Thierry, as
well as the hills and valleys to the eastward, grouped about the Ardre
River in the district called the Tardenois. In the centre the
battlefield embraces plateaus studded with low hills, half hidden by
broad patches of forest, and cut by deep, narrow valleys--those of the
Ourcq and its affluents; whence the region is known as the district of
the Ourq, or the Orxois. Lastly, to the north this undulating ground
gives place to a practically level plateau, a vast table-land of
cultivated fields, through which flow the deep ravines of the Aisne, the
Vesle, and their affluents. This is the Soissonnais.
[Sidenote: The wake of the American armies.]
From the Tardenois to the Soissonnais by way of the Orxois, let us
follow in the wake of the French and American armies, in their
decisively victorious advance.
[Sidenote: Valleys of stream cut deep.]
On emerging from the plains of Champagne, at Epernay, the Marne flows
through the plateaus of the Ile de France as far as Paris, and the
country along its banks changes its aspect. Instead of the wide valley
which seems one with the immense bare plain, the stream, breaking out a
path for itself through the solid mass of the plateau, has cut a gash
from 500 to 2000 metres in width, which turns and winds in graceful and
ever-changing curves. Thus, although its general course is from east to
west, the trend of the walls of the valley constantly changes and bears
toward every point of the compass in turn. Moreover, these walls,
intersected by the ravines and valleys of numerous tributary streams,
are cut up into capes, bastions, and deep hollows. Finally, the cliff
from whose summit the plateau overlooks the valley, and whose average
height is about 150 metres, at times rises steeply from the lowland, and
again is broken up into terraces following the different strata of which
it is composed. Thus, although the topographical elements are simple
enough, they lend themselves to an ever-changing combination of forms,
which gives to the landscape its great charm, and at the same time
offers some formidable advantages of various kinds from a military
standpoint.
[Sidenote: The placid Marne.]
[Sidenote: The Marne easy to cross.]
The bright green ribbon of the Marne winds along the valley bottom. The
placid stream, about a hundred metres wide and broken here and there by
islets, wanders from one bank to the other, lined by poplars and
willows. On either side of its limpid waters are broad fields, whose
delicate greenery frames the sparkling line of the river, which forms a
by no means impassable obstacle. In the days just preceding the German
offensive of July 15, American patrols constantly crossed between
Château-Thierry and Mézy, and picked up prisoners and information on the
northern bank. In like manner, during that offensive the attacking
German troops were able without great losses to cross the Marne and
attack the defenders on the southern bank. To be sure, the Allied
air-men made their life a burden by keeping up an incessant bombardment
of the bridges, large and small.
[Sidenote: Fierce fighting on the slopes.]
But the real obstacle which this valley offers is found in the slopes
which dominate it, and it was there that the fiercest fighting took
place until the day when the French and Americans, having thrown the
enemy back across the river, scaled the cliffs of the right bank on his
heels and dislodged him therefrom. In this neighborhood there were two
sectors of terrific fighting--that of Châtillon-Dormans upstream, and
that of Château-Thierry below.
[Sidenote: A wide valley with steep slopes.]
[Sidenote: The vine-growing district.]
Going upstream, the valley is quite wide: from Monvoisin to Dormans, by
Château-Thierry, it measures two kilometres almost everywhere. The high
cliff which overlooks it on the north, cut by a multitude of narrow
valleys coming down from the table-land of the Tardenois, forms a series
of buttresses which make excellent defensive positions. On the sharpest,
which is a genuine peninsula overhanging the main valley, sits the
village of Châtillon, formerly crowned by a haughty feudal castle, on
whose ruins was erected a statue of Pope Urban II, who long ago had
trouble with the German emperors. The slopes below are hard to climb,
because of their steepness and the network of tilled fields. Here we
are at the heart of the vine-growing district, and these banks of the
Marne contribute largely to the production of the famous champagne. The
vines extend, on long rows of poles, to the very summit of the cliffs,
especially on the right bank, which has a better exposure to the sun;
they are often connected by strands of wire, on which straw mats are
placed to protect the vines from the cold in winter.
[Sidenote: Allied troops find many obstacles.]
On a lower level, nearer the stream, are magnificent orchards: the
cherry tree joins with the vine to impart to those slopes an aspect of
rustic opulence. Huddled white villages, with tawny-hued pointed roofs,
follow one another in regular succession on the rolling ground. Their
names have lately won a terrible celebrity: Binson, Vandières,
Vincelles, Tréloup. Sandstone quarries burrow into the summit of the
cliffs and furnish shelters for the defenders. Finally, there are strips
of forest along the slopes wherever the exposure is thought poorly
suited for crops. All these features unite to form a cheerful, animated,
lovely landscape; but at the same time a conglomeration of obstacles
which the Allied troops were able to overcome only after fierce
fighting.
[Sidenote: Villages in the hillsides.]
Below the little town of Dormans, the valley narrows temporarily: from
Tréloup to Brasles it is frequently less than 500 metres in width. The
cliff, although steep as before, is less cut up, and the patches of
forest are large. At the mouths of the smaller affluent valleys, the
villages rear their church-towers on the hillsides, overlooking the
lowest vineyards and orchards; on this right bank are Jaulgonne,
Chartèves, and Mont Saint-Père, all taken by the Allies late in July,
and Fossoy, where the Americans successfully repulsed the German attack
of July 15.
[Sidenote: The ancient town of Château-Thierry.]
But now the valley widens once more as it enters the broad basin of
Château-Thierry. It is a beautiful spot, and at the same time, of great
military value. The little town long ago forgot its rôle of fortress,
but has been brutally reminded of it by the violence of the battles that
have been fought in its neighborhood. In the foreground is the wide
expanse of fields in the valley bottom; then a suburb of the town
enclosed between two arms of the Marne. Across the river, scaling the
slopes of a hill crowned by the ruins of a castle, the town rises,
terrace-like, at the mouth of a narrow valley. The position can be
carried by frontal attack only on the heels of a defeated foe, as
Napoleon carried it in 1814, and Franchet d'Esperey just a hundred years
later. But in 1918 the Americans had to take Château-Thierry in flank,
and in order to force their way into the town, had to fight the bloody
battles of Vaux, Bouresches, and Etrepilly, which carried them to the
north of the town and hastened its evacuation.
[Sidenote: Military operations difficult.]
What is the nature of the terrain above those steep cliffs which enclose
the valley of the Marne? Does it become more favorable to military
operations than the deep depression through which the river flows? Not
by any means. The surface of the table-land is broken by so many ravines
and narrow valleys which descend steeply to the Marne, that it is cut
into a multitude of ridges and hillocks amid which it is no longer
possible to recognize the original horizontal aspect of the plateau.
[Sidenote: Heavy impermeable soil.]
[Sidenote: Hills that are fortresses.]
On the other hand, the strata which lie on the surface--loam, sandstone,
and clayey sand--make a heavy, impermeable soil, quite infertile, in
which it is hard to raise anything, and which is largely given over to
woods. Thus, freedom of movement is impeded by deep ravines, ridges
running in all directions, and more or less dense forests; an offensive
is difficult, and the defensive easy. This is true in the immediate
neighborhood of Château-Thierry, where the ravines of Vaux, Brasles,
Chartèves, Jaulgonne, and Tréloup, and the valley of the Surmelin, slash
the plateau on either side of the Marne into fragments--into
forest-topped hillocks which are genuine fortresses, where the struggle
was terrific and where the Allies were able to advance only one step at
a time: on Hill 204, west of Château-Thierry, in the Bois de Mont
St-Père, the forest of Fèze above Jaulgonne, and especially on the spur
of the forest of Riz; and south of the Marne, at the broad, wooded
bastion of Saint-Agnan and at La Chapelle-Monthodon, where the fighting
was so intense from the 15th to the 20th of July.
[Sidenote: The villages and forests of the table-land.]
[Sidenote: Genuine mountain battles.]
This strip of broken table-land becomes broader again farther upstream,
above Dormans and Châtillon-sur-Marne. In that direction the plateau of
the Ile de France ascends until it is more than 260 metres above the
stream. Erosion has been even more active there, and in that part of the
Tardenois the plateau is dissected into narrow strips separated by deep
valleys, broad and moist, the largest of which is the valley of the
Ardre. In the valley bottoms the streams are bordered by bands of
tillage land; above, on the lower slopes, amid the vineyards and
orchards which monopolize all the favorable exposures, is a multitude of
small villages, some of which have become famous--Ste. Euphraise,
Bligny, and Ville-en-Tardenois, whose rustic dwellings of uncut rubble,
arranged amphitheatre-wise, sheltered some 500 inhabitants. Higher up,
on the uneven surface of the plateau, are scattered villages built on
limestone foundations--tiny fortresses, like Rumigny and Champlat, the
scene of hard-fought battles. Almost the entire surface is covered with
forests of pine and oak and birch. These are the woods of Le Roi,
Courton, Pourcy, and Reims, where hand-to-hand fighting went on for more
than a fortnight, British, Italians, and French succeeding at first in
checking the enemy and then in forcing him back, in those titanic
combats. They were, in reality, genuine mountain battles; for the hills
reach a height of 265 metres, above the level of the plateau, while the
valleys are at least 100 metres deep; and the difficulties of the uneven
surface were greatly increased by the obstacles offered by forests,
vineyards, streams, and the villages, closely packed with stone houses,
which could easily be transformed into fortifications.
[Sidenote: The first great American battle.]
A deep, broad, swampy valley, traversed by an unfordable stream;
surmounted by steep slopes bristling with vineyards, orchards, villages,
and diversified by quarries; above, an entanglement of low hills,
ravines, and valleys, under a mantle of forest--such was the theatre of
operations in which the Americans won their first great victory. A more
difficult terrain could not be desired, or one better adapted to test
the valor of the victorious troops.
But when they had made themselves masters of this battlefield, the
Allies were by no means at the end of their labors; and the difficulties
of the ground to be traversed were still serious in the central portion
of the theatre of operations--the Orxois.
[Sidenote: The Orxois plateau--its soil and relief.]
[Sidenote: A varied landscape.]
The Orxois is a plateau extending north of the Marne to the Soissonnais,
at a mean height of 160 metres. But it is very far from being uniform.
Let us study the nature of its soil, and the relief, that we may
comprehend its aspects more thoroughly. The substratum of the plateau of
the Orxois is the layer of rock called "hard limestone" 30 to 40 metres
in thickness, so much of which is used for building material in the
towns and villages. This layer is almost horizontal, and if there were
nothing superimposed upon it, the plateau would be a practically level
platform. But above the hard limestone are successive layers of a far
different character--layers of sand, of Beauchamp sandstone, mingled
with marl, making a moist, impermeable, infertile soil; then another
layer of limestone, softer and more clayey than that below. Finally,
this upper limestone is covered, especially toward the east, with thin
layers of marl, clay and, lastly, Fontainebleau sand, which are
connected with the strata of the Tardenois. Thus, to a depth of 100
metres, we find a succession of diversified strata, hard and soft, dry
and moist, which impart great variety to the landscape.
The valleys which intersect this conglomeration run from east to west,
toward the deep depression hollowed out by the Savières and the Lower
Ourcq. From north to south, we can count three--the Upper Ourcq, by
Fère-en-Tardenois and La Ferté Milon, the Ru d'Alland, and the Clignon.
Very wide where they pass through the upper strata, these valleys grow
abruptly narrower and deeper when they reach the level of the hard
limestone, where they are little more than deep and narrow ditches.
Between these furrows, the marl, sand, and softer limestones form
ridges, now steep, now rising more gently, the sandy soil bearing woods,
the limestones cultivated fields.
[Sidenote: The ridges run east and west.]
Thus the whole plateau of the Orxois is a series of elevations and
depressions, running from east to west, which form just so many
obstacles to an advance from south to north like that of the Allies.
Luckily they approached this locality at the same time from the west,
which enabled them to outflank the obstacles simultaneously with their
approach from the south.
[Sidenote: Torcy, Belleau and Bouresches.]
North of Château-Thierry, three or four kilometres from the Marne, the
plateau is less diversified. The only obstacle is the valley of the
Clignon, which deepens rapidly toward the west. Above it, at the summit
of the limestone cliff, the plateau forms a species of promontories on
which are built villages--Torcy, Belleau, Bouresches. The American
troops had held their positions there during the last part of June, and
it was there that the heroic marines halted the enemy in his march upon
Paris. And again, it was there that they assumed the offensive on July
18, to outflank Château-Thierry from the north. On that day they carried
the ridges of Torcy and Belleau; on the 19th they pressed beyond
Bouresches; and on the 20th they forced their way into Etrepilly and
Château-Thierry.
[Sidenote: The terrain beyond is less rugged.]
Immediately beyond, the terrain is not so difficult. The Clignon valley
becomes less rugged and gradually blends with the plateau. Toward
Bézu-St.-Germain and Epieds lies a comparatively open plain with
extensive stretches of fallow land. In this more open region the
progress was more rapid; on July 22 the American troops took possession
of Epieds, twelve kilometres from Bouresches, their starting point.
[Sidenote: Along the valley of the Ourcq.]
But the difficulties are more serious farther to the north, along the
hills which form the southern boundary of the valley of the Ourcq.
Although the depression made by the Ru d'Alland, being broad and level,
is not a considerable obstacle, it is not the same beyond. The relief
map shows a line of heights running from west to east, and rising higher
and higher in that direction. From these heights a multitude of valleys
descend to the Ourcq, from south to north, cutting the crest into hills
separated by depressions. Thus the terrain is broken up in every
direction and well adapted to meet an attack from the west as well as
one from the south.
[Sidenote: The French carry ridges and valleys in succession.]
It was necessary to deal with all these obstacles one by one. Starting
from the west, the French had to carry successively these lines of
crests and depressions with their fortified villages: ridge of Monnes,
July 19; ravine of Neuilly-St-Front the same evening; the hill of
Latilly and its wood the 20th; La Croix and Grisolles the 21st, with
their thickets and dense plantations of osiers. On the 23d the Allied
troops took Rocourt and the wood of Le Chatelet; on the 24th the deep
ravine of Brécy; and, finally, on the 25th, French and Americans
together attacked the hill of the forest of Fère, which is 228 metres
high, completely covered with woods, cut by ravines, and flanked by
fortified villages. On the 27th the whole position was taken, and the
Allies were on the verge of the deep valley of the Ourcq, which they
were next to cross.
[Sidenote: Caves in the cliffs.]
[Sidenote: Allies turn the line of the Ourcq.]
This line was a by no means inconsiderable obstacle. Imagine, if you
please, a deep depression, twisting and turning in all directions, and
from 200 to 400 metres wide, extending at least as far as
Fère-en-Tardenois. It is bounded on either side by cliffs of hard
limestone, 30 to 40 metres high, in which innumerable caves are
scooped--the so-called _boves_, which are used as dwellings, with doors
and windows flush with the face of the cliff. These _boves_ are
invaluable defensive positions, out of reach of bullets and shells. The
valley bottom is wet and swampy, with dense clumps of poplars mingled
with alder-bushes. There are numerous villages at the foot of the
cliffs,--Rozet-St.-Albain, Brény, Armentières,--or on the slopes above,
like Noroy. A frontal attack on such a position would have been too
costly. The Allies turned the line of the Ourcq from the north. They
crossed the river in force in the upper part of its course, where it
has not yet attacked the stratum of hard limestone, and where the valley
is wider, and the sides are less steep. Nevertheless they encountered
terrible difficulties.
[Sidenote: Strategic value of hills of Orxois.]
North of the Ourcq, indeed, the last heights of the Orxois form another
chain of hills, from four to six kilometres wide--the last obstacle
before we come to the plateau of the Soissonnais. These hills are of the
greatest possible diversity of shape and vary in height from 200 metres
at the western extremity to 230 at the eastern. Their bases consist
largely of sandstone and Fontainebleau sand, with clumps of forest
scattered here and there; higher up is the softer limestone, the land
being entirely cleared and covered with crops. Here and there we find
the remains of the former covering of clay and Fontainebleau
sand--wooded ridges which expand toward the east into the wood of
Seringes, the forest of Nesle, and Meunière wood. These hills, the last
as we travel northward, where they command the whole of the Soissonnais,
have therefore the greatest strategic value, particularly the positions
of Hartennes, Plessier-Huleu, and Seringes.
[Sidenote: The French approach from the west.]
Luckily these formidable defensive positions were approached from the
west, astride the ridges. Starting from the forest of Retz, the French
crossed the Savières with a rush, and in a single bound reached
Noroy-sur-Ourcq and Villers-Hélon, which lie along one of the ridges,
surrounded by orchards. On July 19 they had advanced three kilometres to
the east; the strong line of the Ourcq was outflanked. On the 20th they
were at Parcy-Tigny and Rozet-St.-Albain, pushing forward over the
broken ground planted with sugar-beets and cereals, enlivened in spots
by small clumps of trees perched on the sandstone hillocks. Thus they
drew near to the heart of the position--the ridges of Plessier and of
Hartennes. There the resistance was much more violent; but after three
days of hard fighting, the French entered Plessier and approached the
village of Oulchy-la-Ville, surrounded by picturesque heaps of sandstone
blocks mingled with pines and birches. On the 25th, in the evening, they
were in occupation of Oulchy-le-Château, which lies in a charming vale
running down to the Ourcq. The line of the Ourcq, as to that portion
where the river, flowing between high cliffs, constitutes a real
obstacle, was in the Allies' hands.
[Sidenote: Fère-en-Tardenois and Sergy.]
It remained to complete the victory by the conquest of the eastern
sector of the hills; and this again was no easy task. The French and
Americans had now to approach that strong defensive position from the
south. On the 28th they entered Fère-en-Tardenois; the Americans crossed
the Ourcq, taking Sergy, which changed hands nine times. On July 31,
after more titanic battles, they wrested Seringes from the foe. On
August 1 there was a general advance all along the line, and the Allies
carried the whole line of hilltops, from Plessier-Huleu to Meunière
wood.
[Sidenote: Heroes of the second battle of the Marne.]
This was the end: the horizon expanded. From the heights conquered in
fourteen days of fighting the Allies went down to the plateau of the
Soissonnais; soon they would reach the Vesle and join hands with the
troops who had retaken Soissons. Among the numberless heroes of this
second battle of the Marne, they who stormed the heights of the Orxois
and either outflanked or crossed the valley of the Ourcq were the
bravest of the brave and are entitled to the largest share of our
gratitude. The third act of the battle was played upon a terrain quite
different from those preceding it. The relief is considerably
simplified. The great plateau of the Ile de France, which is buried, as
it were, under the accumulations of recent deposits, where erosion has
worn gaps in the ridges of the Orxois, and hollowed out the deep ravines
of the Tardenois, is reduced here to the substratum of hard limestone,
almost entirely free from superimposed layers. So that, instead of being
an uneven, swampy district, the Soissonnais is a dry level table-land,
where the streams flow underground through the layers of limestone. A
fertile district, too, for the surface is covered with a thin coating of
loam, in which sugar-beets and cereals vie with one another in profusion
of growth.
[Sidenote: Valleys of the Vesle and the Aisne.]
[Sidenote: Fertile slopes and valleys.]
However, the plateau is intersected by occasional valleys, generally
broad and deep. The two most considerable are those of the Vesle and the
Aisne which come together above Soissons, at Condé, and isolate the
famous Chemin-des-Dames to the north. Two tributaries, Ambleny brook and
the Crise, flowing down to the Aisne, subdivide the southern portion of
the Soissonnais, where the battle was fought. With respect to the
plateau, these valleys are little worlds apart. Below the hard
limestone, they have hollowed out a path through very soft rocks, sands,
and clays; in these the streams have inevitably made large inroads,
sapping the limestone cliffs which overhang them. Thus the valley
bottoms are abnormally wide--from two to three kilometres near Soissons.
The presence of the clayey soils makes them very moist, and we find
there fields of beets and grain side by side with extensive tracts of
grassland. On the lower slopes are many small fields given over to the
less hardy products--beans, orchards, and sometimes grape-vines. Here
are most of the villages, at the level where the water-courses, seeping
through the limestone of the plateau, reappear in the shape of springs,
on the impervious stratum. For the most part the villages lie along the
hillsides, surrounded by trees, embellished by châteaux and parks. They
are well-built and attractive, boasting churches of graceful
architecture, thanks to the lovely decorative stone taken from the
quarries in the limestone cliffs above, which are called _boves_, or
_croutes_. A fascinating, fertile country, diversified and pleasant to
the eye, before the war it might well have been taken as a sample of
rural opulence.
[Sidenote: Great difficulties of passage.]
Plateau and valleys, then, differ materially--the one monotonous and
easy of access; the other, no less charming than varied, but presenting
great difficulties of passage in the face of opposition. There is not a
village on the plateau: only a few large farms and scattered sugar-beet
refineries. In the valleys and on the slopes there are everywhere
houses, châteaux, parks, orchards, and grottoes. The slender
church-tower barely rises to the level of the plateau, as if to watch
for the approach of an enemy. The conditions then were quite simple: on
the plateau it was possible to gain many kilometres in a single rush;
but in the valleys a fierce resistance was to be expected.
[Sidenote: The Franco-American attack.]
The French and American attack in the Soissonnais was fortunate in its
starting-point. In the course of the hard-fought battles between June 15
and July 15, the French had retaken the entire valley of
Ambleny-Coeuvres, and had gained a footing on the plateau to the
eastward, which stretches as far as the outskirts of Soissons. To the
south they had completely cleared the verge of the forest of Retz, from
which they were thus able to debouch into the plain.
[Sidenote: In sight of Soissons.]
[Sidenote: Germans bring up reserves.]
The first onrush was magnificent. Starting at ten minutes to five in the
morning, the Allies were within sight of Soissons at ten o'clock, having
overrun the whole plateau on a front of some ten kilometres. Rarely has
a more successful attack been seen in this war. It was even said that
on this first day some French and Americans got as far as the suburbs of
Soissons. But the danger for the Germans was too great, and they brought
all their reserves thither. Moreover, they had the valley of the Crise
to support their defense.
[Sidenote: Artillery can hardly see the villages.]
This valley is the widest and deepest of all those which eat into the
plateau of the Soissonnais from the south. The very considerable
depression is more than 100 metres below the surface of the plateau,
which it cuts in two, effectively shutting off all progress from west to
east; for on the south a narrow isthmus, that of Vierzy, barely
separates it from the ravine of the Savières; and on the southeast it
reaches to the foot of the wooded hills of Hartennes. Clinging to the
sides of the valley and of the ravines which open into it, numerous
villages--Vauxbuin, Berzy-le-Sec, Villemontoire, Buzancy--are the more
difficult to capture because the artillery can hardly see them, as they
lie close against the hillside. It was on the Crise, in the latter part
of May, that a handful of Frenchmen held up the German avalanche from
the Chemin-des-Dames.
[Sidenote: German guns have revenge.]
[Sidenote: Allies enter Soissons.]
The Germans paid us back in July. Sheltered in the ravines and windings
of the valley, their artillery, being almost invisible, had nothing to
disturb its aim. The villages, the orchards, the grottoes, crammed with
machine-guns, were so many fortresses; the whole valley was a veritable
hell. There were incessant counter-attacks, which the Allies, on the
bare plateau, entirely devoid of cover, could repel only with the
greatest difficulty. They pushed forward step by step, and by fits and
starts. On the 19th our troops were hard put to it to hold the ground
they had taken the day before; on the 20th they barely began to nibble
at the ravines, at Ploisy and L'Echelle. On the 21st the Americans took
Berzy-le-Sec, and the French were astride the lower waters of the Crise;
on the 23d they went down into the ravine of Buzancy. But not until the
25th did they gain possession of the promontory of Villemontoire; and
only on the 29th did a Scottish division, after three days of forward
fighting, carry Buzancy. This last success, to be sure, was decisive,
for it uncovered the upper valley of the Crise. And so, on August 2, the
enemy gave way; that day the Allies crossed the valley along its entire
length, and advanced across the eastern side of the plateau as far as
the Vesle. On the same day they entered Soissons--at last. The ancient
capital of the French kings, the city which formerly disputed the claim
of Paris to be called the metropolis, is now no more than a mass of
ruins. For four long years the war has laid its heavy hand upon her; and
it is no new thing for her, since she had played an important military
rôle in 1814, 1815, and 1870. She owes it to her fine location, in the
heart of a broad valley, where the roads from south and east meet. Let
us hope that her martyrdom will soon come to an end.
[Sidenote: The Allies hold the entire plateau.]
Here ended the second battle of the Marne. The Allies have regained
possession of the whole plateau which extends from the Marne to the
Vesle and the Aisne. They have established themselves in the valleys of
those great rivers, from Soissons to Braisne, Bazoches, and Fismes--even
to Rheims. They find there formidable obstacles to be overcome: a broad,
moist, sometimes swampy bottom; facing them the cliff of the
Chemin-des-Dames and the plateau of the Vesle, with its cap of
limestone, and its numerous windings lined with villages and grottoes.
Except in case of a surprise or a voluntary retirement, it will be a
hard job to carry these positions. But sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. The results already achieved are fine enough to justify us
in declaring ourselves satisfied.
[Illustration: A PICTORIAL MAP SHOWING THE FARTHEST GERMAN ADVANCE, THE
HINDENBURG LINE AND THE LINE AT THE TIME OF THE ARMISTICE: NOVEMBER 11,
1918]
[Sidenote: The American troops do magnificent work.]
[Sidenote: Peers of the world's best soldiers]
The work done in their début, by the American troops in conjunction with
our own, was magnificent. They fought against victorious soldiers sure
of success, and whipped them. They were engaged on a difficult terrain.
In the south they were obliged to cross a broad river and wide valleys,
to scale cliffs bristling with defensive positions. In the center they
were confronted by a confused entanglement of broken ground, hills and
ravines, woods and open fields, bisected by a deep valley half-concealed
by trees. In the north they became acquainted with the snare formed by
plateaus falling abruptly away into the wolf-trap of ravines, where the
enemy, lying in ambush, refused to give ground. The Americans triumphed
over all these obstacles, and deserve to be reckoned the peers of the
best soldiers in the world. On the other hand, fighting as they have
fought in these countrysides, so typically French in their simplicity
and grandeur, and seeing all their charms foully outraged, our
attractive villages destroyed, our churches--graceful masterpieces, in
almost every case, of the Middle Ages--desecrated and shattered, they
have come to understand France better; they have had a share in her
misfortunes and in her hopes.
Copyright, Atlantic Monthly, December, 1918.
* * * * *
Throughout the war Germans persisted in the assumption that by nightly
raids from bombing machines and Zeppelins they could spread terror among
the Allies and weaken their morale. They did succeed in killing a large
number of defenseless men and women, but this was the only result of
these attacks. A vivid account of these night raids is given in the
narrative following.
NIGHT RAIDS FROM THE AIR
MARY HELEN FEE
[Sidenote: Thousands of automobile trucks.]
When the first offensive began to the north of us, we, who were
stationed in the American Canteen at E----, not more than fifteen miles
from Rheims, were thrilled by the sight of the thousands of automobile
trucks, which like a mighty river flowed ceaselessly by our canteen
carrying French troops up to the English front; and we grew sad when we
beheld ambulance convoys hurrying in the same direction.
We could not be oblivious to certain signs which pointed to renewed
activity in our sector. The American ambulance boys predicted with the
emphasis and at the same time with the vagueness born of surmise instead
of exact knowledge, that we should "see something doing" in a few weeks.
[Sidenote: Few German airplanes.]
What chiefly excited our curiosity, however, was the scarcity of German
airplanes. Although the days were clear and fine for observing, only
occasionally did the barking of guns call us outside to behold a little
white, shimmering object skipping defiantly through extremest blue while
tufts of woolly cloud broke far below it, serving only to aid us in
detecting the almost invisible plane. One came over one night just about
sunset, and called us and our dinner guests from the beginning of a
meal. Another paid us an early morning call. Then for nearly three weeks
we enjoyed undisturbed rest at night. Not once did the "alerte" send us
shivering to damp cellars; not once did we hear the deep "boom" followed
by a savage jar and rattle which differentiates the falling bomb or
torpedo from the cannon. We said, fatuously, that we believed all the
airplanes were engaged up on the English front, and that at last our
mastery of the air must be firmly established.
[Sidenote: News of the second offensive.]
[Sidenote: The permissionaires return in good humor.]
It was on a Monday that the news of the second offensive reached us.
Trains from Paris were delayed and the Paris papers did not arrive, but
the ambulance men told us there was a German offensive from Rheims to
Soissons. Next day the canteen was crowded with permissionaires hastily
recalled from leave and hurrying to join their regiments at the front.
Most of them had passed through, ten to two days before, in the subdued
good humor with which the poilu hails his bath, disinfecting, clean
clothes, and relative security of body while on a ten days' leave. They
were going back to face death, mutilation, and an experience which
drives many men mad. There was no undue hilarity about them, but a quiet
determination which has been reflected in the stand made by the armies.
Here and there a weakling had tried to escape thought in drink, but the
percentage of that sort was very small.
[Sidenote: Three weeks' respite of raids.]
On Tuesday more news drifted in, and that night I did not fully undress
on going to bed. So strongly can the sense of optimism be grown from
little habit that a respite of three weeks from bombing attacks had
almost (though not quite) convinced me there would never be any more. I
may explain that I was serving as canteen accountant, and occupied a
tiny three-room apartment across the street from the canteen, between it
and the railway station, and I took my meals at one of the two Red Cross
houses maintained in E----.
[Sidenote: Objective of a bomb attack.]
When a town is bombed, the Germans have various objectives, principally
the railway stations, troop barracks, canteens, munition dumps, food
stores, and hospitals. As a rule, when private homes are destroyed, it
is because they happen to be close to these points of attack. Torpedoes
are too expensive to be wasted in chance destruction.
[Sidenote: Lights are extinguished in the war zone.]
In towns in the war zone, great precaution is taken to prevent even a
thin line or dot of light from showing at night. Only the railroad shows
its signal lights, and these are put out at the first alarm, while all
moving trains come to a standstill and extinguish what lights they
carry. The lamps in passenger coaches are always put out when the train
enters the war zone. So the bombing aviator has a rather difficult task
in getting his bombs exactly where he wants them. The bomb must be
released about a thousand feet in advance of the object aimed at, and
the plane must pass over and reverse its course before a second bomb
can be thrown at the same target. The course of a plane can be followed
by tracing its bombs.
My position during a bombing raid was most unenviable. A torpedo cast at
the railway station and going a bit too far was likely to land on the
two-story brick house in which I was lodged. One cast at the canteen,
and falling short, was likely to do the same.
[Sidenote: Anticipating air raids.]
It is fashionable among the workers in France to affect great
indifference to danger. I am free to confess that I am not a
particularly courageous woman. My imagination is active, and on nights
when we expect a bombing raid I always go through a period of misery
before going to bed. I would not for anything leave the war zone, but I
have always a lively vision of coming out of slumber to the
accompaniment of fearful noise and the crashing of the building atop,
and then my coward imagination paints pictures of lying torn and
anguished under settling weights of being burned alive while disabled
and unable to extricate myself. Oddly enough, all my terrors vanish with
the falling of the first bomb. I cannot remember being in what the
English call a "blue funk" while a raid is going on, though many a time
I have been in one beforehand.
[Sidenote: Premonition of danger.]
Tuesday night some subtle instinct warned that trouble might come. In
accordance with a natural forethought I slipped into a suit of underwear
and woollen stockings under my nightdress. I must have been asleep in
three minutes after my head touched the pillow, for I was dead tired.
[Sidenote: A bomb lands close by.]
[Sidenote: The sky blazes with shells.]
I wakened with the sense that I had heard a gun, and, with one
stockinged foot thrust out of bed, wondered sleepily whether it was the
first, second or third of the alerte, or whether indeed I had not
wakened from a dream of a gun. Probably it was the last gun of the
alerte, for the next sound was the thunderous roar of a bomb which
clearly had landed close by (it got a railway shed and a freight car on
the tracks behind me). The terrific noise and the shock to our building,
which rattled as if it were coming down, considerably accelerated my
movements. I snapped on the electric torch which always lay, together
with my cap and slippers, beside the bed, slipped a skirt over my
nightdress and my great-coat atop, and got into the cap and slippers in
record time. But by the time I had crossed the flagged passage and
wrestled with the lock of the "grande porte" there was no getting out of
the house. The canteen, directly across the street, lay in utter
darkness, lights out, doors locked. There was no hope of using it as a
short cut to the _abris_, or shelter, on the other side, while to try to
go around it was almost certain death. The sky was ablaze with breaking
shells from our seventy-fives; shrapnel was falling like hail in the
streets, while the steady "pup-pup" of machine-guns--both our own and
the bombing planes'--advised all who could to remain under shelter. The
noise of our guns and of the bombs was like a small inferno.
[Sidenote: Waiting through the raid alone.]
I stayed it out--about twenty minutes--alone in that dark flagged
hallway, and it was lonesome. When the shrapnel and machine-gun fire let
up sufficiently to make it safe, I crept along under the shelter of the
eaves to the door of a courtyard next door where I knew one of our cooks
lived. She had invited me a few days before, to refuge there instead of
trying to get over the _abris_, because, she said, the whole upper lofts
were full of hay, and it had been demonstrated that bombs will not
penetrate to any depth in hay. But the door was locked, and though I
beat upon it with my electric torch, nobody heard me. I finally took
advantage of a lull in the firing, when the Germans went back to their
own lines for more ammunition, to get over the _abris_.
There one of the women on night duty at the canteen told me that the
directrice and everybody else not on night duty, had gone up to the
evacuation hospital about ten o'clock, in response to a call for aid
from the French authorities.
[Sidenote: Many wounded in the hospitals.]
In E---- there were half a dozen large hospitals. The wounded, chiefly
English, were coming in faster than the hospital corps could handle
them. They needed our help, not only in registering the men--very few of
whom understood any French--but in feeding and giving water.
I got to the hospital the next day and worked steadily till eight
thirty. Then an ambulance driver gave me a lift as far as the canteen,
and I managed to get a cold supper at our mess.
[Sidenote: Dispensing hospitality to worn-out officers.]
I was hardly in my office before I heard a knock at the door, which, as
I was alone in the house, I always locked at night as soon as I entered.
In response to my "Who's there?" a voice, guided by my English, replied,
"I am an English officer." I threw open the door without a second's
hesitation. A young officer, weary, white-faced, stood there, beginning
to apologize as he saw my uniform and white veil. He was simply "done,"
he said--and he looked it. He had found every hotel was full, and,
seeing a few gleams of light behind the shutters, he had knocked in the
hope of finding shelter for the night. I knew that the woman at the
canteen who would go off duty at midnight was scheduled to go
immediately to the hospital to work until seven in the morning and that
I could occupy her bed after I came back from the hospital, and I
offered my apartment to the officer for the night. He was most grateful,
and I rushed over to the canteen to get him a pitcher of hot water and a
cup of chocolate. But there I found a group of French officers, who said
they had neither sleep nor rest for three days and nights, pleading for
some place to lie down. As there was a comfortable leather couch in my
office, besides a wide soft couch over which I had laid my steamer rug,
and, in addition, an exceedingly soft double bed in my room which I
thought the tired Englishman ought to be willing to share with an
equally tired man, I proffered my hospitality, which was gratefully
accepted. I piloted them across to the office, and returned to the
canteen, hoping to find an American ambulance boy who would run me over
to the hospital.
[Sidenote: A new raid begins.]
[Sidenote: Directing men to shelter.]
[Sidenote: Help from American boys.]
I sighted a group of the familiar uniforms, and was heading for it when,
bang! went a falling bomb, without any warning alerte. The next instant
all lights were out, and the French soldiers were swarming through the
door. As all the other women in the canteen had set duties to
perform--putting out fires, locking up money and food--and I, not being
on duty, had none, I stationed myself at the door, calling out to the
soldiers where they would find shelter. Being transients, they did not
know where to find refuge. But long before the canteen was empty, the
machine-gun bullets were sweeping the street and the shrapnel was
raining down. Two American boys came up in the darkness, and one said in
the quietest tone of authority, "Get between us, lady!" They backed me
up against the side of the canteen, close under the shelter of the
eaves, and stood one on each side of me. I had no trench-helmet, so one
of them took his sheepskin driving coat, folded it, and put it over his
head and mine. As soon as a lull in the firing permitted, we ran across
the street to the _abris_. The Germans went back several times for more
ammunition and continued the bombing for nearly two hours.
[Sidenote: The nurses stay with the wounded.]
One of our workers, who was at the hospital, told me that her first
impulse was to run for an _abris_ as we would do at the canteen, but
when she looked about her and saw everybody composedly going on with
duty, she gathered herself together and did the same--"Although," she
added, "my teeth just rattled at first." Some of the wounded were
terrified and begged not to be left; and that called out the mother
instinct in the women, so that they forgot to be afraid.
The Germans swept the hospital with their machine guns and did their
best to bomb it, but fortunately made no hits. It was finally necessary
to put out all lights and to cease work. It was a most trying ordeal,
because the buildings were of pine, close together, and a direct hit
probably would have started a fire which would have burned the wounded
as they lay.
[Sidenote: The sound of battle draws near.]
About half past one I went up to our mess and crawled into an empty bed.
The next morning when I awakened it was to the sound of distant cannon.
This meant that the battle was drawing nearer.
[Sidenote: A ride on an ambulance.]
An especially hard day kept me on the strain from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and
when I returned to the mess I found no dinner and no servants. Our
directrice, anticipating evacuation, had dismissed them. Only a little
Belgian refugee, a sort of "slavey," hung on, because she had no other
place to go. Tired out, I managed to make an omelet and a cup of tea,
and to fry some griddle cakes to replace the bread which was conspicuous
by its absence. Then I stationed myself in front of the canteen hoping
to flag a passing ambulance. An American driver stopped his car, and a
Frenchman, who was beside him on the front seat, jumped down to help me
up. This man had a bandage around his throat, and when I asked him if he
was wounded, he made a hissing sound in reply. The American driver
explained that he could not speak because he had a bullet through his
windpipe. There were six badly wounded men on the stretchers inside, but
we heard not a sound from them.
[Sidenote: A night of horrors.]
I shall not soon forget that night I had steeled myself to meet horrors,
and knew that I _must not_ let them affect me. Yet in spite of terrible
wounds, there was little sound of suffering. The place was wonderfully
quiet.
When I got inside of the receiving room, a group of our women who had
been at work all afternoon were still moving about, white and
hollow-eyed with fatigue. A French doctor asked if I could not bring
some food there from the canteen. It was Thursday. Some of the men had
been wounded on Tuesday, and had had no food and little water.
[Sidenote: Bringing up food for the wounded.]
I found an English girl with an empty ambulance, who risked a reprimand
for leaving without orders, and we flashed back to the canteen, and
loaded up with twenty gallons of hot chocolate, bread, about three
hundred hard boiled eggs, some kilos of chocolate, and raw eggs and
sugar. We flew back to the hospital; but there was a big convoy of
ambulances just in, so that we could not get up to the main buildings.
We scouted around in the dark to find a place to deposit our stuff and
open a temporary kitchen, and, returning to the ambulance, we came
across a wounded boy who had sunk on a bench. The ambulance driver had
passed him, making his way on foot, but being full-up, she was unable to
give him a lift. He was wounded in the chest, was exhausted, and had no
great-coat. It was absolutely necessary to get him under cover and to
give him warmth and nourishment. We put our arms around him and tried to
help him along, but soon it was apparent that he had not the strength to
make the reception ward.
[Sidenote: Holding up a boy too weak to stand.]
The English girl said, "You hold him up while I get a stretcher"; so I
jammed myself up against the side of a building and put my arms about
the boy while his weight grew heavier and heavier against me. I could
not let him slip, because the roadway was narrow and a long string of
ambulances, without lights, was passing. He never uttered a sound, but
his arms moved convulsively. As he felt himself growing weaker, he put
them around my neck, and clung to me precisely as a frightened child
would. It seemed an age while I waited there, warning off ambulances
that were about to shave us too closely. I could not help wondering
where that boy's mother was, what she was doing, or if he had a mother.
And I thought some terrible thoughts about war and some wicked ones
about Germans.
[Sidenote: Dispensing food to the wounded.]
The girl came with her stretcher at last, and we got the boy on it.
Then we went about setting up our feeding station. Hungry men limped in,
bandaged mostly about the head, and _how_ they consumed hard boiled eggs
and drank hot chocolate! I left the English girl dispensing food and
drink, while I took to the badly wounded a mixture of beaten egg, hot
milk and sugar. Here and there men asked for a piece of chocolate or
bread, but most of the wounded wanted only the liquid food. They would
say with their awful English cockney accent, "Ah! that's good!" or
"Prime stuff!" or "Could you spare a little more, sister?" In spite of
dreadful wounds, they were full of pluck.
[Sidenote: Great numbers of wounded in stretchers.]
For the next two hours I gave water and egg mixture to all sorts and
conditions of men--English, French, Canadians, Moroccans, Senegalese.
The doctor asked if I knew enough to administer morphine hypodermics,
and I regretfully admitted that I did not, while I registered a vow to
learn. Then some American Red Cross men appeared, and some English
doctors. Before midnight three or four long Red Cross trains had been
filled with wounded, and sent out. Yet at that hour more than five
hundred wounded men still lay on their stretchers on the grass outside.
And all the while, as I worked, I thought of how, as soon as the moon
came up, we should hear the familiar roar and rattle of the bombs, and
of how the shrapnel and machine gun bullets would rain down on those
upturned faces.
[Sidenote: The hospital floors are crowded.]
But, grace to heaven, the Germans did not come that night! At midnight I
went into Ward 4, where some of the worst wounded had been placed.
Stretchers had been laid on top of the beds and flat on the floor on
both sides of the central aisle, till one could hardly move. Most of the
wounded seemed to sleep. Only here and there one begged for water, and
these men were usually wounded in the abdomen where not even water
could be given. We could moisten their lips and wipe off the hot
feverish faces, and that was all.
[Sidenote: Everything possible has been done.]
By one o'clock it was evident that the most of what could be done had
been done. Another section of our women had arrived with more food, and
I went out to the covered way between the receiving room and the
operating room, to steal a ride home on the driver's seat of some
departing ambulance. An English boy, who had been gassed, asked me
hoarsely if I could get him a blanket, and I did so. Another man was
there, on whose eyelashes and eyebrows something that looked like ice
seemed to hang. I think it was an application to soothe gas-burns.
It was two o'clock before I got to bed at the mess. The English officer
was still occupying my apartment. I might pass off my action in
resigning it to him as philanthropy, but candor compels me to admit that
I was glad of an excuse to stay at the house where there was company in
case of a bombing raid.
[Sidenote: The French bills come in.]
Friday was a long, tense day. The French merchants and all the people
with whom we had dealings, anticipating our withdrawal, swarmed in with
accounts. When the G.A.N. (Grand Armée Nationale) sent in its request
for a check (previously, I had been obliged fairly to windlass their
bill out of them), I knew the French would evacuate. The Commandant sent
for the Directrice, and advised her to follow French headquarters
wherever it might move. He said he was evacuating all French hospitals
and had turned over all evacuation hospitals to the English. No more
wounded French were to be brought into E----.
[Sidenote: The German aviators bomb hospitals again.]
All day I worked without food, and after 7.30 got supper for myself and
three companions. We hoped for a night's rest, but the Germans began
bombing us at dusk, and kept it up till daylight. They were after
hospitals, as we knew by the fact that the dropping bombs were at a
distance from us and the regular line. All night the machine-gun battle
went on--our own guns at E----, warring with the sweeping planes
overhead. We got so tired of going to shelter, and so accustomed to the
firing, that we finally stayed in our rooms and even opened our shutters
to peer out into the calm summer sky. Shells were bursting and ground
signals of colored lights were streaming skyward. It was too exciting to
sleep until we gave out from sheer exhaustion. I managed to get an
intermittent slumber from four until seven.
[Sidenote: The town is full of refugees.]
As there was no breakfast at our mess, I went to the canteen for a cup
of coffee, and found the place crowded. The French Commander said that
our town was due to be shelled before long as we were getting in range
of the German guns. We decided not to go until we had to, but to cease
keeping the canteen open at night; to sell only hot coffee, chocolate,
bread, cheese, eggs and apples by day--thus omitting our hot meal--and
to divide our forces, one part to run the canteen, another to organize a
temporary canteen on the grounds of the evacuation hospital, and still
another to maintain the rolling canteen at the railway station. The
streets were almost blocked with refugees. I saw one unconscious woman
in a wheelbarrow being trundled by a boy. Regiments went through, going
up to the front, the men's faces stern and set. The sound of the battle
grew louder and louder.
[Sidenote: An airplane sweeps the street with a machine gun.]
That night we bundled our bedding into the Ford camion, and slept in one
of the deep champagne caves. I had volunteered to go on duty at the
canteen at six the next morning, and arriving there on time, found two
or three hundred tired and hungry men waiting for the doors to open.
The night before a great thermos marmite had been filled with boiling
coffee, and we were able to begin feeding the men without delay. All day
we did a tremendous business. About half past nine a German plane came
over, tried to bomb us, and swept the street with a machine gun. We
continued serving and pouring out coffee. The aviator killed a woman and
child who were standing in a garden, and then one of our machine guns
got him. The plane, a three passenger one, came tumbling down into the
public square. The pilot was caught with both legs under the engine and
was badly hurt, but the observer and the gunner were uninjured. An
infuriated Frenchman, who had seen the killing of the woman and child,
rushed up and killed the gunner as they lifted him out. I got these
facts from an American staff car driver who assisted in extricating the
pilot. That morning, our guns got three German planes.
[Sidenote: A German shell hits twenty-seven.]
At one that afternoon I left the canteen, and went home for the bath
which I had missed that morning. I had just finished dressing when a
German shell passed over the house, killing, as they said, twenty-seven
persons.
[Sidenote: The distant thunder of battle.]
I elected to stay over night at the hotel instead of going to the
champagne cave. No sound disturbed the night except the distant thunder
of the battle and the bursting of shells which were falling about a
thousand yards short of the town. The Germans were trying to destroy the
bridge over the Marne, to cut our communication with Rheims, but they
did not have the range.
Copyright, The Forum, November, 1918.
* * * * *
Volumes of detailed narrative could not sum up more graphically what the
American Army did in France than did the summary written by General
Pershing, presented in the following pages.
THE AMERICAN ARMY IN EUROPE
GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING
[Sidenote: Organization of the American army.]
With French and British armies at their maximum strength, and all
efforts to dispossess the enemy from his firmly intrenched positions in
Belgium and France failed, it was necessary to plan for an American
force adequate to turn the scale in favor of the Allies. Taking account
of the strength of the central powers at that time, the immensity of the
problem which confronted us could hardly be overestimated. The first
requisite being an organization that could give intelligent direction to
effort, the formation of a General Staff occupied my early attention.
[Sidenote: The division.]
[Sidenote: A corps comprises six divisions.]
After a thorough consideration of allied organizations it was decided
that our combat division should consist of four regiments of infantry of
3,000 men, with three battalions to a regiment and four companies of 250
men each to a battalion, and of an artillery brigade of three regiments,
a machine-gun battalion, an engineer regiment, a trench-mortar battery,
a signal battalion, wagon trains, and the headquarters staffs and
military police. These, with medical and other units, made a total of
over 28,000 men, or practically double the size of a French or German
division. Each corps would normally consist of six divisions--four
combat and one depot and one replacement division--and also two
regiments of cavalry, and each army of from three to five corps. With
four divisions fully trained, a corps could take over an American
sector with, two divisions in line and two in reserve, with the depot
and replacement divisions prepared to fill the gaps in the ranks.
[Sidenote: Plan of training for the infantry.]
Our purpose was to prepare an integral American force which should be
able to take the offensive in every respect. Accordingly, the
development of a self-reliant infantry by thorough drill in the use of
the rifle and in the tactics of open warfare was always uppermost. The
plan of training after arrival in France allowed a division one month
for acclimatization and instruction in small units from battalions down,
a second month in quiet trench sectors by battalion, and a third month
after it came out of the trenches when it should be trained as a
complete division in war of movement.
[Sidenote: The school center at Langres.]
[Sidenote: British and French officers assist.]
Very early a system of schools was outlined and started, which should
have the advantage of instruction by officers direct from the front. At
the great school center at Langres, one of the first to be organized,
was the staff school, where the principles of general staff work, as
laid down in our own organization were taught to carefully selected
officers. Men in the ranks, who had shown qualities of leadership, were
sent to the school of candidates for commissions. A school of the line
taught younger officers the principles of leadership, tactics, and the
use of the different weapons. In the artillery school, at Saumur, young
officers were taught the fundamental principles of modern artillery;
while at Issoudun an immense plant was built for training cadets in
aviation. These and other schools, with their well-considered
curriculums for training in every branch of our organization, were
coordinated in a manner best to develop an efficient army out of willing
and industrious young men, many of whom had not before known even the
rudiments of military technique. Both Marshal Haig and General Petain
placed officers and men at our disposal for instructional purposes, and
we are deeply indebted for the opportunities given to profit by their
veteran experience.
[Sidenote: Questions of communication and supply.]
The eventual place the American Army should take on the western front
was to a large extent influenced by the vital questions of communication
and supply. The northern ports of France were crowded by the British
Armies' shipping and supplies while the southern ports, though otherwise
at our service, had not adequate port facilities for our purposes and
these we should have to build. The already overtaxed railway system
behind the active front in northern France would not be available for us
as lines of supply and those leading from the southern ports of
northeastern France would be unequal to our needs without much new
construction. Practically all warehouses, supply depots and regulating
stations must be provided by fresh constructions. While France offered
us such material as she had to spare after a drain of three years
enormous quantities of material had to be brought across the Atlantic.
[Sidenote: Plans for construction on a vast scale.]
With such a problem any temporization or lack of definiteness in making
plans might cause failure even with victory within our grasp. Moreover,
broad plans commensurate with our national purpose and resources would
bring conviction of our power to every soldier in the front line, to the
nations associated with us in the war, and to the enemy. The tonnage for
material for necessary construction for the supply of an army of three
and perhaps four million men would require a mammoth program of
shipbuilding at home, and miles of dock construction in France, with a
correspondingly large project for additional railways and for storage
depots.
[Sidenote: The southern ports are selected.]
All these considerations led to the inevitable conclusion that if we
were to handle and supply the great forces deemed essential to win the
war we must utilise the southern ports of France--Bordeaux, La Pallice,
St. Nazaire, and Brest--and the comparatively unused railway systems
leading therefrom to the northeast. Generally speaking, then, this would
contemplate the use of our forces against the enemy somewhere in that
direction, but the great depots of supply must be centrally located,
preferably in the area included by Tours, Bourges, and Chateauroux, so
that our armies could be supplied with equal facility wherever they
might be serving on the western front.
[Sidenote: Army and civilian experts are employed.]
To build up such a system there were talented men in the Regular Army,
but more experts were necessary than the Army could furnish. Thanks to
the patriotic spirit of our people at home, there came from civil life
men trained for every sort of work involved in building and managing the
organization necessary to handle and transport such an army and keep it
supplied. With such assistance the construction and general development
of our plans have kept pace with the growth of the forces, and the
Service of Supply is now able to discharge from ships and move 45,000
tons daily, besides transporting troops and material in the conduct of
active operations.
[Sidenote: Organization of the Service of Supply.]
As to organization, all the administrative and supply services, except
the Adjutant General's, Inspector General's and Judge Advocate General's
Departments which remain at general headquarters, have been transferred
to the headquarters of the services of supplies at Tours under a
commanding general responsible to the commander in chief for supply of
the armies. The Chief Quartermaster, Chief Surgeon, Chief Signal
Officer, Chief of Ordnance, Chief of Air Service, Chief of Chemical
Warfare, the general purchasing agent in all that pertains to questions
of procurement and supply, the Provost Marshal General in the
maintenance of order in general, the Director General of Transportation
in all that affects such matters, and the Chief Engineer in all matters
of administration and supply, are subordinate to the Commanding General
of the Service of Supply, who, assisted by a staff especially organized
for the purpose, is charged with the administrative coordination of all
these services.
[Sidenote: The transportation department.]
The transportation department under the Service of Supply directs the
operation, maintenance, and construction of railways, the operation of
terminals, the unloading of ships, and transportation of material to
warehouses or to the front. Its functions make necessary the most
intimate relationship between our organization and that of the French,
with the practical result that our transportation department has been
able to improve materially the operations of railways generally.
Constantly laboring under a shortage of rolling stock, the
transportation department has nevertheless been able by efficient
management to meet every emergency.
[Sidenote: Duties of the Engineer Corps.]
The Engineer Corps is charged with all construction, including light
railways and roads. It has planned and constructed the many projects
required, the most important of which are the new wharves at Bordeaux
and Nantes, and the immense storage depots at La Palice, Montoir, and
Gièvres, besides innumerable hospitals and barracks in various ports of
France. These projects have all been carried on by phases keeping pace
with our needs. The Forestry Service under the Engineer Corps has cut
the greater part of the timber and railway ties required.
To meet the shortage of supplies from America, due to lack of shipping,
the representatives of the different supply departments were constantly
in search of available material and supplies in Europe. In order to
coordinate these purchases and to prevent competition between our
departments, a general purchasing agency was created early in our
experience to coordinate our purchases and, if possible, induce our
Allies to apply the principle among the Allied armies. While there was
no authority for the general use of appropriations, this was met by
grouping the purchasing representatives of the different departments
under one control, charged with the duty of consolidating requisitions
and purchases. Our efforts to extend the principle have been signally
successful, and all purchases for the Allied armies are now on an
equitable and cooperative basis. Indeed, it may be said that the work of
this bureau has been thoroughly efficient and businesslike.
Our entry into the war found us with few of the auxiliaries necessary
for its conduct in the modern sense. Among our most important
deficiencies in material were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order
to meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we accepted the offer
of the French Government to provide us with the necessary artillery
equipment of seventy-fives, one fifty-five millimeter howitzers, and one
fifty-five G P F guns from their own factories for thirty divisions. The
wisdom of this course is fully demonstrated by the fact that, although
we soon began the manufacture of these classes of guns at home, there
were no guns of the calibers mentioned manufactured in America on our
front at the date the armistice was signed. The only guns of these types
produced at home thus far received in France are 109 seventy-five
millimeter guns.
[Sidenote: The first airplanes received from America.]
In aviation we were in the same situation, and here again the French
Government came to our aid until our own aviation program should be
under way. We obtained from the French the necessary planes for training
our personnel, and they have provided us with a total of 2,676 pursuit,
observation, and bombing planes. The first airplanes received from home
arrived in May, and altogether we have received 1,379. The first
American squadron completely equipped by American production, including
airplanes, crossed the German lines on August 7, 1918. As to tanks, we
were also compelled to rely upon the French. Here, however, we were less
fortunate, for the reason that the French production could barely meet
the requirements of their own armies.
[Sidenote: The attitude of the French Government liberal.]
It should be fully realized that the French Government has always taken
a most liberal attitude and has been most anxious to give us every
possible assistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as well as in
other respects. Our dependence upon France for artillery, aviation, and
tanks was, of course, due to the fact that our industries had not been
exclusively devoted to military production. All credit is due our own
manufacturers for their efforts to meet our requirements, as at the time
the armistice was signed we were able to look forward to the early
supply of practically all our necessities from our own factories.
[Sidenote: Responsibility for the welfare of the troops.]
[Sidenote: Welfare organizations and their valuable work.]
The welfare of the troops touches my responsibility as Commander in
Chief to the mothers and fathers and kindred of the men who came to
France in the impressionable period of youth. They could not have the
privilege accorded European soldiers during their periods of leave of
visiting their families and renewing their home ties. Fully realizing
that the standard of conduct that should be established for them must
have a permanent influence in their lives and on the character of their
future citizenship, the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian
Association, Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, and the Jewish
Welfare Board, as auxiliaries in this work, were encouraged in every
possible way. The fact that our soldiers, in a land of different customs
and language, have borne themselves in a manner in keeping with the
cause for which they fought, is due not only to the efforts in their
behalf but much more to other high ideals, their discipline, and their
innate sense of self-respect. It should be recorded, however, that the
members of these welfare societies have been untiring in their desire to
be of real service to our officers and men. The patriotic devotion of
these representative men and women has given a new significance to the
Golden Rule, and we owe to them a debt of gratitude that can never be
repaid.
[Sidenote: The Twenty-sixth fights at Seicheprey.]
During our periods of training in the trenches some of our divisions had
engaged the enemy in local combats, the most important of which was
Seicheprey by the Twenty-sixth on April 20, in the Toul sector, but none
had participated in action as a unit. The First Division, which had
passed through the preliminary stages of training, had gone to the
trenches for its first period of instruction at the end of October and
by March 21, when the German offensive in Picardy began, we had four
divisions with experience in the trenches, all of which were equal to
any demands of battle action. The crisis which this offensive developed
was such that our occupation of an American sector must be postponed.
[Sidenote: Pershing offers forces to Foch.]
On March 28 I placed at the disposal of Marshal Foch, who had been
agreed upon as Commander in Chief of the Allied Armies, all of our
forces to be used as he might decide. At his request the first division
was transferred from the Toul sector to a position in reserve at
Chaumont en Vexin. As German superiority in numbers required prompt
action, an agreement was reached at the Abbeville conference of the
Allied premiers and commanders and myself on May 2 by which British
shipping was to transport 10 American divisions to the British Army
area, where they were to be trained and equipped, and additional British
shipping was to be provided for as many divisions as possible for use
elsewhere.
[Sidenote: The First takes Cantigny.]
[Sidenote: Fighting qualities demonstrated.]
On April 26 the First Division had gone into the line in the Montdidier
salient on the Picardy battle front. Tactics had been suddenly
revolutionized to those of open warfare, and our men, confident of the
results of their training, were eager for the test. On the morning of
May 28 this division attacked the commanding German position in its
front, taking with splendid dash the town of Cantigny and all other
objectives, which were organized and held steadfastly against vicious
counterattacks and galling artillery fire. Although local, this
brilliant action had an electrical effect, as it demonstrated our
fighting qualities under extreme battle conditions, and also that the
enemy's troops were not altogether invincible.
[Sidenote: The Third Division on the Marne.]
[Sidenote: The Second wins Bouresches and Belleau Wood.]
The Germans' Aisne offensive, which began on May 27, had advanced
rapidly toward the River Marne and Paris, and the Allies faced a crisis
equally as grave as that of the Picardy offensive in March. Again every
available man was placed at Marshal Foch's disposal, and the Third
Division, which had just come from its preliminary training in the
trenches, was hurried to the Marne. Its motorized machine-gun battalion
preceded the other units and successfully held the bridgehead at the
Marne, opposite Château-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near
Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport to
check the progress of the enemy toward Paris. The Division attacked and
retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily held its
ground against the enemy's best guard divisions. In the battle of
Belleau Wood, which followed, our men proved their superiority and
gained a strong tactical position, with far greater loss to the enemy
than to ourselves. On July 1, before the Second was relieved, it
captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision.
[Sidenote: Second Corps is organized.]
Meanwhile our Second Corps, under Major General George W. Read, had been
organized for the command of our divisions with the British, which were
held back in training areas or assigned to second-line defenses. Five of
the ten divisions were withdrawn from the British area in June, three to
relieve divisions in Lorraine and the Vosges and two to the Paris area
to join the group of American divisions which stood between the city and
any farther advance of the enemy in that direction.
[Sidenote: The Forty-second and the Twenty-eighth.]
[Sidenote: Brilliant work of the Third.]
The great June-July troop movement from the States was well under way,
and, although these troops were to be given some preliminary training
before being put into action, their very presence warranted the use of
all the older divisions in the confidence that we did not lack reserves.
Elements of the Forty-second Division were in the line east of Rheims
against the German offensive of July 15, and held their ground
unflinchingly. On the right flank of this offensive four companies of
the Twenty-eighth Division were in position in face of the advancing
waves of the German infantry. The Third Division was holding the bank of
the Marne from the bend east of the mouth of the Surmelin to the west of
Mézy, opposite Château-Thierry, where a large force of German infantry
sought to force a passage under support of powerful artillery
concentrations and under cover of smoke screens. A single regiment of
the Third wrote one of the most brilliant pages in our military annals
on this occasion. It prevented the crossing at certain points on its
front while, on either flank, the Germans, who had gained a footing,
pressed forward. Our men, firing in three directions, met the German
attacks with counterattacks at critical points and succeeded in throwing
two German divisions into complete confusion, capturing 600 prisoners.
[Sidenote: First and Second in the thrust toward Soissons.]
The great force of the German Château-Thierry offensive established the
deep Marne salient, but the enemy was taking chances, and the
vulnerability of this pocket to attack might be turned to his
disadvantage. Seizing this opportunity to support my conviction, every
division with any sort of training was made available for use in a
counter-offensive. The place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on
July 18 was given to our First and Second Divisions in company with
chosen French divisions. Without the usual brief warning of a
preliminary bombardment, the massed French and American artillery,
firing by the map, laid down its rolling barrage at dawn while the
infantry began its charge. The tactical handling of our troops under
these trying conditions was excellent throughout the action. The enemy
brought up large numbers of reserves and made a stubborn defense both
with machine guns and artillery, but through five days' fighting the
First Division continued to advance until it had gained the heights
above Soissons and captured the village of Berzy-le-Sec. The Second
Division took Beau Repaire farm and Vierzy in a very rapid advance and
reached a position in front of Tigny at the end of its second day. These
two divisions captured 7,000 prisoners and over 100 pieces of artillery.
[Sidenote: The Twenty-sixth and the Third.]
The Twenty-sixth Division, which, with a French division, was under
command of our First Corps, acted as a pivot of the movement toward
Soissons. On the 18th it took the village of Torcy while the Third
Division was crossing the Marne in pursuit of the retiring enemy. The
Twenty-sixth attacked again on the 21st, and the enemy withdrew past the
Château-Thierry-Soissons road. The Third Division, continuing its
progress, took the heights of Mont St. Père and the villages of
Chartèves and Jaulgonne in the face of both machine-gun and artillery
fire.
[Sidenote: Germans fall back.]
[Sidenote: The Forty-second relieves the Twenty-sixth.]
[Sidenote: Third and Fourth Advance.]
On the 24th, after the Germans had fallen back from Trugney and Epieds,
our Forty-second Division, which had been brought over from the
Champagne, relieved the Twenty-sixth and, fighting its way through the
Forêt de Fère, overwhelmed the nest of machine guns in its path. By the
27th it had reached the Ourcq, whence the Third and Fourth Divisions
were already advancing, while the French divisions with which we were
cooperating were moving forward at other points.
[Sidenote: The Forty-second and Thirty-second.]
[Sidenote: The Twenty-eighth and the Seventy-seventh.]
The Third Division had made its advance into Roncheres Wood on the 29th
and was relieved for rest by a brigade of the Thirty-second. The
Forty-second and Thirty-second undertook the task of conquering the
heights beyond Cierges, the Forty-second capturing Sergy and the
Thirty-second capturing Hill 230, both American divisions joining in the
pursuit of the enemy to the Vesle, and thus the operation of reducing
the salient was finished. Meanwhile the Forty-second was relieved by the
Fourth at Chéry-Chartreuve, and the Thirty-second by the Twenty-eighth,
while the Seventy-seventh Division took up a position on the Vesle. The
operations of these divisions on the Vesle were under the Third Corps,
Major General Robert L. Bullard, commanding.
[Sidenote: The First Army is organized.]
[Sidenote: The American sector is extended.]
With the reduction of the Marne salient we could look forward to the
concentration of our divisions in our own zone. In view of the
forthcoming operation against the St. Mihiel salient, which had long
been planned as our first offensive action on a large scale, the First
Army was organized on August 10 under my personal command. While
American units had held different divisional and corps sectors along the
western front, there had not been up to this time, for obvious reasons,
a distinct American sector; but, in view of the important parts the
American forces were now to play, it was necessary to take over a
permanent portion of the line. Accordingly, on August 30, the line
beginning at Port sur Seille, east of the Moselle and extending to the
west through St. Mihiel, thence north to a point opposite Verdun, was
placed under my command. The American sector was afterwards extended
across the Meuse to the western edge of the Argonne Forest, and included
the Second Colonial French, which held the point of the salient, and the
Seventeenth French Corps, which occupied the heights above Verdun.
[Sidenote: Large troop movements.]
The preparation for a complicated operation against the formidable
defenses in front of us included the assembling of divisions and of
corps and army artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambulances, the
location of hospitals, and the molding together of all the elements of a
great modern army with its own railheads, supplied directly by our
Service of Supply. The concentration for this operation, which was to be
a surprise, involved the movement, mostly at night, of approximately
600,000 troops, and required for its success the most careful attention
to every detail.
[Sidenote: Heavy guns can reach Metz.]
The French were generous in giving us assistance in corps and army
artillery, with its personnel, and we were confident from the start of
our superiority over the enemy in guns of all calibers. Our heavy guns
were able to reach Metz and to interfere seriously with German rail
movements. The French Independent Air Force was placed under my command
which, together with the British bombing squadrons and our air forces,
gave us the largest assembly of aviation that had ever been engaged in
one operation on the western front.
[Sidenote: The First Corps.]
[Sidenote: The Third Corps.]
[Sidenote: The Fifth Corps.]
[Sidenote: Reserves.]
From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at St. Mihiel to the
Moselle River the line was roughly 40 miles long and situated on
commanding ground greatly strengthened by artificial defenses. Our First
Corps (Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and Second Divisions) under
command of Major General Hunter Liggett, restrung its right on
Pont-a-Mousson, with its left joining our Third Corps (the Eighty-ninth,
Forty-second, and First Divisions), under Major General Joseph T.
Dickman, in line to Xivray, were to swing in toward Vigneulles on the
pivot of the Moselle River for the initial assault. From Xivray to
Mouilly the Second Colonial French Corps was in line in the center and
our Fifth Corps, under command of Major General George H. Cameron, with
our Twenty-sixth Division and a French division at the western base of
the salient, were to attack three difficult hills--Les Eparges, Combres,
and Amaranthe. Our First Corps had in reserve the Seventy-eighth
Division, our Fourth Corps the Third Division, and our First Army the
Thirty-fifth and Ninety-first Divisions, with the Eightieth and
Thirty-third available. It should be understood that our corps
organizations are very elastic, and that we have at no time had
permanent assignments of divisions to corps.
[Sidenote: The attack on St. Mihiel begins.]
[Sidenote: Breaking the barbed-wire defenses.]
After four hours' artillery preparation, the seven American divisions
in the front line advanced at 5 a.m., on September 12, assisted by a
limited number of tanks manned partly by Americans and partly by the
French. These divisions, accompanied by groups of wire cutters and
others armed with bangalore torpedoes, went through the successive bands
of barbed wire that protected the enemy's front line and support
trenches, in irresistible waves on schedule time, breaking down all
defense of an enemy demoralized by the great volume of our artillery
fire and our sudden approach out of the fog.
[Sidenote: The First Army takes the salient.]
[Sidenote: Many prisoners and guns taken.]
Our First Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while our Fourth Corps curved
back to the southwest through Nonsard. The Second Colonial French Corps
made the slight advance required of it on very difficult ground, and the
Fifth Corps took its three ridges and repulsed a counterattack. A rapid
march brought reserve regiments of a Division of the Fifth Corps into
Vigneulles in the early morning, where it linked up with patrols of our
Fourth Corps, closing the salient and forming a new line west of
Thiaucourt to Vigneulles, and beyond Fresnes-en-Woevre. At the cost of
only 7,000 casualties, mostly light, we had taken 16,000 prisoners and
443 guns, a great quantity of material, released the inhabitants of many
villages from enemy domination, and established our lines in a position
to threaten Metz. This signal success of the American First Army in its
first offensive was of prime importance. The Allies found they had a
formidable army to aid them, and the enemy learned finally that he had
one to reckon with.
[Illustration: AMERICAN ATTACK ON THE ST. MIHIEL SALIENT]
[Sidenote: Movement to cut German railway connections.]
On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel salient, much of our Corps
and Army artillery which had operated at St. Mihiel, and our Divisions
in reserve at other points, were already on the move toward the area
back of the line between the Meuse River and the western edge of the
forest of Argonne. With the exception of St. Mihiel, the old German
front line from Switzerland to the east of Rheims was still intact. In
the general attack all along the line, the operation assigned the
American Army as the hinge of this Allied offensive was directed toward
the important railroad communications of the German armies through
Mézières and Sedan. The enemy must hold fast to this part of his lines
or the withdrawal of his forces with four years' accumulation of plants
and material would be dangerously imperiled.
[Sidenote: German Army not demoralized.]
The German Army had as yet shown no demoralization and, while the mass
of its troops had suffered in morale, its first-class divisions and
notably its machine-gun defense were exhibiting remarkable tactical
efficiency as well as courage. The German General Staff was fully aware
of the consequences of a success on the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that
he would do everything in his power to oppose us, the action was planned
with as much secrecy as possible and was undertaken with the
determination to use all our Divisions in forcing decision. We expected
to draw the best German divisions to our front and to consume them while
the enemy was held under grave apprehension lest our attack should break
his line, which it was our firm purpose to do.
[Sidenote: The Argonne Forest considered impregnable.]
[Sidenote: American order of battle.]
Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while our left embraced the
Argonne Forest whose ravines, hills, and elaborate defense screened by
dense thickets had been generally considered impregnable. Our order of
battle from right to left was the Third Corps from the Meuse to
Malancourt, with the Thirty-third, Eightieth, and Fourth Divisions in
line, and the Third Division as corps reserve; the Fifth Corps from
Malancourt to Vauquois, with Seventy-ninth, Eighty-seventh, and
Ninety-first Divisions in line, and the Thirty-second in corps reserve;
and the First Corps, from Vauquois to Vienne le Chateau, with
Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, and Seventy-seventh Divisions in line, and
the Ninety-second in corps reserve. The Army reserve consisted of the
First, Twenty-ninth, and Eighty-second Divisions.
[Sidenote: Attack begins on September 25.]
[Sidenote: Montfaucon is taken.]
On the night of September 25 our troops quietly took the place of the
French who thinly held the line in this sector which had long been
inactive. In the attack which began on the 26th we drove through the
barbed wire entanglements and the sea of shell craters across No Man's
Land, mastering all the first-line defenses. Continuing on the 27th and
28th, against machine guns and artillery of an increasing number of
enemy reserve divisions, we penetrated to a depth of from 3 to 7 miles,
and took the village of Montfaucon and its commanding hill and Exermont,
Gercourt, Cuisy, Septsarges, Malancourt, Ivoiry, Epinonville,
Charpentry, Very, and other villages. East of the Meuse one of our
Divisions, which was with the Second Colonial French Corps, captured
Marcheville and Rieville, giving further protection to the flank of our
main body. We had taken 10,000 prisoners, we had gained our point of
forcing the battle into the open and were prepared for the enemy's
reaction, which was bound to come as he had good roads and ample
railroad facilities for bringing up his artillery and reserves.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF PERSHING'S SECRET BATTLE MAP SHOWN AT
NATIONAL MUSEUM
There is on exhibition in the United States National Museum at
Washington what is probably the most interesting and valuable single
record of America's part in the Great War--General Pershing's own secret
battle map, transported here from his headquarters in France and set up
in the museum exactly as it was there.
It was General Pershing's own idea to have the map displayed to the
public to show the people of the United States the actual military
results obtained by their armies. For instance, at the hour the
armistice was signed the United States forces were holding 145
kilometers of front, of which 134 kilometers were active. This is made
plain on the map by the colored pins and tags by which the different
allied and enemy armies are shown.
The map itself shows the location of all divisions, both the enemy and
allied, on the western front; the correct battle line, commanding
generals, location of headquarters and boundaries down to include
armies, and various other information concerning divisions, as, for
example, whether they were fresh or tired. The map was developed and
kept posted to date daily by the third section of General Pershing's
staff, and used by them and other superior officers during active
operations for strategical studies and purposes of general information.
It is evident that during the war the information which this map
contained was such that the enemy would have spared no pains to secure
it. Every precaution was taken to insure its secrecy, and to this end
the map was always kept locked up, and in addition was kept in a small
compartment formed by a closed screen. Furthermore, access to this map
was had by only the half dozen chiefs of the general headquarters staff
sections whose work was directly affected by the changes shown on the
map. This map appears to have been unique. The staff officers from the
different allied headquarters who had occasion to see the map declared
that it was the most complete representation of the opposing forces that
they had seen.
General Pershing, in his letter to the adjutant general suggesting the
public display of the map in the National Museum, says:
"It has occurred to me that this particular map with its accompanying
installation will have a great historical value. It will be of intense
interest to future generations, not only because it was the only map of
its kind used at these headquarters, but because it shows in a vivid
fashion the exact situation at the hour of the armistice."]
[Sidenote: Difficult tasks of engineers and gunners.]
In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to build new roads
across spongy, shell-torn areas, repair broken roads beyond No Man's
Land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, put
their shoulders to wheels and dragropes to bring their guns through the
mire in support of the infantry, now under the increasing fire of the
enemy's artillery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, but,
quickly recovering himself, he began to fire counterattacks in strong
force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quantities of gas.
From September 28 until October 4 we maintained the offensive against
patches of woods defended by snipers and continuous lines of machine
guns, and pushed forward our guns and transport, seizing strategical
points in preparation for further attacks.
[Sidenote: The Twenty-seventh and the Thirtieth with the British.]
Other Divisions attached to the Allied armies were doing their part. It
was the fortune of our Second Corps, composed of the Twenty-seventh and
Thirtieth Divisions, which had remained with the British, to have a
place of honor in cooperation with the Australian Corps on September 29
and October 1 in the assault on the Hindenburg line where the St.
Quentin Canal passes through a tunnel under a ridge. The Thirtieth
Division speedily broke through the main line of defense for all its
objectives, while the Twenty-seventh pushed on impetuously through the
main line until some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the
maze of trenches and shell craters and under cross fire from machine
guns the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in
later actions, from October 6 to October 19, our Second Corps captured
over 6,000 prisoners and advanced over 13 miles. The spirit and
aggressiveness of these Divisions have been highly praised by the
British Army commander under whom they served.
[Sidenote: Second and Thirty-sixth with the French.]
On October 2 to 9 our Second and Thirty-sixth Divisions were sent to
assist the French in an important attack against the old German
positions before Rheims. The Second conquered the complicated defense
works on their front against a persistent defense worthy of the
grimmest period of trench warfare and attacked the strongly held wooded
hill of Blanc Mont, which they captured in a second assault, sweeping
over it with consummate dash and skill. This Division then repulsed
strong counterattacks before the village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne
and took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from before Rheims
and yield positions they had held since September, 1914. On October 9
the Thirty-sixth Division relieved the Second and, in its first
experience under fire, withstood very severe artillery bombardment and
rapidly took up the pursuit of the enemy, now retiring behind the Aisne.
[Sidenote: Steady progress in the Argonne Forest.]
[Sidenote: The terrain favors the defense.]
The Allied progress elsewhere cheered the efforts of our men in this
crucial contest as the German command threw in more and more first-class
troops to stop our advance. We made steady headway in the almost
impenetrable and strongly held Argonne Forest, for, despite this
reinforcement, it was our Army that was doing the driving. Our aircraft
was increasing in skill and numbers and forcing the issue, and our
Infantry and Artillery were improving rapidly with each new experience.
The replacements fresh from home were put into exhausted divisions with
little time for training, but they had the advantage of serving beside
men who knew their business and who had almost become veterans
overnight. The enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, which
especially favored the defense, by a prodigal use of machine guns manned
by highly trained veterans and by using his artillery at short ranges.
In the face of such strong frontal positions we should have been unable
to accomplish any progress according to previously accepted standards,
but I had every confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage of
our troops.
[Sidenote: Strong enemy counterattacks.]
[Sidenote: First Corps takes Chatel-Chéhéry.]
[Sidenote: Argonne Forest is cleared.]
On October 4 the attack was renewed all along our front. The Third Corps
tilting to the left followed the Brieulles-Cunel road; our Fifth Corps
took Gesnes while the First Corps advanced for over 2 miles along the
irregular valley of the Aire River and in the wooded hills of the
Argonne that bordered the river, used by the enemy with all his art and
weapons of defense. This sort of fighting continued against an enemy
striving to hold every foot of ground and whose very strong
counterattacks challenged us at every point. On the 7th the First Corps
captured Chatel-Chéhéry and continued along the river to Cornay. On the
east of Meuse sector one of the two Divisions cooperating with the
French captured Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the Fifth
Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took Fléville, and the Third Corps
which had continuous fighting against odds was working its way through
Brieulles and Cunel. On the 10th we had cleared the Argonne Forest of
the enemy.
[Sidenote: The Second Army is organized.]
It was now necessary to constitute a second army, and on October 9 the
immediate command of the First Army was turned over to Lieutenant
General Hunter Liggett. The command of the Second Army, whose divisions
occupied a sector in the Woevre, was given to Lieutenant General Robert
L. Bullard, who had been commander of the First Division and then of the
Third Corps. Major General Dickman was transferred to the command of the
First Corps, while the Fifth Corps was placed under Major General
Charles P. Summerall, who had recently commanded the First Division.
Major General John L. Hines, who had gone rapidly up from regimental to
division commander, was assigned to the Third Corps. These four officers
had been in France from the early days of the expedition and had learned
their lessons in the school of practical warfare.
[Sidenote: The Kriemhilde line is penetrated.]
Our constant pressure against the enemy brought day by day more
prisoners, mostly survivors from machine-gun nests captured in fighting
at close quarters. On October 18 there was very fierce fighting in the
Caures Woods east of the Meuse and in the Ormont Woods. On the 14th the
First Corps took St. Juvin, and the Fifth Corps, in hand-to-hand
encounters, entered the formidable Kriemhilde line, where the enemy had
hoped to check us indefinitely. Later the Fifth Corps penetrated further
the Kriemhilde line, and the First Corps took Champigneulles and the
important town of Grandpre. Our dogged offensive was wearing down the
enemy, who continued desperately to throw his best troops against us,
thus weakening his line in front of our Allies and making their advance
less difficult.
[Sidenote: Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first in Belgium.]
Meanwhile we were not only able to continue the battle, but our
Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first Divisions were hastily withdrawn from
our front and dispatched to help the French Army in Belgium. Detraining
in the neighborhood of Ypres, these Divisions advanced by rapid stages
to the fighting line and were assigned to adjacent French corps. On
October 31, in continuation of the Flanders offensive, they attacked and
methodically broke down all enemy resistance. On November 3 the
Thirty-seventh had completed its mission in dividing the enemy across
the Escaut River and firmly established itself along the east bank
included in the division zone of action. By a clever flanking movement
troops of the Ninety-first Division captured Spitaals Bosschen, a
difficult wood extending across the central part of the division sector,
reached the Escaut, and penetrated into the town of Audenarde. These
divisions received high commendation from their corps commanders for
their dash and energy.
[Sidenote: Preparation for the final assault.]
On the 23d the Third and Fifth Corps pushed northward to the level of
Bantheville. While we continued to press forward and throw back the
enemy's violent counterattacks with great loss to him, a regrouping of
our forces was under way for the final assault. Evidences of loss of
morale by the enemy gave our men more confidence in attack and more
fortitude in enduring the fatigue of incessant effort and the hardships
of very inclement weather.
[Sidenote: The final advance begins.]
With comparatively well-rested divisions, the final advance in the
Meuse-Argonne front was begun on November 1. Our increased artillery
force acquitted itself magnificently in support of the advance, and the
enemy broke before the determined infantry, which, by its persistent
fighting of the past weeks and the dash of this attack, had overcome his
will to resist. The Third Corps took Aincreville, Doulcon, and
Andevanne, and the Fifth Corps took Landres et St. Georges and pressed
through successive lines of resistance to Bayonville and Chennery. On
the 2d the First Corps joined in the movement, which now became an
impetuous onslaught that could not be stayed.
[Sidenote: Aid of large caliber guns.]
[Sidenote: The enemy's line of communications cut.]
On the 3d advance troops surged forward in pursuit, some by motor
trucks, while the artillery pressed along the country roads close
behind. The First Corps reached Authe and Châtillon-sur-Bar, the Fifth
Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the Third Corps Halles, penetrating the
enemy's line to a depth of 12 miles. Our large caliber guns had advanced
and were skillfully brought into position to fire upon the important
lines at Montmedy, Longuyon, and Conflans. Our Third Corps crossed the
Meuse on the 5th and the other corps, in the full confidence that the
day was theirs, eagerly cleared the way of machine guns as they swept
northward, maintaining complete coordination throughout. On the 6th, a
division of the First Corps reached a point on the Meuse opposite Sedan,
25 miles from our line of departure. The strategical goal which was our
highest hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's main line of
communications, and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his
army from complete disaster.
[Sidenote: Prisoners and guns taken.]
[Sidenote: Divisions long in battle line.]
In all 40 enemy divisions had been used against us in the Meuse-Argonne
battle. Between September 26 and November 6 we took 26,059 prisoners and
468 guns on this front. Our Divisions engaged were the First, Second,
Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth,
Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second,
Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, Eightieth,
Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, and Ninety-first. Many of our
divisions remained in line for a length of time that required nerves of
steel, while others were sent in again after only a few days of rest.
The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty-second, Seventy-seventh,
Eightieth, Eighty-ninth, and, Ninetieth were in the line twice. Although
some of the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon became
equal to the best.
[Sidenote: The fight in the Meuse Hills.]
On the three days preceding November 10, the Third, the Second Colonial,
and the Seventeenth French Corps fought a difficult struggle through the
Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced the enemy into the plain.
Meanwhile, my plans for further use of the American forces contemplated
an advance between the Meuse and the Moselle in the direction of Longwy
by the First Army, while, at the same time, the Second Army should
assure the offensive toward the rich iron fields of Briey. These
operations were to be followed by an offensive toward Château-Salins
east of the Moselle, thus isolating Metz. Accordingly, attacks on the
American front had been ordered and that of the Second Army was in
progress on the morning of November 11, when instructions were received
that hostilities should cease at 11 o'clock a.m.
[Sidenote: A new offensive is halted by the armistice.]
At this moment the line of the American sector, from right to left,
began at Port-sur-Seille, thence across the Moselle to Vandieres and
through the Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of the Meuse, thence
along to the foothills and through the northern edge of the Woevre
forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, thence along the Meuse connecting with
the French under Sedan.
[Sidenote: Cordial assistance of the Allied armies and governments.]
Cooperation among the Allies has at all times been most cordial. A far
greater effort has been put forth by the Allied armies and staffs to
assist us than could have been expected. The French Government and Army
have always stood ready to furnish us with supplies, equipment, and
transportation and to aid us in every way. In the towns and hamlets
wherever our troops have been stationed or billeted the French people
have everywhere received them more as relatives and intimate friends
than as soldiers of a foreign army. For these things words are quite
inadequate to express our gratitude. There can be no doubt that the
relations growing out of our associations here assure a permanent
friendship between the two peoples. Although we have not been so
intimately associated with the people of Great Britain, yet their troops
and ours when thrown together have always warmly fraternized. The
reception of those of our forces who have passed through England and of
those who have been stationed there has always been enthusiastic.
Altogether it has been deeply impressed upon us that the ties of
language and blood bring the British and ourselves together completely
and inseparably.
[Sidenote: Americans in Italy and in Russia.]
There are in Europe altogether including a regiment and some sanitary
units with the Italian Army and the organizations at Murmansk, also
including those en route from the States, approximately 2,053,347 men,
less our losses. Of this total there are in France 1,338,169 combatant
troops. Forty divisions have arrived, of which the Infantry personnel of
10 have been used as replacements, leaving 30 divisions now in France
organized into three armies of three corps each.
[Sidenote: American losses and American captures.]
The losses of the Americans up to November 18 are: Killed in action,
36,145; died of disease, 14,811; deaths unclassified, 2,204; wounded,
179,625; prisoners, 2,163; missing, 1,160. We have captured about 44,000
prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers and trench mortars.
[Sidenote: Ability of the American officers.]
The duties of the General Staff, as well as those of the Army and corps
staffs, have been very ably performed. Especially is this true when we
consider the new and difficult problems with which they have been
confronted. This body of officers, both as individuals and as an
organization, have, I believe, no superiors in professional ability, in
efficiency, or in loyalty.
[Sidenote: The Service of Supply.]
Nothing that we have in France better reflects the efficiency and
devotion to duty of Americans in general than the Service of Supply
whose personnel is thoroughly imbued with a patriotic desire to do its
full duty. They have at all times fully appreciated their responsibility
to the rest of the Army and the results produced have been most
gratifying.
[Sidenote: The Medical Corps.]
Our Medical Corps is especially entitled to praise for the general
effectiveness of its work both in hospital and at the front. Embracing
men of high professional attainments, and splendid women devoted to
their calling and untiring in their efforts, this department has made a
new record for medical and sanitary proficiency.
[Sidenote: The Quartermaster Department.]
The Quartermaster Department has had difficult and various tasks, but it
has more than met all demands that have been made upon it. Its
management and its personnel have been exceptionally efficient and
deserve every possible commendation.
[Sidenote: Ordnance Department, Signal Corps and Engineer Corps.]
As to the more technical services, the able personnel of the Ordnance
Department in France has splendidly fulfilled its functions both in
procurement and in forwarding the immense quantities of ordnance
required. The officers and men and the young women of the Signal Corps
have performed their duties with a large conception of the problem and
with a devoted and patriotic spirit to which the perfection of our
communications daily testify. While the Engineer Corps has been referred
to in another part of this report, it should be further stated that the
work has required large vision and high professional skill, and great
credit is due their personnel for the high proficiency that they have
constantly maintained.
[Sidenote: American aviators.]
[Sidenote: The Tank Corps.]
Our aviators have no equals in daring or in fighting ability and have
left a record of courageous deeds that will ever remain a brilliant page
in the annals of our Army. While the Tank Corps has had limited
opportunities its personnel has responded gallantly on every possible
occasion and has shown courage of the highest order.
[Sidenote: Other Departments.]
The Adjutant General's Department has been directed with a systematic
thoroughness and excellence that surpassed any previous work of its
kind. The Inspector General's Department has risen to the highest
standards and throughout has ably assisted commanders in the
enforcement of discipline. The able personnel of the Judge Advocate
General's Department has solved with judgment and wisdom the multitude
of difficult legal problems, many of them involving questions of great
international importance.
It would be impossible in this brief preliminary report to do justice to
the personnel of all the different branches of this organization which I
shall cover in detail in a later report.
[Sidenote: Cooperation of Navy and Army.]
The Navy in European waters has at all times most cordially aided the
Army, and it is most gratifying to report that there has never before
been such perfect cooperation between these two branches of the service.
As to Americans in Europe not in the military services, it is the
greatest pleasure to say that, both in official and in private life,
they are intensely patriotic and loyal, and have been invariably
sympathetic and helpful to the Army.
[Sidenote: Heroism of the officers and the men in the line.]
Finally, I pay the supreme tribute to our officers and soldiers of the
line. When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships,
their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion
which I am unable to express. Their deeds are immortal, and they have
earned the eternal gratitude of our country.
* * * * *
No one doubted the efficiency of the navy or of its capacity to carry on
its operations in a way worthy of the traditions of the American Navy.
What the navy did during the war, and how it did it, is summarized in
the following report by its chief.
THE AMERICAN NAVY IN
EUROPE
EXTRACTS FROM REPORT OF
ADMIRAL H.T. MAYO
[Sidenote: Activities in Ireland, Great Britain, and France.]
In conformity with instructions contained in the reference, the
following preliminary statement is herewith submitted in regard to
United States naval activities in Europe. This preliminary report
relates to our naval activities in Great Britain, Ireland, and France,
visit to the last named having been concluded on November 1, 1918. A
complete and detailed report will be submitted later and upon completion
of the current tour of inspection and observation.
In view of the fact that United States naval activities in Europe are
chiefly matters of cooperation with the allied navies, and that the
cooperation amounts practically to consolidation where effected with the
British Navy, this preliminary report is arranged on that basis in
several parts:
[Sidenote: General cooperation.]
I. COOPERATION WITH THE ALLIED NAVIES IN GENERAL.
(1) Commander United States naval forces in Europe.
(2) Allied naval council.
(3) Naval staff representative, Paris.
(4) Naval staff representative, Rome.
[Sidenote: Naval Headquarters in London and Ireland.]
II. ACTIVITIES IN COOPERATION WITH THE BRITISH.
(1) United States naval headquarters, London.
(2) United States naval activities in Ireland.
(_a_) Battleship Division Six, Berehaven.
(_b_) Submarine detachment, Berehaven.
(_c_) Destroyers based on Queenstown.
(_d_) Subchaser Detachment Three based on Queenstown.
(3) United States naval air stations in Ireland; seaplane stations;
kite-balloon station.
(4) Battleship Division Nine.
(5) Mine Force.
(6) Subchaser Detachment One, based on Plymouth.
(7) United States Naval Air Stations, Great Britain, Seaplane Station,
Killingholme; Northern Bombing Group, Assembly and Repair Plant,
Eastleigh.
(8) Cross-channel Transport Service.
[Sidenote: Paris, Brest and coast districts.]
[Sidenote: Naval air stations.]
III. ACTIVITIES IN COOPERATION WITH THE FRENCH.
(1) Naval staff representative, Paris.
(2) United States naval headquarters, Brest.
(3) French coastal districts.
(4) Destroyers based on Brest.
(5) United States naval air stations on French coast:
(_a_) Seaplane stations.
(_b_) Dirigible stations.
(_c_) Kite-balloon stations.
(_d_) Assembly and repair plant, Pauillac.
(_e_) Aviation Training School, Moutchie.
[Sidenote: Radio stations, hospitals, etc.]
IV. OTHER COOPERATING ACTIVITIES.
(1) Naval liaison officer at Army General Headquarters.
(2) Naval Radio Station, Croix d'Hins.
(3) United States Naval Railway Battery.
(4) Naval Pipe-Line Unit.
(5) Stations not yet inspected or not to be visited.
V. UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION IN EUROPE.
VI. Y.M.C.A. AND SIMILAR ACTIVITIES.
VII. HOSPITAL FACILITIES, ETC.
VIII. CONCLUDING REMARKS.
I. COOPERATION WITH THE ALLIED NAVIES IN GENERAL.
[Sidenote: Varied character of Naval activities.]
It could hardly have been foreseen to what extent United States naval
activities in Europe would accumulate, and it is a fact that it has been
a growth by accretion rather than by system. The resultant fact is that
the supervision of the commander of United States Naval Forces in Europe
is of great and varied scope and continues to increase from week to
week. Despite this great extent and varied character of our naval
activities in Europe (as evidenced by the list given in par. 2 above)
and the fact that their growth by accretion has made a highly
centralized control more or less inevitable, the results speak for
themselves--all of our naval activities are cooperative in character and
all of them give every evidence of performing useful and appreciated
work wherever found.
[Sidenote: Under the Allied Naval War Council.]
Cooperation with the allied navies in general is effected by means of
the Allied Naval War Council, which meets monthly or as may be deemed
advisable. The membership is composed of the several naval ministers and
naval chiefs of staff and of officers specifically appointed to
represent them in their absence. Vice Admiral Sims is the United States
naval representative. The secretariat of the council is composed of
British officers and personnel, with officers of the allied navies
designated for liaison duties therewith.
The Allied Naval Council has advisory functions only and has liaison
with the Supreme War Council, with a view to coordinating and unifying
allied naval effort, both as regards naval work only and as regards
unity of action with military or land effort. Proposals made by the
several allied navies are considered and definite steps recommended to
be taken in the premises. As well the naval aspects of military (land)
proposals are examined into and passed upon. Conversely military (land)
aspects of naval activities are referred to the Supreme War Council for
consideration.
[Sidenote: Unity of effort on land and sea.]
[Sidenote: Council at first advisory.]
The Allied Naval Council has had, in common with the Supreme War
Council, until last spring the handicap of being only advisory in
function. The conclusions are recommended to the several Governments for
adoption, but there is no common instrumentality for carrying into
effect measures which require cooperation or coordination. This state of
affairs in the Supreme War Council has been remedied by the appointment
of an allied commander in chief in the person of Marshal Foch.
There can be no doubt but that the Supreme War Council has met and that
the Allied Naval Council continues to fill a great need as a sort of
clearing house for the necessarily varied proposals of the several
Governments, most of which require cooperation on the part of some other
Government, and certainly it should be continued in being until a more
forceful control of allied naval effort can be agreed upon and brought
into effect.
[Sidenote: Liaison officers with the War Council and the Naval Council.]
The United States naval staff representative in Paris is the United
States naval liaison officer with the Supreme War Council, and a member
of the staff of Vice Admiral Sims is the liaison officer with the
secretariat of the Allied Naval Council. The United States naval staff
representative in Paris is also liaison officer at the French Ministry
of Marine and is at present naval attaché as well.
[Sidenote: Naval attaché to Italy.]
The naval attaché to Italy, Capt. C.R. Train, maintains naval liaison
with the Italian Ministry of Marine and keeps in touch with the United
States naval activities in Italian waters.
II. ACTIVITIES IN COOPERATION WITH THE BRITISH.
Inasmuch as the British are predominant in naval activity, it is natural
to find that a major part of our naval activities are in cooperation
with them and controlled by them. In fact, the British have been in
position to carry so much of the "naval load" of this war that our first
and our principal efforts have been toward taking up a share of that
load.
[Sidenote: Friendly rivalry between British and Americans.]
Cooperation has in many cases been carried to such an extent that the
coordination necessary for efficiency has developed into practical
consolidation. It is pleasing to note that while consolidation is all
but a fact, our own naval forces have in every case preferred to
preserve their individuality of organization and administration and, as
far as feasible, of operations; and that a healthy and friendly rivalry
between them and their British associates has resulted in much good to
the personnel of both services.
[Sidenote: On the coast of Ireland.]
The largest single group of naval activities wherein cooperation is
effected with the British is that in Ireland, all of them being under
the jurisdiction of the commander in chief, coast of Ireland, who has
been and is Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, whose cordial appreciation of the
work of our forces has gone far to stimulate the personnel coming under
his direction. The chief of staff, destroyer flotillas, and the officer
in charge of aviation in Ireland are designated by the British Admiralty
as members of the staff of Admiral Bayly.
[Sidenote: Battleship Division Six.]
_Battleship Division Six_, Rear Admiral T.S. Rodgers, is based on
Berehaven, Ireland, in readiness for the protection of convoys in
general and of troop convoys in particular. Arrangements are in effect
for the supply of their needs as to fuel and stores. While lack of
destroyers has operated to restrict their training underway, they are in
good material condition and their efficiency is being maintained by
utilizing all available facilities.
[Sidenote: The submarine patrol.]
_Submarine Detachment_, Lieutenant Commanders Friedell and Grady, is
based on Berehaven, Ireland, and maintains a submarine patrol off the
west and south coasts of Ireland. Their service is hard; they have had a
great deal of work at sea and have cheerfully met every demand made on
them. Despite their relative isolation, they have maintained themselves
in readiness with the aid of the submarine tender _Bushnell_, whose
limited facilities have been utilized to the utmost. Their performances
and condition of material and personnel reflect great credit on all
concerned.
[Sidenote: Destroyers at Queenstown.]
(_a_) _The destroyers based on Queenstown_, Capt. F.R.P. Pringle, are
the original United States naval force in European waters--a distinction
which is an ever-present spur to cheerful efficiency under any and all
circumstances and produces results which must be a satisfaction to their
superiors.
[Sidenote: Changes in destroyer personnel.]
(_b_) Despite the fact that the requirements of supplying personnel for
new destroyers has resulted in large changes in the original experienced
destroyer personnel, this has been accomplished in such a manner as to
maintain the operating efficiency of the force at or near its original
high standard.
(_c_) Aside from unavoidable casualties, the force is in good operating
condition. The systemization of supply and repairs developed and
maintained by the destroyer tenders _Melville_ and _Dixie_ effect the
readiness of destroyers for sea with commendable promptness and with a
view to the comfort of destroyer personnel during their short stays in
port.
[Sidenote: Destroyer tenders.]
[Sidenote: Gunnery and torpedo exercises.]
(_d_) Within the last few months means have been found to systematize
and supervise the training, particularly with regard to the carrying out
of gunnery and torpedo exercises, which, under the press of keeping the
sea, had somewhat lapsed in favor of the necessary development of escort
work and of depth-charge tactics.
(_e_) All of the activities at Queenstown--the torpedo repair and
overhaul station, the training barracks at Passage, the repair force
barracks at Ballybricken House, the general supply depot at Deepwater
Quay, the hospital and barracks at White Point, as well as the
activities afloat--were well underway and gave an impression of
purposefulness in "getting on with the war" in that particular corner of
the world.
[Sidenote: Enlisted Men's Club at Queenstown.]
(_f_) On account of the restricted facilities for liberty and
recreation, a special and most successful effort has been made to
furnish healthful and interesting diversion in Queenstown itself by
means of the Enlisted Men's Club, wholly of and for the men, which is
second to none in results obtained in promoting contentment.
[Sidenote: Subchaser at Queenstown.]
_Subchaser Detachment Three at Queenstown_, Captain A.J. Hepburn, had
only recently arrived, but arrangements for their employment were well
in hand, and they were expected to begin operations as soon as the means
of basing them had been perfected. The need of a suitable tender was
apparent, especially for the upkeep of those units whose working ground
would be at some distance from the main base. The personnel gave
evidence of a strong feeling of eagerness to get to work and of
readiness to face the hardships that going to sea in small craft
entails.
[Sidenote: Seaplane and balloon stations.]
_United States Naval Air Stations in Ireland_, Commander F.R. McCrary,
consists of seaplane stations at Whiddy Island, Queenstown (also the
main supply and repair base), Wexford, and Lough Foyle, and a
kite-balloon station at Berehaven. None of these stations was in
operation in mid-September, except that Lough Foyle was partially so,
but all were about ready to begin operations and would do so upon the
receipt of the necessary planes or pilots or both, all of which were en
route. A great deal of the construction has been done by our own
personnel, some of the stations having been entirely done by them.
[Sidenote: Rear Admiral Rodman's command.]
(_a_) _Battleship Division Nine of the Atlantic Fleet_, under the
command of Rear Admiral Rodman, has constituted the Sixth Battle
Squadron of the British Grand Fleet under Admiral Sir David Beatty for
nearly a year.
(_b_) When this division was sent abroad it had, in common with other
units of the Atlantic Fleet, suffered in efficiency from the expansion
of the Navy, which required reduction in the number of officers and
transfers of numbers of men to furnish trained and experienced nuclei
for other vessels. Upon reporting in the Grand Fleet, it immediately
took its place in the battle line on exactly the same status as other
units of the Grand Fleet. The opportunities for gunnery exercises are
limited but drill and adherence to standardized methods and procedure as
developed in our own naval service have brought this division to a
satisfactory state of efficiency, which continues to improve.
[Sidenote: General efficiency of the squadron.]
(_c_) It is pleasing to record that the efficiency of this unit in
gunnery, engineering, and seamanship is deemed by the British commander
in chief to be in no way inferior to that of the best of the British
battle squadrons. In fact, it is perfectly proper to state the belief
that our ships are in some respects superior to the British, and perhaps
chiefly in the arrangements for the health and contentment of personnel,
which have been very thoroughly examined into by the flag officers,
captains, and other officers of the Grand Fleet. These ships have also
been the subject of much favorable comment in regard to their capacity
for self-maintenance, a matter which has been given much attention in
our own Navy of late years.
[Sidenote: Capacity for self-maintenance.]
(_d_) Service in the Grand Fleet is noteworthy by reason of the fact
that the fleet is at never less than four hours' notice for going to
sea, so that liberty is restricted and whatever is necessary in the way
of overhaul and upkeep of machinery must always be planned with a view
to assembly in case of orders to sea.
[Sidenote: Mine-laying operation.]
[Sidenote: Readiness to attack difficulties.]
_The Mine Force of the Atlantic Fleet_, under the command of Rear
Admiral Strauss, is an independent unit, except that the mine-laying
operations are under the jurisdiction of the commander in chief of the
Grand Fleet, who has to choose the time when arrangements can be carried
into effect to furnish the necessary destroyer escort and heavy covering
forces. The arrangements made at home prior to the departure of the mine
force appear to have been well considered and thoroughly developed. The
mine-laying operations themselves give an impression of efficiency which
can only come from thorough preparation and complete understanding of
the work. The assembly of mines in the bases has been somewhat changed
by the necessity for certain alterations in the mine itself, most of
which are due to difficulties inherent in the application of the
operating principle of the mine. Here, as elsewhere, the cheerful
readiness of officers and men to attack difficulties and to surmount all
obstacles is producing results of magnitude and importance of which all
too little is known even in the Navy itself.
[Sidenote: Crossing the channel.]
_The Cross-channel Transport Service_ was brought into being to render
indispensable assistance to the British in ferrying United States troops
across the channel from England, in whose ports over half of our troops
were landed from British ships. At the time of inspection late in
September four United States vessels were in service, and four more were
expected in the course of a few weeks. The vessels in service were
superior in capacity to British vessels engaged in the same work and
combined with the efficiency of their naval personnel made them the
subject of favorable remark by the British transport authorities.
[Sidenote: Subchasers at Plymouth.]
_Subchaser Detachment One_, based on Plymouth, Captain L.A. Cotten, had
been operating for some time. A very compact and efficient base was in
process of completion and should, with the aid of the subchaser tender
_Hannibal_, amply suffice for the requirements of a larger number of
chasers than that now available. This base is to be expanded into a
United States naval base, of which Rear Admiral Bristol will be in
charge. The upkeep of chasers is effected entirely with the resources of
the base; operations are initiated by the British commander in chief at
Plymouth. A great deal of development work in listening devices is being
carried on at and from this base. The work of the subchasers from this
base has proved their usefulness up to the limit of their sea-going
capacity.
(_a_) _United States Naval Aviation in England_ is carried on by
cooperation in two British commands.
[Sidenote: Seaplanes at Killingholme.]
(_b_) _The United States Seaplane Station, Killingholme_, Commander K.
Whiting, is under the vice admiral commanding on the east coast of
England. It has been in operation for some time and does escort of
coastal convoys, escort of mine layers in the southern part of the North
Sea, and some reconnaissance work in the direction of the Dutch coast.
[Sidenote: Day and night bombing squadrons.]
(_c_) _The Northern Bombing Group_, Captain D.C. Hanrahan, is under the
vice admiral commanding at Dover, whose jurisdiction extends to naval
aviation units in northern France in the vicinity of Calais and
Dunkerque. The day bombing squadrons are manned by marines; the night
bombing squadrons by the Navy. There has been some delay in the
acquisition of suitable night bombing planes, but their delivery will
find all in readiness to go immediately to work. The British prescribe
the objectives and designate the available free flying time; the
operations themselves are carried out by our own personnel. The seaplane
station at Dunkerque has operated successfully under the handicap of
limited and difficult water area in which to take off and to land.
[Sidenote: The base at Eastleigh.]
(_d_) _The Assembly, Repair, and Supply Station at Eastleigh_ was
brought into being primarily for the Northern Bombing Group because of
the difficulties of transportation to and from the general aviation base
at Pauillac. It also does necessary work for Killingholme and for the
air stations in Ireland. This base, when visited, was in process of
completion and gave every evidence of purpose and capacity to meet all
requirements likely to be made of it.
III. _Activities in Cooperation with the French._
[Sidenote: Vice Admiral Wilson's command.]
Aside from the cooperation effected by the force commander with the
French Ministry of Marine through the naval staff representative in
Paris on matters of general policy, actual cooperation is carried on by
Vice Admiral H.B. Wilson, commander United States naval forces in
France, whose headquarters are maintained in Brest.
[Sidenote: The coastal convoy system.]
It is deemed worthy of special remark that whereas practically all
cooperation with the British is effected by operating as units under
British control, cooperation with the French is arranged on a basis that
leaves to the United States naval forces a very large measure of
initiative. This is particularly true in regard to troopships destined
to French ports, which are provided with escort and routed in and out
wholly from the Brest headquarters which is kept fully informed as to
routes and positions of British-controlled convoys and as to locations
of submarine activities and has to so adjust routes on and off the coast
as to keep clear of both. Three out of eight escort units are provided
by United States vessels for the coastal convoy system, which is
operated by the French. Unity of purpose and sympathy of understanding
have combined to make the handling of cargo convoys on and off the coast
a matter of ready adjustment to the general conditions obtaining in
regard to destination of cargo ships and availability of escort vessels.
[Sidenote: Rate of movement of troops by transports.]
At the end of the fiscal year United States naval forces in France are
stated to have been escorting troops into France at the rate of 134,000
per month. Since May 1, 1918, the number of troopships and cargo-vessel
convoys east and west bound have averaged more than 1 a day, and the
number of ships over 200 a month. No convoy of troopships has failed to
be met by destroyer escort before entering the area of submarine
activity, and no passenger intrusted to the care of the United States
naval forces in France has been lost.
[Sidenote: Destroyers controlled from Brest.]
(_a_) _The destroyers based on Brest_ are controlled directly from
headquarters at Brest and are at present maintained in readiness for
service with the aid of the fleet repair ship _Prometheus_ and lately
also by the destroyer tender _Bridgeport_. Additional repair shops on
shore are in process of completion.
[Sidenote: Gunnery and torpedo exercises.]
(_b_) Arrangements are now in hand for the carrying out of gunnery
exercises including torpedoes, the need of which has been recognised but
had hitherto been deemed impracticable on account of press of work.
[Sidenote: Facilities for repairing vessels.]
(_c_) The United States naval repair facilities here as well as
elsewhere on the coast of France have to be made use of not only for the
upkeep of the United States naval vessels based on the coast, but also
for necessary repairs to troopships and cargo vessels, whether naval,
Army, or Shipping Board, the guiding idea being to keep the ships
moving.
[Sidenote: French divided into districts.]
(_a_) _Coastal Districts in France._--The north and west coasts of
France are divided into districts which correspond with the French
prefectures maritimes, and the district headquarters are in every case
located in the same place as those of the several prefects maritimes.
These headquarters are communication and operating centers and provide
naturally by arrangement as above described for full and ready
cooperation with the French district activities.
[Sidenote: Port officers.]
(_b_) The principal ports have assigned to them a port officer whose
function in regard to all United States ships is to expedite their "turn
around," and in addition, where vessels carrying United States naval
armed guards are concerned, to inspect the armed guards and adjust such
matters as are beyond the capacity or authority of the armed guard
commander.
(_a_) _United States Naval Aviation in France_ includes all that the
title implies, except the northern bombing group mentioned above, and
aviation matters are immediately in the hands of Captain T.T. Craven,
aid for aviation on Vice Admiral Wilson's staff.
[Sidenote: Stations for seaplanes, dirigibles and balloons.]
(_b_) There are eight sea-plane stations, three dirigible stations, and
three kite-balloon stations, all of which are operated by district
commanders in cooperation with the French naval air services in the
several corresponding prefectures maritimes. There is also an assembly,
repair, and supply base at Pauillac for the general service of all air
stations in France and a sea-plane gunnery and bombing training school
at Moutchie, both of these activities being directly under the
headquarters in Brest.
(_c_) Of the eight seaplane stations, five have been in operation for
periods varying from 12 to 3 months, and the remaining 3 are now about
ready to begin.
(_d_) Of the three dirigible stations, only that at Paimboeuf has been
in operation for any length of time, and is to be used also for training
and experimental work. The station at Guipavas will shortly be in
operation. The station at Gujan has been delayed to let material go to
other stations which it was deemed advisable to complete first.
[Sidenote: Experimental balloon work at Brest.]
(_e_) Of the three kite-balloon stations, only that at Brest is ready
for operation. Test and experimental work have been carried on here
since August, 1918, in connection with destroyers and yachts. The
station at La Trinite is nearing completion and that at La Pallice is
progressing rapidly. The utility of the station at La Trinite seems to
be somewhat in doubt, as the original purposes for its establishment
have undergone some change due to alterations in the methods of handling
convoys, coastal as well as on and off shore.
[Sidenote: Repair and supply station at Pauillac.]
(_f_) The assembly repair and supply station at Pauillac is under the
command of Captain F.T. Evans, under whose forceful and able direction
the station has progressed rapidly to completion and is deemed ready to
undertake any and all demands that may be made on it.
[Sidenote: Devices used in training aviators.]
(_g_) The training school at Moutchie, under the command of Commander
R.W. Cabaniss appears to have a thorough system of instruction, founded
on sound bases, and includes study and lectures, as well as ample,
practical work. Endeavor is made to keep in touch with and to adopt,
where deemed advisable, the best British and French methods. Some of the
devices in use for training are ingeniously adapted to the simulation of
the conditions obtaining while flying.
IV. OTHER COOPERATING ACTIVITIES.
[Sidenote: Liaison with the United States Army.]
_Liaison with the United States Army in France_ is carried on by
maintaining a naval liaison officer (Commander R. Williams) at the Army
general headquarters, chiefly for the purpose of rendering assistance in
effecting cooperation as to the handling and routing of troopships and
of cargo vessels consigned to Army account.
[Sidenote: The radio station near Bordeaux.]
_Trans-Atlantic Radio Station._--The erection of the trans-Atlantic
radio-transmitting station at Croix d'Hins, near Bordeaux, is being done
by United States naval personnel under the direction of Lieutenant
Commander G.C. Sweet. The French authorities are putting in the
foundations. The personnel is well taken care of and the work of
construction appears to be progressing favorably. It is hoped and
expected by those in charge that a four-tower unit will be ready for
operation about March 1, 1919.
[Sidenote: The naval railway batteries in France.]
_The 14-inch Naval Railway Battery_ was built and equipped by the Navy
and manned by naval personnel for service in France with the United
States Army. It arrived in France in July last under the command of Rear
Admiral C.P. Plunkett and was ready for service during August. A part
of the battery has been operating with the French against Laon and
vicinity, and is understood to have rendered what the French consider
very valuable service against the enemy. The entire battery is now with
the First United States Army, but data as to what it has accomplished
are not yet available. This test of our naval guns of late design and
large caliber in long-range firing and the opportunities given to naval
personnel to study and observe the artillery work on the western front
are considered to be of great value to the service.
[Sidenote: The oil pipe line across Scotland.]
_A United States Naval Pipe-line Unit_ has completed important service
in the construction of a fuel-oil pipe line across Scotland, and is
understood to have been asked for by the French to do some work of the
same kind for them.
(_a_) There are yet to be inspected and observed the following
activities, which have not so far been mentioned:
[Sidenote: Additional naval bases.]
United States naval base at Cardiff, Subchaser Detachment Two, based on
Corfu, Captain C.P. Nelson, United States naval air stations in Italy.
(_b_) It is not deemed practicable to visit the United States naval
forces based at Gibraltar (Rear Admiral Niblack), nor the United States
naval forces based on the Azores, because of difficulties of
transportation, as is also the case in regard to the U.S.S. _Olympia_ in
northern Russia.
V. UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION IN EUROPE.
[Sidenote: Aviation Headquarters in Paris and London.]
(_a_) The establishment of United States naval aviation in Europe has
been one of the most difficult and involved tasks which have had to be
undertaken and brought into effect. Captain H.I. Cone arrived in Europe
for this work about October 1, 1917, and has continued in charge of it
ever since. He maintained headquarters in Paris until about August 1,
1918, when he removed to London and was designated as aid for aviation
on staff of the commander of United States naval forces in Europe.
[Sidenote: Supplies arranged for by cable.]
(_b_) There were arrangements to be made with the French and the British
as to locations for stations that would be best adapted for cooperation.
There were further arrangements to be made as to the procurement of
sites or the taking over of the stations already in operation or in
process of construction. The Navy Department had also to be communicated
with, largely by cable, as to design, quantities, and shipments of
material, which upon receipt had to be allocated with a view to
completing certain stations as soon as possible while not delaying the
progress of the general scheme any more than could be helped.
[Sidenote: Coastwise transportation difficult.]
(_c_) Delays and mistakes in the shipment of aviation material probably
caused more trouble than any other one thing, for when material once
arrives in a European port it has been, and still is, a very difficult
matter to arrange for coastwise transportation.
[Sidenote: Creditable progress.]
(_d_) Taking into consideration the necessary scope of the project, the
difficulties inherent in providing for establishments on foreign soil,
and the delays which the magnitude of the undertakings caused in the
production and shipment of material (and personnel) from the United
States, the state of progress is considered highly creditable to Captain
Cone and to his assistants.
VI. Y.M.C.A. AND SIMILAR ACTIVITIES.
[Sidenote: Y.M.C.A. activities.]
(_a_) It was satisfactory to note that in practically all cases--whether
our own naval facilities provided reading, writing, and amusement
facilities for the personnel or not--the Y.M.C.A. was in evidence.
Their arrangements were, in many places, all that could be expected in
the way of cheerful and comfortable quarters; and, in those places where
the facilities were not so good, inquiry usually revealed the fact that
a suitable building was either under way or soon would be.
[Sidenote: Knights of Columbus.]
(_b_) In at least one place the Knights of Columbus were found
established in a commodious building with all in readiness to duplicate
the character of the work generally associated with Y.M.C.A. activities.
(_c_) All assistance of this character, from whatever source, has been
gladly taken advantage of by the officers in charge, and is much used
and appreciated by the men.
VII. HOSPITAL FACILITIES, SICK QUARTERS, ETC.
[Sidenote: Excellent hospitals at naval bases.]
It is deemed worthy of note that the arrangements and facilities for
caring for the sick and injured Navy personnel are almost more than
ample. In many of the naval-base hospitals the majority of the patients
are, consequently, of other services--both the United States and the
allied. The provisions of the United States Navy in this respect are so
complete in their facilities and so efficient in their readiness as to
excite the admiration of all the foreign services, military as well as
naval.
[Sidenote: Hearty cooperation with British and French.]
As has already been said at the beginning of this report, cooperation
with the British and the French had been the chief method of work for
the United States naval forces in European waters. That cooperation has
been effected with such cordial appreciation and the few minor
difficulties have yielded so readily to sympathetic understanding that
all zeal displayed was in the common interest of "winning the war" that
there is and can be nothing but reciprocal praise for each other's
efforts, which will be of lasting benefit in future when the present
compelling community of interest is no longer operative. The United
States and the allies know each other better individually and
collectively and are and will continue to be the greater and better
friends for the experience that has come out of the cordial cooperation
and coordination required by the common interest in this war.
[Sidenote: Spirit of men and officers.]
There is ample evidence on every hand, from the north of Scotland to the
shores of the Mediterranean, that officers and men of the naval service,
regular and reserve alike and together, have "turned to" on the work in
hand, inspired by the guiding idea of doing all in their power, however
humble the task, of "helping to win the war." Officers whose preference
is for duty at sea, men who came over with a view to doing battle with
the enemy, one and all, have done and are doing the work that comes to
hand, even to the digging of ditches, with a will and with a cheery
readiness for more of the same kind, for anything that will help to "get
on with the war," that is an inspiration to all who work with them and
of vast satisfaction to those over them who will know what their
preferences in the matter of war employment are. They are a credit to
the service and to their country.
[Sidenote: High standard of conduct.]
Furthermore, this large body of men, which occupies the position of the
advance guard of the Navy, as a whole have so conducted themselves as to
earn the highly favorable comment of the citizens in whose country they
found themselves and whose guests they are in some measure. It is
believed that it may well be said that the men on duty in Europe, far
away from home ties and influences, will return to their own country
unharmed by the temptations and pitfalls which their relatives and
friends may have feared. They are a fine, upstanding lot of men, and
their adaptability and efficiency have been so apparent as to fully
warrant the oft-made statement that the men of the United States Navy,
which includes the Marine Corps, can do anything, anywhere, and at any
time.
[Sidenote: The _President Lincoln_ is torpedoed.]
On May 31, 1918, the _President Lincoln_ was returning to America from a
voyage to France, and was in line formation with the U.S.S.
_Susquehanna_, the U.S.S. _Antigone_, and the U.S.S. _Ryndam_, the
latter being on the left flank of the formation and about 800 yards from
the _President Lincoln_. The weather was pleasant, the sun shining
brightly, with a choppy sea. The ships were about 500 miles from the
coast of France and had passed through what was considered to be the
most dangerous part of the war zone. At about 9 a.m. a terrific
explosion occurred on the port side of the ship about 120 feet from the
bow and immediately afterwards another explosion occurred on the port
side about 120 feet from the stern of the ship, these explosions being
immediately identified as coming from torpedoes fired by a German
submarine.
It was found that the ship was struck by three torpedoes, which had been
fired as one salvo from the submarine, two of the torpedoes striking
practically together near the bow of the ship and the third striking
near the stern. The wake of the torpedoes had been sighted by the
officers and lookouts on watch, but the torpedoes were so close to the
ship as to make it impossible to avoid them; and it was also found that
the submarine at the time of firing was only about 800 yards from the
_President Lincoln_.
There were at the time 715 persons on board, including about 30 officers
and men of the Army. Some of these were sick and two soldiers were
totally paralyzed.
The alarm was immediately sounded and everyone went to his proper
station which had been designated at previous drills. There was not the
slightest confusion and the crew and passengers waited for and acted on
orders from the commanding officer with a coolness which was truly
inspiring.
[Sidenote: No confusion in leaving ship.]
Inspections were made below decks and it was found that the ship was
rapidly filling with water, both forward and aft, and that there was
little likelihood that she would remain afloat. The boats were lowered
and the life rafts were placed in the water and about 15 minutes after
the ship was struck all hands except the guns' crews were ordered to
abandon the ship.
[Sidenote: Saving the sick and wounded.]
It had been previously planned that in order to avoid the losses which
have occurred in such instances by filling the boats at the davits
before lowering them, that only one officer and five men would get into
the boats before lowering and that everyone else would get into the
water and get on the life rafts and then be picked up by the boats, this
being entirely feasible, as everyone was provided with an efficient
life-saving jacket. One exception was made to this plan, however, in
that one boat was filled with the sick before being lowered and it was
in this boat that the paralyzed soldiers were saved without difficulty.
[Sidenote: Courageous work of the gunners.]
The guns' crews were held at their stations hoping for an opportunity to
fire on the submarine should it appear before the ship sank, and orders
were given to the guns' crews to begin firing, hoping that this might
prevent further attack. All the ship's company except the guns' crews
and necessary officers were at that time in the boats and on the rafts
near the ship, and when the guns' crews began firing the people in the
boats set up a cheer to show that they were not downhearted. The guns'
crews only left their guns when ordered by the commanding officer just
before the ship sank. The guns in the bow kept up firing until after the
water was entirely over the main deck of the after half of the ship.
The state of discipline which existed and the coolness of the men is
well illustrated by what occurred when the boats were being lowered and
were about half way from their davits to the water. At this particular
time, there appeared some possibility of the ship not sinking
immediately, and the commanding officer gave the order to stop lowering
the boats. This order could not be understood, however, owing to the
noise caused by escaping steam from the safety valves of the boilers
which had been lifted to prevent explosion, but by motion of the hand
from the commanding officer the crews stopped lowering the boats and
held them in mid-air for a few minutes until at a further motion of the
hand the boats were dropped into the water.
[Sidenote: Rafts tied together to prevent drifting.]
Immediately after the ship sank the boats pulled among the rafts and
were loaded with men to their full capacity and the work of collecting
the rafts and tying them together to prevent drifting apart and being
lost was begun.
[Sidenote: The submarine takes an officer prisoner.]
While this work was under way and about half an hour after the ship
sank, a large German submarine emerged and came among the boats and
rafts, searching for the commanding officer and some of the senior
officers whom they desired to take prisoners. The submarine commander
was able to identify only one officer, Lieutenant E.V.M. Isaacs, whom he
took on board and carried away. The submarine remained in the vicinity
of the boats for about two hours and returned again in the afternoon,
hoping apparently for an opportunity of attacking some of the other
ships which had been in company with the _President Lincoln_ but which
had, in accordance with standard instructions, steamed as rapidly as
possible from the scene of attack.
[Sidenote: After dark signal lights.]
By dark the boats and rafts had been collected and secured together,
there being about 500 men in the boats and about 200 on the rafts.
Lighted lanterns were hoisted in the boats and flare-up lights and
Coston signal lights were burned every few minutes, the necessary detail
of men being made to carry out this work during the night.
[Sidenote: Water and food limited.]
The boats had been provided with water and food, but none was used
during the day, as the quantity was necessarily limited and it might be
a period of several days before a rescue could be effected.
The ship's wireless plant had been put out of commission by the force of
the explosion, and although the ship's operator had sent the radio
distress signals, yet it was known that the nearest destroyers were 250
miles away, protecting another convoy and it was possible that military
necessity might prevent their being detached to come to our rescue.
[Sidenote: Destroyers _Warrington_ and _Smith_ arrive.]
At about 11 p.m. a white light flashing in the blackness of the
night--it was very dark--was sighted, and very shortly it was found that
the destroyer _Warrington_ had arrived for our rescue and about an hour
afterwards the destroyer _Smith_ also arrived. The transfer of the men
from the boats and rafts to the destroyers was effected as quickly as
possible and the destroyers remained in the vicinity until after
daylight the following morning, when a further search was made for
survivors who might have drifted in a boat or on a raft, but none were
found, and at about 6 a.m. the return trip to France was begun.
The performance of Lieutenant Commander Kenyon, commanding the U.S.
destroyer _Warrington_, and Lieutenant Commander Klein, of the U.S.
destroyer _Smith_ deserves great commendation, as they located our
position in the middle of the night, after having run a distance of
about 250 miles, during which time the boats and rafts of the _President
Lincoln_ had drifted 15 miles from the position reported by radio, and
it had been necessary for the commanding officers of these destroyers to
make an estimate of the probable drift of the boats during that time.
The only thing they had to base their estimate on was the force and
direction of the wind. The discovery of the boats was not accidental, as
the course steered was the result of mature deliberation and estimate of
the situation.
[Sidenote: Drift of the boats accurately estimated.]
[Sidenote: The missing.]
Of the 715 men present all told on board, it was found after the muster
that 3 officers and 23 men were lost with the ship and that 1 officer,
Lieutenant Isaacs, above mentioned, had been taken prisoner. The three
officers were Passed Assistant Surgeon L.C. Whiteside, ship's medical
officer; Paymaster Andrew Mowat, ship's supply officer; and Assistant
Paymaster J.D. Johnston, United States Naval Reserve Force.
[Sidenote: Two officers taken down with the ship.]
The loss of these officers was peculiarly regrettable, as they could
have escaped. Both Dr. Whiteside and Paymaster Mowat had seen the men
under their charge leave the ship, the doctor having attended to placing
the sick in the boat provided for the purpose, and they then remained in
the ship for some unexplainable reason, as testified by witnesses who
last saw them, and apparently these two excellent officers were taken
down with the ship. Paymaster Johnston got on a raft alongside the ship,
but in some way was caught by the ship as she went under, as C.M.
Hippard, ship's cook, third class, United States Navy, states that he
was on the raft with Paymaster Johnston and that they were both drawn
under the water, but when he came to the surface, Paymaster Johnston
could no longer be seen.
[Sidenote: Men working below decks.]
Of the 23 men who were lost, the following 7 men were engaged in work
below decks in the forward end of the ship, and they were either killed
by the force of the explosion of the two torpedoes which struck in that
vicinity, or were drowned by the inrush of the water.
H.A. Himelwright, storekeeper, second class, United States Navy; F.W.
Wilson, jr., yeoman, second class, United States Naval Reserve Force; B.
Zanetti, coxswain, United States Navy; A.S. Egbert, seaman, second
class, National Naval Volunteer; G.B. Hoffman, seaman, United States
Navy; J.A. Jenkins, seaman, second class, United States Navy; F.A.
Hedglin, seaman, second class, United States Navy.
[Sidenote: One raft probably went down.]
The remaining 16 men were apparently caught on the raft alongside the
ship and went down, this being probably caused by the current of water
which was rushing into the big hole in the ship's side, as the men were
on rafts which were in this vicinity.
[Sidenote: Danger from submarine.]
Although the German submarine commander made no offers of assistance of
any kind, yet otherwise his conduct for the ship's company in the boat
was all that could be expected. We naturally had some apprehension as to
whether or not he would open fire on the boats and rafts, I thought he
might probably do this, as an attempt to make me and other officers
disclose their identity. This possibility was evidently in the minds of
the men of the crew also, because at one time I noticed some one on the
submarine walk to the muzzle of one of the guns, apparently with the
intention of preparing it for action. This was evidently observed by
some of the men in my boat, and I heard the remark, "Good night, here
comes the fireworks." The spirit which actuated the remark of this
kind, under such circumstances, could be none other than that of cool
courage and bravery.
[Sidenote: Instances of self-sacrifice.]
There were many instances where a man showed more interest in the safety
of another than he did for himself. When loading the boats from the
rafts one man would hold back and insist that another be allowed to
enter the boat. There was a striking case of this kind when about dark I
noticed that Chief Master-at-Arms Rogers, who was rather an old man, and
been in the Navy for years, was on a raft, and I sent a boat to take him
from the raft, but he objected considerably to this, stating that he was
quite all right, although as a matter of fact he was very cold and
cramped from his long hours on the raft.
[Sidenote: The Balsa rafts excellent.]
Fortunately, the splendid type of life raft known as the Balsa raft, as
it was made of balsa wood, had been furnished the ship, and these
resulted in saving a great many men who might otherwise have been lost,
due to exhaustion in the water.
[Sidenote: Inspiring conduct of the men.]
The conduct of the men during this time of grave danger was thrilling
and inspiring, as a large percentage of them were young boys, who had
only been in the Navy for a period of a few months. This is another
example of the innate courage and bravery of the young manhood of
America.
* * * * *
The Germans, hard pressed by the Americans and French in the
Meuse-Argonne, and by the British in Flanders, at last saw the futility
of further resistance, and asked for an armistice, on November 11. The
terms of this armistice, dictated by the Allies, were as follows:
ARMISTICE TERMS SIGNED BY GERMANY
[Sidenote: Operations to cease.]
One--Cessation of operations by land and in the air six hours after the
signature of the armistice.
[Sidenote: Invaded countries to be evacuated.]
Two--Immediate evacuation of invaded countries: Belgium, France,
Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered as to be completed within
fourteen days from the signature of the armistice. German troops which
have not left the above-mentioned territories within the period fixed
will become prisoners of war. Occupation by the allied and United States
forces jointly will keep pace with evacuation in these areas. All
movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance
with a note annexed to the stated terms.
[Sidenote: Inhabitants to be repatriated.]
Three--Repatriation beginning at once to be completed within fifteen
days of all the inhabitants of the countries above enumerated (including
hostages, persons under trial or convicted).
[Sidenote: Surrender of war material.]
Four--Surrender in good condition by the German armies of the following
war material: Five thousand guns (2,500 heavy, and 2,500 field), 25,000
machine guns, 3,000 minenwerfer, 1,700 airplanes (fighters,
bombers--firstly, all of the D 7's and all the night bombing machines).
The above to be delivered in situ to the allied and United States troops
in accordance with the detailed conditions laid down in the note
(annexure No. 1) drawn up at the moment of the signing of the armistice.
Five--Evacuation by the German armies of the countries on the left bank
of the Rhine. The countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be
administered by the local troops of occupation. The occupation of these
territories will be carried out by allied and United States garrisons
holding the principal crossings of the Rhine (Mayence, Coblenz,
Cologne), together with the bridgeheads at these points of a
thirty-kilometer radius on the right bank and by garrisons similarly
holding the strategic points of the regions. A neutral zone shall be
reserved on the right bank of the Rhine between the stream and a line
drawn parallel to the bridgeheads and to the stream and at a distance of
ten kilometers, from the frontier of Holland up to the frontier of
Switzerland. The evacuation by the enemy of the Rhinelands (left and
right bank) shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further
period of sixteen days, in all, thirty-one days after the signing of the
armistice. All the movements of evacuation or occupation are regulated
by the note (annexure No. 1) drawn up at the moment of the signing of
the armistice.
[Sidenote: Allies to occupy left bank of Rhine and principal crossings.]
[Sidenote: Inhabitants of evacuated territories to be protected.]
Six--In all territories evacuated by the enemy there shall be no
evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the
persons or property of the inhabitants. No person shall be persecuted
for offenses of participation in war measures prior to the signing of
the armistice. No destruction of any kind shall be committed. Military
establishments of all kinds shall be delivered intact, as well as
military stores of food, munitions, and equipment, not removed during
the time fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil
population, cattle, &c., shall be left in situ. Industrial
establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel
shall not be removed.
[Sidenote: Means of transportation to be surrendered in good order.]
Seven--Roads and means of communication of every kind, railroads,
waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no
manner impaired. All civil and military personnel at present employed on
them shall remain. Five thousand locomotives and 150,000 wagons in good
working order, with all necessary spare parts and fittings, shall be
delivered to the associated powers within the period fixed in annexure
No. 2, and total of which shall not exceed thirty-one days. There shall
likewise be delivered 5,000 motor lorries (camion automobiles) in good
order, within the period of thirty-six days. The railways of
Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within the period of thirty-one
days, together with pre-war personnel and material. Further, the
material necessary for the working of railways in the countries on the
left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and
material for the upkeep of permanent ways, signals, and repair shops
shall be left in situ. These stores shall be maintained by Germany in so
far as concerns the working of the railroads in the countries on the
left bank of the Rhine. All barges taken from the Allies shall be
restored to them. The note, annexure No. 2, regulates the details of
these measures.
[Sidenote: Mine positions to be revealed.]
Eight--The German command shall be responsible for revealing within the
period of forty-eight hours after the signing of the armistice all mines
or delayed action fuses on territory evacuated by the German troops and
shall assist in their discovery and destruction. It also shall reveal
all destructive measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or
polluting of springs and wells, &c.). All under penalty of reprisals.
[Sidenote: Allies to have right of requisition.]
Nine--The right of requisition shall be exercised by the allied and
United States armies in all occupied territories, subject to regulation
of accounts with those whom it may concern. The upkeep of the troops of
occupation in the Rhineland (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be
charged to the German Government.
[Sidenote: Allied and American prisoners of war to be repatriated.]
Ten--The immediate repatriation without reciprocity, according to
detailed conditions which shall be fixed, of all allied and United
States prisoners of war, including persons under trial or convicted. The
allied powers and the United States shall be able to dispose of them as
they wish. This condition annuls the previous conventions on the subject
of the exchange of prisoners of war, including the one of July, 1918, in
course of ratification. However, the repatriation of German prisoners of
war interned in Holland and in Switzerland shall continue as before. The
repatriation of German prisoners of war shall be regulated at the
conclusion of the preliminaries of peace.
[Sidenote: Sick and wounded to be cared for.]
Eleven--Sick and wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory
will be cared for by German personnel, who will be left on the spot with
the medical material required.
[Sidenote: Germans to withdraw from Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Turkey and
Russia.]
Twelve--All German troops at present in the territories which before
belonged to Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Turkey, shall withdraw immediately
within the frontiers of Germany as they existed on August First,
Nineteen Fourteen. All German troops at present in the territories which
before the war belonged to Russia shall likewise withdraw within the
frontiers of Germany, defined as above, as soon as the Allies, taking
into account the internal situation of these territories, shall decide
that the time for this has come.
[Sidenote: Evacuation to begin immediately.]
[Sidenote: German requisitions to cease.]
Thirteen--Evacuation by German troops to begin at once, and all German
instructors, prisoners, and civilians as well as military agents now on
the territory of Russia (as defined before 1914) to be recalled.
Fourteen--German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures
and any other undertaking with a view to obtaining supplies intended
for Germany in Rumania and Russia (as defined on August 1, 1914).
[Sidenote: Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk treaties to be renounced.]
Fifteen--Renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and
of the supplementary treaties.
Sixteen--The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated
by the Germans on their eastern frontier, either through Danzig, or by
the Vistula, in order to convey supplies to the populations of those
territories and for the purpose of maintaining order.
[Sidenote: East Africa to be evacuated.]
Seventeen--Evacuation by all German forces operating in East Africa
within a period to be fixed by the Allies.
[Sidenote: Repatriation without reciprocation.]
Eighteen--Repatriation, without reciprocity, within a maximum period of
one month in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed
of all interned civilians, including hostages (persons?) under trial or
convicted, belonging to the allied or associated powers other than those
enumerated in Article Three.
[Sidenote: Financial restitution.]
Nineteen--The following financial conditions are required: Reparation
for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities shall
be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the Allies for
the recovery or reparation for war losses. Immediate restitution of the
cash deposit in the national bank of Belgium, and in general immediate
return of all documents, specie, stocks, shares, paper money, together
with plant for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests
in the invaded countries. Restitution of the Russian and Rumanian gold
yielded to Germany or taken by that power. This gold to be delivered in
trust to the Allies until the signature of peace.
[Sidenote: Cessation of hostilities at sea.]
Twenty--Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea and definite
information to be given as to the location and movements of all German
ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation
in all territorial waters is given to the naval and mercantile marines
of the allied and associated powers, all questions of neutrality being
waived.
[Sidenote: Germany to return naval prisoners.]
Twenty-one--All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of the allied and
associated powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity.
[Sidenote: Submarines and mine layers to be surrendered.]
Twenty-two--Surrender to the Allies and United States of all submarines
(including submarine cruisers and all mine-laying submarines) now
existing, with their complete armament and equipment, in ports which
shall be specified by the Allies and United States. Those which cannot
take the sea shall be disarmed of the personnel and material and shall
remain under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. The
submarines which are ready for the sea shall be prepared to leave the
German ports as soon as orders shall be received by wireless for their
voyage to the port designated for their delivery, and the remainder at
the earliest possible moment. The conditions of this article shall be
carried into effect within the period of fourteen days after the signing
of the armistice.
[Sidenote: German warships to be disarmed and interned.]
Twenty-three--German surface warships which shall be designated by the
Allies and the United States shall be immediately disarmed and
thereafter interned in neutral ports or in default of them in allied
ports to be designated by the Allies and the United States. They will
there remain under the supervision of the Allies and of the United
States, only caretakers being left on board. The following warships are
designated by the Allies: Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight
light cruisers (including two mine layers), fifty destroyers of the most
modern types. All other surface warships (including river craft) are to
be concentrated in German naval bases to be designated by the Allies
and the United States and are to be completely disarmed and classed
under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. The military
armament of all ships of the auxiliary fleet shall be put on shore. All
vessels designated to be interned shall be ready to leave the German
ports seven days after the signing of the armistice. Directions for the
voyage will be given by wireless.
[Sidenote: Allies to sweep mine fields.]
Twenty-four--The Allies and the United States of America shall have the
right to sweep up all mine fields and obstructions laid by Germany
outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be
indicated.
[Sidenote: Free accession to the Baltic for the Allies.]
Twenty-five--Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the
naval and mercantile marines of the allied and associated powers. To
secure this the Allies and the United States of America shall be
empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries, and
defense works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Cattegat into
the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within and
without German territorial waters, without any question of neutrality
being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are
to be indicated.
[Sidenote: Blockade conditions to remain unchanged.]
Twenty-six--The existing blockade conditions set up by the allied and
associated powers are to remain unchanged, and all German merchant ships
found at sea are to remain liable to capture. The Allies and the United
States should give consideration to the provisioning of Germany during
the armistice to the extent recognized as necessary.
[Sidenote: Naval aircraft to be immobilized.]
Twenty-seven--All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilized
in German bases to be specified by the Allies and the United States of
America.
[Sidenote: Navigation material to be abandoned.]
Twenty-eight--In evacuating the Belgian coast and ports Germany shall
abandon in situ and in fact all port and river navigation material, all
merchant ships, tugs, lighters, all naval aeronautic apparatus, material
and supplies, and all arms, apparatus, and supplies of every kind.
[Sidenote: Black Sea ports to be evacuated.]
Twenty-nine--All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany; all
Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black
Sea are to be handed over to the Allies and the United States of
America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all
warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those ports are to be
returned and German materials as specified in Clause Twenty-eight are to
be abandoned.
[Sidenote: Merchant vessels to be restored.]
Thirty--All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the allied and
associated powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the
Allies and the United States of America without reciprocity.
[Sidenote: No destruction permitted.]
Thirty-one--No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted
before evacuation, surrender, or restoration.
[Sidenote: German restrictions on trading vessels to be canceled.]
Thirty-two--The German Government will notify the neutral Governments of
the world, and particularly the Governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their
vessels with the allied and associated countries, whether by the German
Government or by private German interests, and whether in return for
specific concessions, such as the export of shipbuilding materials, or
not, are immediately canceled.
[Sidenote: No transfers of German shipping.]
Thirty-three--No transfers of German merchant shipping of any
description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the
armistice.
[Sidenote: Armistice to last thirty days.]
Thirty-four--The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with
option to extend. During this period if its clauses are not carried
into execution the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting
parties, which must give warning forty-eight hours in advance. It is
understood that the execution of Articles 3 and 18 shall not warrant the
denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insufficient execution
within a period fixed, except in the case of bad faith in carrying them
into execution. In order to assure the execution of this convention
under the best conditions, the principle of a permanent international
armistice commission is admitted. This commission will act under the
authority of the allied military and naval Commanders in Chief.
[Sidenote: Must be accepted within seventy-two hours.]
Thirty-five--This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within
seventy-two hours of notification.
This armistice has been signed the Eleventh of November, Nineteen
Eighteen, at 5 o'clock a.m. French time.
F. Foch.
R.E. Wemyss.
Erzberger.
A. Oberndorff.
Winterfeldt.
Von Salow.
* * * * *
The chief concern of President Wilson, and the controlling reason for
his trip abroad to attend the Peace Conference, was the formation of a
League of Nations to insure perpetual peace. After months of
deliberation the covenant of the League of Nations was prepared and made
public. The text of this covenant follows.
COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
[Sidenote: The purposes of the League.]
PREAMBLE--In order to promote international cooperation and to
secure international peace and security by the acceptance of obligations
not to resort to war, by the prescription of open, just, and honorable
relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the
understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among
Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect
for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one
another, the Powers signatory to this covenant adopt this Constitution
of the League of Nations:
[Sidenote: A body of delegates.]
ARTICLE I.--The action of the high contracting parties under
the terms of this covenant shall be effected through the instrumentality
of a meeting of a body of delegates representing the high contracting
parties, of meetings at more frequent intervals of an Executive Council,
and of a permanent international secretariat to be established at the
seat of the League.
[Sidenote: Each high contracting party to have a vote.]
ART. II.--Meetings of the body of delegates shall be held at
stated intervals and from time to time, as occasion may require, for the
purpose of dealing with matters within the sphere of action of the
League. Meetings of the body of delegates shall be held at the seat of
the league, or at such other places as may be found convenient, and
shall consist of representatives of the high contracting parties. Each
of the high contracting parties shall have one vote, but may have not
more than three representatives.
[Sidenote: Nations to be represented in the Executive Council.]
ART. III.--The Executive Council shall consist of
representatives of the United States of America, the British Empire,
France, Italy, and Japan, together with representatives of four other
States, members of the League. The selection of these four States shall
be made by the body of delegates on such principles and in such manner
as they think fit. Pending the appointment of these representatives of
the other States, representatives of ---- shall be members of the
Executive Council.
[Sidenote: Meetings at least once a year.]
Meetings of the Council shall be held from time to time as occasion may
require, and at least once a year, at whatever place may be decided on,
or, failing any such decision, at the seat of the League, and any matter
within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the
world may be dealt with at such meetings.
Invitations shall be sent to any Power to attend a meeting of the
council at which such matters directly affecting its interests are to be
discussed, and no decision taken at any meeting will be binding on such
Powers unless so invited.
[Sidenote: Committees to investigate particular matters.]
ART. IV.--All matters of procedure at meetings of the body of
delegates or the Executive Council, including the appointment of
committees to investigate particular matters, shall be regulated by the
body of delegates or the Executive Council, and may be decided by a
majority of the States represented at the meeting.
The first meeting of the body of delegates and of the Executive Council
shall be summoned by the President of the United States of America.
[Sidenote: The permanent secretariat.]
ART. V.--The permanent secretariat of the League shall be
established at ----, which shall constitute the seat of the League. The
secretariat shall comprise such secretaries and staff as may be
required, under the general direction and control of a Secretary General
of the League, who shall be chosen by the Executive Council. The
secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary General subject to
confirmation by the Executive Council.
The Secretary General shall act in that capacity at all meetings of the
body of delegates or of the Executive Council.
The expenses of the secretariat shall be borne by the States members of
the League, in accordance with the apportionment of the expenses of the
International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union.
[Sidenote: Representatives to have diplomatic privileges and
immunities.]
ART. VI.--Representatives of the high contracting parties and
officials of the League, when engaged in the business of the League,
shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities, and the buildings
occupied by the League or its officials, or by representatives attending
its meetings, shall enjoy the benefits of extra-territoriality.
[Sidenote: Admission to the League.]
ART. VII.--Admission to the League of States, not signatories
to the covenant and not named in the protocol hereto as States to be
invited to adhere to the covenant, requires the assent of not less than
two-thirds of the States represented in the body of delegates, and shall
be limited to fully self-governing countries, including dominions and
colonies.
No State shall be admitted to the League unless it is able to give
effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its
international obligations and unless it shall conform to such principles
as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its naval and military
forces and armaments.
[Sidenote: To reduce national armaments.]
ART. VIII.--The high contracting parties recognize the
principle that the maintenance of peace will require the reduction of
national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety,
and the enforcement by common action of international obligations,
having special regard to the geographical situation and circumstances of
each State, and the Executive Council shall formulate plans for
effecting such reduction. The Executive Council shall also determine for
the consideration and action of the several Governments what military
equipment and armament is fair and reasonable in proportion to the scale
of forces laid down in the program of disarmament; and these limits,
when adopted, shall not be exceeded without the permission of the
Executive Council.
[Sidenote: To regulate private manufacture of munitions.]
The high contracting parties agree that the manufacture by private
enterprise of munitions and implements of war lends itself to grave
objections, and direct the Executive Council to advise how the evil
effects attendant upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard
being had to the necessities of those countries which are not able to
manufacture for themselves the munitions and implements of war necessary
for their safety.
The high contracting parties undertake in no way to conceal from each
other the condition of such of their industries as are capable of being
adapted to warlike purposes or the scale of their armaments, and agree
that there shall be full and frank interchange of information as to
their military and naval programs.
ART. IX.--A permanent commission shall be constituted to advise
the League on the execution of the provisions of Article VIII. and on
military and naval questions generally.
[Sidenote: Territorial integrity.]
ART. X.--The high contracting parties shall undertake to
respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial
integrity and existing political independence of all States members of
the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or
danger of such aggression the Executive Council shall advise upon the
means by which the obligation shall be fulfilled.
[Sidenote: All wars the concern of the League.]
ART. XI.--Any war or threat of war, whether immediately
affecting any of the high contracting parties or not, is hereby declared
a matter of concern to the League, and the high contracting parties
reserve the right to take any action that may be deemed wise and
effectual to safeguard the peace of nations.
It is hereby also declared and agreed to be the friendly right of each
of the high contracting parties to draw the attention of the body of
delegates or of the Executive Council to any circumstance affecting
international intercourse which threatens to disturb international peace
or good understanding between nations upon which peace depends.
[Sidenote: Disputes to be submitted to arbitration.]
ART. XII.--The high contracting parties agree that should
disputes arise between them which cannot be adjusted by the ordinary
processes of diplomacy they will in no case resort to war without
previously submitting the questions and matters involved either to
arbitration or to inquiry by the Executive Council, and until three
months after the award by the arbitrators or a recommendation by the
Executive Council, and that they will not even then resort to war as
against a member of the League which complies with the award of the
arbitrators or the recommendation of the Executive Council.
In any case under this article the award of the arbitrators shall be
made within a reasonable time, and the recommendation of the Executive
Council shall be made within six months after the submission of the
dispute.
[Sidenote: The Executive Council to act if arbitration fails.]
ART. XIII.--The high contracting parties agree that whenever
any dispute or difficulty shall arise between them, which they recognize
to be suitable for submission to arbitration and which cannot be
satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, they will submit the whole matter
to arbitration. For this purpose the court of arbitration to which the
case is referred shall be the court agreed on by the parties or
stipulated in any convention existing between them. The high contracting
parties agree that they will carry out in full good faith any award that
may be rendered. In the event of any failure to carry out the award the
Executive Council shall propose what steps can best be taken to give
effect thereto.
[Sidenote: A permanent court of international justice.]
ART. XIV.--The Executive Council shall formulate plans for the
establishment of a permanent court of international justice, and this
court shall, when established, be competent to hear and determine any
matter which the parties recognize as suitable for submission to it for
arbitration under the foregoing article.
[Sidenote: Cases to be stated to the Executive Council.]
ART. XV.--If there should arise between States, members of the
League, any dispute likely to lead to rupture, which is not submitted to
arbitration as above, the high contracting parties agree that they will
refer the matter to the Executive Council; either party to the dispute
may give notice of the existence of the dispute to the Secretary General
who will make all necessary arrangements for a full investigation and
consideration thereof. For this purpose the parties agree to communicate
to the Secretary General as promptly as possible statements of their
case, all the relevant facts and papers, and the Executive Council may
forthwith direct the publication thereof.
[Sidenote: Terms of settlements to be published.]
[Sidenote: Measures to give effect to recommendations.]
Where the efforts of the council lead to the settlement of the dispute,
a statement shall be published, indicating the nature of the dispute and
the terms of settlement, together with such explanations as may be
appropriate. If the dispute has not been settled, a report by the
council shall be published, setting forth with all necessary facts and
explanations the recommendation which the council think just and proper
for the settlement of the dispute. If the report is unanimously agreed
to by the members of the council, other than the parties to the dispute,
the high contracting parties agree that they will not go to war with any
party which complies with the recommendations, and that if any party
shall refuse so to comply the council shall propose measures necessary
to give effect to the recommendations. If no such unanimous report can
be made it shall be the duty of the majority and the privilege of the
minority to issue statements, indicating what they believe to be the
facts, and containing the reasons which they consider to be just and
proper.
[Sidenote: Dispute may be referred to the body of delegates.]
The Executive Council may in any case under this article refer the
dispute to the body of delegates. The dispute shall be so referred at
the request of either party to the dispute, provided that such request
must be made within fourteen days after the submission of the dispute.
In a case referred to the body of delegates, all the provisions of this
article, and of Article XII., relating to the action and powers of the
Executive Council, shall apply to the action and powers of the body of
delegates.
[Sidenote: When a nation breaks its covenants.]
ART. XVI.--Should any of the high contracting parties break or
disregard its covenants under Article XII. it shall thereby ipso facto
be deemed to have committed an act of war against all the other members
of the League, which hereby undertakes immediately to subject it to the
severance of all trade or financial relations, the prohibition of all
intercourse between their nationals and the nationals of the
covenant-breaking State and the prevention of all financial, commercial,
or personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breaking
State and the nationals of any other State, whether a member of the
League or not.
[Sidenote: Armed forces of the League.]
It shall be the duty of the Executive Council in such case to recommend
what effective military or naval force the members of the League shall
severally contribute to the armed forces to be used to protect the
covenants of the League.
[Sidenote: Financial economic measures.]
The high contracting parties agree, further, that they will mutually
support one another in the financial and economic measures which may be
taken under this article in order to minimize the loss and inconvenience
resulting from the above measures, and that they will mutually support
one another in resisting any special measures aimed at one of their
number by the covenant-breaking State and that they will afford passage
through their territory to the forces of any of the high contracting
parties who are cooperating to protect the covenants of the League.
[Sidenote: When a non-member is party to a dispute.]
ART. XVII.--In the event of dispute between one State member of
the League and another State which is not a member of the League, or
between States not members of the League, the high contracting parties
agree that the State or States, not members of the League, shall be
invited to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the
purposes of such dispute, upon such conditions as the Executive Council
may deem just, and upon acceptance of any such invitation, the above
provisions shall be applied with such modifications as may be deemed
necessary by the League.
Upon such invitation being given the Executive Council shall immediately
institute an inquiry into the circumstances and merits of the dispute
and recommend such action as may seem best and most effectual in the
circumstances.
In the event of a power so invited refusing to accept the obligations of
membership in the League for the purposes of the League, which in the
case of a State member of the League would constitute a breach of
Article XII., the provisions of Article XVI. shall be applicable as
against the State taking such action.
[Sidenote: Executive Council to take means to settle the dispute.]
If both parties to the dispute, when so invited, refuse to accept the
obligations of membership in the League for the purpose of such dispute,
the Executive Council may take such action and make such recommendations
as will prevent hostilities and will result in the settlement of the
dispute.
[Sidenote: Supervision of trade in arms.]
ART. XVIII.--The high contracting parties agree that the League
shall be intrusted with general supervision of the trade in arms and
ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is
necessary in the common interest.
[Sidenote: Development of backward peoples a sacred trust.]
ART. XIX.--To those colonies and territories which, as a
consequence of the late war, have ceased to be under the sovereignty of
the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by
peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous
conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle
that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust
of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust
should be embodied in the constitution of the League.
The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the
tutelage of such peoples should be intrusted to advanced nations, who by
reason of their resources, their experience, or their geographical
position, can best undertake this responsibility, and that this tutelage
should be exercised by them as mandatories on behalf of the League.
The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the
development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory,
its economic conditions and other similar circumstances.
[Sidenote: Provisional recognition of certain communities.]
Certain communities, formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire, have
reached a stage of development where their existence as independent
nations can be provisionally recognized, subject to the rendering of
administrative advice and assistance by a mandatory power until such
time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities
must be a principal consideration in the selection of the mandatory
power.
[Sidenote: Central Africa peoples.]
Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage
that the mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the
territory, subject to conditions which will guarantee freedom of
conscience or religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order
and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms
traffic, and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment
of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training
of the natives for other than police purposes and the defense of
territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and
commerce of other members of the League.
[Sidenote: The South Pacific Isles.]
There are territories, such as Southwest Africa and certain of the South
Pacific Isles, which, owing to the sparseness of the population, or
their small size, or their remoteness from the centers of civilization,
or their geographical contiguity to the mandatory State and other
circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the mandatory
States as integral portions thereof, subject to the safeguards above
mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population.
[Sidenote: Mandatory's annual report.]
In every case of mandate, the mandatory State shall render to the League
an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge.
The degree of authority, control, or administration, to be exercised by
the mandatory State, shall, if not previously agreed upon by the high
contracting parties in each case, be explicitly defined by the Executive
Council in a special act or charter.
[Sidenote: The mandatory commission.]
The high contracting parties further agree to establish at the seat of
the League a mandatory commission to receive and examine the annual
reports of the mandatory powers, and to assist the League in insuring
the observance of the terms of all mandates.
ART. XX.--The high contracting parties will endeavor to secure
and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women, and
children, both in their own countries and in all countries to which
their commercial and industrial relations extend; and to that end agree
to establish as part of the organization of the League a permanent
bureau of labor.
[Sidenote: Transportation and commerce.]
ART. XXI.--The high contracting parties agree that provision
shall be made through the instrumentality of the League to secure and
maintain freedom of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of
all States members of the League, having in mind, among other things,
special arrangements with regard to the necessities of the regions
devastated during the war of 1914-1918.
[Sidenote: International bureaus to be placed under League.]
ART. XXII.--The high contracting parties agree to place under
the control of the League all international bureaus already established
by general treaties, if the parties to such treaties consent.
Furthermore, they agree that all such international bureaus to be
constituted in future shall be placed under control of the League.
[Sidenote: Treaties to be registered with the League.]
ART. XXIII.--The high contracting parties agree that every
treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any State
member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Secretary
General and as soon as possible published by him, and that no such
treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered.
[Sidenote: Reconsideration of treaties.]
ART. XXIV.--It shall be the right of the body of delegates from
time to time to advise the reconsideration by States members of the
League of treaties which have become inapplicable and of international
conditions of which the continuance may endanger the peace of the world.
[Sidenote: To procure release from obligations inconsistent with the
League.]
ART. XXV.--The high contracting parties severally agree that
the present covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations inter se
which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly engage that
they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the
terms thereof. In case any of the Powers signatory hereto or
subsequently admitted to the League shall, before becoming a party to
this covenant, have undertaken any obligations which are inconsistent
with the terms of this covenant, it shall be the duty of such Power to
take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations.
[Sidenote: Covenant to be ratified.]
ART. XXVI.--Amendments to this covenant will take effect when
ratified by the States whose representatives compose the Executive
Council and by three-fourths of the States whose representatives compose
the body of delegates.
OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF THE TREATY OF PEACE
GERMANY
[Sidenote: The Allied and Associated Powers.]
The preamble names as parties of the one part the United States, the
British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan, described as the Five Allied
and Associated Powers, and Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba,
Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia,
Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serbia, Siam,
Czecho-Slovakia, and Uruguay, who with the five above are described as
the allied and associated powers, and on the other part, Germany.
[Sidenote: Desire for a firm, just and durable peace.]
It states that: bearing in mind that on the request of the then Imperial
German Government an armistice was granted on November 11, 1918, by the
principal allied and associated powers in order that a treaty of peace
might be concluded with her, and whereas the allied and associated
powers, being equally desirous that the war in which they were
successively involved directly or indirectly and which originated in the
declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on July 28, 1914, against Serbia,
the declaration of war by Germany against Russia on August 1, 1914, and
against France on August 3, 1914, and in the invasion of Belgium, should
be replaced by a firm, just, and durable peace, the plenipotentiaries,
(having communicated their full powers found in good and due form) have
agreed as follows:
From the coming into force of the present treaty the state of war will
terminate. From the moment and subject to the provisions of this treaty,
official relations with Germany, and with each of the German States,
will be resumed by the allied and associated Powers.
SECTION I
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
[Sidenote: Specific duties of the League of Nations.]
The covenant of the League of Nations constitutes Section I of the peace
treaty, which places upon the League many specific, in addition to its
general, duties. It may question Germany at any time for a violation of
a neutralized zone east of the Rhine as a threat against the world's
peace. It will appoint three of the five members of the Sarre
Commission, oversee its rêgime, and carry out the plebiscite. It will
appoint the High Commissioner of Danzig, guarantee the independence of
the free city, and arrange for treaties between Danzig and Germany and
Poland. It will work out the mandatory system to be applied to the
former German colonies, and act as a final court in part of the
plebiscites of the Belgian-German frontier, and in disputes as to the
Kiel Canal, and decide certain of the economic and financial problems.
An International Conference on Labor is to be held in October under its
direction, and another on the international control of ports, waterways,
and railways is foreshadowed.
MEMBERSHIP
[Sidenote: How states may become members or withdraw.]
The members of the League will be the signatories of the covenant and
other States invited to accede who must lodge a declaration of accession
without reservation within two months. A new State, dominion, or colony
may be admitted, provided its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of
the assembly. A State may withdraw upon giving two years' notice, if it
has fulfilled all its international obligations.
SECRETARIAT
[Sidenote: Permanent secretariat at Geneva.]
A permanent secretariat will be established at the seat of the League,
which will be at Geneva.
ASSEMBLY
[Sidenote: Voting by States.]
The Assembly will consist of representatives of the members of the
League, and will meet at stated intervals. Voting will be by States.
Each member will have one vote and not more than three representatives.
COUNCIL
[Sidenote: Meetings at least once a year.]
The Council will consist of representatives of the Five Great Allied
Powers, together with representatives of four members selected by the
Assembly from time to time; it may co-opt additional States and will
meet at least once a year.
Members not represented will be invited to send a representative when
questions affecting their interests are discussed. Voting will be by
States. Each State will have one vote and not more than one
representative. A decision taken by the Assembly and Council must be
unanimous except in regard to procedure and in certain cases specified
in the covenant and in the treaty, where decisions will be by a
majority.
ARMAMENTS
[Sidenote: Permanent commission on military and naval questions.]
The Council will formulate plans for a reduction of armaments for
consideration and adoption. These plans will be revised every ten years.
Once they are adopted, no member must exceed the armaments fixed without
the concurrence of the Council. All members will exchange full
information as to armaments and programs, and a permanent commission
will advise the Council on military and naval questions.
PREVENTING OF WAR
[Sidenote: Members to submit disputes to arbitration.]
[Sidenote: Council to consider means to protect covenants.]
Upon any war, or threat of war, the Council will meet to consider what
common action shall be taken. Members are pledged to submit matters of
dispute to arbitration or inquiry and not to resort to war until three
months after the award. Members agree to carry out an arbitral award and
not to go to war with any party to the dispute which complies with it.
If a member fails to carry out the award, the Council will propose the
necessary measures. The Council will formulate plans for the
establishment of a permanent court of international justice to determine
international disputes or to give advisory opinions. Members who do not
submit their case to arbitration must accept the jurisdiction of the
Assembly. If the Council, less the parties to the dispute, is
unanimously agreed upon the rights of it, the members agree that they
will not go to war with any party to the dispute which complies with its
recommendations. In this case, a recommendation, by the Assembly,
concurred in by all its members represented on the Council and a simple
majority of the rest, less the parties to the dispute, will have the
force of a unanimous recommendation by the Council. In either case, if
the necessary agreement cannot be secured, the members reserve the right
to take such [action?] as may be necessary for the maintenance of right
and justice. Members resorting to war in disregard of the covenant will
immediately be debarred from all intercourse with other members. The
Council will in such cases consider what military or naval action can be
taken by the League collectively for the protection of the covenants
and will afford facilities to members cooperating in this enterprise.
VALIDITY OF TREATIES
All treaties or international engagements concluded after the
institution of the League will be registered with the secretariat and
published. The Assembly may from time to time advise members to
reconsider treaties which have become inapplicable or involve danger to
peace.
[Sidenote: Monroe Doctrine not to be invalidated.]
The covenant abrogates all obligations between members inconsistent with
its terms, but nothing in it shall affect the validity of international
engagements such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings
like the Monroe Doctrine for securing the maintenance of peace.
THE MANDATORY SYSTEM
[Sidenote: For nations not able to stand alone.]
The tutelage of nations not yet able to stand by themselves will be
intrusted to advanced nations who are best fitted to undertake it. The
covenant recognizes three different stages of development requiring
different kinds of mandatories:
[Sidenote: Provisional independence.]
(a) Communities like those belonging to the Turkish Empire, which can be
provisionally recognized as independent, subject to advice and
assistance from mandatary in whose selection they would be allowed a
voice.
[Sidenote: Abuses to be prohibited.]
(b) Communities like those of Central Africa, to be administered by the
mandatary under conditions generally approved by the members of the
League, where equal opportunities for trade will be allowed to all
members; certain abuses, such as trade in slaves, arms, and liquor will
be prohibited, and the construction of military and naval bases and the
introduction of compulsory military training will be disallowed.
[Sidenote: League to determine degree of mandatary's authority.]
(c) Other communities, such as Southwest Africa and the South Pacific
Islands, but administered under the laws of the mandatary as integral
portions of its territory. In every case the mandatary will render an
annual report, and the degree of its authority will be defined.
GENERAL INTERNATIONAL PROVISIONS
[Sidenote: To maintain fair conditions of labor.]
[Sidenote: Steps for prevention and control of disease.]
Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of international
convention, existing or hereafter to be agreed upon, the members of the
League will in general endeavor, through the international organization
established by the Labor Convention, to secure and maintain fair
conditions of labor for men, women and children in their own countries
and other countries, and undertake to secure just treatment of the
native inhabitants of territories under their control; they will entrust
the League with the general supervision over the execution of agreements
for the suppression of traffic in women and children, &c.; and the
control of the trade in arms and ammunition with countries in which
control is necessary; they will make provision for freedom of
communication and transit and equitable treatment for commerce of all
members of the League, with special reference to the necessities of
regions devastated during the war; and they will endeavor to take steps
for international prevention and control of disease. International
bureaus and commissions already established will be placed under the
League, as well as those to be established in the future.
AMENDMENTS TO THE COVENANT
Amendments to the covenant will take effect when ratified by the Council
and by a majority of the Assembly.
SECTION II
BOUNDARIES OF GERMANY
[Sidenote: Germany to cede to France and Poland.]
Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine, 5,600 square miles to the
southwest, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxemburg and
Holland, totaling 382 square miles. She also cedes to Poland the
southeastern tip of Silesia beyond and including Oppeln, most of Posen,
and West Prussia, 27,686 square miles, East Prussia being isolated from
the main body by a part of Poland. She loses sovereignty over the
northeastern tip of East Prussia, 40 square miles north of the river
Memel, and the internationalized areas about Danzig, 729 square miles,
and the Basin of the Sarre, 738 square miles, between the western border
of the Rhenish Palatinate of Bavaria and the southeast corner of
Luxemburg. The Danzig area consists of the V between the Nogat and
Vistula Rivers made a W by the addition of a similar V on the west,
including the city of Danzig. The southeastern third of East Prussia and
the area between East Prussia and the Vistula north of latitude 53
degrees 3 minutes is to have its nationality determined by popular vote,
5,785 square miles, as is to be the case in part of Schleswig, 2,787
square miles.
SECTION III
BELGIUM
[Sidenote: Frontier changes.]
Germany is to consent to the abrogation of the treaties of 1839, by
which Belgium was established as a neutral State, and to agree in
advance to any convention with which the allied and associated Powers
may determine to replace them. She is to recognize the full sovereignty
of Belgium over the contested territory of Moresnet and over part of
Prussian Moresnet, and to renounce in favor of Belgium all rights over
the circles of Eupen and Malmedy, the inhabitants of which are to be
entitled within six months to protest against this change of sovereignty
either in whole or in part, the final decision to be reserved to the
League of Nations. A commission is to settle the details of the
frontier, and various regulations for change of nationality are laid
down.
LUXEMBURG
[Sidenote: Germany to renounce rights of exploitation.]
Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with the Grand
Duchy of Luxemburg, recognizes that it ceased to be a part of the German
Zollverein from January first, last, renounces all right of exploitation
of the railroads, adheres to the abrogation of its neutrality, and
accepts in advance any international agreement as to it reached by the
allied and associated powers.
LEFT BANK OF THE RHINE
[Sidenote: No German fortifications or armed forces.]
As provided in the military clauses, Germany will not maintain any
fortifications or armed forces less than fifty kilometers to the east of
the Rhine, hold any manoeuvres, nor maintain any works to facilitate
mobilization. In case of violation, "she shall be regarded as committing
a hostile act against the Powers who sign the present treaty and as
intending to disturb the peace of the world." "By virtue of the present
treaty, Germany shall be bound to respond to any request for an
explanation which the Council of the League of Nations may think it
necessary to address to her."
ALSACE-LORRAINE
[Sidenote: Territories restored to France.]
After recognition of the moral obligation to repair the wrong done in
1871 by Germany to France and the people of Alsace-Lorraine, the
territories ceded to Germany by the Treaty of Frankfort are restored to
France with their frontiers as before 1871, to date from the signing of
the armistice, and to be free of all public debts.
[Sidenote: How French citizenship may be acquired.]
Citizenship is regulated by detailed provisions distinguishing those who
are immediately restored to full French citizenship, those who have to
make formal applications therefor, and those for whom naturalization is
open after three years. The last named class includes German residents
in Alsace-Lorraine, as distinguished from those who acquire the position
of Alsace-Lorrainers as defined in the treaty. All public property and
all private property of German ex-sovereigns passes to France without
payment or credit. France is substituted for Germany as regards
ownership of the railroads and rights over concessions of tramways. The
Rhine bridges pass to France with the obligation for their upkeep.
[Sidenote: Manufactured products to be admitted to Germany.]
[Sidenote: Administration of Kehl and Strassbourg.]
For five years manufactured products of Alsace-Lorraine will be admitted
to Germany free of duty to a total amount not exceeding in any year the
average of the three years preceding the war and textile materials may
be imported from Germany to Alsace-Lorraine and re-exported free of
duty. Contracts for electric power from the right bank must be continued
for ten years. For seven years, with possible extension to ten, the
ports of Kehl and Strassbourg shall be administered as a single unit by
a French administrator appointed and supervised by the Central Rhine
Commission. Property rights will be safeguarded in both ports and
equality of treatment as respects traffic assured the nationals,
vessels, and goods of every country.
[Sidenote: Contracts, judgments of courts, political condemnations.]
Contracts between Alsace-Lorraine and Germany are maintained save for
France's right to annul on grounds of public interest. Judgments of
courts hold in certain classes of cases while in others a judicial
exequatur is first required. Political condemnations during the war are
null and void and the obligation to repay war fines is established as in
other parts of allied territory.
Various clauses adjust the general provisions of the treaty to the
special conditions of Alsace-Lorraine, certain matters of execution
being left to conventions to be made between France and Germany.
THE SARRE
[Sidenote: To compensate for destruction of mines in France.]
In compensation for the destruction of coal mines in Northern France and
as payment on account of reparation, Germany cedes to France full
ownership of the coal mines of the Sarre Basin with their subsidiaries,
accessories and facilities. Their value will be estimated by the
Separation Commission and credited against that account. The French
rights will be governed by German law in force at the armistice
excepting war legislation, France replacing the present owners, whom
Germany undertakes to indemnify. France will continue to furnish the
present proportion of coal for local needs and contribute in just
proportion to local taxes. The basin extends from the frontier of
Lorraine as re-annexed to France north as far as St. Wendel including on
the west the valley of the Sarre as far as Sarre Holzbach and on the
east the town of Homburg.
[Sidenote: To be governed by a commission.]
[Sidenote: A local representative assembly to be organized.]
In order to secure the rights and welfare of the population and
guarantee to France entire freedom in working the mines the territory
will be governed by a commission appointed by the League of Nations and
consisting of five members, one French, one a native inhabitant of the
Sarre, and three representing three different countries other than
France and Germany. The League will appoint a member of the Commission
as Chairman to act as executive of the Commission. The Commission will
have all powers of government formerly belonging to the German Empire,
Prussia and Bavaria, will administer the railroads and other public
services and have full power to interpret the treaty clauses. The local
courts will continue, but subject to the Commission. Existing German
legislation will remain the basis of the law, but the Commission may
make modification after consulting a local representative assembly which
it will organize. It will have the taxing power but for local purposes
only. New taxes must be approved by this assembly. Labor legislation
will consider the wishes of the local labor organizations and the labor
program of the League. French and other labor may be freely utilized,
the former being free to belong to French unions. All rights acquired as
to pensions and social insurance will be maintained by Germany and the
Sarre Commission.
[Sidenote: Liberty of religion and language.]
There will be no military service but only a local gendarmerie to
preserve order. The people will preserve their local assemblies,
religious liberties, schools, and language, but may vote only for local
assemblies. They will keep their present nationality except so far as
individuals may change it. Those wishing to leave will have every
facility with respect to their property. The territory will form part of
the French customs system, with no export tax on coal and metallurgical
products going to Germany nor on German products entering the basin and
for five years no import duties on products of the basin going to
Germany or German products coming into the basin. For local consumption
French money may circulate without restriction.
[Sidenote: Plebiscite to be held after fifteen years.]
After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain
the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing régime
under the League of Nations, union with France or union with Germany.
The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants over twenty resident
therein at the signature. Taking into account the opinions thus
expressed the League will decide the ultimate sovereignty. In any
portion restored to Germany the German Government must buy out the
French mines at an appraised valuation. If the price is not paid within
six months thereafter this portion passes finally to France. If Germany
buys back the mines the League will determine how much of the coal shall
be annually sold to France.
SECTION IV
GERMAN AUSTRIA
[Sidenote: Independence to be recognized.]
"Germany recognizes the total independence of German Austria in the
boundaries traced."
CZECHO-SLOVAKIA
[Sidenote: Frontiers of the new State.]
Germany recognizes the entire independence of the Czecho-Slovak State,
including the autonomous territory of the Ruthenians south of the
Carpathians, and accepts the frontiers of this State as to be
determined, which in the case of the German frontier shall follow the
frontier of Bohemia in 1914. The usual stipulations as to acquisition
and change of nationality follow.
POLAND
[Sidenote: A Boundary Commission to be constituted.]
[Sidenote: Minorities to be protected.]
Germany cedes to Poland the greater part of Upper Silesia, Posen and the
province of West Prussia on the left bank of the Vistula. A Field
Boundary Commission of seven, five representing the allied and
associated powers and one each representing Poland and Germany, shall be
constituted within fifteen days of the peace to delimit this boundary.
Such special provisions as are necessary to protect racial, linguistic
or religious minorities and to protect freedom of transit and equitable
treatment of commerce of other nations shall be laid down in a
subsequent treaty between the principal allied and associated powers and
Poland.
EAST PRUSSIA
[Sidenote: Frontiers of East Prussia and Poland.]
The southern and the eastern frontier of East Prussia as touching Poland
is to be fixed by plebiscites, the first in the regency of Allenstein
between the southern frontier of East Prussia and the northern frontier,
or Regierungsbezirk Allenstein from where it meets the boundary between
East and West Prussia to its junction with the boundary between the
circles of Oletsko and Angersburg, thence the northern boundary of
Oletsko to its junction with the present frontier, and the second in the
area comprising the circles of Stuhm and Rosenberg and the parts of the
circles of Marienburg and Marienwerder east of the Vistula.
[Sidenote: German troops and officials to leave.]
In each case German troops and authorities will move out within fifteen
days of the peace, and the territories be placed under an international
commission of five members appointed by the principal allied and
associated powers, with the particular duty of arranging for a free,
fair and secret vote. The commission will report the results of the
plebiscites to the powers with a recommendation for the boundary, and
will terminate its work as soon as the boundary has been laid down and
the new authorities set up.
[Sidenote: Access to the Vistula.]
The principal allied and associated powers will draw up regulations
assuring East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the
Vistula. A subsequent convention, of which the terms will be fixed by
the principal allied and associated powers, will be entered into
between Poland, Germany and Danzig, to assure suitable railroad
communication across German territory on the right bank of the Vistula
between Poland and Danzig, while Poland shall grant free passage from
East Prussia to Germany.
The northeastern corner of East Prussia about Memel is to be ceded by
Germany to the associated powers, the former agreeing to accept the
settlement made, especially as regards the nationality of the
inhabitants.
DANZIG
[Sidenote: Danzig to be under League of Nations.]
Danzig and the district immediately about it is to be constituted into
the "free city of Danzig" under the guarantee of the League of Nations.
A high commissioner appointed by the League and President of Danzig
shall draw up a constitution in agreement with the duly appointed
representatives of the city, and shall deal in the first instance with
all differences arising between the city and Poland. The actual
boundaries of the city shall be delimited by a commission appointed
within six months from the peace and to include three representatives
chosen by the allied and associated powers, and one each by Germany and
Poland.
[Sidenote: Convention between Danzig and Poland.]
A convention, the terms of which shall be fixed by the principal allied
and associated powers, shall be concluded between Poland and Danzig,
which shall include Danzig within the Polish customs frontiers, though a
free area in the port; insure to Poland the free use of all the city's
waterways, docks and other port facilities, the control and
administration of the Vistula and the whole through railway system
within the city, and postal, telegraphic and telephonic communication
between Poland and Danzig; provide against discrimination against Poles
within the city, and place its foreign relations and the diplomatic
protection of its citizens abroad in charge of Poland.
DENMARK
[Sidenote: Frontier to be fixed by self-determination.]
The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be fixed by the
self-determination of the population. Ten days from the peace German
troops and authorities shall evacuate the region north of the line
running from the mouth of the Schlei, south of Kappel, Schleswig, and
Friedrichstadt along the Eider to the North Sea south of Tonning; the
Workmen's and Soldiers' Councils shall be dissolved, and the territory
administered by an international commission of five, of whom Norway and
Sweden shall be invited to name two.
[Sidenote: Voting to be in zones.]
The commission shall insure a free and secret vote in three zones. That
between the German-Danish frontier and a line running south of the
Island of Alsen, north of Flensburg, and south of Tondern to the North
Sea, north of the Island of Sylt, will vote as a unit within three weeks
after the evacuation. Within five weeks after this vote the second zone,
whose southern boundary runs from the North Sea south of the Island of
Fehr to the Baltic south of Sygum, will vote by communes. Two weeks
after that vote the third zone running to the limit of evacuation will
also vote by communes. The international commission will then draw a new
frontier on the basis of these plebiscites and with due regard for
geographical and economic conditions. Germany will renounce all
sovereignty over territories north of this line in favor of the
Associated Governments, who will hand them over to Denmark.
HELIGOLAND
[Sidenote: Fortifications to be destroyed.]
The fortifications, military establishments, and harbors of the Islands
of Heligoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the supervision of the
Allies by German labor and at Germany's expense. They may not be
reconstructed, nor any similar fortifications built in the future.
RUSSIA
[Sidenote: Brest-Litovsk treaty to be abrogated.]
Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the independency
of all territories which were part of the former Russian Empire, to
accept the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other treaties entered
into with the Maximalist Government of Russia, to recognize the full
force of all treaties entered into by the allied and associated powers
with States which were a part of the former Russian Empire, and to
recognize the frontiers as determined thereon. The allied and associated
powers formally reserve the right of Russia to obtain restitution and
reparation on the principles of the present treaty.
SECTION V
GERMAN RIGHTS OUTSIDE EUROPE
[Sidenote: Germany to renounce rights.]
Outside Europe, Germany renounces all rights, titles, and privileges as
to her own or her allies' territories to all the allied and associated
powers, and undertakes to accept whatever measures are taken by the five
allied powers in relation thereto.
COLONIES AND OVERSEAS POSSESSIONS
[Sidenote: Property of German Empire to be transferred to new
governments.]
Germany renounces in favor of the allied and associated powers her
overseas possessions with all rights and titles therein. All movable and
immovable property belonging to the German Empire, or to any German
State, shall pass to the Government exercising authority therein. These
Governments may make whatever provisions seem suitable for the
repatriation of German nationals and as to the conditions on which
German subjects of European origin shall reside, hold property, or carry
on business. Germany undertakes to pay reparation for damage suffered by
French nationals in the Cameroons or its frontier zone through the acts
of German civil and military authorities and of individual Germans from
the 1st of January, 1900, to the 1st of August, 1914. Germany renounces
all rights under the convention of the 4th of November, 1911, and the
29th of September, 1912, and undertakes to pay to France in accordance
with an estimate presented and approved by the Repatriation Commission
all deposits, credits, advances, &c., thereby secured. Germany
undertakes to accept and observe any provisions by the allied and
associated powers as to the trade in arms and spirits in Africa as well
as to the General Act of Berlin of 1885 and the General Act of Brussels
of 1890. Diplomatic protection to inhabitants of former German colonies
is to be given by the Governments exercising authority.
[Sidenote: Diplomatic protection for inhabitants.]
CHINA
[Sidenote: Germany to renounce Boxer indemnities.]
Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and indemnities
resulting from the Boxer Protocol of 1901, and all buildings, wharves,
barracks for munitions of warships, wireless plants, and other public
property except diplomatic or consular establishments in the German
concessions of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory except
Kiao-Chau and agrees to return to China at her own expense all the
astronomical instruments seized in 1900 and 1901. China will, however,
take no measures for disposal of German property in the legation quarter
at Peking without the consent of the Powers signatory to the Boxer
Protocol.
[Sidenote: Abrogation of concession.]
Germany accepts the abrogation of the concessions at Hankow and
Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to international use. Germany
renounces all claims against China or any allied and associated
Government for the internment or repatriation of her citizens in China
and for the seizure or liquidation of German interests there since
August 14, 1917. She renounces in favor of Great Britain her State
property in the British concession at Canton and of France and China
jointly of the property of the German school in the French concession at
Shanghai.
SIAM
[Sidenote: Rights of extra territoriality to cease.]
Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself and Siam,
including the right of extra-territoriality, ceased July 22, 1917. All
German public property, except consular and diplomatic premises, passes
without compensation to Siam, German private property to be dealt with
in accordance with the economic clauses. Germany waives all claims
against Siam for the seizure and condemnation of her ships, liquidation
of her property, or internment of her nationals.
LIBERIA
[Sidenote: Commercial treaties and agreements to be abrogated.]
Germany renounces all rights under the international arrangements of
1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia, more particularly the right to nominate
a receiver of the customs, and disinterests herself in any further
negotiations for the rehabilitation of Liberia. She regards as abrogated
all commercial treaties and agreements between herself and Liberia and
recognizes Liberia's right to determine the status and condition of the
re-establishment of Germans in Liberia.
MOROCCO
[Sidenote: Germany to renounce rights in Morocco.]
Germany renounces all her rights, titles, and privileges under the Act
of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 and 1911, and
under all treaties and arrangements with the Sherifian Empire. She
undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations as to Morocco between
France and other Powers, accepts all the consequences of the French
protectorate and renounces the capitulations; the Sherifian Government
shall have complete liberty of action in regard to German nationals, and
all German protected persons shall be subject to the common law. All
movable and immovable German property, including mining rights, may be
sold at public auction, the proceeds to be paid to the Sherifian
Government and deducted from the reparation account. Germany is also
required to relinquish her interests in the State Bank of Morocco. All
Moroccan goods entering Germany shall have the same privilege as French
goods.
EGYPT
[Sidenote: To recognize British Protectorate over Egypt.]
Germany recognizes the British Protectorate over Egypt declared on
December 18, 1914, and renounces as from August 4, 1914, the
capitulation and all the treaties, agreements, etc., concluded by her
with Egypt. She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations about
Egypt between Great Britain and other Powers. There are provisions for
jurisdiction over German nationals and property and for German consent
to any changes which may be made in relation to the Commission of Public
Debt. Germany consents to the transfer to Great Britain of the powers
given to the late Sultan of Turkey for securing the free navigation of
the Suez Canal. Arrangements for property belonging to German nationals
in Egypt are made similar to those in the case of Morocco and other
countries. Anglo-Egyptian goods entering Germany shall enjoy the same
treatment as British goods.
TURKEY AND BULGARIA
[Sidenote: Arrangements with Turkey and Bulgaria.]
Germany accepts all arrangements which the Allied and Associated Powers
made with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to any rights, privileges
or interests claimed in those countries by Germany or her nationals and
not dealt with elsewhere.
SHANTUNG
[Sidenote: To cede Kiao-Chau rights to Japan.]
Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles, and privileges, notably as to
Kiao-Chau, and the railroads, mines, and cables acquired by her treaty
with China of March 6, 1897, by and other agreements as to Shantung. All
German rights to the railroad from Tsing-tao to Tsinan-fu, including all
facilities and mining rights and rights of exploitation, pass equally to
Japan, and the cables from Tsing-tao to Shanghai and Che-foo, the cables
free of all charges. All German State property, movable and immovable,
in Kiao-Chau is acquired by Japan free of all charges.
SECTION VI
MILITARY, NAVAL AND AIR
In order to render possible the initiation of a general limitation of
the armaments of all nations, Germany undertakes directly to observe the
military, naval, and air clauses which follow.
MILITARY FORCES
[Sidenote: German Army to be demobilized.]
The demobilization of the German Army must take place within two months
of the peace. Its strength may not exceed 100,000, including 4,000
officers, with not over seven divisions of infantry and three of
cavalry, and to be devoted exclusively to maintenance of internal order
and control of frontiers. Divisions may not be grouped under more than
two army corps headquarters staffs. The great German General Staff is
abolished. The army administrative service, consisting of civilian
personnel not included in the number of effectives, is reduced to
one-tenth the total in the 1913 budget. Employees of the German States,
such as customs officers, first guards, and coast guards, may not exceed
the number in 1913. Gendarmes and local police may be increased only in
accordance with the growth of population. None of these may be assembled
for military training.
ARMAMENTS
[Sidenote: Munition works to be closed.]
All establishments for the manufacturing, preparation, storage, or
design of arms and munitions of war, except those specifically excepted,
must be closed within three months of the peace, and their personnel
dismissed. The exact amount of armament and munitions allowed Germany is
laid down in detail tables, all in excess to be surrendered or rendered
useless. The manufacture or importation of asphyxiating, poisonous, or
other gases and all analogous liquids is forbidden as well as the
importation of arms, munitions, and war materials. Germany may not
manufacture such materials for foreign governments.
CONSCRIPTION
[Sidenote: Conscription to be abolished in Germany.]
Conscription is abolished in Germany. The enlisted personnel must be
maintained by voluntary enlistments for terms of twelve consecutive
years, the number of discharges before the expiration of that term not
in any year to exceed 5 per cent of the total effectives. Officers
remaining in the service must agree to serve to the age of 45 years, and
newly appointed officers must agree to serve actively for twenty-five
years.
No military schools except those absolutely indispensable for the units
allowed shall exist in Germany two months after the peace. No
associations such as societies of discharged soldiers, shooting or
touring clubs, educational establishments or universities may occupy
themselves with military matters. All measures of mobilization are
forbidden.
FORTRESSES
[Sidenote: Fortifications in Rhine to be dismantled.]
All fortified works, fortresses, and field works situated in German
territory within a zone of fifty kilometers east of the Rhine will be
dismantled within three months. The construction of any new
fortifications there is forbidden. The fortified works on the southern
and eastern frontiers, however, may remain.
CONTROL
[Sidenote: Interallied commissions of control.]
Interallied commissions of control will see to the execution of the
provisions for which a time limit is set, the maximum named being three
months. They may establish headquarters at the German seat of Government
and go to any part of Germany desired. Germany must give them complete
facilities, pay their expenses, and also the expenses of execution of
the treaty, including the labor and material necessary in demolition,
destruction or surrender of war equipment.
NAVAL
[Sidenote: German navy to be demobilized.]
The German navy must be demobilized within a period of two months after
the peace. She will be allowed 6 small battleships, 6 light cruisers, 12
destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, and no submarines, either military or
commercial, with a personnel of 15,000 men, including officers, and no
reserve force of any character. Conscription is abolished, only
voluntary service being permitted, with a minimum period of 25 years
service for officers and 12 for men. No member of the German mercantile
marine will be permitted any naval training.
[Sidenote: German war vessels that must be surrendered.]
All German vessels of war in foreign ports and the German high sea fleet
interned at Scapa Flow will be surrendered, the final disposition of
these ships to be decided upon by the allied and associated powers.
Germany must surrender 42 modern destroyers, 50 modern torpedo boats,
and all submarines, with their salvage vessels. All war vessels under
construction, including submarines, must be broken up. War vessels not
otherwise provided for are to be placed in reserve, or used for
commercial purposes. Replacement of ships except those lost can take
place only at the end of 20 years for battleships and 15 years for
destroyers. The largest armored ship Germany will be permitted will be
10,000 tons.
[Sidenote: To sweep up mines.]
Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North Sea and the
Baltic Sea, as decided upon by the Allies. All German fortifications in
the Baltic, defending the passages through the belts, must be
demolished. Other coast defenses are permitted, but the number and
caliber of the guns must not be increased.
WIRELESS
[Sidenote: German wireless messages only for commercial purposes.]
During a period of three months after the peace German high power
wireless stations at Nauen, Hanover, and Berlin will not be permitted to
send any messages except for commercial purposes, and under supervision
of the allied and associated Governments, nor may any more be
constructed.
CABLES
[Sidenote: To renounce title to cables.]
Germany renounces all title to specified cables, the value of such as
were privately owned being credited to her against reparation
indebtedness.
Germany will be allowed to repair German submarine cables which have
been cut but are not being utilized by the allied powers, and also
portions of cables which, after having been cut, have been removed, or
are at any rate not being utilized by any one of the allied and
associated powers. In such cases the cables, or portions of cables,
removed or utilized remain the property of the allied and associated
powers, and accordingly fourteen cables or parts of cables are specified
which will not be restored to Germany.
AIR
[Sidenote: Air personnel to be demobilized.]
The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air
forces except for not over 100 unarmed seaplanes to be retained till
October 1 to search for submarine mines. No dirigible shall be kept. The
entire air personnel is to be demobilized within two months, except for
1,000 officers and men retained till October. No aviation grounds or
dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers of the Rhine, or
the eastern or southern frontiers, existing installations within these
limits to be destroyed. The manufacture of aircraft and parts of
aircraft is forbidden for six months. All military and naval
aeronautical material under a most exhaustive definition must be
surrendered within three months, except for the 100 seaplanes already
specified.
PRISONERS OF WAR
[Sidenote: Repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians.]
The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to be
carried out without delay and at Germany's expense by a commission
composed of representatives of the Allies and Germany. Those under
sentence for offenses against discipline are to be repatriated without
regard to the completion of their sentences. Until Germany has
surrendered persons guilty of offenses against the laws and customs of
war, the Allies have the right to retain selected German officers. The
Allies may deal at their own discretion with German nationals who do not
desire to be repatriated, all repatriation being conditional on the
immediate release of any allied subjects still in Germany. Germany is to
accord facilities to commissions of inquiry in collecting information in
regard to missing prisoners of war and of imposing penalties on German
officials who have concealed allied nationals. Germany is to restore all
property belonging to allied prisoners. There is to be a reciprocal
exchange of information as to dead prisoners and their graves.
GRAVES
[Sidenote: Graves to be respected and maintained.]
Both parties will respect and maintain the graves of soldiers and
sailors buried on their territories, agree to recognize and assist any
commission charged by any allied or associate Government with
identifying, registering, maintaining or erecting suitable monuments
over the graves, and to afford to each other all facilities for the
repatriation of the remains of their soldiers.
SECTION VII
RESPONSIBILITIES
[Sidenote: William II charged with responsibility for war.]
"The allied and associated powers publicly arraign William II. of
Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, not for an offense against
criminal law, but for a supreme offense against international morality
and the sanctity of treaties."
The ex-Emperor's surrender is to be requested of Holland and a special
tribunal set up, composed of one judge from each of the five great
powers, with full guarantees of the right of defense. It is to be guided
"by the highest motives of international policy with a view of
vindicating the solemn obligations of international undertakings and the
validity of international morality," and will fix the punishment it
feels should be imposed.
[Sidenote: Persons who violated laws of war to be tried.]
Persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and
customs of war are to be tried and punished by military tribunals under
military law. If the charges affect nationals of only one State, they
will be tried before a tribunal of that State; if they affect nationals
of several States, they will be tried before joint tribunals of the
States concerned. Germany shall hand over to the associated Governments,
either jointly or severally, all persons so accused and all documents
and information necessary to insure full knowledge of the incriminating
acts, the discovery of the offenders, and the just appreciation of the
responsibility. The Judge [garbled in cabling] will be entitled to name
his own counsel.
SECTION VIII
REPARATION AND RESTITUTION
[Sidenote: Germany's responsibility for loss and damage.]
"The allied and associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the
responsibility of herself and her allies, for causing all the loss and
damage to which the allied and associated Governments and their
nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon
them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."
The total obligation of Germany to pay as defined in the category of
damages is to be determined and notified to her after a fair hearing,
and not later than May 1, 1921, by an interallied Reparation Commission.
At the same time a schedule of payments to discharge the obligation
within thirty years shall be presented. These payments are subject to
postponement in certain contingencies. Germany irrevocably recognizes
the full authority of this commission, agrees to supply it with all the
necessary information and to pass legislation to effectuate its
findings. She further agrees to restore to the Allies cash and certain
articles which can be identified.
[Sidenote: Schedule of payments to be presented.]
[Sidenote: One thousand million pounds in two years.]
As an immediate step toward restoration Germany shall pay within two
years one thousand million pounds sterling in either gold, goods, ships,
or other specific forms of payment.
This sum being included in, and not additional to, the first thousand
million bond issue referred to below, with the understanding that
certain expenses, such as those of the armies of occupation and payments
for food and raw materials, may be deducted at the discretion of the
Allies.
[Sidenote: Belgium to be repaid.]
Germany further binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by Belgium from
her allies as a result of Germany's violation of the treaty of 1839 up
to November 11, 1918, and for this purpose will issue at once and hand
over to the Reparation Commission 5 per cent gold bonds falling due in
1926.
While the allied and associated Governments recognize that the resources
of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent
diminution of such resources which will result from other treaty claims,
to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage, they require
her to make compensation for all damage caused to civilians under seven
main categories:
[Sidenote: Damage to civilians to be compensated.]
(a) Damages by personal injury to civilians caused by acts of war,
directly or indirectly, including bombardments from the air.
(b) Damages caused to civilians, including exposure at sea, resulting
from acts of cruelty ordered by the enemy, and to civilians in the
occupied territories.
(c) Damages caused by maltreatment of prisoners.
(d) Damages to the Allied peoples represented by pensions and separation
allowances, capitalized at the signature of this treaty.
(e) Damages to property other than naval or military materials.
(f) Damages to civilians by being forced to labor.
(g) Damages in the form of levies or fines imposed by the enemy.
[Sidenote: Work of Reparation Commission.]
In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to pay, the Reparation
Commission shall examine the German system of taxation, first to the end
that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to pay shall
become a charge upon all her revenues prior to that for the service or
discharge of any domestic loan; and secondly, so as to satisfy itself
that in general the German scheme of taxation is fully as heavy
proportionately as that of any of the powers represented on the
commission.
[Sidenote: Refusals in case of default.]
The measures which the allied and associated powers shall have the right
to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which Germany
agrees not to regard as acts of war, may include economic and financial
prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other measures as the
respective Governments may determine to be necessary in the
circumstances.
[Sidenote: Germany's capacity to pay.]
The commission shall consist of one representative each of the United
States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium, a representative of
Serbia or Japan taking the place of the Belgian representative, when the
interests of either country are particularly affected, with all other
allied powers entitled, when their claims are under consideration, to
the right of representation without voting power. It shall permit
Germany to give evidence regarding her capacity to pay, and shall assure
her a just opportunity to be heard. It shall make its permanent
headquarters at Paris, establish its own procedure and personnel; have
general control of the whole reparation problem; and become the
exclusive agency of the Allies for receiving, holding, selling, and
distributing reparation payments. Majority vote shall prevail, except
that unanimity is required on questions involving the sovereignty of any
of the Allies, the cancellation of all or part of Germany's obligations,
the time and manner of selling, distributing, and negotiating bonds
issued by Germany, any postponement between 1921 and 1926 of annual
payments beyond 1930 and any postponement after 1926 for a period of
more than three years of the application of a different method of
measuring damage than in a similar former case, and the interpretation
of provisions. Withdrawal from representation is permitted on twelve
months' notice.
[Sidenote: Guarantees to cover claims.]
The Commission may require Germany to give from time to time by way of
guarantee, issues of bonds or other obligations to cover such claims as
are not otherwise satisfied. In this connection and on account of the
total amount of claims, bond issues are presently to be required of
Germany in acknowledgment of its debt as follows: 20,000,000,000 marks
gold, payable not later than May 1, 1921, without interest;
40,000,000,000 marks gold bearing 2-1/2 per cent interest between 1921
and 1926, and thereafter 5 per cent, with a 1 per cent sinking fund
payment beginning 1926; and an undertaking to deliver 40,000,000,000
marks gold bonds bearing interest at 5 per cent, under terms to be fixed
by the Commission.
[Sidenote: Interest on Germany's debt.]
[Sidenote: Certificates to represent bonds or goods.]
Interest on Germany's debt will be 5 per cent unless otherwise
determined by the Commission in the future, and payments that are not
made in gold may "be accepted by the Commission in the form of
properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions, &c."
Certificates of beneficial interest, representing either bonds or goods
delivered by Germany, may be issued by the Commission to the interested
powers, no power being entitled, however, to have its certificates
divided into more than five pieces. As bonds are distributed and pass
from the control of the Commission, an amount of Germany's debt
equivalent to their par value is to be considered as liquidated.
SHIPPING
[Sidenote: Right to Allies to have merchant shipping replaced.]
The German Government recognizes the right of the Allies to the
replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchant ships and
fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and agrees to cede to
the Allies all German merchant ships of 1,600 tons gross and upward;
one-half of her ships between 1,600 and 1,000 tons gross, and
one-quarter of her steam trawlers and other fishing boats. These ships
are to be delivered within two months to the Separation Committee,
together with documents of title evidencing the transfer of the ships
free from encumbrance.
"As an additional part of reparation," the German Government further
agrees to build merchant ships for the account of the Allies to the
amount of not exceeding 200,000 tons gross annually during the next five
years.
All ships used for inland navigation taken by Germany from the Allies
are to be restored within two months, the amount of loss not covered by
such restitution to be made up by the cession of the German river fleet
up to 20 per cent thereof.
DYESTUFFS AND CHEMICAL DRUGS
[Sidenote: Material to be delivered to Reparations Commission.]
In order to effect payment by deliveries in kind, Germany is required,
for a limited number of years, varying in the case of each, to deliver
coal, coal-tar products, dyestuffs and chemical drugs, in specific
amounts to the Reparations Commission. The Commission may so modify the
conditions of delivery as not to interfere unduly with Germany's
industrial requirements. The deliveries of coal are based largely upon
the principle of making good diminutions in the production of the allied
countries resulting from the war.
Germany accords option to the commission on dyestuffs and chemical
drugs, including quinine, up to 50 per cent of the total stock in
Germany at the time the treaty comes into force, and similar option
during each six months to the end of 1924 up to 25 per cent of the
previous six months' output.
DEVASTATED AREAS
[Sidenote: Machinery and animals to be replaced.]
Germany undertakes to devote her economic resources directly to the
physical restoration of the invaded areas. The Reparations Commission is
authorized to require Germany to replace the destroyed articles by the
delivery of animals, machinery, &c., existing in Germany, and to
manufacture materials required for reconstruction purposes; all with due
consideration for Germany's essential domestic requirements.
[Sidenote: French damages in coal and fuel to be made good.]
Germany is to deliver annually for ten years to France coal equivalent
to the difference between the annual pre-war output of Nord and Pas de
Calais mines and the annual production during the above ten-year period.
Germany further gives options over ten years for delivery of 7,000,000
tons of coal per year to France in addition to the above, of 8,000,000
tons to Belgium and of an amount rising from 4,500,000 tons in 1919 to
1920 to 8,500,000 in 1923 to 1924 to Italy at prices to be fixed as
prescribed in the treaty. Coke may be taken in place of coal in the
ratio of three tons to four. Provision is also made for delivery to
France over three years of benzol, coal tar, and of ammonia. The
Commission has powers to postpone or annul the above deliveries should
they interfere unduly with the industrial requirements of Germany.
[Sidenote: Koran of Caliph Othman and skull of Okwawa.]
Germany is to restore within six months the Koran of the Caliph Othman,
formerly at Medina, to the King of the Hedjaz, and the skull of the
Sultan Okwawa, formerly in German East Africa, to his Britannic
Majesty's Government.
[Sidenote: Papers taken in 1870.]
The German Government is also to restore to the French Government
certain papers taken by the German authorities in 1870, belonging then
to M. Reuher, and to restore the French flags taken during the war of
1870 and 1871.
[Sidenote: Reparations to the Louvain Library.]
As reparation for the destruction of the Library of Louvain Germany is
to hand over manuscripts, early printed books, prints, &c., to the
equivalent of those destroyed.
[Sidenote: Belgian works of art.]
In addition to the above Germany is to hand over to Belgium wings, now
in Berlin, belonging to the altar piece of "The Adoration of the Lamb,"
by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, the center of which is now in the Church of
St. Bavon at Ghent, and the wings, now in Berlin and Munich, of the
altar piece of "The Last Supper," by Dirk Bouts, the center of which
belongs to the Church of St. Peter at Louvain.
FINANCE
[Sidenote: The pre-war debts of Alsace.]
[Sidenote: German debts not to be assumed by mandatory powers.]
Powers to which German territory is ceded will assume a certain portion
of the German pre-war debt, the amount to be fixed by the Reparations
Commission on the basis of the ratio between the revenue and of the
ceded territory and Germany's total revenues for the three years
preceding the war. In view, however, of the special circumstances under
which Alsace-Lorraine was separated from France in 1871, when Germany
refused to accept any part of the French public debt, France will not
assume any part of Germany's pre-war debt there, nor will Poland share
in certain German debts incurred for the oppression of Poland. If the
value of the German public property in ceded territory exceeds the
amount of debt assumed, the States to which property is ceded will give
credit on reparation for the excess, with the exception of
Alsace-Lorraine. Mandatory powers will not assume any German debts or
give any credit for German Government property. Germany renounces all
right of representation on, or control of, State banks, commissions, or
other similar international financial and economic organizations.
[Sidenote: Germany to pay cost of armies of occupation.]
Germany is required to pay the total cost of the armies of occupation
from the date of the armistice as long as they are maintained in German
territory, this cost to be a first charge on her resources. The cost of
reparation is the next charge, after making such provisions for payments
for imports as the Allies may deem necessary.
[Sidenote: Funds deposited by Turkey and Austria-Hungary.]
Germany is to deliver to the allied and associated powers all sums
deposited in Germany by Turkey and Austria-Hungary in connection with
the financial support extended by her to them during the war, and to
transfer to the Allies all claims against Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, or
Turkey in connection with agreements made during the war. Germany
confirms the renunciation of the Treaties of Bucharest and
Brest-Litovsk.
[Sidenote: Public utilities in ceded territories.]
[Sidenote: Brazilian coffee to be paid for.]
On the request of the Reparations Commission, Germany will expropriate
any rights or interests of her nationals in public utilities in ceded
territories or those administered by mandatories, and in Turkey, China,
Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria, and transfer them to the
Reparations Commission, which will credit her with their value. Germany
guarantees to repay to Brazil the fund arising from the sale of Sao
Paulo coffee which she refused to allow Brazil to withdraw from Germany.
SECTION IX
OPIUM
[Sidenote: Convention on opium to be brought into force.]
The contracting powers agree, whether or not they have signed and
ratified the opium convention of January 23, 1912, or signed the special
protocol opened at The Hague in accordance with resolutions adopted by
the third opium conference in 1914, to bring the said convention into
force by enacting within twelve months of the peace the necessary
legislation.
RELIGIOUS MISSIONS
[Sidenote: To continue their work.]
The allied and associated powers agree the properties of religious
missions in territories belonging or ceded to them shall continue in
their work under the control of the powers, Germany renouncing all
claims in their behalf.
SECTION X--ECONOMIC CLAUSES
CUSTOMS
[Sidenote: German tariff to be regulated for five years.]
For a period of six months Germany shall impose no tariff duties higher
than the lowest in force in 1914, and for certain agricultural products,
wines, vegetable oils, artificial silk, and washed or scoured wool this
restriction obtains for two and a half years more. For five years,
unless further extended by the League of Nations, Germany must give most
favored nation treatment to the allied and associated powers. She shall
impose no customs tariff for five years on goods originating in
Alsace-Lorraine, and for three years on goods originating in former
German territory ceded to Poland with the right of observation of a
similar exception for Luxemburg.
SHIPPING
[Sidenote: Rights of ships of the Allies.]
Ships of the allied and associated powers shall for five years and
thereafter under condition of reciprocity, unless the League of Nations
otherwise decides, enjoy the same rights in German ports as German
vessels, and have most favored nation treatment in fishing, coasting
trade, and towage even in territorial waters. Ships of a country having
no seacoast may be registered at some one place within its territory.
UNFAIR COMPETITION
[Sidenote: Safeguards against unfair competition.]
Germany undertakes to give the trade of the allied and associated powers
adequate safeguards against unfair competition, and in particular to
suppress the use of false wrappings and markings, and on condition of
reciprocity to respect the laws and judicial decisions of allied and
associated States in respect of regional appellations of wines and
spirits.
[Illustration: CLOSING WORDS OF THE PEACE TREATY, WITH THE SIGNATURES
AND SEALS OF THE AMERICAN DELEGATES, HEADED BY THE BRITISH PRIME
MINISTER, LLOYD GEORGE.]
[Illustration: SIGNATURES AND SEALS OF CANADIAN, AUSTRALIAN, SOUTH
AFRICAN, NEW ZEALAND, AND INDIAN DELEGATES. THEN THE FRENCH, HEADED BY
PREMIER CLEMENCEAU.]
[Illustration: SIGNATURES AND SEALS OF THE DELEGATIONS FROM PERU, POLAND
(HEADED BY PREMIER PADEREWSKI), PORTUGAL, RUMANIA, SERBIA,
CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, AND URUGUAY.]
[Illustration: SIGNATURES AND SEALS OF THE GERMAN DELEGATES, DR. HERMANN
MULLER AND DR. BELL, ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE TREATY]
[Illustration: The signatures of the American delegates--President
Wilson, Secretary of State Lansing, Mr. Henry White, Colonel House, and
General Bliss--come first after the closing words of the Treaty of Peace
(pages 213 and 214); then the names of the British delegates--Prime
Minister Lloyd George, Mr. Bonar Law, Lord Milner, Mr. Balfour, and Mr.
Barnes (page 214); the Canadians, Minister of Justice Doherty and
Minister of Customs Sifton; the Australians, Premier Hughes and Mr.
Cook; the South Africans, Premier Botha and General Smuts; Premier
Massey of New Zealand; Mr. Montagu, Secretary of State for India, and
Maharajah Ganga Singh for India (pages 215 and 216). Then come the
French--Premier Clemenceau, whose signature is third from the top on
page 216, M. Pichon, M. Klotz, M. Tardieu, and M. Cambon (page 216). The
name of Premier Paderewski of Poland is the second from the top on page
221.]
TREATMENT OF NATIONALS
[Sidenote: German nationality.]
Germany shall impose no exceptional taxes or restriction upon the
nationals of allied and associated States for a period of five years
and, unless the League of Nations acts, for an additional five years
German nationality shall not continue to attach to a person who has
become a national of an allied or associated State.
MULTILATERAL CONVENTIONS
[Sidenote: Postal and telegraphic conventions.]
[Sidenote: North Sea conventions.]
[Sidenote: Arrangements with various nations.]
Some forty multilateral conventions are renewed between Germany and the
allied and associated powers, but special conditions are attached to
Germany's readmission to several. As to postal and telegraphic
conventions Germany must not refuse to make reciprocal agreements with
the new States. She must agree as respects the radio-telegraphic
convention to provisional rules to be communicated to her, and adhere to
the new convention when formulated. In the North Sea fisheries and North
Sea liquor traffic convention, rights of inspection and police over
associated fishing boats shall be exercised for at least five years only
by vessels of these powers. As to the international railway union she
shall adhere to the new convention when formulated. China, as to the
Chinese customs tariff arrangement of 1905 regarding Whangpoo, and the
Boxer indemnity of 1901; France, Portugal, and Rumania, as to The Hague
Convention of 1903, relating to civil procedure, and Great Britain and
the United States as to Article III. or the Samoan Treaty of 1899, are
relieved of all obligations toward Germany.
BILATERAL TREATIES
[Sidenote: Renewal of treaties.]
Each allied and associated State may renew any treaty with Germany in so
far as consistent with the peace treaty by giving notice within six
months. Treaties entered into by Germany since August 1, 1914, with
other enemy States, and before or since that date with Rumania, Russia,
and governments representing parts of Russia are abrogated, and
concessions granted under pressure by Russia to German subjects are
annulled. The allied and associated States are to enjoy most favored
nation treatment under treaties entered into by Germany and other enemy
States before August 1, 1914, and under treaties entered into by Germany
and neutral States during the war.
PRE-WAR DEBTS
[Sidenote: Clearing houses for pre-war debts.]
A system of clearing houses is to be created within three months, one in
Germany and one in each allied and associated State which adopts the
plan for the payment of pre-war debts, including those arising from
contracts suspended by the war. For the adjustment of the proceeds of
the liquidation of enemy property and the settlement of other
obligations each participating State assumes responsibility for the
payment of all debts owing by its nationals to nationals of the enemy
States, except in case of pre-war insolvency of the debtor. The proceeds
of the sale of private enemy property in each participating State may be
used to pay the debts owed to the nationals of that State, direct
payment from debtor to creditor and all communications relating thereto
being prohibited. Disputes may be settled by arbitration by the courts
of the debtor country, or by the mixed arbitral tribunal. Any ally or
associated power may, however, decline to participate in this system by
giving six months' notice.
ENEMY PROPERTY
[Sidenote: Damages for private property seized or injured.]
Germany shall restore or pay for all private enemy property seized or
damaged by her, the amount of damages to be fixed by the mixed arbitral
tribunal. The allied and associated States may liquidate German private
property within their territories as compensation for property of their
nationals not restored or paid for by Germany. For debts owed to their
nationals by German nationals and for other claims against Germany,
Germany is to compensate its nationals for such losses and to deliver
within six months all documents relating to property held by its
nationals in allied and associated States. All war legislation as to
enemy property rights and interests is confirmed and all claims by
Germany against the allied or associated Governments for acts under
exceptional war measures abandoned.
[Sidenote: Pre-war contracts.]
Pre-war contracts between allied and associated nationals excepting the
United States, Japan, and Brazil and German nationals are cancelled
except for debts for accounts already performed.
AGREEMENTS
[Sidenote: Disputes as to transfers of property already made.]
For the transfer of property where the property had already passed,
leases of land and houses, contracts of mortgages, pledge or lien,
mining concessions, contracts with governments and insurance contracts,
mixed arbitral tribunals shall be established of three members, one
chosen by Germany, one by the associated States and the third by
agreement, or, failing which, by the President of Switzerland. They
shall have jurisdiction over all disputes as to contracts concluded
before the present peace treaty.
[Sidenote: Insurance contracts.]
Fire insurance contracts are not considered dissolved by the war, even
if premiums have not been paid, but lapse at the date of the first
annual premium falling due three months after the peace. Life insurance
contracts may be restored by payments of accumulated premiums with
interest, sums falling due on such contracts during the war to be
recoverable with interest. Marine insurance contracts are dissolved by
the outbreak of war except where the risk insured against had already
been incurred. Where the risk had not attached, premiums paid are
recoverable, otherwise premiums due and sums due on losses are
recoverable. Reinsurance treaties are abrogated unless invasion has made
it impossible for the reinsured to find another reinsurer. Any allied or
associated power, however, may cancel all the contracts running between
its nationals and a German life insurance company, the latter being
obligated to hand over the proportion of its assets attributable to such
policies.
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY
[Sidenote: Conditions on use of German patents and copyrights.]
Rights as to industrial, literary, and artistic property are
re-established. The special war measures of the allied and associated
powers are ratified and the right reserved to impose conditions on the
use of German patents and copyrights when in the public interest. Except
as between the United States and Germany, pre-war licenses and rights to
sue for infringements committed during the war are cancelled.
SECTION XI
AERIAL NAVIGATION
[Sidenote: Allied aircraft in German territory.]
Aircraft of the allied and associated powers shall have full liberty of
passage and landing over and in German territory, equal treatment with
German planes as to use of German airdromes, and with most favored
nation planes as to internal commercial traffic in Germany. Germany
agrees to accept allied certificates of nationality, airworthiness, or
competency or licenses and to apply the convention relative to aerial
navigation concluded between the allied and associated powers to her own
aircraft over her own territory. These rules apply until 1923, unless
Germany has since been admitted to the League of Nations or to the above
convention.
SECTION XII.
FREEDOM OF TRANSIT.
[Sidenote: Germany may not discriminate against allied or associated
powers.]
Germany must grant freedom of transit through her territories by mail or
water to persons, goods, ships, carriages, and mails from or to any of
the allied or associated powers, without customs or transit duties,
undue delays, restrictions, or discriminations based on nationality,
means of transport, or place of entry or departure. Goods in transit
shall be assured all possible speed of journey, especially perishable
goods. Germany may not divert traffic from its normal course in favor of
her own transport routes or maintain "control stations" in connection
with transmigration traffic. She may not establish any tax
discrimination against the ports of allied or associated powers; must
grant the latter's seaports all factors and reduced tariffs granted her
own or other nationals, and afford the allied and associated powers
equal rights with those of her own nationals in her ports and waterways,
save that she is free to open or close her maritime coasting trade.
FREE ZONES IN PORTS
[Sidenote: Existing free zones to be maintained.]
Free zones existing in German ports on August 1, 1914, must be
maintained with due facilities as to warehouses, packing, and shipping,
without discrimination, and without charges except for expenses of
administration and use. Goods leaving the free zones for consumption in
Germany and goods brought into the free zones from Germany shall be
subject to the ordinary import and export taxes.
INTERNATIONAL RIVERS.
The Elbe from the junction of the Ultava, the Ultava from Prague, the
Oder from Oppa, the Niemen from Grodno, and the Danube from Ulm are
declared International, together with their connections.
[Sidenote: Appeal to a special tribunal under international
commissions.]
The riparian states must ensure good conditions of navigation within
their territories unless a special organization exists therefor.
Otherwise appeal may be had to a special tribunal of the League of
Nations, which also may arrange for a general international waterways
convention.
The Elbe and the Oder are to be placed under international commissions
to meet within three months, that for the Elbe composed of four
representatives of Germany, two from Czecho-Slovakia, and one each from
Great Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium; and that for the Oder
composed of one each from Poland, Russia, Czecho-Slovakia, Great
Britain, France, Denmark, and Sweden. If any riparian state on the
Niemen should so request of the League of Nations, a similar commission
shall be established there. These commissions shall upon request of any
riparian state meet within three months to revise existing international
agreement.
THE DANUBE.
[Sidenote: Representatives in European Danube Commission.]
The European Danube Commission reassumes its pre-war powers, but for the
time being with representatives of only Great Britain, France, Italy,
and Rumania. The upper Danube is to be administered by a new
international commission until a definitive statute be drawn up at a
conference of the powers nominated by the allied and associated
governments within one year after the peace.
The enemy governments shall make full reparations for all war damages
caused to the European Commission; shall cede their river facilities in
surrendered territory, and give Czecho-Slovakia, Serbia, and Rumania any
rights necessary on their shores for carrying on improvements in
navigation.
THE RHINE AND THE MOSELLE
[Sidenote: The Rhine is under the Central Commission.]
The Rhine is placed under the Central Commission to meet at Strassbourg
within six months after the peace, and to be composed of four
representatives of France, which shall in addition select the President,
four of Germany, and two each of Great Britain, Italy, Belgium,
Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Germany must give France on the course
of the Rhine included between the two extreme points of her frontiers
all rights to take water to feed canals, while herself agreeing not to
make canals on the right bank opposite France. She must also hand over
to France all her drafts and designs for this part of the river.
RHINE-MEUSE CANAL
[Sidenote: Plan for a Rhine-Meuse Canal.]
Belgium is to be permitted to build a deep draft Rhine-Meuse canal if
she so desires within twenty-five years, in which case Germany must
construct the part within her territory on plans drawn by Belgium,
similarly the interested allied governments may construct a Rhine-Meuse
canal, both, if constructed, to come under the competent international
commission. Germany may not object if the Central Rhine Commission
desires to extend its jurisdiction over the lower Moselle, the upper
Rhine, or lateral canals.
[Sidenote: Facilities for navigation to be ceded.]
Germany must cede to the allied and associated governments certain tugs,
vessels, and facilities for navigation on all these rivers, the specific
details to be established by an arbiter named by the United States.
Decision will be based on the legitimate needs of the parties concerned
and on the shipping traffic during the five years before the war. The
value will be included in the regular reparation account. In the case
of the Rhine shares in the German navigation companies and property such
as wharves and warehouses held by Germany in Rotterdam at the outbreak
of the war must be handed over.
RAILWAYS.
[Sidenote: Communication by rail to be assured.]
Germany, in addition to most favored nation treatment on her railways,
agrees to cooperate in the establishment of through ticket services for
passengers and baggage; to ensure communication by rail between the
allied, associated, and other States; to allow the construction or
improvement within twenty-five years of such lines as necessary; and to
conform her rolling stock to enable its incorporation in trains of the
allied or associated powers. She also agrees to accept the denunciation
of the St. Gothard convention if Switzerland and Italy so request, and
temporarily to execute instructions as to the transport of troops and
supplies and the establishment of postal and telegraphic service, as
provided.
CZECHO-SLOVAKIA
[Sidenote: Access to the sea on north and south.]
To assure Czecho-Slovakia access to the sea, special rights are given
her both north and south. Toward the Adriatic she is permitted to run
her own through trains to Fiume and Trieste. To the north, Germany is to
lease her for ninety-nine years spaces in Hamburg and Stettin, the
details to be worked out by a commission of three representing
Czecho-Slovakia, Germany, and Great Britain.
THE KIEL CANAL.
[Sidenote: Open to ships of all nations at peace with Germany.]
The Kiel Canal is to remain free and open to war and merchant ships of
all nations at peace with Germany, subjects, goods and ships of all
States are to be treated on terms of absolute equality, and no taxes to
be imposed beyond those necessary for upkeep and improvement for which
Germany is to be responsible. In case of violation of or disagreement as
to those provisions, any State may appeal to the League of Nations, and
may demand the appointment of an international commission. For
preliminary hearing of complaints Germany shall establish a local
authority at Kiel.
SECTION XIII.
INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION.
[Sidenote: Permanent organization to be established.]
Members of the League of Nations agree to establish a permanent
organization to promote international adjustment of labor conditions, to
consist of an annual international labor conference and an international
labor office.
The former is composed of four representatives of each State, two from
the Government, and one each from the employers and the employed, each
of them may vote individually. It will be a deliberative legislative
body, its measures taking the form of draft conventions or
recommendations for legislation, which, if passed by two-thirds vote,
must be submitted to the lawmaking authority in every State
participating. Each Government may either enact the terms into law;
approve the principles, but modify them to local needs; leave the actual
legislation in case of a Federal State to local legislatures; or reject
the convention altogether without further obligation.
[Sidenote: An international labor office.]
The international labor office is established at the seat of the League
of Nations as part of its organization. It is to collect and distribute
information on labor throughout the world and prepare agenda for the
conference. It will publish a periodical in French and English, and
possibly other languages. Each State agrees to make to it for
presentation to the conference an annual report of measures taken to
execute accepted conventions. The governing body, in its Executive,
consists of twenty-four members, twelve representing the Governments,
six the employers, and six the employes to serve for three years.
[Sidenote: Court of international justice.]
On complaint that any Government has failed to carry out a convention to
which it is a party, the governing body may make inquiries directly to
that Government, and in case the reply is unsatisfactory, may publish
the complaint with comment. A complaint by one Government against
another may be referred by the governing body to a commission of inquiry
nominated by the Secretary General of the League. If the commission
report fails to bring satisfactory action the matter may be taken to a
permanent court of international justice for final decision. The chief
reliance for securing enforcement of the law will be publicity with a
possibility of economic action in the background.
[Sidenote: Labor conferences.]
The first meeting of the conference will take place in October, 1919, at
Washington, to discuss the eight-hour day or forty-eight-hour week;
prevention of unemployment; extension and application of the
international conventions adopted at Berne in 1906, prohibiting night
work for women, and the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of
matches; and employment of women and children at night or in unhealthy
work, of women before and after childbirth, including maternity benefit,
and of children as regards minimum age.
LABOR CLAUSES.
[Sidenote: Of supreme national importance.]
Nine principles of labor conditions were recognized on the ground that
"the well-being, physical and moral, of the industrial wage earners is
of supreme International importance." With exceptions necessitated by
differences of climate, habits and economic development. They include:
the guiding principle that labor should not be regarded merely as a
commodity or article of commerce; the right of association of employers
and employes; a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life;
the eight-hour day or forty-eight-hour week; a weekly rest of at least
twenty-four hours; which should include Sunday wherever practicable;
abolition of child labor and assurance of the continuation of the
education and proper physical development of children; equal pay for
equal work as between men and women; equitable treatment of all workers
lawfully resident therein, including foreigners; and a system of
inspection in which women should take part.
SECTION XIV--GUARANTEES
[Sidenote: The bridgehead of Cologne.]
As a guarantee for the execution of the treaty German territory to the
west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads, will be occupied by
allied and associated troops for a fifteen years' period. If the
conditions are faithfully carried out by Germany, certain districts,
including the bridgehead of Cologne, will be evacuated at the expiration
of five years; certain other districts including the bridgehead of
Coblenz, and the territories nearest the Belgian frontier will be
evacuated after ten years, and the remainder, including the bridgehead
of Mainz, will be evacuated after fifteen years. In case the Interallied
Reparation Commission finds that Germany has failed to observe the whole
or part of her obligations, either during the occupation or after the
fifteen years have expired, the whole or part of the areas specified
will be reoccupied immediately. If before the expiration of the fifteen
years Germany complies with all the treaty undertakings, the occupying
forces will be withdrawn.
[Sidenote: German troops.]
All German troops at present in territories to the east of the new
frontier shall return as soon as the allied and associated governments
deem wise. They are to abstain from all requisitions and are in no way
to interfere with measures for national defense taken by the Government
concerned.
All questions regarding occupation not provided for by the treaty will
be regulated by a subsequent convention or conventions which will have
similar force and effect.
SECTION XV.
MISCELLANEOUS.
[Sidenote: To recognize treaties made by allies.]
Germany agrees to recognize the full validity of the treaties of peace
and additional conventions to be concluded by the allied and associated
powers with the powers allied with Germany, to agree to the decisions to
be taken as to the territories of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey,
and to recognize the new States in the frontiers to be fixed.
Germany agrees not to put forward any pecuniary claims against any
allied or associated power signing the present treaty based on events
previous to the coming into force of the treaty.
[Sidenote: Decision of German prize courts.]
[Sidenote: Effective on ratification.]
Germany accepts all decrees as to German ships and goods made by any
allied or associated prize court. The Allies reserve the right to
examine all decisions of German prize courts. The present treaty, of
which the French and British texts are both authentic, shall be ratified
and the depositions of ratifications made in Paris as soon as possible.
The treaty is to become effective in all respects for each power on the
date of deposition of its ratification.
SUMMARY OF PRELIMINARY TREATY OF PEACE
AUSTRIA
On June 2 there had been handed to the Austrian delegates a preliminary
treaty which covered certain points, but left others to be dealt with
later.
Austria must accept the covenant of the league of nations and the labor
charter.
[Sidenote: Extra European rights to be renounced.]
She must renounce all her extra European rights.
She must demobilize all her naval and aerial forces.
Austria must recognize the complete independence of Hungary.
Austrian nationals, guilty of violating international laws of war, to be
tried by the Allies.
Austria must accept economic conditions and freedom of transit similar
to those in German treaty.
Sections dealing with war prisoners and graves are identical with German
treaty.
Guarantees of execution of treaty corresponds to those in German pact.
[Sidenote: Boundaries with Czecho-Slovakia.]
Boundaries of Bohemia and Moravia to form boundary between Austria and
Czecho-Slovakia, with minor rectifications.
Allies later to fix southern boundary (referring to Jugoslavia).
Eastern boundary Marburg and Radkersburg to Jugoslavia.
Western and northwestern frontiers (facing Bavaria and Switzerland)
unchanged.
Austria must recognize independence of Czecho-Slovakia and Jugoslavia.
[Sidenote: Republic of Austria recognized.]
Austria is recognized as an independent republic under the name
"Republic of Austria."
Austria must recognize frontiers of Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland,
Rumania, Czecho-Slovakia and Jugoslavia as at present or ultimately
determined.
Boundaries of Austria, Czecho-Slovakia and Jugoslavia to be finally
fixed by mixed commission.
Czecho-Slovakia and Jugoslavia must agree to protect racial, religious
and linguistic minorities.
Both new Slav nations and Rumania must assure freedom of transit and
equitable treatment of foreign commerce.
Austria must recognize full independence of all territories formerly a
part of Russia.
[Sidenote: Brest-Litovsk treaty annulled.]
Brest-Litovsk treaty is annulled.
All treaties with Russian elements concluded since revolution annulled.
Allies reserve right of restitution for Russia from Austria.
Austria must consent to abrogation of treaties of 1839 establishing
Belgian neutrality.
Austria must agree to new Belgian boundaries as fixed by Allies.
Similar provisions with respect to neutrality and boundaries of
Luxemburg.
Austria must accept allied disposition of any Austrian rights in Turkey
and Bulgaria.
She must accept allied arrangements with Germany regarding
Schleswig-Holstein.
[Sidenote: Equality of races before the law.]
Austrian nations of all races, languages and religions equal before the
law.
Clauses affecting Egypt, Morocco, Siam and China identical with German
treaty.
Entire Austro-Hungarian navy to be surrendered to Allies.
Twenty-one specified auxiliary cruisers to be disarmed and treated as
merchantmen.
All warships, including submarines, under construction shall be broken
up and may be used only for industrial purposes.
All naval arms and material must be surrendered.
[Sidenote: Use of submarines prohibited.]
Future use of submarines prohibited.
Austrian wireless station at Vienna not to be used for military or
political messages to Austria's late allies without Allies' consent for
three months.
Austria may not have naval or air forces.
She must demobilize existing air forces within two months and surrender
aviation material.
Austrian nationals cannot serve in military, naval or aerial forces of
foreign powers.
She may send no military, naval or aerial mission to any foreign
country.
Penalties section identical with German treaty excepting reference to
German kaiser. New states required to aid in prosecution and punishment
of their nationals guilty of offenses against international law.
[Sidenote: Access to the Adriatic promised.]
Economic clauses in general similar to those in German treaty. Austria
given access to Adriatic.
Austria must abandon all financial claims against signatories.
Treaty to become operative when signed by Austria and three of the
principal powers.
On July 21, an amplified treaty with Austria-Hungary taking up matters
omitted from the first paper was given to the delegates from that
country. A summary of the articles follows:
[Sidenote: Arrangements for reparation.]
In addition to the published summary of the terms of June 2, the new
clauses provide for reparation arrangements very similar to those in the
treaty with Germany, including the establishment of an Austrian
subsection of the Reparations Commission, the payment of a reasonable
sum in cash, the issuing of bonds, and the delivery of livestock and
certain historical and art documents.
The financial terms provide that the Austrian pre-war debt shall be
apportioned among the former parts of Austria, and that the Austrian
coinage and war bonds, circulating in the separated territory, shall be
taken up by the new governments and redeemed as they see fit.
Under the military terms the Austrian army is henceforth reduced to
30,000 men on a purely voluntary basis.
[Sidenote: Universal military service to be abolished.]
Paragraph 5, relating to the military situation, says that the Austrian
army shall not exceed 30,000 men, including officers and depot troops.
Within three months the Austrian military forces shall be reduced to
this number, universal military service abolished and voluntary
enlistment substituted as part of the plan "to render possible the
initiation of a general limitation of armaments of all nations."
The army shall be used exclusively for the maintenance of internal order
and control of frontiers. All officers must be regulars, those of the
present army to be retained being under obligation to serve until 40
years old, those newly appointed agreeing to at least twenty consecutive
years of active service. Non-commissioned officers and privates must
enlist for not less than twelve consecutive years, including at least
six years with the colors.
[Sidenote: Manufacture of war material.]
Within three months the armament of the Austrian army must be reduced
according to detailed schedules, and all surplus surrendered. The
manufacture of all war material shall be confined to one single factory
under the control of the State, and other such establishments shall be
closed or converted. Importation and exportation of arms, munitions and
war materials of all kinds are forbidden.
[Sidenote: Compensation for damage to civilians.]
Paragraph 8 (on reparation) reads, in substance: The allied and
associated Governments affirm, and Austria accepts, the responsibility
of Austria and her allies for causing loss and damage to which the
allied and associated Governments and their nationals have been
subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the
aggression of Austria and her allies. While recognizing that Austria's
resources will not be adequate to make complete reparation, the allied
and associated Governments request, and Austria undertakes, that she
will make compensation for damage done to civilians and their property,
in accordance with categories of damages similar to those provided in
the treaty with Germany.
The amount of damage is to be determined by the Reparation Commission
provided for in the treaty with Germany, which is to have a special
section to handle the Austrian situation. The commission will notify
Austria before May 1, 1921, of the extent of her liabilities and of the
schedule of payments for the discharge thereof during a period of thirty
years. It will bear in mind the diminutions of Austria's resources and
capacity of payment resulting from the treaty.
As immediate reparation, Austria shall pay during 1919, 1920, and the
first four months of 1921, in such manner as provided by the Reparation
Commission, "a reasonable sum which shall be determined by the
commission."
[Sidenote: Bond issues to be made.]
Three bond issues shall be made--the first before May 1, 1921, without
interest; the second at 2-1/2 per cent. interest between 1921 and 1926,
and thereafter at 5 per cent., with an additional 1 per cent. for
amortization beginning in 1926, and a third at 5 per cent, when the
commission is satisfied that Austria can meet the interest and sinking
fund obligations. The amount shall be divided by the allied and
associated Governments in proportions determined upon in advance on a
basis of general equity.
[Sidenote: Representatives of the Reparation Commission.]
The Austrian section of the Reparation Commission shall include
representatives of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy,
Greece, Poland, Rumania, the Serbo-Slovene State, and Czecho-Slovakia.
The first four shall each appoint a delegate with two votes, and the
other five shall choose one delegate each year to represent them all.
Withdrawal from the commission is permitted on twelve months' notice.
[Sidenote: To pay cost of armies of occupation.]
Paragraph 9, (Financial.)--The first charge upon all the assets and
revenues of Austria shall be the costs arising under the present treaty,
including, in order of priority, the costs of the armies of occupation,
reparations, and other charges specifically agreed to and, with certain
exceptions, as granted by the Reparation Commission for payments for
imports. Austria must pay the total cost of the armies of occupation
from the armistice of November 3, 1918, so long as maintained, and may
export no gold before May 1, 1921, without consent of the Reparation
Commission.
Each of the States to which Austrian territory is transferred and each
of the States arising out of the dismemberment of Austria, including the
Republic of Austria, shall assume part of the Austrian pre-war debt
specifically secured on railways, salt mines, and other property, the
amount to be fixed by the Reparation Commission on the basis of the
value of the property so transferred.
[Sidenote: The pre-war debt.]
Similarly, the unsecured bonded pre-war debt of the former empire shall
be distributed by the Reparation Commission in the proportion that the
revenues for the three years before the war of the separated territory
bore to those of the empire, excluding Bosnia and Herzegovina.
No territory formerly part of the empire, except the Republic of
Austria, shall carry with it any obligation in respect of the war debt
of the former Austrian Government, but neither the Governments of those
territories nor their nationals shall have recourse against any other
State, including Austria, in respect of war debt bonds held within their
respective territories by themselves or their nationals.
[Sidenote: Replacement of ships lost by the Allies.]
Austria, recognizing the right of the Allies to ton-for-ton replacement
of all ships lost or damaged in the war, cedes all merchant ships and
fishing boats belonging to nationals of the former empire, agreeing to
deliver them within two months to the Reparation Commission. With a view
to making good the losses in river tonnage, she agrees to deliver up 20
per cent. of her river fleet.
[Sidenote: Restoration of devastated areas.]
The allied and associated powers require, and Austria undertakes, that
in part reparation she will devote her economic resources to the
physical restoration of the invaded areas. Within sixty days of the
coming into force of the treaty the governments concerned shall file
with the Reparation Commission lists of animals, machinery, equipment,
and the like destroyed by Austria which the governments desire replaced
in kind, and lists of the materials which they desire produced in
Austria for the work of reconstruction, which shall be reviewed in the
light of Austria's ability to meet them.
[Sidenote: Animals to be delivered.]
As an immediate advance as to animals, Austria agrees to deliver within
three months after ratification of the treaty 4,000 milch cows to Italy
and 1,000 each to Serbia and Rumania; 1,000 heifers to Italy, 300 to
Serbia, and 500 to Rumania; 50 bulls to Italy and 25 each to Serbia and
Rumania; 1,000 calves to each of the three nations; 1,000 bullocks to
Italy and 500 each to Serbia and Rumania; 2,000 sows to Italy, and
1,000 draft horses and 1,000 sheep to both Serbia and Rumania.
[Sidenote: Timber, iron and magnesite.]
Austria also agrees to give an option for five years as to timber, iron,
and magnesite in amounts as nearly equal to the pre-war importations as
Austria's resources make possible. She renounces in favor of Italy all
cables touching territories assigned to Italy, and in favor of the
allied and associated powers the others.
[Sidenote: Valuable objects to be restored.]
Austria agrees to restore all records, documents, objects of antiquity
and art, and all scientific and bibliographic material taken away from
the invaded or ceded territories. She will also hand over without delay
all official records of the ceded territories and all records, documents
and historical material possessed by public institutions and having a
direct bearing on the history of the ceded territories which have been
removed during the past ten years, except that for Italy the period
shall be from 1861.
As to artistic archæological, scientific or historic objects formerly
belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Government or Crown, Austria agrees to
negotiate with the State concerned for an amicable arrangement for the
return to the districts of origin on terms of reciprocity of any object
which ought to form part of the intellectual patrimony of the ceded
districts, and for twenty years to safeguard all other such objects for
the free use of students.
[Sidenote: War debt held outside the empire.]
The war debt held outside the former empire shall be a charge on the
Republic of Austria alone. All war securities shall be stamped within
two months with the stamp of the State taking them up, replaced by
certificates, and settlement made to the Reparation Commission.
The currency notes of the former Austro-Hungarian Bank circulating in
the separated territory shall be stamped within two months by the new
governments of the various territories with their own stamp, replaced
within twelve months by a new currency, and turned over within twelve
months to the Reparation Commission. The bank itself shall be liquidated
as from the day after the signature of the treaty by the Reparation
Commission.
[Sidenote: Property within the new States.]
States to which Austrian territory was transferred and States arising
from the dismemberment of Austria shall acquire all property within
their territories of the old or new Austrian Government, including that
of the former royal family. The value is to be assessed by the
Reparation Commission and credited to Austria on the reparation account.
[Sidenote: Property of historic interest.]
Property of predominant historic interest to the former kingdoms of
Poland, Bohemia, Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, the
Republic of Ragusa, the Venetian Republic, or the episcopal
principalities of Trent and Bressanone may be transferred without
payment.
Austria renounces all rights as to all international, financial, or
commercial organizations in allied countries, Germany, Hungary,
Bulgaria, Turkey, or the former Russian Empire. She agrees to
expropriate, on demand of the Reparation Commission, any rights of her
nationals in any public utility or concession in these territories, in
separated districts, and in mandatory territories, to transfer them to
the commission within six months, and to hold herself responsible for
indemnifying her nationals so dispossessed.
[Sidenote: Austria to renounce treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk.]
She also agrees to deliver within one month the gold deposited as
security for the Ottoman debt, renounce any benefits accruing from the
treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk, and transfer to the allied and
associated Governments all claims against her former Allies.
Any financial adjustments, such as those relating to banking and
insurance companies, savings banks, postal savings banks, land banks or
mortgage companies in the former monarchy, necessitated by the
dismemberment of the monarchy, and the resettlement of public debts and
currency, shall be regulated by agreements between the various
governments failing which the Reparation Commission shall appoint an
arbitrator or arbitrators, whose decision shall be final.
Austria shall not be responsible for pensions of nationals of the former
empire who have become nationals of other States.
[Sidenote: Committee of three jurists.]
As for special objects carried off by the House of Hapsburg and other
dynasties from Italy, Belgium, Poland, and Czecho-Slovakia, a committee
of three jurists appointed by the Reparation Commission is to examine
within a year the conditions under which the objects were removed and to
order restoration if the removal were illegal. The list of articles
includes among others:
[Sidenote: List of special articles to be restored.]
For Tuscany, the Crown Jewels and part of the Medici heirlooms; for
Modena, a Virgin by Andrea del Sarto and manuscripts; for Palermo,
twelfth century objects made for the Norman Kings; for Naples,
ninety-eight manuscripts carried off in 1718; for Belgium, various
objects and documents removed in 1794; for Poland, a gold cup of King
Ladislas IV., removed in 1772; and for Czecho-Slovakia, various documents
and historical manuscripts removed from the Royal Castle of Prague.
INDEX
A
Air Raids, at night, III, 229-241;
British, II, 249;
on England, I, 375-388
Albert, King of Belgium, I, 114-115;
encourages soldiers, I, 51-53
Albert, town of, III, 164
_Alcedo_ torpedoed, II, 374-378
Alderson, General, at Second Ypres, I, 258
Aleppo, importance as railway junction, II, 180;
starting point for caravans, II, 178
Alien enemies, rules concerning, II, 239-243
Allenby, General, at Gommecourt, II. 75;
commands in Palestine, II, 344-368;
in Allied retreat, I, 65-67
Allied Armies, in Macedonia, III, 170;
positions in Battle of the Marne, I, 78, 81, 90-93
Alsace, operations in, I, 84
America Drawn Into War, II, 205-225;
bad faith of Germans, II, 210;
sinking of _Lusitania_, II, 210;
stirred by invasion of Belgium, II, 208;
_Sussex_, II, 212
America's Break with Germany, relations severed, II, 197-198;
reasons for, II, 194-204
America's Declaration of Existence of War, II, 224-225
American Expeditionary Forces, a corps, III, 242-243;
a division, III, 242;
airplanes, III, 248;
artillery supply, III, 247;
artillery training camp, III, 202;
attack in the Soissonais, III, 224;
aviators, III, 269;
communication and supply, III, 244-246;
construction work, III, 244;
Engineer Corps, III, 216, 269;
fight through Meuse-Argonne sector, III, 256-267;
First and Second in Soissons drive, III, 252;
First Army is organized, III, 254;
first days on the firing line, III, 200-209;
First Division at Montdidier, III, 250;
First Division takes Cantigny, III, 250;
Forty-second Division east of Rheims, III, 251;
Forty-second and Thirty-second at Cierges, III, 253;
from the Marne to the Aisne, III, 210-228;
German supply line cut, III, 266;
infantry training, III, 243;
line on date of armistice, III, 267;
losses of, III, 268;
Medical Corps, III, 268;
Ordnance Department, III, 269;
organization of, III, 242-248;
plans for movement against St. Mihiel salient, III, 254;
ports employed, III, 245;
quality of soldiers, III, 228;
Quartermaster's Department, III, 269;
Second and Thirty-sixth with French, III, 261-262;
Second Army organized, III, 263;
Second Corps organized on British front, III, 251;
Second Division takes Bouresches, Belleau Wood and Vaux, III,
250-251;
Service of Supply, III, 245-247, 268;
Signal Corps, III, 269;
soldiers in Italy, III, 268;
soldiers in Russia, III, 268;
take St. Mihiel salient, III, 254-257;
ten divisions train on British front, III, 250;
Tank Corps, III, 269;
Third Division on the Marne, III, 250-252;
Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first in Belgium, III, 264;
three divisions on the Vesle, III, 253;
troops in the Argonne, III, 258-266;
Twenty-eighth Division east of Rheims, III, 251;
Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth Divisions break Hindenburg line, III,
261;
Twenty-sixth at Seicheprey, III, 249;
Twenty-sixth takes Torcy, III, 253
American Navy in the War, III, 270-296;
activities of Y.M.C.A. and Knights of Columbus, III, 287-288;
air stations in Ireland, III, 278;
aviation base at Eastleigh, III, 281;
base at Cardiff, Scotland, III, 286;
Battleship Division Nine, III, 278;
convoy of troops, III, 282;
co-operates with Allies, III, 271-273;
cross-channel transport service, III, 280;
destroyers on coast of Ireland, III, 275;
destroyers at Brest, III, 282-283;
forces at Gibraltar, III, 286;
mine-laying operations, III, 279;
naval pipe-line unit, III, 286;
northern bombing group of seaplanes, III, 281;
seaplane station at Killingholme, III, 280;
radio station near Bordeaux, III, 285;
railway battery, III, 285-286;
Rear-Admiral Rodgers, III, 276;
subchasers, III, 277;
subchasers at Corfu, III, 286;
subchasers at Plymouth, III, 280;
submarines, III, 276;
Vice-Admiral Wilson on French coast, III, 281-282
American Food Commission, II, 163
American Railway Association, aids war preparations, II, 332
American ships torpedoed, II, 286
Amiens, capture of, I, 82
Ancre, Battle of the, Beaumont taken, II, 109
Ancre and Somme, lines between, II, 71
Anglo-Russian Campaign in Turkey, II, 174-187;
British save oil fields, II, 181;
British in Kut-el-Amara, II, 181;
Russians in Caucasia, II, 183-186
Anzac, meaning of term, I, 224
Arbuthnot, Rear-Admiral Sir Robert, death of, II, 52;
ships are disabled, II, 41
_Ardent_, at Jutland Bank, II, 52
Argonne, American army prepares for battle, III, 258;
Americans open battle, III, 259;
character of ground, III, 258;
divisions engaged, III, 266;
is cleared of enemy, III, 263;
prisoners taken, III, 266
Armenia, Russians in, I, 184
Armistice, duration of, III, 304-305;
November 11, 1918, III, 266;
signatories, III, 305;
terms of, III, 297-305
Artillery, work of, in Argonne, III, 259, 261
Asia, routes, II, 177-178
Atrocities, in Belgium and Serbia, II, 223
Australians, at Gallipoli, I, 222-224;
in Palestine, II, 350
Austria-Hungary, army and navy reorganized, I, 8;
condition on Bulgaria's capitulation, III, 181;
orders partial mobilization, I, 24-25;
seeks control of Constantinople, I, 126;
sends ultimatum to Serbia, I, 14
Austria-Hungary and Russia, mutual antagonism of, I, 8
Austrians, on Col di Lana, II, 55-65;
in the Alps, I, 315-319;
use 17-inch howitzers, III, 78
Austro-German Offensive Against Italy, III, 71-100
Austro-Italian front, II, 56
Aviation, American naval, in Europe, under Captain Cone, III, 286;
American naval air stations in England, III, 280-281;
American naval air stations in France, III, 283-285;
American naval air stations in Ireland, III, 278;
German air raids, I, 375-383; III, 229-241;
report on Jerusalem, II, 362;
Royal Flying Corps at Mons, I, 73
Avocourt, attack on, II, 22;
retaken by French, II, 19
Avocourt Wood, stormed by Germans, II, 18
_Ayesha_, cruise of the, I, 184-189
B
Bainsizza Plateau, evacuated, III, 80;
fighting on, III, 78
Baker, Newton D., Secretary of War, II, 298-343
Balkan Nations, I, 127-128
Balkan Railway, II, 179
Balkan War, danger to Turkey, I, 134
Basra, threatened, II, 181
Battle Lines, Map of, III, 227
Bayly, Admiral Sir Lewis, commands destroyer forces, III, 275
Beatty, Admiral, reports on Jutland Battle, II, 31-40
Beaumont, captured, II, 109
Beau Repaire Farm, III, 252
Belgian Army, heroism at Liege, I, 45;
retreats to Ostend, I, 106;
spirit of soldiers, I, 113, 122;
stand in Belgium, I, 101
Belgium, conditions better than in France, II, 167;
dangers for, I, 17;
French army in, I, 100-101;
German rule in, II, 159-173;
invasion of, I, 41-61;
last ditch in, I, 108-124;
neutrality of, I, 31-32;
war in, I, 106-107
Belleau Wood, taken, III, 251
Berzy-le-Sec, captured, III, 252
Bethmann-Hollweg, Herr von, opinion, I, 25-26
Birdwood, General, plans of, I, 370-371
Bismarck Fort, I, 216
_Black Prince_, sunk, II, 52
Black Sea, closing of, I, 135-137
Bohemia, National Assembly of, III, 186
Bohlen, Herr Krupp von, opinion of, I, 20
Bollati, Signor, views on German Government, I, 18-19
"Boris the Bulgar," III, 63
Boulogne, objective, I, 103
Bouresches, taken, III, 251
Boy-Ed, Captain, violates American neutrality, II, 288
Bridge of Arches, I, 47
Briggs, Lieutenant General, operations at Saloniki, II, 252
_Brilliant_, at Ostend, III, 111-112, 118
_Bristol_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-172
British Admiralty, I, 283-284
British and French, cooperation in Somme attack, II, 75, 86, 89
British Armies, advance in Marne battle, I, 80-82;
in capture of Tsing-Tao, I, 205-220;
growth of, II, 67;
in the Great Retreat, I, 86-89;
on Italian front, III, 83;
remove from Aisne, I, 99-100;
retreat in Picardy, III, 162-163;
transported to northern theater, I, 99
British Empire, in Africa, III, 50
British Navy, arrival of squadron at Port Stanley, I, 161-162;
at Jutland Bank, II, 32-54;
in Coronel sea fight, I, 141-157;
in Falkland Battle, I, 157-175;
Grand Fleet, II, 30;
at Zeebrugge and Ostend, III, 101-118
British Troops in Mesopotamia,
advance up Tigris, II, 181;
routes to Bagdad, II, 185
Brussiloff, commands offensive in Volhynia, II, 132-133;
talks on Rumanian situation, II, 137
Bulgaria, affected by the Russian Revolution, III, 174;
character of people, III, 171-172;
dependence on Germany for aid, II, 179;
dissatisfaction with Peace of Bucharest, III, 172;
dissatisfied with share of the Dobrudja, III, 175;
dissatisfied with treatment from Germany, III, 177-178;
influenced by Teuton promises, III, 173;
influenced by Allied victories in the West, III, 179;
victorious in Serbia and Rumania, III, 174;
withdraws from the war, III, 170
Bulgarians, advance in Struma Valley, II, 246;
attack Greeks, III, 61-64;
in Eastern Macedonia, II, 247
Bullard, General Robert L., commands Second Army, III, 263;
commands Third Corps, and operations on the Vesle, III, 253
C
Cadorna, General, arrests Italian offensive, III, 72-73
Caetani, Gelasio, Italian engineer on Col di Lana, II, 62
Calais, battle of, I, 104;
objective of Germans, I, 103
Cambon, coolness in crisis, I, 36;
fears of, I, 16
Cameron, Major General George H., in St. Mihiel battle, III, 255
Canadians, at Second Ypres, I, 248-286;
counterattack on Germans, I, 251-252;
heroism of, I, 249-252;
in gas attack at Ypres, I, 253;
position of Division at Ypres, I, 248-249;
recapture of guns at Ypres, I, 221;
Royal Highlanders, I, 255-257;
Third Brigade, I, 249-257
_Canopus_, accompanies Glasgow, I, 146-147;
in Falkland fight, I, 156-158
Cantigny, taken by First Division, III, 250
Cantonments, completion of, II, 327;
materials for, II, 322-323;
sites chosen, II, 319-320;
typical, II, 323
Caporetto, falls to Austrians, III, 71;
taking of, III, 76
_Carnovan_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-170
Carpathians, I, 319-320
Carpenter, Captain A.F.B., commands _Vindictive_ at Zeebrugge,
III, 104
_Cassin_, U.S. destroyer, torpedoed, II, 369-376
Castelnau, General de, orders troops to hold at Verdun, II, 16
Cavell, Edith, I, 348-364;
trial of, I, 350-352
Central Powers, desire to dominate other races, II, 215
Champagne, great offensive in, I, 322-347
Channel, race for, I, 96-107
Charleroi, defeat of Allied armies at, I, 61
Château-Thierry, German offensive at, III, 252;
July counteroffensive, III, 252;
Third Division holds bridgehead, III, 250;
topography, III, 210-213
Chetwode, General, route of Germans by, I, 73
China, neutrality of, I, 204
_Choising_, German ship, I, 187-191
Col di Lana, blowing off Austrian position, II, 55-65
Combles, French advance on, II, 94-95
_Communipaw_, sunk, II, 282
Congress, in extraordinary session, II, 226
Constantine, King of Greece, attitude of, III, 54
Constantinople, contention for, I, 129-130;
German cruisers at, I, 135;
hold of England and France on, I, 129;
importance of, I, 126-127, 140; II, 177
Contalmaison, attack on, II, 78
Convoy System, III, 282
_Cornwall_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-172
Coronel, Battle of, I, 141-157
Coté du Poivre, attack at, II, 18-21;
taken by French, II, 28
Council of National Defense, II, 321-343
Cradock, Rear Admiral Sir Christopher, attacks German cruisers, I,
150-157;
in chase for German squadron, I, 145
Crown Prince, German, army of, at Verdun, II, 12;
brings up fresh forces, II, 18;
urges troops to take Verdun, II, 8
Cumières, retaken by French, II, 22;
stormed by Germans, II, 22
Curry, General, at Second Ypres, I, 256-257, 259
Czecho-Slovak Expeditionary Force, III, 183
Czecho-Slovaks, III, 183-199;
character of men in Siberia, III, 184-185;
journey on a Czecho-Slovak train, III, 184
D
_Daffodil_, at Ostend, III, 101;
at Zeebrugge, III, 102-103, 105
Declaration of War, II, 238
_Defence_, at Jutland Bank, II, 52
Dellville Wood, attacks on, II, 87-88;
terrain around, II, 85
Deportations, II, 161-162
Destroyers, American, III, 7-31
Dickman, Major General, commands First Corps, III, 263;
in St. Mihiel battle, III, 255
Dobrudja, disposed of by Germany, III, 175;
failure of defense in, II, 134
Doiran Lake, British lines near, II, 246
Donnelly, Lieutenant, surprises Turks, I, 235-236
Douaumont, attacks at, II, 21;
French victory at, II, 27
Drake, exploits of, I, 149
Duchess of Hohenberg, I, 9
Dunkirk, bombed, I, 109-110;
objective of Germans, I, 103
E
East African Campaigns, III, 32-53
Egypt, natural routes to, II, 178;
need for large army, II, 180
Eightieth Division, available for St. Mihiel, III, 255;
in Argonne, III, 258
Eighty-ninth Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255
Eighty-second Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255;
in reserve in Argonne, III, 259
Eighty-seventh Division, in Argonne, III, 259
_Eitel Friedrich_, in Falkland fight, I, 162-174;
interns at Newport News, I, 174
_Emden_, cruise of, I, 176-197;
ships captured by, I, 179-180
Engineers, sent to France, II, 328;
training of, II, 327;
work of, in Argonne, III, 259
England on neutrality of Belgium, I, 30-31;
scorns German proposal, I, 26-27
Erzerum, taken by Russians, I, 183
Evan-Thomas, Admiral, report on Jutland Bank, II, 39
F
Falkland Sea Fight, I, 142-175
Festubert, Canadian advance at, I, 274-275
Fifth Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255
First Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255;
in drive for Soissons, III, 252;
in reserve in Argonne, III, 259;
takes Berzy-le-Sec, III, 252
Flanders, Battle of, I, 97;
German attack in, I, 101-103
Foch, General, afterward Marshal, outmanoeuvres Germans in Battle of
the Marne, I, 93;
launches counteroffensive, III, 252;
uses American troops in Picardy and on the Marne, III, 249, 250
Food, in Belgium, II, 168
Forts of Liege, I, 54-59
Forts, on banks of Meuse, I, 54-56
Forty-Second (Rainbow) Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255;
captures Sergy, III, 253
Fourth Division, in Argonne, III, 258;
relieves Forty-second, III, 253
France, her wounded heroes, III, 138-152;
Germany declares war on, I, 35;
German rule in, II, 159-173;
control cards, II, 160
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, assassination of, I, 10;
character of, I, 7-9;
marriage to Sophie Chotek, I, 9;
political designs of, I, 7-9
French, Sir John, on Battle of the Marne, I, 73-82;
on Great Retreat, I, 62-72
French and British, cooperate in Battle of the Somme, II, 86, 89;
on Italian front, III, 83
French Armies, advance at Marne, I, 80-82;
break German attack at Verdun, II, 16;
in Alsace, I, 83-84;
in Battle of the Marne, I, 91-95;
in Meuse Hills, III, 266;
losses of, III, 159;
official account, I, 83-107;
retreat at Verdun, II, 14;
victorious at Ypres, I, 275
Fricourt, British attacks on, II, 76;
captured, II, 77
G
Gallipoli, abandonment of, I, 366-374;
campaign at, I, 221-239;
suffering of troops, I, 367
Gas, accounts for German gains at Second Ypres, I, 269;
bombardment at Second Ypres, I, 262-265;
cloud of, at Second Ypres, I, 242;
Canadians charge through, I, 268;
first use in war, I, 240-276;
Germans first to employ, I, 276;
peculiar appearance of gas battle, I, 267
Gerard, Ambassador to Germany, II, 294
German Activities in the United States, II, 278;
note to Mexico, II, 297
German Armies, battle plans of, II, 12;
cross the Sambre, I, 86;
checked at Verdun, II, 16;
driven to Soissons-Rheims, I, 77;
first to use gas in battle, I, 241-242;
in Battle of Picardy, III, 153-169;
in Battle of the Marne, I, 89-90;
in Race for the Seas, I, 101-102;
invade Belgium, I, 41;
line at close of Battle of the Marne, I, 81;
losses in Battle of the Marne, I, 95;
losses at Ypres, I, 105;
losses at Prince Heinrich Hill, I, 209;
losses at Tsing-tao, I, 219-220;
strength at Verdun, II, 20;
positions in Champagne, I, 324-327;
losses of, at Ypres, I, 105;
defenses between Somme and Ancre, II, 72;
in retreat, I, 79-82;
prepare for Battle of Verdun, II, 8-12;
rapid advance against Italians, III, 77-78;
reinforced, I, 84
German Colonial Aims, strategic points desired, III, 45-46
German Control in Belgium, II, 167-172
German Control in France, gendarmerie brutal, II, 167;
treatment of girl workers, I, 161
German East Africa, a menace to Asia, III, 49;
evacuated by enemy, III, 41;
opinion of Baron von Rechenberg, III, 45
German Fleet, in Battle of Jutland Bank, II, 30-54
German Interference with American manufacturers, II, 292
German Note to Mexico, II, 297
German Notice of January 31, 1917, II, 285
German Propaganda, in Allied countries, III, 75-76
German Spies in America, II, 286-292
German West Africa, strategic importance of, III, 48-49
Germans, issue submarine proclamation, I, 280;
make peace proposals, II, 29;
nearness to iron ore, II, 9;
system of colonization, III, 43
Germany attains eastern ambitions, III, 154;
declares war on France, I, 35;
industrial expansion of, I, 127;
mobilizes, I, 35;
loses prestige in the East, III, 181;
must destroy either French or British army, III, 158;
need for Central Africa, III, 46:
perfidy of Government, II, 222;
plans of, I, 128-133;
preparation for defense, I, 201-202;
proclaims ruthless submarine warfare, II, 194;
sends note on submarine warfare, I, 307-308
Germany's African colonies, strategic importance of, III, 46-47
_Glasgow_, in Coronel fight, I, 146-157
_Gneisenau_, in Falkland fight, I, 147-171
Gompers, Samuel, labor leader, assistance rendered to government,
II, 325;
on Council of National Defense, II, 325-326
_Good Hope_, sunk, I, 146-155
Gorizia, suffers from war, III, 71
Goschen, Sir Edward, I, 30-32
Gough, General, in Battle of the Somme, II, 77
Grand Fleet, British, II, 30
Great Britain, holds vantage points in the East, II, 180;
interests in Persia, II, 174-176
Greeks, fight at Rupel Pass, III, 59;
on the side of the Allies, III, 54-68;
successes of, III, 61
Greeks and Bulgars, III, 64
"Green Devils," nickname for German gendarmerie, II, 167
Grey, Sir Edward, refuses German proposals, I, 30
Guillemont, fighting at, II, 88-91
H
Hague, The, American policy at, II, 206
Haig, Sir Douglas, commands British in Battle of the Somme, II,
67-113
Haig and Joffre, discuss plans for Somme offensive, II, 67
Hardaumont, fight for, II, 18
Hardromont Quarries, taken by General Mangin, II, 22
Henderson, Sir David, I, 71
Hepburn, Captain A.J., commands subchasers, III, 277
High Wood, II, 81, 82
Hill 304, artillery attack on, II, 21
Hindenburg Line, broken, III, 261
Hines, Major General John L., commands Third Corps, III, 263
Hohenberg, Duchess of, I, 9-10
Hood, Rear Admiral, at Jutland Bank, II, 38;
death of, II, 52
Hoskins, General, in East Africa, III, 41
Hospitals, II, 342-343;
at naval bases, III, 288;
bombed by Germans, III, 240
_Housatonic_, sunk, II, 200
I
Identification Papers, II, 159
_Indefatigable_, sunk at Jutland Bank, II, 52
_Inflexible_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-170
Ingram, Osmund K., saves comrades, II, 370
International Law, upheld by United States, II, 284
_Intrepid_, at Zeebrugge, III, 102, 107-108
_Invincible_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-170;
sunk at Jutland Bank, II, 52
_Iphigenia_, at Zeebrugge, III, 102, 107-108
_Iris_, in Ostend Harbor, III, 101
_Iris_, at Zeebrugge, III, 102-103, 105-106
Irish, in Gallipoli fight, I, 227
Isonzo, filled by rain, retards enemy, III, 92;
in Austro-German offensive, III, 71, 75
Italian Retreat, army reaches Tagliamento, III, 96;
Austrian aeroplanes overhead, III, 95;
brilliant work of cavalry, III, 97;
civilians in, III, 90-91;
difficulties of, III, 82-91;
Importance of Tagliamento bridges, III, 91;
military stores evacuated or destroyed, III, 84-86;
stand on Piave, III, 99
Italians evacuate Bainsizza Plateau, III, 80;
evacuate Udine, III, 81;
expect Austrian push, III, 72;
tactics, I, 315-318
Italy, American troops in, III, 268;
Legion Italienne withdrawn for rest, II, 56-57;
war on Alpine front, II, 55-65
J
_Jacob Jones_, U.S. destroyer, torpedoed, II, 378-384
Jagow, Herr von, on Austrian note, I, 15;
on mobilization, I, 35
Japan in the War, I, 198-220
Japanese characteristics, I, 198;
landing and advance of, I, 203-206;
losses at Tsing-tao, I, 220;
ultimatum, I, 199-200
Jellicoe, Sir John, commands at Jutland Bank, II, 30-45
Jerusalem, British advance toward, II, 366-368;
capture of, II, 343;
official entry into, II, 368
Joffre, General, announces plans to General French, I, 76;
appeals to troops, I, 323-324;
forms new Ninth Army, I, 75;
gives order to advance, I, 90;
letter of thanks from, I, 347;
resumes offensive, I, 98-99
Joffre and Haig, discuss plans for summer offensive, II, 67
Jutland Bank, II, 30-54
K
Kalahari Desert, III, 32
Kato, Japanese Foreign Minister, I, 199
Kato, Japanese Vice Admiral, I, 202
_Kent_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-175
Keyes, Vice Admiral, commands _Warwick_ at Zeebrugge, III, 102
Kiao-chau, blockade of coast, I, 202-203
Kigali, East Africa, III, 37
Kitchener, Earl, II, 188-193
Kivu Lake, East Africa, III, 37
Kleyer, Burgomaster of Liege, I, 47-51
_Königsberg_, in Rufiji River, III, 18
Kriemhilde Line, penetrated by Americans, III, 264
Kut-el-Amara, occupied by British, II, 181;
importance of, II, 183
L
Lansing, Secretary, note to German Government, I, 305-307
League of Nations, III, 306-316
Leipsic Salient, II, 77
_Leipzig_, in Pacific, I, 147-148
Leman, General, I, 43-61
Le Mort Homme (Dead Man Hill), attacks on, II, 18-22
Le Transloy, defenses of, II, 102
Leval, Maitre de, endeavors to aid Miss Cavell, I, 353-362;
opinion on German Courts, I, 352
Liege, Forts of, I, 54;
Germans enter, I, 49
Liggett, General Hunter, commands First Corps of First Army, III, 253;
commands First Army, III, 263
Lipsett, Lieutenant Colonel, at Second Ypres, I, 257-258
Littell, Colonel I.W., constructs cantonments, II, 320
Louvain, capture of, I, 61
_Lusitania_, torpedoed, I, 277-312
Luxembourg, invaded, I, 41
_Lyman M. Law_, sunk, II, 200
M
Macedonia, Bulgarians in, II, 247
_Macedonia_, in Falkland fight, I, 161-171
Macready, General, cited, I, 72
Mametz Wood, II, 78-79
Mangin, General, takes quarries of Haudromont, II, 22
Marne, American Third Division at Château-Thierry, III, 250;
description, III, 212-215;
Battle of the, I, 73-82; I; 91-95
Marne-Aisne District, character of country, III, 210-224
Marne-Vesle, topography, III, 211-212
Masaryk, Professor, leader of Czecho-Slovaks, III, 192
Massiges, capture of, I, 340-341
Mayo, Admiral, report of, III, 270-296
Mediterranean, German submarines in, II, 282
Menin Road, I, 270-272
Mesopotamia, value of, II, 174-175
Messines Ridge, in Battle of Picardy, III, 167-168
Meuse-Argonne Front, the final advance, III, 265-267
Meuse River, divides battlefield of Verdun, II, 10;
fighting on both sides of, II, 18
Mexico, German note to, II, 297
Mitteleuropa, apparently accomplished in 1915, III, 173;
Bulgaria only a link, III, 175;
crumbling of idea, III, 170
Monastir, advance on, II, 250
Monfalcone, III, 79-80
_Mongolia_, fires first shot at Germans, II, 270-277
Monroe Doctrine, II, 205-207
Mons, Allied line through, I, 62;
British retreat from, I, 70
Montdidier, First Division at, III, 250;
taken, III, 164
Monte Nero, cut off, III, 71
Montfaucon, taken, III, 259
Moscow, refugees in, II, 114, 116
Motor trucks, supply French at Verdun, II, 17
Mountain Warfare, I, 313-321
Mücke, Captain of the _Ayesha_, I, 176-197
Mudros Harbor, I, 222
Mulhouse, capture of, I, 83-84
Munitions Board, Council of National Defense, II, 321
Murray, Sir Archibald, Lieutenant General, cited, I, 72
N
Namur, surrender of, I, 61
Napier, Rear Admiral, II, 39
National Army, II, 318
National Guard, II, 318
Naval War Council, III, 273-275
Navy, United States, transports troops to Europe, II, 340
_Nestor_, sunk, II, 52
Neutrality, armed, II, 220
New Zealanders, in Palestine Campaign, II, 361
Newfoundlanders, at Gallipoli, I, 221-238
Niblack, Rear Admiral, commands ships at Gibraltar, III, 286
Nicholas, Grand Duke, in Caucasia, II, 183-184
Nieuport, bombardment of, I, 110;
fight on the road to, I, 123
Ninetieth Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255
Ninety-first Division, in Belgium, III, 264;
in Argonne, III, 259;
at St. Mihiel, III, 255
Nivelle, General, brings up 400 millimeter guns, II, 26
_Nomad_, at Jutland Bank, II, 52
Northey, General, advances in East Africa, III, 37
North Sea, battle of the, I, 85
_North Star_, British destroyer, sunk at Zeebrugge, III, 110
_Nürnberg_, in Pacific, I, 147-148
O
Oil, in Black Sea district, I, 136;
pipe line in Scotland, III, 286
Oil fields, in Persia, II, 175;
pipe line from Persian fields, II, 181
Okuma, Prime Minister of Japan, I, 199
_Olympia_, on coast of northern Russia, III, 286
Ostend, evacuated, I, 106
Ostend Harbor, blocking of, III, 111-118
Ourcq, valley of, III, 219-223;
Forty-second on, III, 253
Ovillers, taken by British, II, 82
P
Palestine, Campaign, II, 344-366
Papen, Captain von, plots of, II, 287-289
Pare Mountains, III, 39
_Patria_, attacked, II, 283
Peace, Allies refuse a peace by compromise, III, 155
Peace Treaty, with Austria, III, 366-374;
with Germany, III, 318-365
Pershing, General John J., offers army to Foch for Picardy battle,
III, 249;
report on American Army in Europe, III, 242-270;
sent to France, II, 339
Persia, British and Russian interests in, II, 174-176
_Persis_, sunk, II, 282
Petain, General, congratulates French at Verdun, II, 19;
uses 40,000 motor trucks, II, 17
Petrograd, refugees in, II, 116, 118-120
_Petrolite_, sunk, II, 282
Piave, Italians stand on, III, 99-100
Picardy, Battle of, III, 153-169;
fighting in Lens-Arras sector, III, 167;
French extend to join British at the Oise. III, 163;
German infantry advances, III, 162;
Germans bring divisions from Russia, III, 156;
Germans checked at Villers-Bretonneux, III, 164;
Germans take Albert, II, 164;
Germans take Messines Ridge, III, 167-168;
German objectives in the North, III, 168;
Montdidier falls, III, 164;
number of German divisions, III, 162;
opens, III, 153;
plan to drive through Amiens, III, 162;
Vimy and Notre Dame de Lorette, III, 166;
why attack was made here, III, 159-162
Plec Line, taken, III, 77
Plunkett, Rear Admiral, commands railway battery, III, 285-286
Poland, refugees from, II, 115
_President Lincoln_, torpedoed, III, 290-296
Press, German opinion misled, I, 23-24;
public opinion on peaceful settlement I, 15;
Serajevo tragedy, I, 10;
warning in New York papers, I, 284
Prince Heinrich Hill, I, 208-211
Pringle, Captain, commands destroyers at Queenstown, III, 276
Proclamation of War, II, 238-243
R
Radio, Bordeaux station, III, 285
Radoslavov, Premier of Bulgaria, resigns, III, 178
Railways, Balkan, II, 179;
Berlin to Bagdad, I, 129;
British and Belgian routes in Africa, III, 44;
in Africa, III, 43-44;
in Asia Minor, II, 179
Ramscapelle, destruction of, I, 117-118;
recaptured, I, 103
Rawlinson, General, commands Fourth Army at the Somme, II, 75;
commended by Haig, II, 83
Read, Major General, commands Second Corps, III, 251
Red Cross, establishes hospital bases, II, 341
Refugees, I, 46; II, 114-123
Regular Army, II, 318
Relief ships, attacks on, II, 292
Retreat of Allies, I, 62-72
Rheims, capture of, I, 82
Robertson, General, cited, I, 72
Rodgers, Rear Admiral, commands Division Six, III, 276
Rodman, Rear Admiral, commands Battleship Division Nine, III, 278
Roubaix, France, under German rule, II, 159
Rovuma River, III, 37
Rumania, Allied plan for operation in, II, 133;
army well drilled, II, 140;
danger in entering war, II, 124;
failure of defense in Dobrudia, II, 134
Rumania, King of, a Hohenzollern, II, 126;
personality, II, 126-127;
views, II, 127-131
Rumanians, withdraw from Transylvania, II, 134
Russia, American troops in, III, 268;
declares war on Austria, I, 21-23;
defends Serbia, I, 14;
desires control of Constantinople, I, 126-127;
general mobilization, I, 38;
interests in Persia, II, 175-176;
likely to defend Serbia, I, 14;
partial mobilisation, I, 24-25;
receives ultimatum, I, 34-35;
revolution in, II, 258-270
Russian Army, effect of collapse on Italian situation, III, 74
Russian Campaign, 1916, II, 68;
in Caucasia, II, 183-186
Russian Refugees, children emaciated, II, 115;
in freight train in Moscow, II, 114-116;
number of, II, 116-117
Russian Revolution, barricade on the Litenie, II, 264;
Cossacks in, II, 253, 259-261;
Czar dissolves Duma, II, 255;
Duma takes command, II, 286;
people charged by police, II, 254;
soldiers join revolutionists, II, 267
S
Sailly-Saillisel, French attacks on, II, 102-105
St. Julien, fighting at, I, 262-264;
penetration of, I, 244-246
St. Mihiel, Battle of, III, 254-257
Saloniki, British operations at, II, 248, 250
Sambuks, cruise in, I, 191-193
Samson, air adventure at Gallipoli, I, 232
Sand Dunes, I, 119-120
Sazanoff, M., receives German ambassador, I, 27
_Scharnhorst_, in Falkland fight, I, 147-170;
in Pacific, I, 147-148
Second Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255;
in drive for Soissons, III, 252;
takes St. Etienne, III, 262;
takes Beau Repaire Farm, and Vierzy, III, 252;
with French near Rheims, III, 261-262
Seicheprey, Twenty-sixth in battle, III, 249
Selective Draft, classes exempt, II, 309;
liability to service, II, 304;
physical examination of men, II, 308;
registration, II, 305-312
Serajevo, assassination at, I, 10
Serbia, announcement of expedition against, I, 19;
defended by Russia, I, 14;
demands from, I, 11;
replies to ultimatum, I, 22-23;
ultimatum to, I, 14
Sergy, taken by Forty-second Division, III, 253
Seventy-eighth Division, in reserve at St. Mihiel, III, 255
Seventy-ninth Division in Argonne, III, 259
_Shark_, sunk at Jutland Bank, II, 52
Shipping Board, II, 340
Sixtus, Prince, emperor's letter to, III, 155-156
Smith-Dorrien, Sir Horace, services of, I, 69-70
Smuts, General Jan Christiaan, III, 32-53
Soissons, American First and Second Divisions in drive toward, III,
252;
Franco-American drive toward, III, 224-226;
entered by Allies, III, 226
Solf, Dr., opinion on German colonies, III, 47
Somme, Battle of the, II, 67-113
Somme and Ancre, lines between, II, 71
_Sparrowhawk_, sunk at Jutland Bank, II, 52
Spee, Graf von, commands cruisers in the Pacific, I, 147-155;
in Falkland light, I, 162-170;
wins Coronel fight, I, 148-156
Struma River, bridged by British engineers, II, 250;
British positions on, II, 245;
rise hinders operations, II, 248
Subchasers at Corfu, III, 286
Submarine War Zone proclaimed, II, 219
Submarine Warfare, American lives lost, II, 279;
American vessels sunk, II, 200;
in the Mediterranean, II, 282;
American ships, II, 269-384;
proclaimed by Germany, II, 194, 196-197;
the _Sussex_ case, II, 194-196
Submarines, hunt each other in the dark, II, 135-136
Submarines, American, III, 119-137;
cross the Atlantic, III, 119-124;
go out on patrol, III, 126-134;
how it feels to be depth-bombed, III, 131-132;
the mother ship, III, 124-125
Suez Canal, control of the, I, 138;
importance, I, 138
Summerall, Major General Charles P., III, 263
_Sussex_, torpedoed without warning, II, 283
_Sussex_ Case, II, 194-196
T
Tagliamento, importance of bridges, III, 91
Taurus Mountains, Armenian, II, 184;
frontier of Egypt, II, 178
_Thetis_, at Zeebrugge, III, 102, 107
Thiaucourt, taken by Americans, III, 256
Thiaumont, II, 23-25
Thiepval, British advance on, II, 98-99;
in Somme battle, II, 76
Third Division, in reserve at St. Mihiel, III, 255;
on Marne, III, 251-252
Thirtieth Division, with British, III, 261
Thirty-fifth Division, in reserve at St. Mihiel, III, 255
Thirty-second Division, in reserve in Argonne, III, 259;
takes Hill 230, III, 253
Thirty-seventh Division, in Belgium, III, 264
Thirty-sixth Division, with French near Rheims, III, 261-262
Thirty-third Division, available for St. Mihiel, III, 255;
in Argonne, III, 258
Tigris, British on, II, 181
_Tipperary_, sunk, II, 52
Torcy, taken by Twenty-sixth Division, III, 253
Townshend, General, advances on Bagdad, II, 182
Treaty of Peace, with Austria, III, 366;
with Germany, III, 318-365
Trebizond, Turks flee toward, II, 183
_Triumph_, attacks Fort Bismarck, I, 216
Trones Wood, British troops in the, II, 78
Trucks, used at Verdun, II, 17
Tsing-tao, capture of, I, 198-220;
importance of, I, 200-201;
siege of, I, 207-220
_Turbulent_, at Jutland Bank, II, 52
Turkey, Anglo-Russian campaign in, II, 174-187;
dependence on Germany for aid, II, 179;
imperialistic designs, I, 129-130;
economic and strategic position of, I, 131-132;
military situation hopeless, III, 180;
reason for joining Germany, I, 132-133;
reorganizing army, I, 134-135
Twenty-eighth Division, east of Rheims, III, 251;
relieves Thirty-second, III, 253
Twenty-ninth Division, in reserve in Argonne, III, 259
Twenty-seventh Division, with British in attack on Hindenburg line,
III, 261
Twenty-sixth Division, at St. Mihiel, III, 255;
pivot of Soissons movement, III, 252-253
U
Udine, before the war, III, 69-70;
in war, III, 69-70;
evacuated by Italians, III, 81
United States, holds Germany responsible, II, 284;
neutrality endangered, II, 208;
prepares for war, II, 298-343;
protests to England, I, 281;
protests to Germany on submarine proclamation, I, 281
United States, military preparations of, II, 298-343;
Act to Increase Military Establishment, II, 300-301;
cantonment sites chosen, II, 319-320;
construction and supplies, II, 324-325;
Council of National Defense, II, 331;
Council of National Defense organized, II, 334;
delayed by neutrality, II, 298;
labor assembled, II, 325;
labor conditions adjusted, II, 326;
Medical Reserve, II, 313;
navy transports troops to Europe, II, 340;
Officers' Reserve Corps, II, 313;
Officers' Training Camps, II, 314-315;
organizes mines, agriculture and factories, II, 299;
Pershing goes to France, II, 328;
plan to operate railways in France, II, 328;
Quartermaster General's problems, II, 329-334;
Red Cross hospital bases, II, 341;
Regular Army and National Guard increased, II, 304;
Selective Draft, II, 304, 305-312;
training of engineers, II, 337;
voluntary enlistment, II, 301
V
Van Deventer, General, in East Africa, III, 38
Vaux, fight for possession of, II, 18;
Germans gain at, II, 19;
taken by Second Division, III, 251
Vaux, Fort, captured by French, II, 23;
French victory at, II, 27
Venice, endangered in Italian retreat, III, 99-100
Venizelists, in Greece, III, 54-58
Venizelos, interview with, III, 54-67
Verdun, plateaus on either side the Meuse, II, 10;
relief map of, II, 10;
value of, II, 10
Verdun, Battle of, II, 7-29
Vierzy, taken by Second Division, III, 252
Vigneulles, taken by Americans, III, 256
Villers-Bretonneux, Germans checked at, III, 164
Vimy, in Picardy battle, III, 166
Vimy Ridge, German attacks on, II, 68
_Vindictive_, at Ostend, III, 111, 113-117;
in Ostend Harbor, III, 101;
work of, at Zeebrugge, III, 102-110
W
Walthamstow, air raid, I, 375-383
War, causes of, I, 7-40;
formally declared by the United States, II, 298
War Messages, II, 226-243
_Warrior_, sunk, II, 52
_Warwick_, at Zeebrugge, III, 110
Welland Canal, attack on, II, 291
Western Battle Front, August, 1916, Map of, II, 66
William II, Kaiser, eager to act, I, 28-30;
influence of, I, 16;
returns to Berlin, I, 23;
trip to Norway, I, 13;
ultimatum to Russia, I, 34-35
Wilson, Major General, cited for admirable work, I, 72
Wilson, President, addresses Congress on break with Germany, II,
192-204;
ideas on peace, II, 216;
note regarding peace, II, 214-215;
War Message of, II, 226-241
Wilson, Vice Admiral H.B., commands U.S. Naval forces in France,
III, 281
Y
_Yarrowdale_, prisoners from, II, 294-296
Ypres, air battles at, I, 265, 266-275;
First Battle of, I, 104-106;
Canadians at, I, 248-276;
Germans use gas projectiles, I, 242;
second battle of, I, 240-276;
in battle of Picardy, III, 168
_Ysaka Maru_, sunk, II, 282
Yser, Germans trying to cross the, I, 116-117;
last ditch, I, 108
Z
Zeebrugge and Ostend, bottled up by British, III, 101-118
Zeppelins, raid England, I, 375-383
Zimmermann, Herr von, I, 35;
views of, I, 21-22
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