meant for this little country to abandon neutrality is not generally
realized. Here in America we know that so long as the British fleet
dominated the seas we were safe, and that we should have ample
opportunity to prepare ourselves for the vicissitudes of war and to make
the preparations that are now being undertaken and carried out by the
administration of President Wilson. Canada and Australia likewise knew
that they were in no danger of attack.
[Sidenote: War's terrible cost.]
But the case of Rumania was far different. She knew with a terrible
certainty that the moment she entered the war she would be the target
for attack on a frontier over twelve hundred kilometres long. The world
criticized her for remaining neutral, and yet one wonders how many
countries would have staked their national future as Rumania did when
she entered the war. In a short fourteen months she has seen more than
one half of her army destroyed, her fertile plains pass into the hands
of her enemies, and her great oil industry almost wiped out. To-day her
army, supported by Russians, is holding with difficulty hardly twenty
per cent of what, before the war, was one of the most fertile and
prosperous small kingdoms of Europe.
[Sidenote: Why nations went to war.]
[Sidenote: America's reasons.]
When America entered the war she assumed, in a large measure, the
obligations to which the Allies were already committed. It seems of
paramount importance under these circumstances that the case and the
cause of Rumania be more thoroughly understood in this country. Other
countries entered the war through necessities of various sorts. America
committed herself to the conflict for a cause which even the cynical
German propaganda, hard as it has tried, has been unable to distort into
a selfish or commercial one. We are preparing to share in every way the
sacrifices, both in blood and wealth, which our allies have been making
these past three years. And as our reward we ask for no selfish or
commercial rights, nor do we seek to acquire extension of territory or
acquisition of privilege in any part of the world. We have entered the
war solely, because of wrongs committed in the past, and with the just
determination that similar wrongs shall never again be perpetrated. No
country and no people on this globe are more responsive to an
obligation, and more determined to fulfill such an obligation when
recognized, than are the American people.
[Sidenote: The author in Rumania.]
For nearly two years prior to the entrance of Rumania into the war I had
been attached to the Russian Imperial Staff in the field, as special
correspondent of the London "Times." I went to Rumania in September,
1916, directly from the staff of the then Tsar, with a request from the
highest authority in Russia to the highest command in Rumania that every
opportunity for studying the situation be given me. These letters gave
me instant access to the King and Queen of Rumania, to the Rumanian
General Staff, and to other persons of importance in the Rumanian
administration. I remained in that country until late in the autumn,
motoring more than five thousand kilometres, and touching the Rumanian
front at many places. My opinion, then, of the Rumanian cause is based
on first-hand evidence obtained at the time.
[Sidenote: An interview with the King.]
When I arrived in Rumania, in September, the army was still at the high
tide of its advance in Transylvania and the world was lauding without
stint the bravery and efficiency of Rumanian troops. Two days after my
arrival I lunched with the King, and had the first of a series of
interviews with him on the status of the case of Rumania. Inasmuch as
without the consent of its sovereign the entrance of Rumania into the
war would have been impossible, I should first present the King's view
of her case as His Majesty, after several conversations, authorized me
to present it.
[Sidenote: The King of Rumania decides for war.]
The King himself, as all the world knows, is a Hohenzollern. His
personal feelings must, therefore, in a measure, be affected by the fact
that most of his relatives and friends are fighting on the German side.
There is, however, not the slightest evidence to indicate that he has
ever allowed the fact of his German blood to weigh against the true
interests of Rumania. A conversation which illustrates the attitude of
the King at this time is one which the Princess ----, one of the most
clever and best-informed women in Rumania, related to me in Bucharest.
The day before the declaration of war the most pro-German of the
Rumanian ministers, who had the name of being the leader of the
pro-German party in the capital, spent several hours putting forth every
effort to prevent the declaration of war by the King. The minister,
making no headway, finally said, "The Germans are sure to win. Your
Majesty must realize that it is impossible to beat a Hohenzollern." The
King replied, "I think it can be done, nevertheless." To this the
defender of the German cause answered, "Can you show me a single case
where a Hohenzollern has been beaten?" The King replied, "I can. I am a
Hohenzollern, and I have beaten my own blood instincts for the sake of
Rumania."
[Sidenote: Personality of the King of Rumania.]
One beautiful autumn afternoon, at the royal shooting-box outside of
Bucharest, the King talked freely about his motives and the cause of his
people. We had finished luncheon and he had dismissed his suite. He and
the Crown Prince and myself were left in the unpretentious study. Here,
over a map-strewn table, it was the custom of the King to study the
problems of the campaign. A tired, harassed-looking man of about sixty,
clad in the blue uniform of the Hussars of his Guard, he paced the
floor, and with deep emotion emphasized the case of his country and the
motives which had induced Rumania to enter the war.
This earnest presentation of his opinion I placed in writing at that
time, and the sentences quoted here were a part of the statement
published in the London "Times." So far as I know, this is the only
occasion on which the King outlined in a definite way his personal view
of the Rumania case.
His Majesty began by laying stress on the necessity for interpreting
Rumania truthfully to the world, now that her enemies were doing their
utmost to misrepresent her; the necessity for understanding the genius
of the people and the sacrifices and dangers which the country faced. He
urged that Rumania had not been moved by mere policy or expediency, but
that her action was based on the highest principles of nationality and
national ideals.
[Sidenote: The nation moved by ties of race and blood.]
[Sidenote: The Bulgar a menace.]
"In Rumania as in Russia," said the King, "the tie of race and blood
underlies all other considerations, and the appeal of our purest
Rumanian blood which lies beyond the Transylvanian Alps has ever been
the strongest influence in the public opinion of all Rumania, from the
throne to the lowest peasant. Inasmuch as Hungary was the master that
held millions of our blood in perpetual bondage, Hungary has been our
traditional enemy. The Bulgar, with his efficient and unquestionably
courageous army, on a frontier difficult to defend, has logically become
our southern menace, and as a latent threat has been accepted
secondarily as a potential enemy."
[Sidenote: German friendship an asset.]
[Sidenote: Rumania's long frontier.]
After stating that, although at the beginning of the war Rumanian
sympathy had leaped instantly to France and England, the Rumanians had
realized that, economically, the friendship of Germany was an asset in
the development of Rumanian industries, the King added that,
nevertheless, as the Great War progressed, there had developed in
Rumania a moral issue in regard to the war. The frightfulness and
lawlessness practiced by the Central Powers had a profound effect upon
the Rumanian people, and the country began to feel the subtle force of
enemy intrigue endeavoring to force her into war against her own real
interests. Let us remember, when we would criticize Rumania for her
early inactivity, that she was, in the words of her King, "a small power
with a small army surrounded by giants"; that she had a western frontier
1,000 kilometres long--greater than the English and French fronts
combined--and a Bulgarian frontier, almost undefended and near her
capital, stretching for other hundreds of kilometres on the south. With
Russia in retreat, Rumania would have been instantly annihilated if she
had acted. She had to wait till she could be reasonably sure of
protecting herself and of being supported by her allies. She waited not
a moment longer.
[Sidenote: Prisoners and noncombatants well-treated.]
After pointing out the great risks which Rumania had run, as a small
country, and the deterring effect of the fate of Serbia and Belgium,
the King continued, "Notwithstanding the savagery with which the enemy
is attacking us and the cruelty with which our defenseless women and
children are being massacred, this government will endeavor to prevent
bitterness from dominating its actions in the way of reprisals on
prisoners or defenseless noncombatants; and to this end orders have been
issued to our troops that, regardless of previous provocation, those who
fall into our hands shall be treated with kindness; for it is not the
common soldiers or the innocent people who must be held responsible for
the policy adopted by the enemy governments."
The interview ended with the King's assurance that Rumanians would not
falter in their allegiance to England the just, to France, their brother
in Latin blood, and to Russia, their immediate neighbor.
"With confidence in the justice of our cause, with faith in our allies,
and with the knowledge that our people are capable of every fortitude,
heroism, sacrifice, which may be demanded of them, we look forward
soberly and seriously to the problems that confront us, but with the
certainty that our sacrifices will not be in vain, and that ultimate
victory must and will be the inevitable outcome. In the achievement of
this result the people of Rumania, from the throne to the lowliest
peasant, are willing to pay the price."
[Sidenote: Rumanians realized their danger.]
When it is realized that these conversations took place in September and
the first days of October, it must be clear, I think, that neither the
King nor the Queen had ever felt that Rumania entered the war in
absolute security, but that they always realized the danger of their
situation and moved only because their faith in the Allies was such as
to lead them to believe that they had at least a fair chance to
cooperate with them without the certainty of destruction.
To emphasize further the fact that both realized this danger even before
the war started, I would mention one occasion some weeks later, when the
fear of the German invasion of Rumania was becoming a tangible one.
During a conversation with the King and the Queen together, in regard to
this menace, the Queen turned impulsively to the King and said, "This is
exactly what we have feared. We, at least, never imagined that Rumania
was going to have an easy victory, and we have always felt the danger of
our coming into the war."
The King looked very tired and nervous, having spent all that day with
the General Staff weighing news from the front which was increasingly
adverse. "Yes," he said, as he pulled his beard, "we were never misled
as to what might happen."
So much then for the psychology of the sovereigns of Rumania as I
received it from their own lips.
[Sidenote: Russian efforts to aid Rumania.]
Ever since the loss of Bucharest the world has been asking why Rumania
entered the war. It seems to be the general opinion that her action at
that time was unwarranted and that she had been betrayed. There has even
been a widely circulated report that Germany, through the King, has
intrigued to bring about this disaster. Again, I have heard that the
Russian High Command had purposely sacrificed Rumania. At this time,
when much of the evidence is still unattainable, it is impossible for me
to make absolutely authoritative statements, but immediately after
leaving Rumania I spent three hours with General Brussiloff discussing
the situation. A few days later I had the privilege of meeting the
former Tsar at Kieff (to whom the Queen had given me a letter), and I
know from his own lips his feelings in regard to Rumania. Subsequently,
I was at the headquarters of the Russian High Command and there learned
at first hand the extraordinary efforts that Alexieff was making to
support Rumania. The British efforts to cooperate with Rumania and
prevent disaster I knew thoroughly at that time.
[Sidenote: Lack of vision and foresight.]
I never saw the slightest evidence that either Russia or her allies had
any intention whatever of disregarding their duties or their
responsibilities to this little country. That there was lack of vision
and foresight on all sides is quite apparent. But that there was bad
faith on the part of any of the contracting parties I do not believe. It
is probably true that the reactionary government in Petrograd was glad
to see the Rumanian disaster, but it must be realized that this was a
military situation primarily, and that ninety per cent of it in the
first three months was in the hands, not of the Petrograd politicians
but of the military authorities at the front. Brussiloff and Alexieff
are men incapable of intrigue or bad faith. The Emperor, with whom I
talked at Kieff, and the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlowna nearly wept at the
misfortune of Rumania, and I am certain that the former Tsar was in no
way a party to any breach of faith with this little ally.
[Sidenote: Military conditions prior to Rumania's venture.]
[Sidenote: Failure of Germans at Verdun.]
I have said that there was not bad faith toward Rumania on the part of
the Allies when they induced her to enter the war, and that there was
not lack of intelligence on the part of Rumania when she followed their
advice. In order to understand the point of view of the Allies it is
necessary to have clearly in mind the military conditions existing in
the whole theatre of operations during the six months prior to Rumania's
fatal venture. In February the Germans had assembled a large portion of
their mobile reserves for their effort against Verdun. The constant
wastage of German human material continued almost without intermission
into May, with spasmodic recurrences up to the present time. Hundreds of
thousands of Germans were drawn from the visible supply of enemy manhood
by these offensives. By early May the failure of the Verdun venture had
probably become manifest to the German High Command, and there is
evidence that they were commencing to conserve their troops for other
purposes.
[Sidenote: General Brussiloff's offensive.]
On the 5th of June there began in Galicia and Volhynia the great
offensive of General Brussiloff which lasted, almost without
intermission, on one or another part of his front, until October. By the
middle of June this drive of the Russians began to divert German troops
for the defense of Kovel. In July started the British-French offensive
in the West.
[Sidenote: German troops diverted to Eastern front.]
With their reservoirs of men already greatly reduced by the Verdun
attacks, the Germans, by the middle of July, were compelled to find
supports to meet the continuous offensives on both the Eastern and
Western fronts. I cannot estimate the number of troops required by them
against the French and British, but I do know that between the 5th of
June and the 30th of August a total of thirty divisions of enemy troops
were diverted from other fronts against Brussiloff alone. This heavy
diversion was the only thing that prevented the Russians from taking
Kovel in July and forcing the entire German line in the East. So
continuous and pressing were the Russian attacks that more than two
months elapsed before the enemy could bring this offensive to a final
stop on the Kovel sector. Enemy formations arriving were ground up in
detail as fast as they came, and by the middle of July it was clear to
us, who were on the fighting line in Volhynia, that the Germans were
having extraordinary difficulties in filling their losses from day to
day. In June their first supports came by army corps; in July they were
coming by divisions; and early in August we checked the arrival of
single regiments, while the Austrians were often so hard pressed that
they sent isolated battalions to fill the holes in their lines.
[Sidenote: Teuton losses.]
In the meantime the Russians had cleared the Bukovina of the enemy. It
was believed that Rumania could put in the field twenty-two divisions of
excellent troops. The enemy losses in prisoners alone, up to the first
of September, from Brussiloff's offensive, were above four hundred
thousand and over four hundred guns. It seemed then that these extra
twenty-two divisions thrown in by Rumania could meet but little
resistance.
[Sidenote: The Allied plan of operation.]
[Sidenote: Munitions to come daily from Russia.]
In order that the Rumanian attempt to cooperate might be safeguarded in
the highest degree, a coordinated plan of operations on the part of the
Allies was agreed upon with Rumania. The allied force in Saloniki under
General Sarrail was to commence a heavy offensive intended to pin down
the Bulgarian and Turkish forces to the southern line, thus protecting
the Rumanian line of the Danube. Brussiloff's left flank in Galicia was
to start a drive through the Bukovina toward the Hungarian plain, thus
relieving the Rumanians from any pressure on the south. A Russian force
of fifty thousand men in the Dobrudja was to protect the Rumanian left.
This, in view of the apparent shortage of enemy reserves, seemed to
protect the army of Rumania on both flanks in its advance into
Transylvania. In addition Rumania was to receive certain shipments of
munitions of war daily from Russia. It was the opinion of the military
advisers in Rumania that under no circumstances could the Germans divert
against her within three months more than sixteen divisions, while some
of the experts advising her placed the number as low as ten.
[Sidenote: Bulgar and Austrian attack.]
[Sidenote: Rumanians on defensive.]
Now let us see what happened. For some reason, which I do not know, the
offensive on the south was delayed, and when it did start it attained no
important results nor did it detain sufficient enemy troops in that
vicinity to relieve Rumania. On the contrary, heavy forces of Bulgars
and Austrians immediately attacked the line of the Danube, taking the
Rumanian stronghold of Turtekaia, with the bulk of the Rumanian heavy
guns. In order to safeguard Bucharest, then threatened, the Rumanians
were obliged to withdraw troops from their Transylvania advance, which
up to this time had been highly successful. These withdrawals
represented the difference between an offensive and a defensive, and the
Transylvania campaign potentially failed when Bucharest was threatened
from the south.
[Sidenote: Defense in Dobrudja falls.]
The Russian expedition in the Dobrudja, which was supported by a
Rumanian division and a mixed division of Serbs and Slavs, partially
recruited from prisoners captured by the Russians, failed to work in
harmony, and the protection of the Rumanian left became, after the
capture of Turtekaia, a negligible factor which ultimately collapsed
entirely. Thus we see in the beginning that through no bad faith the
southern assets on which Rumania depended proved to be of little or no
value to her.
[Sidenote: The case with Brussiloff's army.]
There still remained the Russian agreement to cooperate in Galicia and
the Bukovina. I can speak of this situation with authority because I had
been on the southwestern front almost without intermission since June,
and know that there was every intent on the part of Brussiloff to carry
out to the limit of his capacity his end of the programme. The success
of this, however, was impaired by a situation, over which he had no
control, which developed in Galicia in September. It must not be
forgotten that all the Russian troops on the southwestern front had been
fighting constantly for nearly three months. When I came through Galicia
on my way to Rumania I found Brussiloff's four southern armies engaged
in a tremendous action. Early in September they had made substantial
advances in the direction of Lemberg, and were in sight of Halicz on the
Dniester when they began to encounter terrific and sustained
counter-attacks.
[Sidenote: Efforts to cooperate with Rumania.]
That the force of this may be understood I would mention the case of the
army attacking Halicz. When I first went to the southwestern front in
June, there were facing this army three Austrian divisions, three
Austrian cavalry divisions, and one German division. In September, at
the very moment when Brussiloff was supposed to be heavily supporting
Rumania, there were sent against this same army--on a slightly extended
front--three Austrian divisions, two Austrian cavalry divisions, two
Turkish divisions, and nine German divisions. The army on the extreme
Russian left, whose duty it was to participate in the offensive in the
Bukovina, had made important advances toward Lemberg from the south, and
just at the time that Rumania entered the war it also was subjected to
tremendous enemy counter-attacks. For several weeks it held its position
only with the greatest difficulty and by diverting to itself most of the
available reserves. Something more than one army corps did endeavor to
cooperate with Rumania, but the situation I have described in Galicia
made it impossible for sufficient supports to reach the Bukovina
offensive to enable it to fulfill its mission.
[Sidenote: Reasons for delay in munitions.]
Thus we see that after the first month of the campaign the cooperative
factors which alone had justified Rumania's entering into the war had
proved to be failures. The arrival of material from Russia was delayed
because, after Turtekaia was taken, a new Russian corps was sent to the
Dobrudja to stiffen up that front. The railroad communications were bad
and immediately became congested by the movements of troops, thus
interfering with the shipping of badly needed material. I have since
heard the Russian reactionary government charged with purposely holding
up these shipments; but I am inclined to believe that my explanation of
the cause of the delays in the arrival of material is the correct one.
[Sidenote: Allies underestimated German force.]
The greatest mistake on the part of the Allies was their estimate of the
number of troops that the Germans could send to Rumania during the fall
of 1916. As I have said, experts placed this number at from ten to
sixteen divisions, but, to the best of my judgment, they sent, between
the 1st of September and the 1st of January, not less than thirty. The
German commitments to the Rumanian front came by express, and the
Russian supports, because of the paucity of lines of communication, came
by freight. The moment that it became evident what the Germans could do
in the way of sending troops, Rumania was doomed.
[Sidenote: Russians too late to save Bucharest.]