THE WAR IN 1915
THE WESTERN FRONT.--The deadlock which existed on the western front at
the close of 1914 continued with little change during the year 1915.
There were indeed many contests which, on account of the men involved
and the casualties, would in previous wars have been considered major
engagements; but in spite of great preparations neither side was able to
make much impression upon the entrenched line of the enemy. From the sea
to the Swiss border two apparently impregnable lines of trenches faced
each other.
German ingenuity and barbarity were shown in two new forms of warfare
introduced during this year. Poison gas was first used, contrary to the
terms of the Hague Conventions, against the Allied line on April 22,
1915. It brought on the most horrible forms of suffering and torture,
and compelled a temporary withdrawal of the French and English from
trenches near Ypres (eepr). Later, masks were used as a preventive of
gas poisoning. Eventually the Allies were forced to adopt the use of
poisonous gases in bombs and shells in order to fight the Germans with
their own weapon. The other innovation was the "flame-thrower," an
apparatus which threw a flame of burning liquid or gas far ahead of the
troops. This has never been widely used by the Germans, because it
proved almost as dangerous to themselves as it was to their opponents. A
sharpshooter's bullet or a piece of shell might pierce the apparatus and
the containers and produce dangerous results among the Germans.
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN.--In the east the year opened with an attempt
on the part of the Allies to force the Dardanelles with their fleets and
take possession of the city of Constantinople. The campaign gets its
name from the peninsula of Gallip´oli, the European shore of the
Dardanelles. In February the campaign opened with a naval attack. The
Turkish fortifications, however, were strong enough to defeat a purely
naval attempt and the Allied fleets met with heavy losses. It has been
stated since that had the Allies continued the attack one more day the
Turks would have had to yield, as their ammunition was nearly exhausted.
In April troops were landed on the peninsula to aid in the attack. The
landing was accomplished at a terrible cost of life. Siege operations
were then begun against the Turkish and German forces defending the
peninsula. Month after month the fighting continued, but nothing worth
while was accomplished. Finally, in January of the next year, the
campaign was abandoned. It had cost the Allies heavily in money and
lives, and its failure had lost to them the respect of the hesitating
nations of southeastern Europe, Bulgaria and Greece.
THE WAR ON THE RUSSIAN BORDER.--Along the Russian frontier also the
Allied cause met with serious reverses. The year had opened favorably
with the Russians in control of most of Galicia. In March the great
Galician fortress of Przemysl, which had successfully withstood the
attacks of the Russians the previous autumn, was compelled to surrender.
Meanwhile, in January, Russia once more attempted to carry out the other
part of her general plan, the invasion of East Prussia. The Russian
troops succeeded as before in entering the coveted territory, this time
crossing the troublesome lake region while the waters were frozen. Soon,
however, the invaders met with a decisive defeat. In the Battle of the
Mazurian Lakes, General Von Hindenburg took 100,000 Russian prisoners;
the number of killed and wounded Russian soldiers is said to have been
150,000. The Russians hurriedly retreated from German soil.
The time had now come for the Germans and Austrians definitely to assume
the offensive. A strategic blow in Galicia imperiled the whole Russian
front and compelled a general retreat of the Russian armies in Galicia
and Poland. In June both Przemysl and Lemberg were recaptured by the
Central Powers. By September all of Russian Poland had been conquered.
Russia had lost 65,000 square miles of thickly populated territory. But
the land was so thoroughly plundered by the German conquerors that many
of the people died of starvation.
BULGARIA ENTERS THE WAR.--The sympathies of the Bulgarian government
had been with the Central Powers from the beginning of the war. Bulgaria
had not forgiven the neighboring Balkan states for their treatment of
her in the second Balkan war (1913). Against Serbia her feeling was
particularly bitter. The Allied disaster at Gallipoli and the military
successes of Germany and Austria in Poland and Galicia in the spring and
summer of 1915 led the Bulgarians to believe that now was the time for
them to strike. In October Bulgaria declared war upon Serbia, thus
definitely taking her stand as an ally of the Central Powers.
Bulgaria's entrance into the war was followed by simultaneous invasions
of Serbia from Austria and from Bulgaria. Under these blows the Serbians
were crushed. Together with her neighbor and ally, brave little
Montenegro, Serbia was overrun by her enemies. The cruelties inflicted
upon the Serbian population by the invading Bulgars are said to have
been fully as horrible as those which had taken place during the
conquest of Belgium in 1914 and of Poland in 1915.
There was serious danger that the government of Greece would follow the
lead of Bulgaria and also enter the war on the side of the Central
Powers. This was prevented by two things. In the first place, a majority
of the Greek people favored the cause of the Allies and were opposed to
Bulgaria. In the second place, the Allies promptly landed an army at
Salonica. Later on, they removed Constantine, the pro-German king of
Greece, and placed his son Alexander upon the throne.
THE EAST AT THE CLOSE OF 1915.--On the eastern front 1915 had been a
year of failure. The Gallipoli campaign had been a humiliation for the
Allies. The Russians had been driven from Russian Poland and from the
Austrian province of Galicia. Bulgaria had joined the Central Powers,
linking Austria-Hungary with Turkey. Serbia, the country whose quarrel
had been the occasion of the whole world struggle, had been conquered by
the enemies of the Allies.
ITALY ENTERS THE WAR.--In May, 1915, Italy declared war upon Austria,
and more than a year later upon Germany. Her reasons for this action
were: (1) her old enmity toward Austria; (2) her desire to annex the
neighboring territory inhabited by Italians, but ruled by Austria; and
(3) her feeling that Austria was opposed to Italian interests in the
Balkans.
Italy entered the war with vigor although at a great disadvantage. When
the northern Italian lands were freed from Austrian rule in 1866,
Austria kept the highlands and mountain passes, from which she could
easily descend upon the Italian lowlands. Now that war was begun, the
Italians were compelled to force their way up the heights and against
the fire from well-protected Austrian forts. Here upon the dizzy peaks
of the Alps, or the icy surfaces of glaciers, or the rocky mountain
sides, warfare has been more spectacular and has called for more daring
and recklessness than anywhere else. Slides of rock and avalanches of
ice sometimes have been the ammunition of armies. During the year the
Italians made some progress and by December occupied positions well
within the Austrian frontier; but no decisive battle had been fought or
important city or fortress occupied.
ALLIED CONTROL OF THE SEA.--Throughout 1915--as in the preceding and
the following years--the Allies maintained their control of the ocean.
As a result of a proclamation declaring the North Sea a military area,
and the more strict enforcement of the proclamation against sending
contraband articles to Germany, the blockade against the Central Powers
was more tightly drawn.
This seriously affected the commerce of the United States, not only with
Germany but with neutral countries, such as Holland or Sweden, that
could easily transship to Germany the supplies received. Neutral vessels
were stopped and taken into Allied ports, there to be detained sometimes
for long periods until a decision was reached as to the legality of
their traffic. Moreover, the expense of this detention was laid upon the
owners of the vessel and cargo. These acts brought forth a series of
protests by our government against the policy of the Allies. The
correspondence continued with varying results until the United States
entered the war.
FORCED DECREASE OF NEUTRAL TRADE WITH GERMANY.--Neutral countries
adjoining Germany had been making huge profits by selling their food and
other products to Germany, replacing their stores with material imported
from over seas. As part of the preparation for a long war, the Allies
blocked the renewal of neutral stocks of goods. The neutral countries
complained vigorously, but they soon cut down their trade with Germany
since they were no longer able to replenish their stock of food, rubber,
metals, and other supplies.
SUBMARINE WARFARE.--In 1914, when the war broke out, Germany is said
to have had but four seaworthy submarines. It is difficult to believe
that she had so few, but it is certain that she did not have so many as
either England, France, or Russia. German naval authorities were not
convinced of the value of the submarine in war.
However, about a month after the war began, a German submarine torpedoed
a British cruiser, and, within a few minutes, two others that had gone
to assist the first. Germany, now realizing the value of the new weapon,
began the construction of a numerous fleet of underwater boats, or
U-boats. But against war ships, properly defended by guns and other
means, they proved of little avail after all. Toward the end of the
year, Admiral von Tirpitz, head of the German navy, hinted at an
extension of the use of submarines to attack merchant ships.
Soon numbers of the submarines made their way to the waters surrounding
the British Isles, where they torpedoed merchant vessels taking food and
supplies to Great Britain and France. The vessels sunk were chiefly
British, though some were neutral.
PROTECTION AGAINST SUBMARINES.--Large war ships were protected from
submarines by keeping them in a mine-protected area until there was need
for them at sea. At sea they were protected largely by the patrol and
scouting operations carried on by lighter and faster vessels. To reduce
the danger to merchant vessels from submarines, harbors and sea lanes
were protected by mines and by great nets made of heavy wire cables. The
seas in the immediate vicinity of Great Britain were patrolled by
thousands of small, swift vessels constantly in search of U-boats.
ATTEMPTED BLOCKADE OF GREAT BRITAIN.--In February, 1915, Germany
declared a blockade of the British Isles. Under an actual blockade she
would have the right to prevent neutral vessels from trading with Great
Britain. But inasmuch as it was not possible to take seized neutral
ships to German ports, the submarines would sink them, often without
providing for the safety of the passengers and crews. The ultimate
object of this course of action was so to reduce the world's shipping as
to make it impossible for Great Britain to be supplied with the food or
other materials that would enable her to carry on the war. This method
of warfare, however, was contrary to the well established rules of
international law. Against it the United States and other neutrals made
vigorous protests.
THE LUSITANIA.--The most notable loss by submarine attack was that of
the "Lusitania," sunk without warning off the coast of Ireland on May 7,
1915. Nearly twelve hundred lives were lost, including many women and
children. One hundred and fourteen of those lost were Americans. An
advertisement had been inserted in the papers warning passengers not to
travel on Allied ships, but no one believed that Germany would go so far
in violation of international law as to torpedo, without warning, a
passenger vessel carrying civilians of neutral as well as of warring
nations. The people of the whole civilized world were horrified by the
deed. Germany's attitude is shown by the fact that medals were struck
commemorating the act, and the commander of the submarine was rewarded.
President Wilson wrote a series of notes to the German government
insisting that Germany conduct her warfare in accordance with
international law. This resulted in a promise by the German minister to
the United States, that liners would not be sunk by German submarines
without warning and without safety to the lives of noncombatants,
provided that the liners did not try to escape or offer resistance.
RAIDS ON COAST TOWNS.--Several times in 1914 German vessels managed to
escape through the cordon of Allied ships. They proceeded to the east
coast of England and bombarded defenseless fishing ports and watering
places such as Yarmouth, Whitby, and Scarborough. These raids had no
military effect, but they resulted in the killing or wounding of
hundreds of women, children, and old men. They were undertaken for the
purpose of terrorizing the civilian population of England in order to
arouse a desire for peace. In January, 1915, a German squadron
attempting a similar raid was intercepted and defeated by British war
ships.
ZEPPELINS.--At the outset Germany had great faith in the usefulness of
her immense dirigible balloons, or Zep´pelins, as they are commonly
called. In the attack on Belgium, they were used for observation,
incidentally dropping a few bombs on Antwerp. Early in 1915, Zeppelins
made their appearance over England, bombing many of the smaller towns
and villages, as well as London. Such raids might have some effect on
the war if they were directed toward munition plants, railway stations,
or naval depots. The Germans, however, generally contented themselves
with attacks on defenseless residential towns and cities. Up to October,
1917, there were thirty-four such raids, resulting in the death of
nearly one thousand persons and the wounding of three times as many. The
result on the military situation was practically zero, except to
increase the British determination to see the war through.
Later the protection afforded Great Britain by anti-aircraft guns and
especially by airplanes, made it highly dangerous for Zeppelins to
continue their raids. Many of them were destroyed. The later raids were
made by squadrons of airplanes which had greater chances of escape.
German air raiders found it increasingly difficult to get past the
defenses, and in 1918 the raids on England became infrequent.
ALLIED RETALIATION.--For a long time the Allies refused to retaliate
by bombing unfortified towns in Germany, but finally they decided to do
so. The immediate results were a protest from Germany that the Allies
were violating international law, and a petition to the German
authorities from the towns in western Germany, asking that air raids on
places not in the military area should be stopped, so that the German
cities should not be bombed in retaliation. Nearly all such Allied air
raids, however, were directed against railroads, munition factories, and
other objects of military importance.
THE ALLIES ORGANIZE FOR A LONG WAR.--When Lord Kitchener, the great
British general, predicted that the war would last at least three years,
hardly any one believed him. It was thought that the cost of a modern
war would be so great that nations would not be able to stand the strain
for more than a few months. When the Allies realized that Kitchener was
right, they prepared for a long struggle. The munition factories in all
the countries were reorganized, and the output of war material was
increased many fold, more being produced in a few days than had formerly
been produced in a year. Great Britain and France appointed ministers of
munitions whose sole work was to see that the armies were supplied with
guns, ammunition, and other fighting needs.
The people in the British overseas dominions remained loyal, and sent
hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the battle fronts in order to
protect the mother country from threatened defeat. To secure still
greater coöperation throughout the British Empire, the prime ministers
of the self-governing colonies were invited to places in the British
imperial war conferences.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.--1. Locate Przemysl, Lemberg, the
Mazurian Lakes, Scarborough, Helgoland, Essen. 2. On an
outline map of Europe indicate the countries engaged in the
war at the end of 1915. Which of these countries had entered
during the year? 3. By use of the scale on your map of Europe
determine the following distances: Ostend to Scarborough;
Berlin to Warsaw; Brussels to Paris. 4. When did the kingdom
of Poland pass out of existence? What became of it? 5. What
was the purpose of the Allies in the Gallipoli campaign? What
would have been the consequences of the success of this
campaign? 6. Collect pictures of Zeppelins, of gas attacks,
and of methods of defense against gas.
REFERENCES.--_War Cyclopedia_ (C.P.I.); _Study of the Great
War_ (C.P.I.); _New York Times History of the European War_;
McKinley, _Collected Materials for the Study of the War;
German War Practices_ (C.P.I.), parts I and II.