CHAPTER LVII

SERGY AND SERINGES

The next striking feature of American participation in the squeezing of

the Germans out of the Soissons-Marne-Rheims salient was the crossing of

the Ourcq and the taking of Sergy and Seringes just beyond that river.

The Germans had meant to make a stand on the north bank of the Ourcq and

hold the Americans on the south bank while their main withdrawal was

effected to the Vesle; but the charge of the Americans over the river

balked this plan. The fighting thus shifted to the north side, where the

Germans, reenforced by two divisions of Bavarian Guards, settled down to

resist the Americans to the utmost. Although heavily assailed, the

Americans replied in kind, especially in and out of Sergy, three miles

southeast of Fère-en-Tardenois. The Germans bent all their strength

toward forcing a recrossing of the Ourcq. The Americans held their

ground, and it was the Germans who finally had to yield, but only after

vicious and bitter fighting.

The Americans began their attack on Sergy early on the morning of

Saturday, July 27, 1918. By night they had been driven back some

distance, but on Sunday morning, when they resumed their advance under

cover of their artillery--a few pieces going forward with their advanced

line--they proceeded almost unchecked to the river, crossed the river

and entered the town. The Germans used gas; but the Americans had long

ago had their baptism of gas fumes and knew how to utilize their masks

and avoid the ravines through which the gas filtered. When the town was

occupied there was some street fighting, which the Germans abandoned by

retiring to higher ground beyond. On Monday morning, July 29, 1918, came

a counterattack by the Fourth Prussian Guard Division, which had arrived

only a few hours before from their training ground in Lorraine. A

conflict then ensued which ebbed and flowed constantly, the town

changing hands nine times before it was won.

The Americans immediately advanced two miles, again defeating the

Prussian Guards and Bavarians, though the latter succeeded in winning

Cierges, southeast of Sergy, and holding it for a spell. By the night of

July 30, 1918, the Americans were well to the north of Sergy, on long

slopes approaching heavy woods beyond Nesle, a town directly east of

Seringes-et-Nesle, for which the Germans fought bitterly.

As a preliminary to the attack on Seringes, a strongly fortified

position, Meury Farm, had to be taken, as from the farm the Seringes

defenses could be outflanked and approached by a less steep ascent than

by a direct attack. In this group of farm buildings the Germans had, on

their withdrawal, left behind a strong force of machine gunners and

infantry, which set up a strong defense.

"The Americans," ran one account, "moved forward through the yellow

wheat fields, which were sprayed and torn by bullets. But they advanced

as though on a drill ground.

"The American guns laid down a heavy artillery fire, but notwithstanding

this many Germans remained when it came to hand-to-hand fighting. The

Germans stuck to their guns, and the Americans rushed them and killed

the gunners at their post.

"It was a little battle, without mercy, and typical of similar

engagements along the whole line. The Prussian Guards and Bavarians

everywhere fought in accordance with their training, discipline, and

traditions, but were outwitted and outfought.

"To the north of the farm, up the long slopes leading to the woods, the

Americans encountered the fiercest exhibition of Germany's war science.

The Germans laid down a barrage which, it was said, was as heavy as had

ever been employed. The American guns replied as heavily.

"On through the barrage the Americans went into the German positions,

attacking fiercely the machine-gun and infantry detachments. The barrage

died away, the Germans leaving the work of resistance to the men they

had failed to protect with their heavy guns.

"The Germans were decimated and the Americans held their new line, just

east of the forest. Not many prisoners were taken, but here and there a

few were rounded up and brought in. One sergeant contributed fourteen.

He attacked eighteen Germans who had become separated from their

command, killing four of them and capturing the others. Heavy execution

was done by the Americans. Eight captured Guards said that they were all

that remained of a company of eighty-six."

The way was now open for the assault on Seringes, which the enemy held

in great strength. The village was also protected by machine-gun nests

on either side. "The attack," wrote Reuter's correspondent, "was an

almost incredible affair for the coolness with which it was carried out

and for the mere fact that it could be done under such conditions." The

village changed hands five times. After its first capture by the

Americans on Monday, July 29, 1918, the Germans forbore returning with

the usual infantry counterattack, but kept up a constant artillery and

machine-gun fire. This attempt to drive the Americans out continued all

the next day. Toward evening the Germans, evidently thinking that the

spirit of the defenders was weakening under such withering fire, emerged

from the Nesle forest to retake the village.

"The Americans," said Reuter's correspondent, "after three days of

to-and-fro fighting through villages, had learned subtlety and were

determined to have a real fight to a finish. They consequently pretended

to withdraw as though retiring from Seringes. Some of them did withdraw,

but others remained in the houses and other points of vantage, and the

Germans crept down from the high ground convinced they had their

opponents beaten. Additional German troops came pouring in until the

town was occupied as it never had been before.

"But as the new occupants began to organize their defenses they found

that bullets appeared to be coming in from three sides of the village,

and it was not long before they discovered that the Americans, while

withdrawing from the front of the town, had commenced an encircling

movement on both sides, thus forming a ring almost completely around it.

"The Americans used machine guns, rifles, and pistols, and employed both

the bayonet and the rifle butt with great effectiveness. The fighting in

the streets was savage, but of comparatively brief duration.

"The Prussian Guard had voted not to surrender, and their opponents were

just as anxious to see the thing through. It became an affair of small

arms, but the Americans proved to be better shots, and slowly picked

off men here and there.

"Then the Americans began to advance, and slowly their encircling ring

closed about the village. As the ring drew closer and the defenders saw

their doom approaching, they redoubled their fire; but still the

Americans came on unfalteringly, like a storm, or the unavoidable stroke

of fate.

"When the Americans reached the precincts of the village their fire

ceased, and with one wild yell they closed with the foe. The fierce

uproar suddenly gave place to a strange silence as man grappled with

man. Only the clash of steel on steel and the groans of the stricken

could be heard.

"The issue was never in doubt for an instant. At this kind of fighting

the American is more than equal to any Prussian Guardsman, and in a

little more than ten minutes all was over. Except for a few German

prisoners, every German in the village had breathed his last. Such was

the final capture of Seringes."

The Americans awaited the coming of other Germans, but they came not. So

the French and Americans moved on beyond the village, straightening out

the line from that point to Cierges by bringing their heavy artillery to

bear on mile after mile of barbed wire which the Germans had placed

through the hills, forests, and other open places.

The Americans reached Fismes, on the Vesle River, on August 2, 1918, the

Germans retreating before them. They had advanced about forty kilometers

in fifteen days, fourteen kilometers having been gained in the last two

days of their pursuit. On July 18, 1918, they were intrenched only about

Château-Thierry to Belleau; now they were in the heart of the German

salient, which, thanks largely to American aid, was a salient no more.

PART X--RUSSIA

CHAPTER LVIII

THE PEACE WITHOUT TREATY

Throughout the first ten days of February, 1918, the world waited

impatiently and anxiously for a final conclusion to the peace conference

between the representatives of Russia and the Central Powers, at

Brest-Litovsk. Trotzky was still the central figure. Meanwhile the

Bolsheviki leaders were straining every effort to spread their

propaganda throughout the civilian populations of the Central Powers, as

well as among the soldiers on the eastern front. Rumors of strikes in

Germany inclined even those who had previously been skeptical to believe

that the Bolsheviki method might yet gain a great victory for the cause

of the democratic nations.

Ukrainia, as already noted, had declared itself an independent nation,

with a republican form of government, professedly socialistic in

tendency, with Vinitchenko as President. As a matter of fact, however,

the Rada, or Ukrainian legislative assembly, was almost completely in

the hands of the landowners who, naturally, were bitterly opposed to

Bolshevikism and its program of land nationalization. Against them had

risen the Bolsheviki elements of Ukrainia, supported by the Petrograd

Bolsheviki. The conflict between the two factions had created a state of

civil war. The landowners' Rada had sent delegates to the peace

conference, and at first the Petrograd delegation, under the

chairmanship of Trotzky, had raised no objection against the Teutons

recognizing them as the proper representatives of Ukrainia. But during

the last days of January, 1918, came reports of the military success of

the Ukrainian Bolsheviki, even that they had captured Odessa and Kiev,

and then Trotzky contended that the Ukrainians at Brest-Litovsk no

longer truly represented their constituency. The Germans, however, had

forestalled him by quickly recognizing Ukrainian independence under the

Rada.

The German policy was obvious. By recognizing the conservative Rada,

they created a split among the Russian delegates as a whole.

Furthermore, they realized that the Ukrainian landowners feared the

Bolsheviki domestic program far more than they feared German domination,

and in whatever treaty they entered into would offer large concessions

in return for German military aid against Bolsheviki domination. Thus

the Central Powers suddenly found an ally in the Ukrainian Republic. It

also gave them a moral pretext for their attitude toward the provinces

under dispute: Courland and Lithuania, and parts of Livonia and Esthonia

and what had formerly been Russian Poland, whose populations, the

Germans contended, had already declared themselves for German

suzerainty.

The session of the Brest-Litovsk peace conference which was held on

February 9, 1918, was the one at which both sides concluded their

arguments and worked up to the climax of the following day. That same

day the Teutonic delegates had signed a treaty of peace with the

Ukrainian delegates.

"We have officially informed you," said Trotzky, "that the Ukrainian

Rada was deposed, yet the negotiations with a non-existent government

have been continued. We proposed to the Austro-Hungarian delegation that

a special committee should be sent to Kiev, in order to verify our

contention that the Kiev Rada no longer exists and that further

negotiations with its delegation would have no value. We were told that

this would be done and that the delegates of the Central Powers would

not sign a peace treaty until the return of the investigating

commission. Now we are told that the signing of the peace treaty could

no longer be postponed.... Such conduct arouses doubts of the sincerity

of the Central Powers.... The conduct of the other side, so far as this

question is concerned, gives us the impression that they are endeavoring

to make the situation impossible for us. We cannot consider any treaty

binding to the Russian Federal Republic which is not signed by our

delegation."

The main point of difference, however, remained the same as before: the

refusal of the Central Powers to withdraw from what had been Russian

territory, in order to allow the populations to decide for themselves

what their governments should be. This was the ultimatum of the Germans,

as worded by Von Kühlmann: "Russia must agree to the following

territorial changes which will enter into force after the ratification

of the peace treaty. The regions between the frontiers of Germany and

Austria-Hungary and the indicated line will not be in the future a

dependency of Russia. As a result of their former adhesion to the

Russian Empire no obligations will bind them to Russia. The future

destiny of these regions will be settled in agreement with the peoples

concerned, namely, on the basis of those agreements which have been

concluded between them and Germany and Austria-Hungary."

In the afternoon the conference was adjourned that the delegates might

consult among themselves. The last and climaxial session was held on the

following day, the 10th, when Trotzky, after a hot denunciation of

German imperialism, declared that Russia would never agree to the German

terms and would refuse to sign any treaty on such a basis. At the same

time he declared that Russia would not fight any longer and would

withdraw from the war. This decision was approved at Petrograd and an

order for the demobilization of the Russian armies had been sent out.

This unprecedented conclusion rather nonplused the German delegates and

deeply displeased them. Kühlmann was of the opinion, however, that

Russia could not end her participation in the war in this fashion; that

peace could only be brought about by a special treaty, in the absence of

which the state of war would automatically be resumed at the termination

of the armistice, which had only been arranged for the purpose of

arranging a peace by understanding. The fact that one of the parties

concerned was demobilizing its forces would not change the situation.

The Russian version of the session, as given out officially from

Petrograd, was as follows:

"Yesterday, at the session of the All-Russian Central Executive

Committee of the Councils, the president of the peace delegation,

Trotzky, reported on the course and results of the negotiations at

Brest-Litovsk. Not only the representatives of those political parties

constituting the Government majority, but the representatives of the

opposition groups as well, recognized the fact that the decision taken

by the Council of the People's Commissaries was the only correct one and

the course which could be taken with dignity. The speakers of the

majority and the opposition put forward the question as to whether there

was the possibility of a resumption of German hostilities against

Russia. Nearly all were of the opinion that such an offensive was

extremely unlikely, but all uttered warning against too optimistic an

attitude in this regard, because the war party elements in Germany might

force the German Government to such a course. In the opinion of all the

speakers it would be the duty of all Russian citizens, in such a case,

to defend the interests of the revolution. All were of the opinion,

however, that the masses of Germany and Austria-Hungary would not allow

a resumption of hostilities against the Russian socialists, because such

a course would be too obviously a raid for plunder. The People's

Commissary for Foreign Affairs concluded this report with the statement

that Russia is withdrawing from the war not only in appearance, but in

reality. It is canceling all agreements with its former allies, and

reserves perfect freedom of action for itself in the future. At the

conclusion of the session a resolution was passed approving the action

of the delegation to the Brest-Litovsk Conference."

The first general news of peace with Russia caused public rejoicing in

Germany and Austria-Hungary, but when the details became known the

German and Austrian papers showed the bitter disappointment which

prevailed.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians were further playing into the hands of the

Central Powers, spurred on by the domestic situation. Said the "Cologne

Gazette," for February 17, 1918:

"Our bread peace with the Ukraine is threatened. Fighting between the

Bolsheviki and the Rada already has brought the Rada government into

such peril that it has been transferred from Kiev to Zhitomir, and the

suburbs of Kiev are already in the hands of the Bolsheviki.... The

Bolsheviki are rushing troops to reenforce the anti-Rada forces....

Further fighting is to be expected, of serious significance to us."

The true significance of the pact between the Ukrainian landlords and

the Germans became still more obvious on February 17, 1918, when an

appeal "to the German people" was published. In this document the

bourgeois character of the Rada Government was indignantly denied and

socialistic principles were proclaimed. The Bolsheviki were bitterly

denounced and accused of possessing nothing more than a desire for

conquest and pillage. Having thus prepared the German mind for its

reception, the appeal is delivered in the final paragraph, in the

following words:

"In this hard struggle for existence we look around for help. We are

firmly convinced that the peaceful and order-loving German people will

not remain indifferent when it learns of our distress. The German Army,

standing on the flank of our northern enemy, has the power to help us

and, by its intervention, to protect the northern frontiers against

further invasion by the enemy. This is what we have to say in this dark

hour, and we feel confident that our voice will be heard."

Such was the moral pretext of the Central Powers for a further invasion

of Russia. In return for the protection of their private property, the

landowners constituting the Rada Government were willing to accept

German domination and to send all surplus foodstuffs across the

frontier.

Germany gave ample warning of her intention to continue active

hostilities at the expiration of the armistice at noon on February 18,

1918. It was officially announced that this decision had been taken at a

conference of all the German war chiefs and political leaders, attended

also by the emperor. Austria-Hungary, however, took a very much more

moderate stand and showed strong disinclination to renew the war. The

Vienna papers were practically unanimous in their opinion that Austria

had no further business in Russia, since there was no longer a common

frontier, and with Ukrainia there was a definite peace treaty. On

February 18, 1918, it was officially announced from Vienna that "an

agreement has been reached between Germany and Austria-Hungary whereby,

in the event of military action being necessary, the German troops will

be confined to the frontier of Great Russia, and the Austrians to the

Ukraine only."

CHAPTER LIX

THE GERMANS RENEW HOSTILITIES WITH RUSSIA

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the 18th, just two hours after the

armistice had expired, German troops began pouring across the Dvina

Bridge. The disorganized Russians fled before them, allowing the Germans

to occupy Dvinsk unopposed. Up and down the whole eastern front the

German lines began a simultaneous movement eastward, the immediate

object being the occupation of the territory coveted by Germany, the

moral pretext being that Germany desired to rescue the oppressed

population from the anarchy of Bolsheviki rule. Farther south an advance

was also made into Ukrainia, but there it was on the invitation of the

Ukrainians themselves, according to the Germans.

The news of the German advance acted on the Petrograd authorities like

an electric shock, awakening them from their delusions. There was

something of panic in the haste with which the Council of People's

Commissaries, the body corresponding to the Cabinet of other

governments, assembled for conference the moment the news reached the

capital. Throughout the whole night they remained in session, in hot

argument over the question of capitulation or resistance.

On this vital issue the two leading figures of the Bolsheviki Government

split; Lenine was in favor of unconditional surrender to the German

demands, while Trotzky declared himself for continued resistance. Had he

remained of this mind he might have changed the course of events, but

before the question was put to vote, he swung over to Lenine, and the

Council decided in favor of surrender, but only by one vote.

Early next morning the Council issued a proclamation, to the effect that

"under the present circumstances the Council of the People's

Commissaries regards itself as forced formally to declare its

willingness to sign a peace upon the conditions which had been dictated

by the delegations of the Quadruple Alliance at Brest-Litovsk." Later

in the day Ensign Krylenko, the commander in chief, issued a general

order to his armed forces in which they were enjoined to attempt to

parley with all forces of armed Germans they might encounter and

persuade them to desist from advancing farther into Russian territory,

but in case these attempts failed, then a determined resistance should

be made.

The decision of Petrograd to capitulate had been communicated to German

headquarters by wireless. Late in the afternoon the German commander,

General Hoffmann, replied to the effect that the message had been

received, but since a wireless message could not bear signatures,

without which no communication could be regarded as official, he

requested the Petrograd authorities to forward the same message in

written form, properly signed, to German headquarters at Dvinsk. A

courier was immediately sent with an authentic copy of the Russian

capitulation to Dvinsk.

The Germans, however, were in no hurry to respond. The German soldiers

continued their eastward advance day by day, practically unopposed,

gathering in some 10,000 prisoners and vast quantities of arms, heavy

guns, ammunition and other war material. By February 21 German forces

had arrived seventy miles northeast of Riga, and Esthonia was completely

occupied.

By this time it began to dawn on the Bolsheviki leaders in Petrograd

that the Germans meant to occupy all the territory they desired before

they would reopen negotiations. On February 22, 1918, a proclamation was

promulgated, in the following terms:

"We agreed to sign peace terms at the cost of enormous concessions in

order to save the country from final exhaustion and the ruin of the

revolution. Once more the German working class, in this threatening

hour, has shown itself insufficiently determined to stay the strong

criminal hand of its own militarism. We had no other choice than to

accept the conditions of German imperialism until a revolution changes

or cancels them. The German Government is not in a hurry to reply to us,

evidently aiming to seize as many important positions in our territory

as possible. The enemy has occupied Dvinsk, Werder, and Lutsk, and is

continuing to strangle by hunger the most important centers of the

revolution. Even now we are firmly convinced that the German working

class will rise against the attempts of the ruling class to stifle the

revolution, but we cannot predict with certainty when this will

occur.... The Commissaries call on all loyal councils and army

organizations to use all efforts to recreate the army. Perverted

elements of hooligans, marauders and cowards should be expelled from the

ranks, and, in the event of resistance, be wiped out of existence. The

bourgeoisie, who under Kerensky and the Czar evaded the burden of war

and profited from its misfortunes, must be made to fulfill their duties

by the most decisive and merciless measures.... The German generals

desire to establish their own order in Petrograd and Kiev. The republic

is in the gravest danger. The duty of Russian workingmen and peasants is

defense to the death of the republic against the masses of bourgeoisie

and imperialists of Germany. German militarism wishes to smother the

working classes and the Ukrainian masses, to give back the land to the

landowners, factories and workshops to the bankers, and power to a

monarchy."

Finally the Germans condescended to open negotiations with the Russians

once more. On February 23, 1918, Foreign Secretary von Kühlmann opened

up communication with Petrograd, offering to arrange a new peace

conference. The terms could not now, of course, be so generous as were

those offered at Brest-Litovsk, the negotiations must be concluded

within forty-eight hours and ratified within two weeks.

As outlined by Von Kühlmann, the new conditions were: Livonia and

Esthonia immediately to be cleared of Russian troops; this territory to

be policed by the Germans until such a time as these countries should

establish governments of their own. An immediate peace between northern

Russia and the Ukrainians. Ukrainia and Finland to be evacuated by all

Russian forces. A complete demobilization of the Russian armies,

including the newly organized Red Guards. Russian warships in the Black

Sea, the Baltic and the Arctic to be interned in Russian harbors,

warships of the Entente Powers to undergo similar treatment. Merchant

navigation of the Black Sea to be renewed. The Russo-German commercial

treaty of 1914 to be enforced again. And all revolutionary propaganda

among German soldiers and civilians to be stopped immediately and

absolutely.

During the entire night of the day on which this communication was

received the Council was in conference, adjourning now and then to allow

party caucuses. At first there was a strong feeling in favor of

resistance, especially among the members of the opposition. Premier

Lenine's influence was thrown strongly in favor of peace and an

unconditional acceptance of the terms which the enemy offered.

In the early morning of Sunday, the 24th, the Central Executive

Committee decided to accept the German terms, by a vote of 112 against

84. The German Government was then informed that a Russian

representative would leave immediately for Dvinsk, carrying with him the

official acceptance of the German terms. A new peace delegation was

elected to attend the coming conference, for both Trotzky and Joffe, who

had been the leaders of the first commission, refused to serve again.

Meanwhile a request had been made to the German military commander that

another armistice be declared, to last until the conclusion of the peace

negotiations. But this request the Germans flatly refused, and the

German armies continued their advance eastward.

This policy on the part of the Germans, to continue military aggression

to the last moment, finally roused a fighting spirit among the

Bolsheviki organizations. Under the supervision of the Petrograd Soviet

extensive preparations were made to renew armed resistance. Recruits to

the Red Guard regiments were enlisted and armed with feverish haste and

hurried out to the front, to take the place of the fleeing regulars, who

were completely useless and demoralized. Fully 100,000 joined the Red

Guard detachments, among them being many officers of the old army who,

without sympathizing with Bolsheviki principles, joined them from pure

patriotism.

The results of these exertions were soon made manifest on the fighting

front, for now came reports indicating that the Germans were obliged to

fight desperately to make any headway. On February 26, 1918, the

Russians made so determined a resistance at and near Pskov that the

Germans were temporarily driven back and halted for several days, until

they could bring up their heavy ordnance.

On March 3, 1918, the Germans announced that they had ceased

hostilities, the Russian delegation to Brest-Litovsk, where the second

conference was held, having signed the peace treaty. They then reported

the capture of 6,800 officers, 57,000 men, 2,400 cannon, 5,000 machine

guns, 800 locomotives, and large quantities of other war material. The

territory overrun was all that part of Russia lying west of a line drawn

from Narva, on the Gulf of Finland, due south to Kiev, including Russian

Poland, Lithuania, Esthonia, Livonia, and the outlying islands in the

Gulf of Finland. By refusing to sign a treaty of peace at the first

conference the Russians lost territories amounting to almost one-quarter

of Russia in Europe, inhabited by about a third of the total population.

By the new treaty the Russians lost Finland, Poland, Ukrainia,

Lithuania, Esthonia, Livonia, Courland, and a portion of Transcaucasia,

southeast of the Black Sea.

CHAPTER LX

THE PEACE TREATY THAT WAS SIGNED

The Russian delegates at the second peace conference had signed

practically blindfolded. Gradually the German terms were given out to

the world. Probably nothing during the war, except the sinking of the

_Lusitania_, had so contributed to turning sympathy in neutral countries

away from Germany as the conditions which were forced on Russia. The

following summary gives the outstanding features of the treaty of peace

which still exists between Russia and the Central Powers:

An end to all propaganda among the soldiers and civil populations of the

Central Powers. Russia to relinquish all claims to the territory

occupied and held by the Germans, the fate of these countries to be

decided by Germany. Russia must evacuate the Anatolian provinces taken

from Turkey, as well as the districts of Kars, Erivan and Batum. Russia

must demobilize all her armies. All Russian warships to be interned in

Russian harbors until a general peace has been declared. Russia must

conclude an immediate peace with the Ukrainian Republic and recognize

the treaty of peace between Ukrainia and the Central Powers. All

revolutionary propaganda in Ukrainia must cease. Finland and the Aland

Islands must be evacuated by all Russian armed forces, both military and

naval. A general exchange of prisoners of war is to be begun at once.

The document presenting these terms had yet to be ratified by the

highest ruling powers in Russia, and, according to the German demands,

within two weeks. Trotzky, hitherto the dominating figure of the

Bolsheviki party, was apparently opposed to the acceptance of the treaty

and refused to be a delegate to the final peace conference, as already

noted. For this reason he also resigned as Foreign Minister, declaring

that he could not agree with the point of view of Lenine, and was

succeeded by Tchitcherin. Trotzky was now made chairman of the newly

created government of Petrograd, known as the Petrograd Labor Commune,

which was responsible "for the safeguarding of revolutionary order and

defending the city from the enemy."

The treaty was presented for ratification to a Pan-Soviet Congress, held

in Moscow on March 14-16, 1918, the Soviet Government being by this time

established in Moscow. The Congress consisted of 1,164 delegates, the

majority being soldiers, sailors, and workingmen, with Bolshevist

constituencies in the industrial centers, the peasants being represented

in a much smaller proportion. Of the total number 732 delegates were

declared partisans of Lenine; thirty-eight were Socialist

Revolutionists, with more moderate tendencies than the Bolsheviki.

Again Lenine strongly advocated for peace at any price, contending, as

before, that it would be only a matter of time until the working classes

of the whole world would overthrow their capitalist and imperial masters

and come to the rescue of the Russian proletariat. The treaty was

finally ratified by a vote of 704 against 261. Two Bolshevist

commissaries, Debenko and Kolantai, and four Socialist Revolutionaries,

Steinberg, Kalagaiev, Karelin and Broshian, resigned their posts in the

cabinet when the result was announced.

At the congress the following telegram from President Wilson was read,

at the opening session:

"May I not take advantage of the meeting of the Congress of the Soviets

to express the sincere sympathy which the people of the United States

feel for the Russian people at this moment when the German power has

been thrust in to interrupt and turn back the whole struggle for freedom

and substitute the wishes of Germany for the purpose of the people of

Russia? Although the Government of the United States is, unhappily, not

now in a position to render the direct and effective aid it would wish

to render, I beg to assure the people of Russia through the Congress

that it will avail itself of every opportunity to secure for Russia once

more complete sovereignty and independence in her own affairs and full

restoration to her great rôle in the life of Europe and the modern

world.

"The whole heart of the people of the United States is with the people

of Russia in the attempt to free themselves forever from autocratic

government and become the masters of their own life."

The following day the Congress adopted the following reply to President

Wilson's message of sympathy:

"The Congress expresses its gratitude to the American people, above all

to the laboring and exploited classes of the United States, for the

sympathy expressed to the Russian people by President Wilson through the

Congress of Soviets in the days of severe trials. The Russian

Socialistic Federative Republic of Soviets takes advantage of President

Wilson's communication to express to all peoples perishing and suffering

from the horrors of imperialistic war its warm sympathy and firm belief

that the happy time is not far distant when the laboring classes of all

countries will throw off the yoke of capitalism and will establish a

socialistic state of society, which alone is capable of securing just

and lasting peace as well as the culture and well-being of all laboring

people."

CHAPTER LXI

CONTINUED GERMAN AGGRESSION

On the day the Russian delegates to Brest-Litovsk had signed the peace

treaty the Germans had announced an end to military activities on the

eastern front, and until the treaty had been ratified they did indeed

refrain from further aggression. It was even reported that practically

all the German forces on the Russian front had been removed to the

western front and those few that remained would be insufficient to carry

on any further operations, even against the disorganized Russians. But

after the middle of March reports of military operations began to appear

again, the pretext of the Germans being that they were "establishing

order" along the new frontier and were merely suppressing irresponsible

bands.

The Teuton advance was most pronounced in Ukrainia, where the legal

authorities were ostensibly cooperating with the invaders. Apparently

the forces employed in the conquest of this territory were largely the

Slavic contingents of the Austrian Army, supported by the so-called

Ukrainian troops, regiments recruited from the Ukrainians which had

formerly been units of the Russian Army and were now loyal to the Rada.

German officers were in the higher commands, so that the operations were

entirely in the interests of the German Government.

Thus, by the end of the third week in March the Teutons had overrun all

of Ukrainia west of the Dnieper and were in possession of the chief

center, Kiev, as well as the important cities of Zhitomir, Nikolaiev,

and the chief seaport of southern Russia, Odessa. Bolsheviki Red Guards

succeeded in driving the invaders out of Odessa some days later, but it

was again captured on the arrival of Austrian reenforcements. Over two

thousand ships and great quantities of war material were seized.

According to some reports, even the Rada became alarmed and protested

at continuous invasion, but no heed was taken of the request.

Up in northern Russia there was also continued aggression. An advance on

Petrograd was begun, but when the Soviet Government became established

in Moscow, the Germans switched off in that direction, especially from

the direction of Ukrainia, whose borders with Russia proper were crossed

for a considerable distance, to within 150 miles of Moscow.

The peace treaty provided for the ceding to the Central Powers of the

Transcaucasian provinces, already mentioned. But here the people had

organized a constituent assembly of their own, which now refused to

recognize this provision of the treaty. Meeting in Tiflis, the assembly

declared for a defensive war, and independence was declared. In the

middle of April the Armenian National Council, in an official protest

addressed to the German Government, said:

"Following upon the withdrawal of the Russian troops Turkish forces have

invaded the undefended country and are not only killing off the Turkish

Armenians, but all the Russians as well. In spite of the terms of the

peace treaty, which recognizes the right of self-determination for these

Caucasian regions, the Turkish Army is advancing toward Kars and

Ardahan, destroying the country and killing the Christian inhabitants.

The responsibility for the future destiny of the Armenians lies entirely

with Germany, because it was Germany's insistence which resulted in the

withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Armenian regions, and at the

moment it rests with Germany to prevent the habitual excesses of the

Turkish troops, increased by revengefulness and anger."

In Russia, the Bolshevist leaders had actually betrayed their country to

the Germans. In Finland, it was the conservative element that welcomed

the Teutons. Hatred of Russia and fear of the excesses committed by the

extreme Socialists had made the Finns strongly pro-German. For the

Socialists were not only a numerous element in Finland, but were well

organized in the Labor party. In January, 1918, these radicals,

corresponding to the Bolsheviki in Russia, rose in armed revolt and

seized Helsingfors, driving the members of the Government north, where

it established its headquarters at Vasa, under the leadership of M.

Svinhufvud. The Socialists organized a government of their own in the

old capital, the head of their cabinet being Kullervo Manner. Thus was

begun the civil strife with the conservative White Guards on the one

hand and the Socialist Red Guards on the other, the former receiving

German support, the latter being backed by the moral and a great deal of

material support from the Soviet Government of Russia. The Germans

occupied the Aland Islands, March 2, 1918, and in April took Helsingfors

and Viborg, cooperating with the Finnish White Guards. At the end of

April, Finland was practically controlled by Germany. Meantime the

Germans were organizing the conquered provinces taken from Russia.

The continued aggression of the German forces aroused a very bitter

spirit among the Russians. Even Lenine openly declared that the peace

was only for the purpose of reorganizing the war. Trotzky, who at least

outwardly opposed the acceptance of the treaty, came to the fore again.

He declared for the organization of an army of half a million men on the

regular disciplined basis. On April 2, 1918, Podvoisky, assistant

commissary of war, announced that Russia would establish an army of

1,500,000 men, in which the elective principle would be more limited,

and some of the leaders openly advocated conscription. On April 10,

1918, Trotzky was again admitted into the cabinet as minister of war.

Meanwhile there were strong indications that a more conciliatory

attitude would be adopted toward the "capitalistic" governments of the

Allies, who had been denounced as only a little less hostile to Russia

than Germany. Tchitcherin, the foreign minister, made the statement that

"Russia's relations toward the Entente are unchanged."

CHAPTER LXII

JAPANESE TAKE ACTION IN THE EAST

The Allied Governments, naturally, including that of the United States,

refused to recognize the treaty of peace which Germany and Austria had

imposed on the helpless Russians. It was their recognition of the

helplessness of the Russians which caused them to realize the fact that

Germany might still further force them into a position which would be

detrimental to the Allied cause; that, in a sense, the Russians were not

responsible and that therefore it might become necessary to take certain

measures which would prevent their falling too far under Teuton control,

or permitting Russia to become a vast storehouse and granary for the

Central Powers, which might exploit and develop Russian resources to

further Austrian and German ends. Now that Russia was not even nominally

hostile to Germany, she became a potential auxiliary instead of a menace

to the military success of the Central Powers.

Just before the collapse of Russia, brought to a climax by the rise into

power of the Bolsheviki, large stores of military supplies from Japan

and the United States had been accumulating at the Vladivostok terminus

of the Siberian Railroad. It was only natural to assume that it would be

Germany's great desire to obtain possession of these stores. What

quickened anticipation of this possibility was the rumor that large

numbers of Austrian and German prisoners had been armed in Siberia and

were gathering along the line of the Siberian Railroad. Both Lenine and

Trotzky denied this report most vigorously and invited the Allies to

send representatives into Siberia to investigate. This was done, notably

by the United States, and the reports of the investigators seemed to

indicate that there had been no foundation to the rumors.

Nevertheless, the danger remained and action became necessary. Japanese

intervention in the East now became a lively subject of discussion in

the Allied countries. On April 5, 1918, two companies of Japanese

marines were put ashore in Vladivostok, the immediate pretext being some

disorders ashore, in which a Japanese subject had been killed. The local

soviet reported that the Japanese had taken this action on their own

initiative, without consulting the diplomatic representatives of any

other of the Allied countries. But a later report indicated that the

British had also landed marines, and on the following day the Japanese

put ashore another small landing party. The Japanese naval commander,

Admiral Kato, issued a proclamation in which he assumed personal

responsibility for the landing of forces, and stated that it had

absolutely no political significance, the object being merely to protect

Japanese lives and property until the local authorities could guarantee

law and order themselves. The local governing bodies, however, protested

vigorously.

The news of the landing produced keen excitement in Moscow and was

construed as the beginning of Japanese intervention in Russian domestic

affairs. On the following day, April 6, 1918, the Soviet Government

issued a statement in which it declared that the murder of the Japanese

subject was part of a pre-arranged plan and that "the Japanese have

started a campaign against the Soviet Republic." Two days later Premier

Lenine said, in a public speech:

"It is possible that, within a short time, perhaps even within a few

days, we shall be compelled to declare war against Japan."

Two days later it was reported that Russia had requested the German

Government to permit postponement of that provision of the peace treaty

which demanded the demobilization of the Russian military forces, on

account of the possible need of defensive military action against the

Japanese.

On April 16, 1918, Mr. Francis, American ambassador to Russia, issued

the following statement:

"The Soviet Government and the Soviet press are giving too much

importance to the landing of these marines, which has no political

significance, but merely was a police precaution taken by the Japanese

admiral on his own responsibility for the protection of Japanese life

and property in Vladivostok, and the Japanese admiral, Kato, so informed

the American admiral, Knight, and the American consul, Caldwell, in

Vladivostok. My impression is that the landing of the British marines

was pursuant to the request of the British consul for the protection of

the British consulate and British subjects in Vladivostok, which he

anticipated would possibly be jeopardized by the unrest which might

result from the Japanese landing. The American consul did not ask

protection from the American cruiser in Vladivostok Harbor, and

consequently no American marines were landed. This, together with the

fact that the French consul at Vladivostok made no request for

protection from the British, American, or Japanese cruisers in the

harbor, unquestionably demonstrates that the landing of Allied troops is

not a concerted action between the Allies."

The fears of the Soviet Government were not completely allayed, however,

for they began to remove the stocks of war material westward, with the

result that on April 20 the Japanese landed still more marines to

reenforce those already on guard ashore.

On April 26, 1918, Tchitcherin, the foreign minister of the Soviet

Government, informed the representatives of the United States, Great

Britain, and France that his Government desired the recall of their

consuls stationed at Vladivostok on account of their participation in

counter-revolutionary plots. He also asked them to set forth their

attitudes toward the Soviet Government. An official report of the

demand for the removal of John K. Caldwell, the American consul at

Vladivostok, was received by the American State Department on May 6,

1918, from Ambassador Francis. The State Department replied that it

had no definite information on which to base such charges and refused

to remove the consul. These charges were largely in relation to the

counter-revolutionary movement which had been instigated by General

Seminov, who had established himself in the Transbaikal and had

gathered around him a number of former officers in the Russian army of

high rank and who were now inspired, either by a hope that a

monarchial form of government might be reestablished, or at least that

a less radical form of government than that of the Bolsheviki might

take its place. Here were gathered also many civilian enemies of the

Bolsheviki, with the same hope of overthrowing them by military force.

During the middle of April, 1918, hostilities were reopened by General

Kornilov against the Soviet forces, but his campaign from the Cossack

country in the south met with disaster in its incipiency, and Kornilov

was himself badly wounded.

It was also stated that General Dutov, another anti-Bolshevist Cossack

leader, was captured by the Bolshevist troops, and that Seminov, the

leader of the anti-Soviet forces in Siberia, was killed.

Meanwhile the Germans were continuing their aggressive operations,

largely through Ukrainia, where they were almost completely in

possession of the country. The German Government was evidently keenly

disappointed in its hopes of obtaining food supplies from this region.

If the demanded food supplies were to be had, it was obvious that

stronger measures must be resorted to. In the latter part of April it

was announced officially by the Washington State Department that the

Ukrainian Rada was to be dissolved by the Teuton military commander in

Kiev and another government established in its place.

The pretext came with the "arrest" on April 24, 1918, of a prominent

pro-German banker by an organization calling itself the Committee of

Ukrainian Safety. The German Vice Chancellor, Von Payer, said before the

Main Committee of the Reichstag that this secret society had as its

object the expulsion of the Germans from the country, which it proposed

to accomplish by means of the old terrorist methods employed in the

earlier days of the autocracy. Among the members of the organization

were many men of public prominence, and it was said that its central

executive committee had been meeting in the residence of the minister of

war. The German ambassador had demanded an investigation, but the Rada

would not, or could not, take action.

Within forty-eight hours the commander in chief of the Teuton forces in

Ukrainia, General von Eichhorn, proclaimed a state of "enhanced

protection," tantamount to martial law.

On April 28, 1918, while the Rada was in session, the doors to the

assembly chamber were suddenly thrown open by German soldiers and a

number of the members of the assembly were seized, among them being the

minister of war. When the president of the Rada protested against the

outrage, he was struck by a soldier and thrown to the floor.

On the following day a convention of wealthy peasants and landed

gentry, who were holding a convention in the city, proclaimed itself the

government of the land, declared the Rada non-existent, and proclaimed

General Skoropadsky, a strong pro-German and a reactionary, hetman of

Ukrainia, thus giving him practically dictatorial powers, subject to

German approval. The German Government hastened to recognize the new

governing power.

A German tool from the beginning, the Rada had nevertheless failed to

satisfy the German demands because of its democratic form, which enabled

an honest minority within its composition to block the pro-German

majority. With the autocratic powers of the new dictator at their

disposal, the Germans now hoped to accomplish their ends more

effectively, for now they could place the responsibility squarely on

him.

In their drive for food supplies, however, the Teutons were not disposed

to confine themselves to the boundaries of Ukrainia. They still

continued their military expeditions into the territories of the Soviet

Government.

In the early part of June, 1918, the Germans made an advance into the

Roslav region, in the Province of Kursk, taking Roventki. On May 10,

1918, they began an eastward advance, sixty miles wide, between Valuyki

and Zhukovo. On that date they captured Rostov on the Don, an economic

center of great importance, but held it only overnight, as the next day

they were driven back by the Russian Red Guards. Finally, however,

during this period, but on a date not mentioned in the dispatches,

Sebastopol was captured, very little resistance being offered on this

occasion. Here the majority of the ships constituting the Russian Black

Sea fleet were captured, but, according to a German report, it was found

that the ships were in a deplorable condition; only the battleship

_Volga_ and the cruiser _Pamyat Mercuria_ were in serviceable condition.

The rest of the fleet consisted of the battleship _Rostislav_, the

cruiser _Potemkine_, and a number of torpedo boats and submarines and

twenty transports. The protected motor-boat flotilla had already been

seized at Odessa, as had been the new war vessels still lying on the

slips in the shipyards. The latter consisted of a dreadnought of 23,000

tons, two protected cruisers of 7,600 tons, and two unprotected

cruisers.

CHAPTER LXIII

GERMAN POLICY OF AGGRESSION

The White Guards of Finland, having triumphed over the Socialistic Red

Guards, with the active assistance of German intervention now began to

show a disposition to widen Finnish territory in truly Prussian fashion.

Already in May Finnish and German troops had begun operations in the

direction of the Murman Coast, the main object undoubtedly being to

seize the railway from the interior of Russia to the Arctic ports of

Alexandrovsk and Archangel, where large supplies of war material were

stored. It was stated that a small force of English and French marines

had been landed here and were cooperating with the Bolshevist Red Guards

in defending this territory against Teutonic invasion; that the war

council attached to the local Murman Soviet consisted of one Russian, an

Englishman, and a Frenchman. At any rate, the German Government made the

landing of Allied troops at Alexandrovsk the pretext for a strong

protest to the Soviet Government. In the early part of June, 1918, the

Finnish Government, in response to communications from the French and

English Governments, informed its ambassador in Stockholm that Finland

had no desire to take possession of the Murman Railroad, but it could

not undertake to forego its ambition to annex Russian Carelia. Apart

from the small number of Russian immigrants in Carelia, the note said,

the population was entirely Finnish and had preserved its national

character during a century of oppression.

"Heretofore it has been impossible for the Finnish Government," the note

continued, "to support these national desires, but the Finnish

Government feels that it cannot for all time disregard its duty to

liberate Carelia from the Bolshevist bands, of Russian and Finnish

origin, which are terrorizing the peaceful population. Intervention may

become necessary for purely defensive reasons, since the Bolshevist

bands are threatening devastation to the territories on the Finnish

border. Many attempts at invasion have already been repulsed.... Many

pathetic appeals have been received from the Carelians to help them

place in order their administrative and economic life where Russian

methods have made all civilizing work impossible."

The German policy, obviously, where actual conquest was not practical,

was the dismemberment of the former Russian Empire. Every encouragement

was given to the separatist tendency. As an instance, the German

Government was reported to have inquired of the local Crimean

authorities concerning the nationalization of their flag, which the

Soviet Government naturally interpreted as an indication of the German

desire to separate the Taurida Republic from the Russian Federative

Republic.

The annexation of Bessarabia to Rumania was another German intrigue to

diminish the territory of the Russians. According to a Rumanian report

on April 9, 1918, the National Assembly of Bessarabia had voted for

annexation to Rumania, by a vote of 86 against 3. The Rumanian Premier

had then proclaimed the union to be "definitive and indissoluble," and a

delegation was sent to Jassy to present the homage of the people of

Bessarabia to the Rumanian king. This action was taken at the suggestion

of Germany, that Rumania might partly compensate herself for the loss of

territory to Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, according to the conditions

of the peace she had signed with the Central Powers. Previously, in

March, Russia and Rumania had agreed that Bessarabia was to be evacuated

by Rumanian troops, whence they had gone to establish "law and order" at

the request of the population, or, more accurately, the landed gentry,

who desired them as a protection against Bolshevism. Local militia was

to take the place of the Rumanian troops of occupation, while military

garrisons were to be occupied by Russian troops. Russia undertook to

leave Rumania the surplus of Bessarabian grain remaining after the

population and the Russian troops had been provided for. All these

arrangements were now revoked through German intrigues.

On the other hand, the captured provinces of Esthonia and Livonia were

given a comparatively free hand by the Germans, the understanding being

that they should remain in the Russian Federative Republic, if their

populations so desired. Yet here Germany endeavored to accomplish by

propaganda what she did not choose to attain by armed force.

In March, 1918, the Lithuanians had organized a provisional government,

which immediately demanded recognition of Germany.

On May 5, 1918, the British Government granted an informal recognition

to the Esthonian Provisional Government, and, as stated by Mr. Balfour,

reaffirmed a "readiness to grant provisional recognition to the

Esthonian National Council as a de facto independent body until the

peace conference, when the future status of Esthonia ought to be settled

as far as possible in accordance with the wishes of the population."

CHAPTER LXIV

GERMANY'S APPEAL TO CLASS HATREDS

A survey of the geographical position of the Murman Peninsula and its

harbors will show at a glance the strategic and economic importance of

this region and explain the keen desire of the Germans to obtain a

foothold here. The Murman Coast is that section of the Arctic shore

stretching from the frontier of Russia with Norway, at the mouth of the

Voryema River; to Cape Svyatov, on the White Sea, a distance of about

250 miles. On the west the coast is a succession of precipitous cliffs

and bluffs, pierced by a number of deep inlets, of fiords, several of

which are excellent harbors for large ships. An inward sweep of the Gulf

Stream washes the shore, keeping it free of ice the year around, though

the White Sea, to the southward, is icebound six months of the year.

On this account it was long ago planned to connect this ice-free piece

of coast with the interior of Russia by means of a railroad, but the

project never went beyond paper until the beginning of the present war,

when it suddenly assumed unusual importance. It was realized that

practically all other Russian ports would be closed to commerce, but

that the Murman Coast could still be reached by an open sea route. In

the winter after the outbreak of hostilities the construction of the

railroad to Kola was begun and completed by the fall of the following

year, 1916. The railroad, which is about 800 miles in length, runs from

Petrozavodsk to the little port of Kem, on the White Sea. Here it

follows the coast to Kandalaska, also on the White Sea, whence it

crosses the Kola Peninsula to the Port of Kola. This terminal port can

be reached by ship from England quicker than Petrograd, while the route

from New York is twenty-four hours shorter than from New York to Libau.

While this railroad remains in Russian hands, Russia has an open trade

route with the outside world. Possession of this railroad would give the

Germans control of this open doorway and so increase the strength of

their economic grip on Russia. Furthermore, it would prove an invaluable

base for submarine warfare.

As already stated, the Finnish-German forces began operations in this

direction in April, and the Allies immediately landed a small force of

marines to support the Red Guard defense of this important region. In

June, 1918, the Finns and Germans resumed their advance on the railroad,

heading for the important stations of Kem and Kandalaska. According to

one report, the Germans had completed a railroad to Kem, along which

they proposed to transport some 40,000 troops, stationed at Viborg.

Lenine was disposed to make concessions at this point to the Germans.

The local population, which is largely Russian, was violently opposed to

German invasion. On July 7, 1918, it was reported that the people of the

Murman Coast had risen against the Soviet Government, declared

themselves independent, and appealed to the Allies for protection.

French, English, and American forces were immediately landed, in spite

of the strong protest of the Moscow Government. As a matter of record,

before landing, the British commander of the landing forces had

requested permission of the Soviet Government, which had been

immediately granted by Trotzky, minister of war. The protest which

followed was therefore compelled by German pressure, which was applied

so strongly that the Soviet Government made a show of mobilizing a

special army for transportation to the Murman Coast.

After the landing of the American forces, in the early part of July,

1918, the Allied troops advanced on Kem and occupied that port, then

continued on toward Toroki, the Bolshevist forces there withdrawing to

Nirok. By the end of July, 1918, the whole Murman Coast had been

occupied by the Allied troops, the German-Finnish forces, amounting to

about a division, being too far south to offer any opposition. According

to one dispatch General Gurko, one of the chief commanders of the

Russian troops in the days before the revolution, had been placed in

command of the Murman Coast army. It was also said that an appeal had

been made for the support of the local population, which was being given

with hearty enthusiasm.

The grip which Germany had taken on Finland was indicated when even so

strong a reactionary as General Mannerheim, commander of the Finnish

White Guards, resigned early in July, 1918, and left the country for

Stockholm. Here he stated publicly that Finland had practically become a

territory of the German Empire and would remain so unless expelled by

force. He added that he was waiting for the opportune moment to rally

the patriotic Finns against the Germans. Said Hugo Haase, leader of the

German minority Socialists, in a speech in the Reichstag:

"The list of those sentenced to death in Finland contains the names of a

former premier and fifty Socialists, members of Parliament, some of whom

have already been shot. Owing to the number of daily executions in the

town of Sveaborg that place has been renamed 'Golgotha.'"

The Finnish Constitutional Committee, by a vote of 16 against 15, has

decided on a monarchial form of government, and the new constitution is

being drafted accordingly.

CHAPTER LXV

ASSASSINATION OF THE GERMAN AMBASSADOR

The policy of Lenine, as has already been noted, was one of protesting

acquiescence to German outrage and demands; he snarled and assumed

indignation, but complied. But this attitude was not by any means

participated in by all the radicals. Even Trotzky, it will be

remembered, had resigned his post as foreign minister because he had

been unable to agree with Lenine on this point.

It was among that ultraradical group, the Socialist Revolutionists, that

bitterness against Germany glowed hottest, so hot that its members,

though having much in sympathy with the Bolsheviki, split away from them

on the peace policy. Kerensky himself had been of this school of

politics. In the early days of the autocracy, before the war, it had

been this group which had carried on those terrorist activities which

had given the Russian Revolution so bad a name among the conservatives

of all countries.

Again they resolved to resort to these methods. On July 6, 1918, General

Count von Mirbach, the German ambassador to Moscow, was assassinated by

members of the Socialist Revolutionist Party.

Among others of the prominent Socialist Revolutionary leaders who were

said to have been seized for this crime were Tseretelli, Chernov,

Skobelev, and Savinkov, all of whom had been members of the Kerensky

Cabinet. On July 12, 1918, it was reported that Chernov was marching on

Moscow at the head of an army of peasants.

Contrary to general belief in the Allied countries, Germany was inclined

to hold the Lenine Government blameless of the murder of Count von

Mirbach, for on July 10, 1918, the Berlin Government announced that it

did not intend to hold the Soviet responsible. "The German Government

and the nation," the dispatch added, "hope that the Russian Government

and people will succeed in nipping the present revolutionary agitation

in the bud." In a speech on July 11, 1918, Von Hertling, after having

laid the blame to the intrigues of the Allies, said:

"We do not want fresh war with Russia. The present Russian Government

wants peace and needs peace, and we are giving it support in this

peaceful disposition and aim. On the other hand, it is true that

political currents of very varied tendencies are circulating in

Russia--movements having the most diverse aims, including the monarchist

movement of the Constitutional Democrats and the movement of the

Socialist Revolutionaries. We will not commit ourselves to any political

countercurrent, but are giving careful attention to the course Russia is

steering."

Apparently the personality of Von Mirbach had also something to do with

his assassination, for as an intriguer he was reported to be absolutely

without conscience. After his death the Constitutional Democrats made an

official statement to the effect that he had called to him

representatives of their party and, while professing to be upholding the

Lenine Government, promised them German aid in overthrowing the

Bolsheviki under certain conditions. Germany, he told them, desired a

more conservative government in Russia, and if the Constitutional

Democrats would be willing to establish a monarchy, under German

influence, then they might expect a substantial revision of the

Brest-Litovsk peace treaty, to the advantage of Russia. This offer the

Constitutional Democrats had indignantly refused.

Not alone in Great Russia was it that the bitter hatred of the Germans

was breaking out into flames. In the middle of June, 1918, it was

reported from Kiev that the peasants were breaking out into local

disorders and attacking the soldiers who were protecting the

wheat-gathering expeditions. A dispatch dated in June, 1918, indicated

that these disorders had taken on a more general and better organized

aspect; that 40,000 peasants were assembled in an army and were entering

the streets of the capital, where they were attacking the garrison and

exploding artillery munitions. Later dispatches indicated that the

revolt had spread into the Poltava and Chernigov districts, and ten

days later the number of armed and officered insurgents was said to

number 200,000. At the village of Krinichki, in the province of

Ekaterinoslav, the peasants attacked the Germans in big force and a

pitched battle took place, the Germans being driven back with a loss of

over 1,000 men. In response to a call from the German commander in Kiev

it was reported that Germany was obliged to send over a quarter of a

million men to reenforce the German and Austrian forces in Ukrainia.

CHAPTER LXVI

THE MARCH OF THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS THROUGH SIBERIA

By far the most picturesque of the events occurring in Russia during

June and July, 1918, was the so-called Czecho-Slovak movement.

In the earlier periods of the war, but especially after the first

revolution, in March, 1917, great numbers of Czechs, or Bohemians, and

Slovaks, in the Austrian Army, had surrendered to the Russians

voluntarily, on account of their hatred of Austria. The Bohemians and

Slovaks are Slavs by race, so closely allied racially to the Russians

that they are able to converse together with little difficulty. Whole

regiments of them had come over to the Russians, en masse, and were

enrolled as special regiments in the Russian Army.

Shortly before the Brest-Litovsk Peace Conference the French Government

requested the Lenine Cabinet to equip and send on their way for the

western front these Slavic soldiers of the Russian Army. This request

was granted by the Soviet Government, and the Czechs and Slovaks, said

to number 100,000, were allowed to retain their arms and entrain for

France, via the Siberian Railroad.

At this time the Czecho-Slovak troops were decidedly not opposed to the

Bolsheviki; on the contrary, most of them were known to be Socialists,

and their sympathies were inclined to be in favor of all radical

Russians. Upon hearing that this large body of soldiers was to leave

Russia for the western front, Germany, naturally, raised a strong

protest after the signing of the peace treaty. By this time the

Czecho-Slovaks were en route on Siberian territory.

As to the cause of the friction which arose between them and the Soviet

Government forces, there are two versions. One side contends that German

pressure forced the Bolsheviki to endeavor to disarm the Czecho-Slovaks

and intern them again. This effort was violently resisted and led to

open hostilities.

The Bolsheviki affirm that the request of the French Government was not

made in good faith; that behind it was an intrigue whose object was to

make of the Czecho-Slovaks an armed force which should be the nucleus of

an uprising against the Soviet in Russia. At an opportune moment the

Czecho-Slovaks were to attack the Red Guards, hoping to rally around

them all the anti-Bolsheviki forces in Russia, and so cause an overthrow

of the Soviet.

Whatever the truth may be, open hostilities began on May 26, 1918, when

Czecho-Slovak forces began operations in the Volga district and in

Siberia simultaneously. Early in June, 1918, they had taken possession

of a considerable stretch of territory in the Volga district, including

several important towns. At about the same time some thousands of them,

arriving at the terminus of the railroad, in Vladivostok, precipitated

an uprising there and took possession of the city. On June 9 and 10,

1918, they occupied Samara and advanced to Ufa, in the Urals, where they

were able to seize the railroads by which European Russia obtained its

food supplies from Siberia. By the middle of June, 1918, they were in

control of the southern section of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, from

Samara to Chelyabinsk, the northern branch from Chelyabinsk to

Ekaterinburg, and the main line on the east of Novonikolaiefsk. Some

weeks later they held the railroad from Chelyabinsk, in the Ural

Mountains, to Krasnoyarsk, a distance of 1,300 miles, as well as its

eastern terminus, while scattered units of the Czecho-Slovak army

stretched clear across Siberia.

On June 30, 1918, a pitched battle was fought with the Red Guards at

the important city of Irkutsk, in Siberia, from which the local

Bolshevist soviet was ousted. On the same day the last of the Bolsheviki

were driven out of Vladivostok, the fighting being so severe that the

Japanese and English warships in the harbor were obliged to land marines

to protect the Allied consulates. Having established themselves in

Vladivostok, the Czecho-Slovaks advanced into the Amur region and took

Nikolaiefsky, on the Amur River, besides a number of other towns. By the

middle of July, 1918, most of the Trans-Siberian Railroad was in the

hands of the Czecho-Slovaks.

Meanwhile the Czecho-Slovaks in the Volga region were also engaged in

heavy fighting with the Soviet troops. On July 9, 1918, the Soviet

Government announced that it had delivered a heavy defeat to the

Czecho-Slovaks at Bugulma, the enemy fleeing in the direction of Samara.

Another dispatch stated that Muraviev, the commander of a large force of

Soviet troops, suddenly decided to go over to the enemy and march with

them on Moscow. When his soldiers refused to obey him, he committed

suicide.

The commander in chief of the Czecho-Slovak forces in Russia is the

Russian General Dieterichs, who was chief of staff under Dukhonin, after

the fall of Kerensky. In a statement addressed to the American

representative of the Finnish People's Republic, the Czech Socialist

Federation of the United States insisted that the Czecho-Slovak movement

in Russia was in no way connected with counter-revolutionary intrigues

tending toward a reestablishment of the autocracy, or of a

constitutional monarchy, the great majority of the Czecho-Slovaks being

themselves Socialists. Professor Masaryk, representing the movement in

Washington, says:

[Illustration: Admiral Knights flagship, the old cruiser "Brooklyn" of

Spanish-American War fame, is lying in the harbor of Vladivostok, to

cooperate with the American and other Allied troops who have landed in

Russia. Behind the "Brooklyn" is the British cruiser "Suffolk".]

"Our army is struggling against the external foe. We are the guests of

our brothers in Russia and we will not interfere in their internal

affairs."

On July 10, 1918, a new, autonomous Siberian Government was proclaimed,

with headquarters at Novonikolaiefsk, on the River Ob. The new

government, while anti-Bolshevist, is radical in character and is based

on universal suffrage and a constituent assembly representing all

classes of the population.

On the same date, July 10, 1918, General Horvath, vice president of the

Chinese Eastern Railroad, proclaimed himself military dictator of

another government of Siberia. He established his headquarters at

Harbin.

CHAPTER LXVII

EXECUTION OF EX-CZAR NICHOLAS

Since the latter part of June, 1918, there had been frequent rumors to

the effect that ex-Czar Nicholas had been executed. The first of these

stated that he had been killed by Red Guards at Ekaterinburg. This

dispatch was denied officially, but was followed by another report that

the ex-Czar had been tried and executed by the Bolsheviki at the city of

the same name. This report was confirmed apparently by advices reaching

the Washington State Department.

The next report was what purported to be an intercepted wireless message

from the Soviet Foreign Minister Tchitcherin, in which it was stated

that Nicholas was dead. Still another report had it that he had been

bayoneted by Red Guards while being taken from Ekaterinburg to Perm.

On July 20 an official statement was issued from Moscow which stated

definitely that the one-time autocrat of Russia had been shot on July

16, 1918.

The most prominent issue regarding Russian affairs which has been before

the public of the United States and the other Allied countries during

the past month or more has been the question of extending assistance to

Russia in reestablishing herself as a free, independent nation, with the

power to resist German aggression; whether this should be done through

active military intervention from the east, or whether it should be

confined to economic and financial aid. On this point there has been a

wide division of opinion, not only in this country, but among Russians

as well.

The Bolsheviki, naturally, are strongly opposed to any military aid,

which they would interpret as an attempt on the part of the capitalists

of the Allied countries to suppress the socialistic state which they

claim to have erected on Russian soil.

The membership of the Great Russian Cooperative Movement, expressing its

views through its leaders and its official organs, is also opposed to

military intervention, having small faith in the benevolent intentions

of the Japanese Government. The cooperators, however, realize the danger

from German economic control and have been fighting it with intensive

effort. The Narodni Bank and the Consumers' Union, in Moscow, have

opened offices in London and New York, and have opened a campaign for

British and American aid in their efforts to stem the German economic

invasion. The contention of their representatives is that the

cooperative movement of Russia is a weapon which could be used by the

Allied countries to great advantage, and should be aided in an extension

of credit and loans of capital, with which their cooperative industrial

system might be developed to such dimensions as to form an invincible

bulwark against the flood of German capital flowing into Russia.

So far as reports from Russia indicated, the Russians in favor of

military intervention by the Allies were largely among the conservative

elements, represented by the Constitutional Democrats, and among those

comparatively moderate radicals represented by Kerensky and Konovalov.

The first group are largely of the professional classes and the

so-called bourgeoisie who have not been able to bring themselves to

prefer German dominance to even the disorders of Bolshevikism. Among the

second group are many of the old-time revolutionists, such as

Tchaikovsky, Prince Kropotkin, Katherine Breshkovskaya, Vladimir

Bourtsev and Maria Spiradonova. These latter are, most of them, of the

old Social Revolutionary Party.

On July 31, 1918, the New York "Times" published the following

Washington dispatch:

"Negotiations between the Entente Powers, Japan, and the United States

regarding the extension of aid to the Czecho-Slovaks in Siberia and

Russia have advanced another step. Information sought by the Japanese

Government upon certain points of the American proposal looking to a

definition of the aims and scope of any joint action now has been

furnished by the State Department. This places the whole subject again

before the Japanese Foreign Office at Tokio, which must determine

whether the American proposal is now in a sufficiently concrete form to

warrant the inauguration of a policy of action.... Meanwhile, from

unofficial sources, comes news that in anticipation of a satisfactory

conclusion of the negotiations, Japan and the Entente Allies are

perfecting their arrangements for the organization of whatever military

force may be necessary for the execution of the joint agreement. Because

of their proximity to Siberia, Japan and China have been foremost in

this work, with a full understanding and cooperation between the

military commanders, though for strategic reasons the exact extent and

nature of these preparations cannot be disclosed. It is generally

realized, however, that upon these two countries will lie the burden of

providing the greater part of any military force that may be employed.

To preserve the international character of the enterprise France and

Great Britain are preparing contingents. Both of them will draw on their

near-by colonies."

By the end of July, 1918, it was practically certain that the United

States Government had consented to participate in a limited military

expedition into Russia, by way of Siberia, not for the purpose of

conquest or interference in the internal affairs of the Russian

Republic, but to create a nucleus about which all the anti-German forces

of Russia might rally for the reestablishment of an eastern front

against Germany.

PART XI--AUSTRO-ITALIAN CAMPAIGN

CHAPTER LXVIII

ITALY REVIVES

After the few local engagements which, during the last few days of

January, 1918, resulted in some slight Italian gains and a corresponding

improvement of the Italian positions in some sectors, comparatively

little of importance happened during the first half of February, 1918.

On the first of that month the Italians succeeded in advancing their

lines to the head of the Melago Valley, while an attempt on the part of

the Austro-Hungarian forces to reach the Italian lines by means of a

drive against the Italian position on Monte di Val Bella failed.

Artillery fire was the extent of military operations on February 2 and

3, 1918, being restricted on the first of these two days to the Asiago

Plateau and the front east of the Brenta, but spreading on the next day

along the entire front.

During the next few days the outstanding feature was increased aerial

activity on both sides. On February 4, 5, 6, and 7, 1918, Italian and

British airplanes made repeated successful attacks against the Austrian

positions and a number of Austrian aviation grounds. On the other hand

the Austrians bombed repeatedly Venice, Mestre, Treviso, Calviano, and

Bassano. On some of these days there were also artillery duels and

outpost actions, although the weather seriously interfered with military

operations almost along the entire front.

Lively artillery duels and concentrations of fire in the Val Brenta and

in the Mt. Melago and Mt. Asolone areas occurred during February 8,

1918. Austrian patrols attempting a surprise attack against some Italian

troops were repulsed by hand-grenade fire. Between the Posina and the

Astico, east of Lake Garda, and along the coast, Italian reconnoitering

parties effectively harassed the Austrian outposts. During the evening

two infantry attacks in force were attempted by the Austrians south of

Daone, west of Lake Garda, but failed under the heavy fire of the

Italian advanced posts.

Along the whole front fighting activity was confined on February 9,

1918, to artillery actions, more intense and frequent in the eastern

sector of the Asiago Plateau and in the area west of Mt. Grappa.

On February 10, 1918, very violent concentrations of fire and offensive

thrusts of infantry were repeatedly carried out by the Austrians to the

east and west of Val Frenzela, at the eastern end of the Sette Comuni,

or Asiago Plateau.

At the new Italian positions of Mt. Val Bella and Col del Rosso, four

and a half miles east of Asiago, Austrian attacks were promptly

frustrated by the very effective fire of the Italian batteries. Farther

to the east, on the southern slopes of Mt. Sasso Rosso, seven miles

northeast of Asiago, Austrian detachments made various attempts to

reach, under the protection of fire, some advanced trenches in front of

the Italian lines, which had been evacuated, but they did not succeed,

owing to the deadly Italian barrage fire.

On February 13, 1918, it was semiofficially announced that the British

part of the battle line on the Italian front had been lengthened

considerably east of the Montello ridge along the Piave and extended

then some miles east of Nervesa.

Opposite the Montello, on February 15, 1918, British reconnoitering

parties crossed the Piave and reached the Austrian lines. There were the

usual artillery actions in the plains; one of the Italian patrols,

starting from the bridgehead of Capo Sile (northeast corner of Venetian

lagoons), surprised an Austrian post, killed or put to flight its

garrison, and returned without losses, bringing back the captured arms.

Lively artillery actions took place in February 16, 1918, to the west of

Lake Garda, to the east of the Brenta, and on the Middle Piave. Allied

batteries carried out effective concentrations of fire on Austrian

movements east of Val Frenzela and on the back slopes of Col della

Berretta, two miles east of Brenta. In the Val Lagarina, east of Lake

Garda and south of Canove on the Asiago Plateau, Austrian reconnoissance

parties were repulsed by rifle fire.

Between the Posina and the Astico Italian patrols, on February 16,

1918, displayed increased activity, and small caliber batteries harassed

with frequent bursts of fire Austrian movements in the basin of Laghi.

On the Asiago Plateau Allied artillery fired on Austrian troops marching

along the Galmarara Valley, and carried out concentrations of fire on

the sector Val Frenzela-Val Brenta; the Austrians repeatedly shelled

Italian positions on the eastern edge. Between the Brenta and the Piave

there was a reciprocal cannonade at the salient of Mt. Solarolo. Allied

patrols carried out effective harassing actions against the Austrian

advanced posts at Grave di Papadofoli. Along the coast region the

Austrians intensified the artillery fire at different points, and pushed

various patrols toward Cortellazzo, at the mouth of the Piave. They

were, however, driven back by the hand-grenade fire of the sailors who

garrisoned the bridgehead.

Again on February 18, 1918, artillery activities greatly increased,

especially toward the eastern edge of the Asiago Plateau, and

occasionally in the Val Giudicaria, west of Lake Garda, in the

Posina-Astico sector, east of Lake Garda, on the front of Mt. Tomba,

west of the Piave, and to the south of Ponte della Priula, on the Piave.

Italian batteries opened a sudden fire in strong Austrian parties in the

Galmarara and Seren valleys and dispersed them. French batteries carried

out effective concentration fire along their sector of the front.

British patrols, having forded the Piave, raided the Austrian advanced

trenches.

[Illustration: The Austrian offensive and the Italian counteroffensive,

June-August, 1918.]

During the next few days aerial activity became especially marked.

Austrian aviation grounds were bombed successfully by British and

Italian squadrons. Austrian airplanes, too, were more active. Padua,

Vicenza, Mestre, and Venice were bombed repeatedly and suffered

considerable material damage, in spite of the efficient work of Italian

antiaircraft batteries.

During February 21, 1918, the Austrians shelled with greater frequency

the southeastern slopes of Montello. At the Grave Austrian scouting

parties were driven back. An English patrol had an encounter with an

important group of the Austrian forces on the left bank of the Piave.

Italian patrols having advanced as far as the islet of Folina in the

Middle Piave, brought back two machine guns.

Along the whole front a moderate struggle of artillery and lively

activity by Italian and Austrian scouting parties were maintained during

February 22, 1918. British patrols made a few prisoners. At the bottom

of Val Brenta an Austrian force, which was trying to seize one of the

small Italian posts, was repulsed after a spirited fight.

Lively reciprocal cannonading from the Adige to the Astico, moderate

fire actions along the rest of the front, and intense aerial activity

over the first lines was the order of the day for February 23, 1918. At

Lagoscuro, Val Camonica, and at Rivalta, Brenta, Austrian patrols were

repulsed. On the left bank of the Piave a British patrol attacked an

Austrian force, causing considerable losses. At Capo Sile, the northeast

corner of the Venetian lagoons, Austrian parties, who over a large tract

of the front were trying to attack the bridgehead, were promptly

dispersed.

The balance of February and the first week of March, 1918, brought

extraordinary bad weather, restricting all military operations. There

were, of course, in spite of the weather the usual local engagements

between patrols. Aerial activity had to be given up practically

entirely. Artillery activity, too, was more moderate, increasing from

time to time along various sectors of the front.

Much the same conditions continued during the second and third weeks of

March, 1918. Artillery activity increased occasionally in some sectors,

as for instance during March 8, 1918, along the mountainous front from

the Adige to the Piave. Austrian troops and working parties were shelled

on the Plateau of Tonezza, at the Assa-Astico confluence, and at the

head line of Val Frenzela. Counterattacks were carried out by the

Austrian artillery with more liveliness in the southern region of the

Montello, but showed less activity along the rest of the front.

More or less unsuccessful air raids were made by Austrian planes against

Naples and Venice on March 10, 1918. Reconnoissance combats were daily

occurrences at many points of the front. Artillery duels of varying

extent and violence, too, were reported every day, without, however,

causing material changes on either side.

Much the same conditions continued during the last week of March, 1918.

There were frequent local engagements between patrols and other small

units at many points along the entire front.

The conclusion of peace with Russia, of course, was an important factor

in the further development of affairs in the Austro-Italian theater of

war. Large bodies of troops, formerly employed on the Austro-Russian

front, became available for the Austro-Italian front. As early as March

28, 1918, it was reported that forty Austro-Hungarian divisions had been

transferred from the eastern to the Italian front.

However, there were no immediate developments of any importance.

Throughout a great part of April, 1918, the weather was very bad. Again

there were daily actions between patrols and reconnoissance detachments.

Artillery activity at times became very powerful, suffering on the

whole, however, from the inability of the air service to function at its

best on account of the bad weather.

During May, 1918, too, there was little change, though fighting

increased in violence and frequency. The Italians gained some local

successes, notably the capture on May 9, 1918, of a strongly organized

Austrian position on the 6,000 feet high Monte Corno in the Vallarsa,

southeast of Rovereto; advances in the region of Capo Sile, the

northeast corner of the Venetian lagoons on May 20 and 21, 1918, and

again during the night of May 26 and 27, 1918; and the capture on May 25

to 27, 1918, by Alpini of a number of strongly fortified Austrian

positions, located at a great height in the Tonale region, some twenty

miles south of the southeast corner of Switzerland.

During the first half of June, 1918, the same kind of spasmodic fighting

was the order of the day. If there was any change as compared with the

previous months, it consisted of a slight tendency on the part of the

Austrians to be more aggressive. Indeed, toward the middle of the month

this tendency increased considerably and, as a result, rumors began to

be heard of an approaching new Austrian offensive.

Before long the storm broke. On June 15, 1918, the Austrians launched

their new offensive on a front of about 100 miles, from the Asiago

Plateau to the mouth of the Piave. For a few days it seemed as if they

might be successful. On June 16, 1918, they succeeded in crossing the

Piave at a number of points near Nervesa, Fagare, and Musile, ten,

eight, and fifteen miles respectively north, northeast, and east of

Treviso. On that day the Italians also were forced to give way at the

Sette Comuni Plateau, and immediately to the east in the region of Monte

Asolone and Monte Grappa. Later, however, they were able to reestablish

their lines.

On June 17, 1918, the Austrians were checked by Italian and British

troops in the mountains east of the Sette Comuni, but were able to

extend their gains at the other end of the front, west and south of

Musile, where they succeeded in capturing Capo Sile.

Still less successful were they on the next day, June 18, 1918; again

they were repulsed at the eastern end of the Asiago Plateau, and an

attempt to cross the Piave at still another point, between Maserada and

Cardelu, about three miles northwest of Fagare, resulted in enormous

losses.

[Illustration: The "Montello" where the Austrian offensive broke down.]

The Italian resistance grew stronger now day by day. It was helped

considerably by heavy rains which created flood conditions at many

points along the Piave. All attempts of the Austrians to gain new

crossings were repulsed with heavy losses to their troops. By June 20,

1918, it became clear that the Italians had regained the initiative and

were attacking furiously at the few points where the Austrians had

gained territory in the first two or three days of their offensive. From

the Montello heights, west of Nervesa, the battle continued bitterly and

without pause. On June 20, 1918, the Austrians were forced to retire

their lines on the Montello and from part of the Capo Sile sector.

British, French, and Czecho-Slovak troops were of great help to the

Italian forces, and American aviators, who had hurriedly been sent from

France, began to operate against the Austrians.

[Illustration: Austro-Italian operations on the lower Piave river.]

On June 21, 1918, the Italian pressure increased still more along the

entire front. Approximately one-half of the recently gained ground had

to be given up again by the Austrians. All efforts to counterattack were

promptly repelled.

The next day began the hurried retreat of the Austrians, and by June 24,

1918, even the official Austrian announcement acknowledged the

evacuation of the entire right bank of the Piave. Thousands of

prisoners, many guns and machine guns and a large amount of other booty

fell into the hands of the closely pressed Italians. On the same day

Nervesa was reoccupied by the Italians. A strong and successful

offensive was started by them in the mountains between the Piave and the

Brenta on June 25, 1918. Day by day now the Austrians had to yield

ground, not only that gained by their last offensive, but positions that

they had held for a considerable time.

Monte di Val Bella was stormed by Italians, French, and British on June

30, 1918. Col del Rosso and the Col d'Echele, south of Asiago, fell on

July 1, 1918, Monte Grappa, somewhat farther east, on July 2, 1918.

On July 4, 1918, the Italians gained more ground in the most southern

part of the front, near the sea, where a long-drawn-out struggle had

been going on in the region of the Piave delta. By July 6, 1918, all the

coastal zone between the Sile and Piave, stubbornly held by the

Austrians since November, 1917, was again in the hands of the Italians.

The latter claimed that between June 15 and July 6, 1918, they had

captured 523 officers and 23,911 men, sixty-three guns, sixty-five

trench mortars, 1,234 machine guns, and a vast amount of material.

During the balance of July, 1918, there was not a great deal more

fighting on the Italian front. On July 8, 1918, the Italians extended

their lines in the Monte Grappa and Col Caprile regions. Austrian

attacks against the Cornone slopes on July 13, 1918, were promptly

repulsed. The French gained some ground by a surprise attack near

Bertigo and Zocchi, and on July 20, 1918, the Italians recaptured Monte

Stabel and reoccupied Corno di Caverto. From then on the fighting on the

Italian front simmered down again to local engagements between opposing

patrols and reconnoissance detachments and to artillery and aeroplane

duels.

PART XII--THE WAR ON THE SEA

CHAPTER LXIX

NAVAL WARFARE

The submarine blockade was continued by the Germans during the

six-months' period, February 1 to August 1, 1918, but with considerably

smaller results. Figures, as in the past, were difficult to compile, and

as the war progressed this difficulty increased. However, the British

Admiralty officially announced that during the eleven months--March,

1917, to January, 1918, inclusive--a total of 1,239 British ships had

been sunk by mines or torpedoes, an average of 112.6 ships per month and

an average of 25.1 ships per week. Beginning with February, 1918, losses

became very much smaller, partly on account of the greater number of

submarines sunk or captured by the Allies, and partly on account of the

ever-increasing efficiency of the submarine-chasing and convoy services.

In April, 1918, the British Admiralty discontinued its weekly report of

merchant ships destroyed by mines or torpedoes, and substituted a

monthly report in terms of tonnage. The following figures are taken from

the official British reports and show the steadily decreasing success of

submarine warfare:

Allied and

Period 1917 British neutral Total

January 193,045 216,787 409,832

February 343,486 231,370 574,856

March 375,309 259,376 634,685

------- ------- ---------

Quarter 911,840 707,533 1,619,373

April 555,056 338,821 893,877

May 374,419 255,917 630,336

June 432,395 280,326 712,721

--------- ------- ---------

Quarter 1,361,870 875,064 2,236,934

July 383,430 192,519 575,949

August 360,296 189,067 549,363

September 209,212 159,949 369,161

------- ------- ---------

Quarter 952,938 541,535 1,494,473

October 289,973 197,364 487,337

November 196,560 136,883 333,443

December 296,356 155,707 452,063

------- ------- ---------

Quarter 782,889 489,954 1,272,843

1918

January 217,270 136,187 353,457

February 254,303 134,119 388,422

March 216,003 165,628 381,631

------- ------- ---------

Quarter 687,576 435,934 1,123,510

April 226,108 85,348 311,456

May 224,735 130,959 355,694

June 161,062 114,567 275,629

------- ------- -------

Quarter 611,905 330,874 942,779

On February 5, 1918, the British liner _Tuscania_ (Captain J. L.

Henderson), serving as a transport for American troops, was sunk by a

submarine off the coast of Ireland. The _Tuscania_ carried 2,177 U. S.

soldiers of whom 117 were officers, 2 civilians, 2 naval ratings, and a

crew of 16 officers and 181 men. She was a steel twin-screw steamer of

14,384 tons, built at Glasgow in 1914 for the Anchor Line and had a

speed of 17-1/2 knots. 212 U. S. soldiers lost their lives. Though hit

without any warning and during the night, the troops reached their boat

stations without panic and in splendid order. Unfortunately some of the

lifeboats capsized, a fact which was responsible for some of the losses.

Others died later in hospitals from shock and exposure; while still

others had fallen victims to the explosion caused by the two torpedoes.

The survivors were landed in Ireland and Scotland, where those of the

bodies which were recovered found a last resting place. British

destroyers were instrumental in saving many lives and also immediately

gave chase to the submarine which, it is believed, was sunk by depth

bombs.

Spanish losses became very heavy. On February 9, 1918, the _Sebastian_

was sunk in her way to New York; the _Mar Caspio_ went to the bottom on

February 23; the NEGURI on February 26; the _Sardinero_ on February 27;

and a grain ship, chartered to the Swiss Government, on March 2, 1918.

On February 26, 1918, the British steamer _Glenart Castle_, serving as a

hospital ship, was sunk in Bristol Channel. Fortunately she had no

patients on board; she carried a crew of 120, 54 members of the R. A. M.

C. and 8 female nurses, of whom 153 were reported as missing. This was

the second attack on the boat, the first one having been made on March

1, 1918, in the channel. She was then full of wounded from France, all

of whom were saved while the vessel itself was taken to harbor and

repaired. The _Glenart Castle_ was formerly known as the _Galician_ and

was previous to the war owned by the Union Castle Company. She was the

seventh British hospital ship torpedoed at night and without warning.

During February, 1918, too, the British S. S. _Minnetonka_ of 13,528

tons was sunk in the Mediterranean. Previous to the war she had been a

well-known passenger liner of the Atlantic Transport Line, running

between New York and London.

Another large steamer which became the prey of submarine warfare was the

_Celtic_, torpedoed off the Irish coast on April 1, 1918. However, she

succeeded in reaching port in safety.

[Illustration: It was on April 23, 1918, that the British cruiser

"Vindictive" defended the operation of sinking two old cruisers filled

with cement to block the submarine base at Zeebrugge. On May 10 the

battered "Vindictive" herself was sunk to close the base at Ostend.]

Spanish ships were continued to be sunk and on April 11, 1918, it was

announced that Germany had begun a submarine blockade of Spanish ports

as a result of a commercial treaty signed between Spain and the United

States.

On the same day Uruguay asked the German Government, through the Swiss

minister at Berlin, whether Germany considered that a state of war

existed between the two countries. The inquiry was the result of the

capture by a submarine of a Uruguayan military commission bound for

France.

One of the largest German submarines appeared, on April 10, 1918, in the

port of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, on the west coast of Africa,

after having seized the day before the small armed Liberian vessel

_President Grant_. The crew were taken prisoners and the boat sunk.

Liberia, it will be remembered, had declared war against Germany on

August 4, 1917. The German commander dispatched by the Liberian crew an

ultimatum to the Liberian Government, in which he threatened that,

failing the dismantling of the wireless stations and the closing of the

French cable, the town of Monrovia would be bombarded. The stations were

accordingly closed, as the capital was under the fire of the German

guns, but later the U-boat commander insisted upon their being

destroyed. This the Liberian Government refused to do, and the German

submarine thereupon bombarded Monrovia for over an hour, destroyed the

stations, and inflicted some casualties. Fortunately for the town a

steamer appeared at that moment. The submarine gave chase and did not

return again.

The most important American losses in April, 1918, were the S. S. _Lake

Moor_, manned by naval reserves and sunk in European waters on April 11,

1918, with a loss of 5 officers and 39 men; the _Florence H._, wrecked

by an internal explosion while at anchor in a French port, with a loss

of 29.

Neutral shipping continued to be a heavy loser. The Norwegian

Government, for instance, announced that from the beginning of the war

to the end of April, 1918, Norway's losses had reached the total of 755

vessels, aggregating 1,115,519 tons, and accompanied by the loss of

1,006 seamen, while 700 more out of additional 53 ships were missing.

On the other hand it was announced that during April, 1918, 12 German

submarines had been captured or sunk in European waters by American and

British destroyers.

On May 3, 1918, the Old Dominion liner _Tyler_ was sunk off the coast of

France with a loss of 11 men, including 5 naval gunners.

Another British S. S. serving as transport for U. S. troops, the

_Moldavia_, was torpedoed and sunk on May 23, 1918, 56 U. S. soldiers

being reported as "unaccounted for." Two British transports, the

_Ansonia_ and _Leasowe Castle_, were sunk on May 26, 1918, with losses

of 40 and 101 lives respectively.

While returning to the United States the U. S. transport _President

Lincoln_, formerly a Hamburg-American liner, was sunk in the naval war

zone on May 31, 1918, with a loss of 4 officers and 23 men.

In the meantime some German submarines put in their appearance off the

coast of the U. S. They began their operations on May 25, 1918, and

maintained them with varying success and at varying distances from the

coast until well into August, 1918. As a result the following boats were

sunk up to June 20, 1918:

_Jacob H. Haskell_, schooner, 1,362 tons.

_Isabel B. Wiley_, schooner, 611 tons.

_Hattie Dunn_, schooner, 365 tons.

_Edward H. Cole_, schooner, 1,791 tons, subsequently raised

and saved.

_Herbert L. Pratt_, tank steamer, 7,200 tons.

_Carolina_, passenger steamer, 5,093 tons.

_Winneconne_, freighter, 1,869 tons.

_Hauppauge_, auxiliary schooner, 1,500 tons.

_Edna_, schooner, 325 tons, subsequently towed in.

_Texel_, steamship, 3,210 tons.

_Samuel M. Hathaway_, schooner, 1,038 tons.

_Samuel C. Mengel_, schooner, 700 tons, unconfirmed.

_Edward Baird_, schooner, 279 tons.

_Eidsvold_, Norwegian steamship, 1,570 tons.

_Harpathean_, British steamship, 4,588 tons.

_Vinland_, Norwegian steamship, 1,143 tons.

_Desauss_, schooner, 500 tons.

_Pinar del Rio_, steamship, 2,504 tons.

_Vindeggen_, Norwegian steamship, 2,632 tons.

_Henrik Lund_, Norwegian steamship, 4,322 tons.

[Illustration: Raids of German submarines on United States shipping on

the Atlantic coast.]

Later victims were, according to the New York "Times":

The Norwegian freighter _Augvald_, sunk June 23, 1918, 125 miles east

of Cape Race; the British transport _Dwinsk_, sunk about 550 miles east

of Sandy Hook, June 24, 1918; the Norwegian bark _Manx King_, July 6,

1918; 300 miles off Cape Race; the sailing vessel _Marosa_, sunk about

1,200 miles east of Sandy Hook July 8, 1918.

The tug _Perth Amboy_ and four barges attacked 3 miles off Orleans,

Mass., on July 21, 1918. The tug was burned and the barges sunk by

gunfire.

The fishing schooner _Robert_ and _Richard_ of Gloucester, sunk 6 miles

southeast of Cape Porpoise, off the Maine coast, on July 22, 1918.

The Portuguese bark _Porto_, sunk 550 miles off the Atlantic Coast on

July 27, 1918.

The Japanese freight steamer _Tokuyama Maru_, torpedoed and sunk off the

Nova Scotia coast on August 1, 1918.

The British schooner _Dornfontein_, set on fire 25 miles southwest of

Brier Island on August 2, 1918.

Three American fishing schooners off the Nova Scotia coast on August 3,

1918.

The Diamond Shoals Lightship 71, anchored off Cape Hatteras, N. C,

shelled and sunk on August 6, 1918.

The British schooner _Gladys M. Hollett_, sunk off the Canadian coast on

August 5, 1918.

The American steamer _Merak_, sunk off the North Carolina coast on

August 6, 1918.

The Standard Oil tank steamer _Luz Blanca_, sunk 40 miles west of

Halifax on August 5, 1918.

The American tanker _O. B. Jennings_, sunk off the Virginia coast.

The American schooner _Stanley L. Seaman_, sunk on August 5, 1918, when

110 miles east of Cape Hatteras.

Nine American fishing schooners sunk on August 3, 1918, off George's

Bank, 60 miles from Nantucket Island.

The Norwegian freighter _Sommerstad_, 3,875 gross tons, torpedoed and

sunk 25 miles southeast by east of Fire Island on August 12, 1918.

The British steamship _Penistone_, 4,139 gross tons, torpedoed on August

11, 1918, about 100 miles east of Nantucket.

The Swedish steamship _Sydland_, 3,031 gross tons, bombed and sunk on

August 8, 1918, about 100 miles southeast of Nantucket.

The American oil tanker _Frederick R. Kellogg_, 7,127 gross tonnage,

torpedoed 10 miles off Barnegat, N. J., sank in 4 minutes; 7 men killed

by the explosion.

The five-masted American schooner _Dorothy Barrett_, 2,088 gross

tonnage, sunk with a cargo of coal 20 miles from Cape May, N. J., August

14, 1918.

It was announced in the U. S. Senate that 28 submarines had been sunk by

the American Navy between January 1 and June 15, 1918.

Norway continued to be a severe loser. Twenty of her ships were sunk in

May, 1918, causing a loss of 31 lives, and 14 more in July, 1918, with a

loss of 55 sailors.

On June 27, 1918, another hospital ship was sunk when the Canadian S. S.

_Llandovery Castle_ went down off the British coast. Two hundred and

thirty-four persons were reported missing.

Another former Hamburg-American liner, the _Cincinnati_, renamed the

_Covington_, and serving as a U. S. transport, was sunk while returning

to the U. S. Six of her crew lost their lives.

On July 14, 1918, the French transport _Djemnah_ was sunk in the

Mediterranean with a loss of 442 lives. The well-known former Cunard

liner _Carpathia_, remembered especially for her services to the

survivors of the ill-fated _Titanic_ and the _Volturno_, was sent to the

bottom off the west coast of Ireland on July 17, 1918. Three days later

the White Star liner _Justicia_ was sunk off the north Irish coast after

a fight with a submarine lasting 24 hours.

Losses, not resulting from naval actions, to the naval forces of the

various belligerents, as far as they became known, were comparatively

small. Germany, besides her losses of submarines, lost some destroyers

and mine sweepers. Austria, in May, 1918, lost the battleship _Wien_.

England lost some destroyers, torpedo boats, and mine sweepers. Seven

British submarines, caught in Russian waters by the collapse of Russia,

were sunk by their own crews off Helsingfors between April 3 and 8,

1918, upon the approach of German naval forces and transports. The

Japanese battleship _Kawachi_, of 21,420 tons and 20 knots, blew up on

July 12, 1918, while at anchor in Tokuyama Bay, and sank with a loss of

over 500 officers and men. The U. S. armored cruiser _San Diego_ was

sunk off Fire Island, N. Y., on July 19, 1918, by a mine apparently

having been laid by one of the German submarines then operating in

American waters.

On February 24, 1918, the German Government announced that the auxiliary

cruiser _Wolf_ had returned to the Austrian harbor Pola, after a 15

months' cruise in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Claims as to

the number and tonnage of ships sunk by the _Wolf_ as made by the German

authorities differed widely from the losses compiled by the British

authorities, the former amounting to 35 ships of 210,000 tons, the

latter to 17 ships of about 40,000 tons. One of the boats attacked by

the raider, the Spanish S. S. _Igatz Mendi_, was captured, and, after a

prize crew had been sent aboard, took over the passengers and crews of

half a dozen ships which had been sunk. Attempting to return to a German

port, she stranded on February 25, 1918, off the Danish coast.

Passengers and members of the crews with civil status were sent to their

various homes, while the German prize crew and some British military men

were interned.

A number of minor naval engagements were fought between small units of

the belligerents' naval forces.

[Illustration: Italian naval exploits.]

A swift raid was made by a flotilla of large German torpedo-boat

destroyers early in the morning of February 15, 1918, on British patrol

forces in the Dover Straits. One trawler and 7 drifters, which were

occupied in hunting a submarine, which had been sighted in the patrol,

were sunk. After having sunk these vessels the German destroyers

returned rapidly to the north before any of the Allied forces could

engage them. A large number of the crews of the vessels sunk lost their

lives.

A light Franco-British division, composed of three French destroyers and

three British ships, joined battle in the North Sea early in the morning

of March 21, 1918, with a detachment of German torpedo vessels of the

"A" type, two of which were sunk. Shortly afterward, the same light

division fought a second action with five big destroyers which had been

bombarding Dunkirk. One German destroyer was sunk, and it is probable

that two other enemy destroyers were lost.

From information received, it would appear that three flotillas had been

ordered to bombard Dunkirk, La Panne, and Bray Dunes. One of the British

ships was slightly damaged, and returned to port. On the French side

there were neither killed nor wounded.

British boats, belonging to the Grand Fleet, made an excursion into the

Kattegat, the strait between Sweden and Denmark, on April 15, 1918,

sinking 10 German trawlers and returning without having suffered any

casualties.

British light forces operating in the Helgoland Bight on April 20, 1918,

obtained touch with German light forces, who retired behind mine fields.

A few shots were exchanged at extreme range and one German destroyer was

observed to have been hit.

Early in the morning of April 23, 1918, British naval forces made a

successful attack against Ostend and Zeebrugge, both of them important

German submarine bases. The raid was undertaken under the command of

Vice Admiral Roger Keyes, commanding at Dover French destroyers

cooperating with the British forces. There were six obsolete cruisers

which took part in the attack--_Brilliant_, _Sirius_, _Intrepid_,

_Iphigenia_, _Thetis_, and _Vindictive_. The first five were filled with

concrete, and were to be sunk in the channels and entrances to the ports

if that could possibly be managed. _Vindictive_, working with two

auxiliary craft, ferryboats well known on the Mersey, _Daffodil_ and

_Iris_, carried storming and demolition parties to the head of the mole

at Zeebrugge. _Vindictive_ was specially fitted with brows for landing

the storming parties and armed specially for the operation with

batteries of Stokes mortars, flame throwers, &c. The men employed on the

blockships and in the storming and demolition parties were bluejackets

and Royal Marines, picked from a very large number of volunteers from

the Grand Fleet.

There were light covering forces belonging to the Dover command, and

Harwich forces, under Admiral Tyrwhitt, covered the operation in the

north.

A force of monitors, together with a large number of motor launches,

coastal motor boats, which, as is known, are small, fast craft, carrying

a minimum crew of six, and other small craft took part in the operation.

It was a particularly intricate operation, which had to be worked

strictly to time-table and involved very delicate navigation on a

hostile coast without lights and largely under unknown navigational

conditions, which have developed since the war, with the added danger of

unknown mine fields. One of the essentials to success was a high

development of the scientific use of smoke or fog--it is more fog than

smoke--for which certain conditions of force and direction of wind were

necessary, so as to protect the operation from batteries which could

have flanked it.

The general plan of operation was as follows:--After an hour of intense

bombardment of Zeebrugge by the monitors, _Vindictive_, with the

auxiliaries _Iris_ and _Daffodil_, were to run alongside the head of the

mole, attacking with gunfire as they approached; storming parties and

demolition parties were to be landed. Meantime three blockships,

assisted by the coastal motor boats and launches, were to make for the

entrance to the canal and to be run aground and blown up. Two old and

valueless submarines were to run against the pile work connecting the

masonry portion of the mole with the shore, and, being filled with

explosives, were to be blown up, destroying the pile-work connection.

[Illustration: British naval attacks on the German bases of Zeebrugge

and Ostend.]

At Ostend the operation was simpler. Two of the blockships were to be

run aground and blown up at the entrance to the port. The difficulties

of this part of the undertaking were considerably increased by mist and

rain, with corresponding low visibility and consequent absence of

effective aerial cooperation.

At Zeebrugge, of the three blockships two attained their objective and

were sunk and blown up in the entrance of the canal. The third one

grounded in the passage in. One of the old submarines succeeded in

obtaining its objective and was blown up to the destruction of the

piling of the approach to the mole. Storming parties from _Vindictive_,

_Iris_, and _Daffodil_ attacked under extremely heavy fire, and fought

with the greatest possible gallantry, maintaining their position

alongside the mole for an hour, causing much damage to the enemy and

inflicting considerable losses upon him. The objectives for the storming

and demolition parties were (1) the German forces holding it, (2) the

battery upon it, (3) the destroyer and submarine depots upon it, (4) the

large seaplane base upon it. The three vessels, _Vindictive_, _Iris_,

and _Daffodil_, after reembarking their landing parties, withdrew. This

attack was primarily intended to engage the attention of the garrison on

the mole, thereby allowing the blockships to enter the harbor.

At Ostend the wind prevented the effective use of the smoke screen and

the two blockships had to be run ashore and blown up without attaining

their objective. The British loss in vessels was small: one destroyer

and two motor launches. But fire from German guns wrought heavy havoc in

the ranks of the British seamen: nineteen officers and 170 men were

killed; two officers and fourteen men were missing, and twenty-nine

officers and 354 men were wounded.

On May 10, 1918, the Ostend operation was completed. The old cruiser

_Vindictive_ was sunk at the entrance to the harbor, after having been

filled with concrete. The losses of the British forces engaged in this

operation were small.

It was later reported that twenty-one German destroyers and a large

number of submarines were penned in the Bruges Canal docks as a result

of the naval operations against Zeebrugge.

Engagements, without leading to any results, occurred on April 23, 1918,

between five Austrian and two British destroyers.

Early in May, 1918, reports about a mutiny in the Austrian navy, which

was said to have taken place some months before, seemed to be correct.

The mutiny, it was claimed, began at Pola, but spread quickly to

Cattaro. It was among arsenal workmen that the rising, according to the

London "Times," began at Pola. They demanded the cessation of various

disciplinary measures and punishments inflicted both in vessels and

ashore. The movement soon spread to the ships in harbor; the crews left

their posts and thronged the decks shouting, hurrahing, and acting as

they pleased. The officers were powerless, but there seems to have been

no fighting between them and the men. The naval authorities parleyed

with the men for a week, and finally all the sailors' and workmen's

demands were granted.

At Cattaro the mutiny took a more serious turn. Six cruisers and several

destroyers hoisted the red flag. The German and Magyar elements in some

of the ships held aloof, and there were encounters between them and the

mutineers, the guns of one cruiser being turned on another and some

mutineers being killed. However, the mutineers got the upper hand after

three days and became masters of the port.

Negotiations were eventually opened on an equal footing between the

admiral and the mutineers, and finally the latter consented to

surrender their vessels on receiving written guarantees that no action

would be taken against any man, and that a number of grievances would be

settled. The Cattaro fleet then returned under the Austrian flag, after

being eight days in open revolt.

PART III--THE WAR IN THE AIR

CHAPTER LXX

BOMBING AND RECONNOISSANCE

The importance of aerial operations, great as it had been since the

beginning of the war, gradually increased in a way which even the most

sanguine believer in the possibilities of flying machines would have

hesitated to prophesy. This was due to a great extent to the remarkable

advance that had been made on all sides as a result of experience in

respect to the mechanical development of airplanes. But an even greater

factor, perhaps, was the development of the technique of flying, which,

step by step, progressed to a point that fell little short of the

miraculous. Especially wonderful appears the development of squadron

flying. So well trained had become the intrepid airmen that evolutions

which a short time ago aroused the admiration of the whole world when

carried out by individual planes and flyers were now successfully

undertaken by large groups, each plane cooperating with the most

wonderful precision and daring with every other unit.

Although the business of scouting, observation, and direction of

artillery operations still formed an important part of the flying

service, new duties had been delegated to the airmen. In ever-increasing

squadrons, mass attacks against hostile forces, both in the air and on

the ground, were being carried out as effectively as formerly by bodies

of cavalry and infantry. Even part of the work, formerly executed

exclusively by the artillery, now had become a regular feature of the

flying arm of the various armies. Large air squadrons were laying down

with their machine guns barrage fire which had as deadly and accurate

results on advancing bodies of infantry as had previously been achieved

only by heavy artillery.