The result of these drastic measures has been that, despite all the
enemy efforts to win a victory by the destruction of the merchant
shipping of the world, the British people have been able to prosecute
the war with the utmost vigor during the whole year. The navy has
continued to hold its predominant position at sea, has denied the oceans
to the enemy for the purpose of transporting troops or supplies and has
exercised an ever-growing pressure upon him through the blockade. At the
same time, though the submarine menace has not yet been mastered, the
supply both of the military expeditions in all parts of the world and of
the civilian population at home has been maintained. It may, indeed, be
said with confidence that as the result of the work of the navy, of the
merchant marine, and of many civilian sections of the community the
German attempt to win the war by the destruction of the merchant
shipping of the world has been definitely baffled.
In the military sphere, though no decision has been reached, great
results have also been achieved. At the outset of the year the military
prospects before the Allies were good. Their plans, however, for a
converging attack on the Central Empires on all fronts were upset by the
disorganization of the Russian armies which followed the revolution--a
disorganization which ended in such complete dissolution that the
Germans were enabled to transfer a large part of their eastern forces to
the western front by the end of the year. None the less, during the
whole of 1917 the German forces have been steadily pressed back from one
highly fortified position to another in face of the systematic assaults
of the allied armies. The enemy, indeed, has consistently borne tribute
to the terrible power of the British attacks and to the heavy losses,
both on land and in the air, which they have inflicted upon him. The
chief successes have been gained at Arras, Messines, and in Flanders.