harbor. We stopped still 3,000 yards before the city. Then we shot up
the oil tanks; three or four of them burned up and illuminated the city.
Two days later we navigated around Ceylon, and could see the lights of
Colombo. On the same evening we gathered in two more steamers, the King
Lund, and Tywerse. The next evening we got the Burresk, a nice steamer
with 500 tons of nice Cardiff coal. Then followed in order, the Ryberia,
Foyle, Grand Ponrabbel, Benmore, Troiens, Exfort, Graycefale, Sankt
Eckbert, Chilkana. Most of them were sunk. The coal ships were kept. All
this happened before October 20th. Then we sailed southward to Deogazia,
southwest of Colombo."
The captain then tells with much gusto a story of a visit paid to the
Emden by some English farmers, at Deogazia, who were entertained royally
by the Emden officers. They knew nothing about the war, and the Emden
officers told them nothing. His narrative continues:
"Now we went toward Miniko, where we sank two ships more. On the next
day we found three steamers to the north, one of them with much desired
Cardiff coal. From English papers on the captured ships we learned that
we were being hotly pursued. One night we started for Penang. On October
28th we raised a very practicable fourth smokestack (for disguise). The
harbor of Penang lies in a channel difficult of access. There was
nothing doing by night. We had to do it at daybreak. At high speed,
without smoke, with lights out, we steered into the mouth of the
channel. A torpedo boat on guard slept well. We steamed past its small
light. Inside lay a dark silhouette. That must be a warship. We
recognized the silhouette dead sure. That was the Russian cruiser
Jemtchud. There it lay, there it slept like a rat, no watch to be seen.
They made it easy for us. Because of the narrowness of the harbor we had
to keep close; we fired the first torpedo at four hundred yards.
"Then, to be sure, things livened up a bit on the sleeping warship. At
the same time we took the crew quarters under fire five shells at a
time. There was a flash of flame on board, then a kind of burning
aureole. After the fourth shell the flame burned high. The first torpedo
had struck the ship too deep, because we were too close to it. A second
torpedo which we fired off from the other side didn't make the same
mistake. After twenty seconds there was absolutely not a trace of the
ship to be seen.
"But now another ship which we couldn't see was firing. That was the
French D'Ivrebreville, toward which we now turned at once. A few minutes
later an incoming torpedo destroyer was reported. It proved to be the
French torpedo boat Mousquet. It came straight toward us. That's always
remained a mystery to me, for it must have heard the shooting. An
officer whom we fished up afterward explained to me that they had only
recognized we were a German warship when they were quite close to us.
The Frenchman behaved well, accepted battle and fought on, but was
polished off by us with three broadsides. The whole fight with those
ships lasted half an hour. The commander of the torpedo boat lost both
legs by the first broadside. When he saw that part of his crew were
leaping overboard he cried out 'Tie me fast. I will not survive after
seeing Frenchmen desert their ship.' As a matter of fact he went down
with his ship, as a brave captain, lashed fast to the mast. That was my
only sea-fight.
"On November 9th I left the Emden in order to destroy the wireless plant
on the Cocos Island. I had fifty men, four machine guns and about thirty
rifles. Just as we were about to destroy the apparatus it reported
'Careful. Emden near.' The work of destruction went smoothly. Presently
the Emden signaled to us 'Hurry up.' I pack up, but simultaneously wails
the Emden's siren. I hurry up to the bridge, see the flag 'Anna' go up.
That means weigh anchor. We ran like mad into our boat, but already the
Emden's pennant goes up, the battle flag is raised, they fire from
starboard. The enemy is concealed by the island, and therefore not to be
seen, but I see the shell strike the water. To follow and catch the
Emden is out of question. She is going twenty knots, I only four with my
steam pinnace. Therefore I turn back to land, raise the flag, declare
German laws of war in force, seize all arms, set out my machine guns on
shore in order to guard against a hostile landing. Then I run again in
order to observe the fight."
The cable operator at Cocos Island gives the following account of what
happened from this point. After describing the sudden flight of the
Emden, he goes on: "Looking to the eastward we could see the reason for
this sudden departure, for a warship, which we afterwards learned was
the Australian cruiser Sydney, was coming up at full speed in pursuit.
The Emden did not wait to discuss matters, but, firing her first shot at
a range of about 3,700 yards, steamed north as hard as she could go. At
first the firing of the Emden seemed excellent, while that of the Sydney
was somewhat erratic. This, as I afterward learned, was due to the fact
that the Australian cruiser's range finder was put out of action by one
of the only two shots the Germans got home. However, the British gunners
soon overcame any difficulties that this may have caused, and settled
down to their work, so that before long two of the Emden's funnels had
been shot away. She also lost one of her masts quite early in the fight.
Both blazing away with their big guns the two cruisers disappeared below
the horizon, the Emden being on fire.
"Early the next morning, Tuesday, November 10th, we saw the Sydney
returning, and at 8.45 A. M. she anchored off the island. From various
members of the crew I gathered some details of the running fight with
the Emden. The Sydney, having an advantage in speed, was able to keep
out of range of the Emden's guns, and to bombard with her own heavier
metal. The engagement lasted eighty minutes, the Emden finally running
ashore on North Keeling Island, and becoming an utter wreck. Only two
German shots proved effective, one of these failed to explode, but
smashed the main range finder and killed one man, the other killed three
men and wounded fourteen.
"Each of the cruisers attempted to torpedo the other, but both were
unsuccessful, and the duel proved a contest in hard pounding at long
range. The Sydney's speed during the fighting was twenty-six knots, and
the Emden's twenty-four knots. The British ship's superiority of two
knots enabled her to choose the range at which the battle should be
fought and to make the most of her superior guns. Finally, with a number
of wounded prisoners on board, the Sydney left here yesterday, and our
few hours of war excitement were over."
Captain Mucke's return home from the Cocos Island was filled with the
most extraordinary adventures, and when he finally arrived in country
controlled by his Allies he was greeted as a hero.
While the story of the Emden especially interested the world, the
Koenigsberg also caused much trouble to English commerce. Her chief
exploit occurred on the 20th of September, when she caught the British
cruiser Pegasus in Zanzibar harbor undergoing repairs. The Pegasus had
no chance, and was destroyed by the Koenigsberg's long-range fire.
Nothing much was heard later of the Koenigsberg, which was finally
destroyed by an English cruiser, July 11, 1915.
The exploits of these two German commerce raiders attracted general
attention, because they were the exceptions to the rule. The British, on
the other hand, were able to capture such German merchantmen as ventured
on the sea without great difficulty, and as they did not destroy their
capture, but brought them before prize courts, the incidents attracted
no great attention. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which had been fitted
up as a commerce destroyer by the Germans at the beginning of the war,
as was the Spreewald of the Hamburg-American Line, and the Cap
Trafalgar, were caught and sunk during the month of September. On the
whole, English foreign trade was unimpaired.
But though the German fleet had been bottled up in her harbors, Germany
was not yet impotent. There remained the submarine.
Up to 1905 Germany had not a single submarine. The first German
submarine was launched on August 30, 1905. Even then it was considered
merely an experiment. In February, 1907, it was added to the register of
the fleet. On January 1, 1901, there were only four nations that
possessed submarines, France, with fourteen; the United States, with
eight; England, with six, of which not one was completed, and finally
Italy, with two. In 1910, Germany appropriated 18,750,000 marks for
submarines, and in 1913, 25,000,000 marks. On January 1, 1914, the total
number of submarines of all nations was approximately four hundred.
Early in the war the submarine became a grave menace to the English navy
and to English commerce. On the 5th of September the Pathfinder, a light
cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life. On September
22d, three cruisers, the Cressy, Hogue, and Aboukir were engaged in
patrolling the coast of Holland. A great storm had been raging and the
cruisers were not protected by the usual screen of destroyers. At
half-past six in the morning the seas had fallen and the cruisers
proceeded to their posts. The report of Commander Nicholson, of the
Cressy, of what followed gives a good idea of the effectiveness of the
submarine.
"The Aboukir," says this report, "was struck at about 6.25 A. M. on the
starboard beam. The Hogue and Cressy closed, and took up a position, the
Hogue ahead of the Aboukir, and the Cressy about four hundred yards on
her port beam. As soon as it was seen that the Aboukir was in danger of
sinking, all the boats were sent away from the Cressy, and a picket boat
was hoisted out without steam up. When cutters full of the Aboukir's men
were returning to the Cressy, the Hogue was struck, apparently under the
aft 9.2 magazine, as a very heavy explosion took place immediately.
Almost directly after the Hogue was hit we observed a periscope on our
port bow about three hundred yards off. Fire was immediately opened, and
the engines were put full speed ahead with the intention of running her
down. . . .
"Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship so as to render assistance to
the crews of the Hogue and Aboukir. About five minutes later another
periscope was seen on our starboard quarter, and fire was opened. The
track of the torpedo she fired at a range of from 500 to 600 yards was
plainly visible, and it struck us on the starboard side just before the
after bridge. The ship listed about ten degrees to the starboard and
remained steady. The time was 7.15 A. M. All the water-tight doors, dead
lights and scuttles had been securely closed before the torpedoes left
the ship. All mess stools and table shores and all available timber
below and on deck had been previously got up and thrown overside for the
saving of life. A second torpedo fired by the same submarine missed and
passed about ten feet astern.
"About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had hit, a third
torpedo fired from the submarine just before the starboard beam, hit us
under the No. 5 boiler room. The time was 7.30 A. M. The ship then began
to heel rapidly, and finally turned keel up remaining so for about
twenty minutes before she finally sank. It is possible that the same
submarine fired all three torpedoes at the Cressy."
Of the total crews of 1,459 officers and men only 779 were saved. The
survivors believed that they had seen at least three submarines, but the
German official account mentions only one, the U-9, under
Captain-Lieutenant Otto Weddigen whose account of this battle confirms
the report of Commander Nicholson. Referring to the reports that a
flotilla of German submarines had attacked the cruisers, he says:
"These reports were absolutely untrue. U-9 was the only submarine on
deck." He adds: "I reached the home port on the afternoon of the 23d and
on the 24th went to Wilhelmshaven to find that news of my effort had
become public. My wife, dry-eyed when I went away, met me with tears.
Then I learned that my little vessel and her brave crew had won the
plaudit of the Kaiser who conferred upon each of my co-workers the Iron
Cross of the second class and upon me the Iron Crosses of the first and
second classes."
Weddigen was the hero of the hour in Germany. He had with him
twenty-five men. He seems to have acted with courage and skill, but it
is also evident that the English staff work was to blame. Three such
vessels should never have been sent out without a screen of destroyers,
nor should the Hogue and the Cressy have gone to the rescue of the
Aboukir. A few days after the disaster the English Admiralty issued the
following statement:
The sinking of the Aboukir was of course an ordinary hazard of
patrolling duty. The Hogue and Cressy, however, were sunk because they
proceeded to the assistance of their consort, and remained with engines
stopped, endeavoring to save life, thus presenting an easy target to
further submarine attacks. The natural promptings of humanity have in
this case led to heavy losses, which would have been avoided by a strict
adhesion to military consideration. Modern naval war is presenting us
with so many new and strange situations that an error of judgment of
this character is pardonable. But it has become necessary to point out
for the future guidance of His Majesty's ships that the conditions which
prevail when one vessel of a squadron is injured in the mine field, or
is exposed to submarine attack, are analogous to those which occur in
action, and that the rule of leaving ships to their own resources is
applicable, so far, at any rate, as large vessels are concerned.
On the 28th of August occurred the first important naval action of the
war, the battle of Helgoland. From the 9th of August German cruisers had
shown activity in the seas around Helgoland and had sunk a number of
British trawlers. The English submarines, E-6 and E-8, and the light
cruiser Fearless, had patrolled the seas, and on the 21st of August the
Fearless had come under the enemy's shell fire. On August 26th the
submarine flotilla, under Commodore Keyes, sailed from Harwich for the
Bight of Helgoland, and all the next day the Lurcher and the Firedrake,
destroyers, scouted for submarines. On that same day sailed the first
and third destroyer flotillas, the battle cruiser squadron, first light
cruiser squadron, and the seventh cruiser squadron, having a rendezvous
at this point on the morning of the 28th.
The morning was beautiful and clear, so that the submarines could be
easily seen. Close to Helgoland were Commodore Keyes' eight submarines,
and his two small destroyers. Approaching rapidly from the northwest
were Commodore Tyrwhitt's two destroyer flotillas, a little to the east
was Commodore Goodenough's first light cruiser squadron. Behind this
squadron were Sir David Beatty's battle cruisers with four destroyers.
To the south and west of Helgoland lay Admiral Christian's seventh
cruiser squadron.
Presently from behind Helgoland came a number of German destroyers,
followed by two cruisers; and the English submarines, with the two small
destroyers, fled westwards, acting as a decoy. As the Germans followed,
the British destroyer flotillas on the northwest came rapidly down. At
the sight of these destroyers the German destroyers fled, and the
British attempted to head them off.
According to the official report the principle of the movement was to
cut the German light craft from home, and engage it at leisure on the
open sea.
But between the two German cruisers and the English cruisers a fierce
battle took place. The Arethusa was engaged with the German Ariadne, and
the Fearless with the Strasburg. A shot from the Arethusa shattered the
fore bridge of the Ariadne and killed the captain, and both German
cruisers drew off toward Helgoland.
Meanwhile the destroyers were engaged in a hot fight. They sunk the
leading boat of the German flotilla and damaged a dozen more. Between
nine and ten o'clock there was a lull in the fight; the submarines, with
some of the destroyers, remained in the neighborhood of Helgoland, and
the Germans, believing that these boats were the only hostile vessels in
the neighborhood, determined to attack them.
The Mainz, the Koln, and the Strasburg came again on the scene, and
opened a heavy fire on some of the boats of the first flotilla which
were busy saving life. The small destroyers were driven away, but the
seamen in the boats were rescued by an English submarine. The Arethusa
and the Fearless, with the destroyers in their company, engaged with
three enemy cruisers. The Strasburg, seriously injured, was compelled to
flee. The boilers of the Mainz blew up, and she became a wreck. The Koln
only remaining and carrying on the fight.
The English destroyers were much crippled, and as the battle had now
lasted for five hours any moment the German great battleships might come
on the scene. A wireless signal had been sent to Sir David Beatty,
asking for help, and about twelve o'clock the Falmouth and the
Nottingham arrived on the scene of action. By this time the first
destroyer flotilla was out of action and the third flotilla and the
Arethusa had their hands full with the Koln. The light cruisers were
followed at 12.15 by the English battle cruisers, the Lion came first,
and she alone among the battle cruisers seems to have used her guns. Her
gun power beat down all opposition. The Koln made for home, but the
Lion's guns set her on fire. The luckless Ariadne hove in sight, but the
terrible 13.5-inch guns sufficed for her. The battle cruisers circled
around, and in ten minutes the Koln went to the bottom.
At twenty minutes to two, Admiral Beatty turned homeward. The German
cruisers Mainz, Koln, and the Ariadne had been sunk; the Strasburg was
seriously damaged. One destroyer was sunk, and at least seven seriously
injured. About seven hundred of the German crew perished and there were
three hundred prisoners. The British force returned without the loss of
a single ship. The Arethusa had been badly damaged, but was easily
repaired. The casualty list was thirty-two killed and fifty-two wounded.
The battle was fought on both sides with great gallantry, the chief
glory belonging to the Arethusa and the Fearless who bore the brunt of
the battle. The strategy and tactical skill employed were admirable, and
the German admiral, von Ingenohl from that time on, with one exception,
kept his battleships in harbor, and confined his activities to mine
laying and the use of submarines.
In the first days of the war the German mine layers had been busy. By
means of trawlers disguised as neutrals, mines were dropped off the
north coast of Ireland, and a large mine field was laid off the eastern
coast of England. One of the most important duties of the Royal Naval
Reserve was the task of mine sweeping. Over seven hundred mine-sweeping
vessels were constantly employed in keeping an area of 7,200 square
miles clear for shipping. These ships swept 15,000 square miles monthly,
and steamed over 1,100,000 miles in carrying out their duties.
It would be hard to overestimate the effect of the British blockade of
the German ports upon the fortunes of the war. The Germans for a long
time attempted, by the use of neutral ships, to obtain the necessary
supplies through Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. Millions of
dollars' worth of food and munitions ultimately reached German hands.
The imports of all these nations were multiplied many times, but as the
time went on the blockade grew stricter and stricter until the Germans
felt the pinch. To conduct efficiently this blockade meant the use of
over 3,600 vessels which were added to the auxiliary patrol service.
Over 13,000 vessels were intercepted and examined by units of the
British navy employed on blockade channels.
The Germans protested with great vigor against this blockade, and
ultimately endeavored to counteract it by declaring unrestricted
submarine warfare. In fact, Great Britain had gone too far, and vigorous
protests from America followed her attempt to seize contraband goods in
American vessels.
The code of maritime law, adopted in the Declaration at Paris of 1856,
as well as the Declaration in London of 1909, had been framed in the
interests of unmaritime nations. The British plenipotentiaries had
agreed to these laws on the theory that in any war of the future Britain
would be neutral. The rights of neutrals had been greatly increased. A
blockade was difficult to enforce, for the right of a blockading power
to capture a blockade runner did not cover the whole period of her
voyage, and was confined to ships of the blockading force. A ship
carrying contraband could only be condemned if the contraband formed
more than half its cargo. A belligerent warship could destroy a neutral
vessel without taking it into a port for a judgment. The transfer of an
enemy vessel to a neutral flag was presumed to be valid, if effected
more than thirty days before the outbreak of war. Belligerents in
neutral vessels on the high seas were exempt from capture. The Emden
could justify its sinking of British ships, but the English were
handicapped in their endeavor to prevent neutral ships from carrying
supplies to Germany.
But Germany had become a law unto itself. And England found it necessary
in retaliation to issue orders in council which made nugatory many of
the provisions of the maritime code. The protests of the American
Government and those of other neutrals were treated with the greatest
consideration, and every endeavor was made that no real injustice should
be done. When America itself later entered the war these differences of
opinion disappeared from public view.
CHAPTER XI
THE SUBLIME PORTE
As soon as the diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia had been
broken, the Turkish Grand Vizier informed the diplomatic corps in
Constantinople that Turkey would remain neutral in the conflict. The
declaration was not formal, for war had not yet been declared. The
policy of Turkey, as represented in the ministerial paper,
Tasfiri-Efkiar, was as follows:
"Turkey has never asked for war, as she always has worked toward
avoiding it, but neutrality does not mean indifference. The present
Austro-Serbian conflict is to a supreme degree interesting to us. In the
first place, one of our erstwhile opponents is fighting against a much
stronger enemy. In the natural course of things Serbia, which till
lately was expressing, in a rather open way, her solidarity as a nation,
still provoking us, and Greece, will be materially weakened. In the
second place, the results of this war may surpass the limits of the
conflict between two countries, and in that case our interests will be
just as materially affected. We must, therefore, keep our eyes open, as
the circumstances are momentarily changing, and do not permit us to let
escape certain advantages which we can secure by active, and rightly
acting, diplomacy. The policy of neutrality will impose on us the
obligation of avoiding to side with either of the belligerents. But the
same policy will force us to take all the necessary measures for
safeguarding our interests and our frontiers."
Whereupon a Turkish mobilization was at once ordered. The war had hardly
begun when Turkey received the news that her two battleships, building
in British yards, had been taken over by England. A bitter feeling
against England was at once aroused, Turkish mobs proceeded to attack
the British stores and British subjects, and attempts were even made
against the British embassy in Constantinople, and the British consulate
at Smyrna.
At this time Turkey was in a peculiar position. For a century she had
been on the best of terms with France and Great Britain. On the other
hand Russia had been her hereditary enemy. She was still suffering from
her defeat by the Balkan powers, and her statesmen saw in this war great
possibilities. She desired to recover her lost provinces in Europe, and
saw at once that she could hope for little from the Allies in this
direction.
[Illustration: Map: Black Sea to the North, Caspian Sea to the East,
Persian Gulf to South, Crete to the West.]
SKETCH OF TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY TURKEY IN 1914
For some years, too, German intrigues, and, according to report, German
money, had enabled the German Government to control the leading Turkish
statesmen. German generals, under General Liman von Sanders, were
practically in control of the Turkish army. The commander-in-chief was
Enver Bey, who had been educated in Germany and was more German than the
Germans. A new system of organization for the Turkish army had been
established by the Germans, which had substituted the mechanical German
system for the rough and inefficient Turkish methods. Universal
conscription provided men, and the Turkish soldier has always been known
as a good soldier. Yet as it turned out the German training did little
for him. Under his own officers he could fight well, but under German
officers, fighting for a cause which he neither liked nor understood, he
was bound to fail.
At first the Turkish mobilization was conducted in such a way as to be
ready to act in common with Bulgaria in an attack against Greek and
Serbian Macedonia, as soon as the Austrians had obtained a decisive
victory over the Serbians. The entry of Great Britain into the war
interfered with this scheme. Meantime, though not at war, the Turks were
suffering almost as much as if war had been declared. Greedy speculators
took advantage of the situation, and the government itself requisitioned
everything it could lay its hands on.
A Constantinople correspondent, writing on the 6th of August, says as
follows;
"Policemen and sheriffs followed by military officers are taking by
force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and
other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flour,
potatoes, wheat and rice, and taking over virtually everything, giving
in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on which
it is written. In this way many shops are forced to close, bread has
entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital
of a neutral country, is already feeling all the troubles and privations
of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible
heights, as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats
are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for the possession
of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are
seen crying and weeping with despair. Many merchants, afraid lest the
government requisition their goods, hasten to have their orders
canceled, the result being that no merchandise of any kind is coming to
Constantinople either from Europe or from Anatolia. Both on account of
the recruiting of their employees, and of shortage of coal, the
companies operating electric tramways of the city have reduced their
service to the minimum, as no power is available for the running of the
cars. Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of
the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen
bearing the inscription 'Closed temporarily by order of the government.'"
Immediately after war was declared between Germany and Russia the Porte
ordered the Bosporus and Dardanelles closed to every kind of shipping,
at the same time barring the entrances of these channels with rows of
mines. The first boat to suffer from this measure was a British
merchantman which was sunk outside the Bosporus, while another had a
narrow escape in the Dardanelles. A large number of steamers of every
nationality waited outside the straits for the special pilot boats of
the Turkish Government, in order to pass in safety through the dangerous
mine field. This measure of closing the straits was suggested to Turkey
by Austria and Germany, and was primarily intended against Russia, as it
was feared that her Black Sea fleet might force its way into the Sea of
Marmora and the AEgean.
On August 2d the Turkish Parliament was prorogued, so that all political
power might center around the Imperial throne. A vigorous endeavor was
made to strengthen the Turkish navy. Djemal Pasha was placed at its head
with Arif Bey as chief of the naval staff. Talaat Bey and Halil Bey were
sent to Bucharest to exchange views with Roumanian statesmen, and
representatives of the Greek Government, in regard to the outstanding
Greco-Turkish difficulties.
On September 10th an official announcement from the Sublime Porte was
issued defining in the first place many constitutional reforms, and in
particular abolishing the capitulation, that is, the concessions made by
law to foreigners, allowing them participation in the administration of
justice, exemption from taxation, and special protection in their
business transactions. In abolishing these capitulations the Ottoman
Government declared that it would treat foreign countries in accordance
with the rules of international law, and that it was acting without any
hostile feeling against any of the foreign states.
The Allied governments formally protested against this action of the
Turkish Government. Meantime Constantinople was the center of most
elaborate intrigues. The Turkish Government grew more and more warlike,
and began to threaten, not only Greece, but Russia and the Triple
Entente as well. During this period the Turkish press maintained an
active campaign against England and the Allies. Every endeavor was made
by the Sublime Porte to secure Roumanian or Bulgarian co-operation in a
militant policy. The Allies, seeing the situation, made many promises to
Bulgaria, Greece and Roumania. Bulgaria was offered Adrianople and
Thrace; Greece was to have Smyrna, and Roumania the Roumanian provinces
in Austria. The jealousy of these powers of each other prevented an
agreement. The influence of Germany became more and more preponderant
with the Ottoman Empire; indeed, it is probable that an understanding
had existed between the two powers from the beginning. The action of the
Turkish Government in regard to the Goeben and Breslau could hardly have
been possible unless with a previous understanding. At last the rupture
came. The following was the official Turkish version of the events which
led to the Turkish declaration of war:
"While on the 27th of October a small part of the Turkish fleet was
maneuvering on the Black Sea, the Russian fleet, which at first confined
its activities to following and hindering every one of our movements,
finally, on the 29th, unexpectedly began hostilities by attacking the
Ottoman fleet. During the naval battle which ensued the Turkish fleet,
with the help of the Almighty, sank the mine layer Pruth, inflicted
severe damage on one of the Russian torpedo boats, and captured a
collier. A torpedo from the Turkish torpedo boat Gairet-i-Millet sank
the Russian destroyer Koubanietz, and another from the Turkish torpedo
boat Mouavenet-i-Millet inflicted serious damage on a Russian coast
guard ship. Three officers and seventy-two sailors rescued by our men
and belonging to the crews of the damaged and sunken vessels of the
Russian fleet have been made prisoners. The Ottoman Imperial fleet,
glory be given to the Almighty, escaped injury, and the battle is
progressing favorably for us. Information received from our fleet, now
in the Black Sea, is as follows:
"From accounts of Russian sailors taken prisoners, and from the presence
of a mine layer among the Russian fleet, evidence is gathered that the
Russian fleet intended closing the entrance to the Bosporus with mines,
and destroying entirely the Imperial Ottoman fleet, after having split
it in two. Our fleet, believing that it had to face an unexpected
attack, and supposing that the Russians had begun hostilities without a
formal declaration of war, pursued the scattered Russian fleet,
bombarded the port of Sebastopol, destroyed in the city of Novorossisk
fifty petroleum depots, fourteen military transports, some granaries,
and the wireless telegraph station. In addition to the above our fleet
has sunk in Odessa a Russian cruiser, and damaged severely another. It
is believed that this second boat was likewise sunk. Five other steamers
full of cargoes lying in the same port were seriously damaged. A
steamship belonging to the Russian volunteer fleet was also sunk, and
five petroleum depots were destroyed. In Odessa and Sebastopol the
Russians from the shore opened fire against our fleet."
[Illustration: Photographs and Paintings]
FAMOUS BRITISH GENERALS
General Smith-Dorrien, British Corps Commander in the famous retreat
from Mons; Generals Plumer, Rawlinson and Byng, Commanders on the
Western Front; General Birdwood, Commander of the Australian-New
Zealand troops at Gallipoli.
[Illustration: Photographs and Paintings]
FAMOUS FRENCH GENERALS
Marshal Petain, Commander-in-Chief of the French armies in the West;
Generals Mangin, Gouraud and Humbert, Army Commanders in the West;
Generals Gallieni, Commander of Paris, who sent forward an army in
taxicabs to save the day at the First Battle of the Marne.
The Sultan at once declared war against Russia, England and France, and
issued a proclamation to his troops, declaring that he had called them
to arms to resist aggression and that "the very existence of our Empire
and of three hundred million Moslems whom I have summoned by sacred
Fetwa to a supreme struggle, depend on your victory. Do not forget that
you are brothers in arms of the strongest and bravest armies of the
world, with whom we are now fighting shoulder to shoulder."
The Fetwa, or proclamation announcing a holy war, called upon all
Mussulmans capable of carrying arms, and even upon Mussulman women to
fight against the powers with whom the Sultan was at war. In this manner
the holy war became a duty, not only for all Ottoman subjects, but for
the three hundred million Moslems of the earth. On November 5th Great
Britain declared war against Turkey, ordered the seizure in British
ports of Turkish vessels, and, by an order in Council, annexed the
Island of Cyprus. On the 17th of December, the Khedive Abbas II, having
thrown in his lot with Turkey and fled to Constantinople, Egypt was
formally proclaimed a British Protectorate. The title of Khedive was
abolished, and the throne of Egypt, with the title of Sultan, was
offered to Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha, the eldest living prince of the
house of Mahomet Ali, an able and enlightened man. This meant that
Britain was now wholly responsible for the defense of Egypt. The new
Sultan of Egypt made his state entry on December 20th into the Abdin
Palace in Cairo. The progress of the new ruler was received with great
enthusiasm by thousands of spectators.
The King of England sent a telegram of congratulation with his promise
of support:
On the occasion when your Highness enters upon your high office I desire
to convey to your Highness the expression of my most sincere friendship,
and the assurance of my unfailing support in safeguarding the integrity
of Egypt, and in securing her future well being and prosperity. Your
Highness has been called upon to undertake the responsibilities of your
high office at a grave crisis in the national life of Egypt, and I feel
convinced that you will be able, with the co-operation of your
Ministers, and the Protectorate of Great Britain, successfully to
overcome all the influences which are seeking to destroy the
independence of Egypt and the wealth, liberty and happiness of its
people.
This was Britain's answer to the Turkish proclamation of war. The Turks
had not taken this warlike course with entire unanimity. The Sultan, the
Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were in favor of peace, but Enver Pasha and
his colleagues overruled them. The Odessa incident was unjustified
aggression, deliberately planned to provoke hostilities. The tricky and
corrupt German diplomacy had won its point.
It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war, a
favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers, had
counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser had
visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as a
sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photographs of him had been taken
representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and
a report had been deliberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had
become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the
Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped
for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through
those countries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no
response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who
was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this
new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk
party? The Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved.
At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any move
to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were neutral,
and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in the hands of
her German advisers, she moved her new army to those frontiers where it
could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In particular Germany
and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies.
An attack upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops
which otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must be
sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. An
expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, and
perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt and give an
opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the Djehad was
being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest. The
Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threatened but the Germans had sent
there many heavy guns and fortifications had been built which, in expert
opinion, made Constantinople safe.
The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Transcaucasia and
in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been
controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East
India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control of
its commerce. The English had protected Persia, suppressed piracy and
slavery, and introduced sanitary measures in the marshes along the
coast. They regarded a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary for the
prosperity of India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had never had
great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been captured by
Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, but in eastern Arabia
lived many independent Arabian chieftains who had no idea of subjecting
themselves to Turkish rule.
For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this direction.
Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly designed to open up the
way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned a great railway to open up
trade, and her endeavor to build the Bagdad Railway is a story in
itself. Her efforts had lasted for many years, but she found herself
constantly blocked by the agents of Great Britain.
Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the Gulf had made a
start. On November 7th a British force under Brigadier-General Delamain
bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, landed troops and occupied the
village. Sailing north from this point they disembarked at Sanijah,
where they intrenched themselves and waited for reinforcements. On
November 13th reinforcements arrived, and on November 17th the British
army advanced toward Sahain. From there they moved on Sahil, where they
encountered a Turkish force. Some lively fighting ensued and the Turks
broke and fled. Turkish casualties were about one thousand five hundred
men, the English killed numbered thirty-eight.
The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the
Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and it was found
that the Turks had evacuated the place. A base camp was then prepared,
for it was certain that there would be further fighting. Bagdad was only
about three hundred miles distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at the
junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kurna where
the Turks were gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was made on
Kurna but without success. The British obtained reinforcements, but on
December 9th the Turkish garrison surrendered unconditionally. The
British troops then intrenched themselves, having established a
barricade against a hostile advance upon India.
Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since Persia had no
military power, each combatant was able to occupy that country whenever
they desired. The Turks advanced into Persia south of Lake Urmia, and,
meeting with no resistance from Persia, moved northward toward the
Russian frontier. On the 30th of January, 1915, Russian troops heavily
defeated the invaders and followed them south as far as Tabriz, which
they occupied and held. The Russian armies had also undertaken movements
in this section. In the extreme northwest of Persia a Russian column had
crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the 3d of November, the town of
Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns entered Kurdestan, and an
expedition against Van was begun. Further north another Russian column
crossed the frontier and captured the town of Karakilissa, but was held
there by the Turks.
These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Transcaucasia,
where the main body of the Turkish army under Enver Pasha himself was in
action. At this point the boundaries of Turkey touch upon the Russian
Empire. To the north is the Great Russian fortress of Kars, to the south
and west the Turkish stronghold of Erzerum. The whole district is a
great mountain tangle, the towns standing at an altitude of 5,000 and
6,000 feet, surrounded by lofty hills. None of the roads are good, and
in winter the passes are almost impassable. In all the wars between
Russia and Turkey, these mountain regions have been the scenes of
desperate battles.
The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from Sarakamish
across the frontier, leading them on to some distance from their base,
then, while holding their front, a second force was to swing around and
attack them on the left flank. The plan was simple, the difficulty was
the swing of the left flank, which had to be made through mountain
paths, deeply covered with snow. The Turkish army was composed of about
150,000 men under the command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with a
large German staff was the true commander. The Russian army, under
General Woronzov was about 100,000 men.
Early in November the Russians crossed the frontier and reached
Koprikeui, which they occupied on the 20th of November. The Turkish
Eleventh corps was entrusted with the duty of holding the Russian
forces; the remainder of the army was to advance over the passes and
take their stations behind the Russian right. On December 25th the
Turkish attack began. The Eleventh corps forced back the Russians from
Koprikeui to Khorasan, while the extreme Turkish left was endeavoring to
outflank them. But the weather was desperate. A blizzard was sweeping
down the steeps. The Turkish forces were indeed able to carry out the
plan, for they obtained the position desired. But by this time they were
worn out, and half starved, and their attack on New Year's Day resulted
in their defeat and retreat. The Ninth corps was utterly wiped out, and
the remainder of the Turkish forces driven off in confusion. Only the
strenuous efforts of the Turkish Eleventh corps prevented a debacle.
After a three days' battle it, too, was broken, and with heavy losses it
retreated toward Erzerum. The snowdrifts and blizzards must have
accounted for not less than 50,000 of the Turkish troops. The result of
the battle made Russia safe in the Caucasus.
But the Germans had another use for the Turkish forces. England was in
control of Egypt and the Suez Canal. The German view of England's
position has been well stated by Dr. Paul Rohrbach:
"As soon as England acquired Egypt it was incumbent upon her to guard
against any menace from Asia. Such a danger apparently arose when
Turkey, weakened by her last war with Russia and by difficult conditions
at home, began to turn to Germany for support. And now war has come, and
England is reaping the crops which she has sown. England, not we,
desired this war. She knows this, despite all her hypocritical talk, and
she fears that, as soon as connection is established along the
Berlin-Vienna-Budapest-Sofia-Constantinople Line, the fate of Egypt
may be decided. Through the Suez Canal goes the route to all the lands
surrounding the Indian Ocean, and by way of Singapore to the western
shores of the Pacific. These two worlds together have about nine hundred
million inhabitants, more than half the population of the universe, and
India lies in a controlling position in their midst. Should England lose
the Suez Canal she will be obliged, unlike the powers in control of that
waterway, to use the long route around the Cape of Good Hope, and depend
on the good will of the South African Boers. The majority among the
latter have not the same views as Botha. However, it is too early to
prophesy, and it is not according to German ideas to imitate our
opponents by singing premature paeans of victory. But anyhow we are well
aware why anxious England already sees us on the road to India."
Following out this view a Turkish force was directed toward the Suez
Canal, while the German intriguers did their best to stir up revolt in
Egypt itself. The story of Egypt is one of the most interesting parts of
the world's history. In the early days of the world it led mankind. Its
peculiar geographical position at first gave it strength, and afterward
made it the prize for which all nations were ready to contend. In 1517
the Sultan Selim conquered Egypt and made it part of the Turkish realm,
and in spite of many changes the sovereignty of Constantinople had
continued. In recent years the misgovernment of the Khedive Ismael had
brought into its control France and Britain; then came the deposition of
Ismael, the revolt under Arabi, the bombardment of Alexandria and the
battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Since then Egypt has been occupied by Great
Britain, who restored order, defeated the armies of the Mahdi, and
turned Egyptian bankruptcy into prosperity. Lord Kitchener was the
English hero of the wars with the Mahdi, and Lord Cromer the
administrator who gave the Egyptian peasant a comfort unknown since the
days of the Pharaohs. With prosperity came political agitation, and
Germany, as has been seen, looked upon Egypt as fertile territory for
German propaganda.
Intrigue having failed in Egypt, a Turkish force was directed against
the Suez Canal. If that could be captured Great Britain could be cut off
from India. An expeditionary army of about 65,000 men was gathered under
the command of Djemal Pasha, the former Turkish Minister of Marine. He
had been bitterly indignant at the seizure of the two Turkish
dreadnaughts building in England, and was burning for revenge. But he
found great difficulties before him. To reach the Canal it was necessary
to cross a trackless desert, varying from 120 to 150 miles in width.
Over this desert there were three routes. The first touched the
Mediterranean coast at El-Arish and then went across the desert to
El-Kantara on the Canal, twenty-five miles south of Port Said. On this
route there were only a few wells, quite insufficient for an army. A
second route ran from Akaba, on the Red Sea, across the Peninsula of
Sinai to a point a little north of Suez. This was also badly supplied
with wells. Between the two was the central route. Leaving the
Mediterranean at El-Arish it ran up the valley called the Wady El-Arish
to where that valley touched the second road. There was no railway, nor
were these roads suitable for motor transports; for an army to move it
would be necessary either to build a railway or to improve the roads.
The best route for railway was the Wady El-Arish. The Suez Canal,
moreover, can be easily defended. It is over two hundred feet wide, with
banks rising to a height of forty feet. A railway runs along the whole
Canal, and most of the ground to the east is flat, offering a good field
of fire either to troops on the banks or to ships on the Canal.
A considerable force of British troops, under the command of
Major-General Sir John Maxwell, were assigned for the protection of the
Canal. About the end of October it was reported that 2,000 Bedouins were
marching on the Canal, and on November 21st a skirmish took place
between this force and some of the English troops in which the Bedouins
were repelled. Nothing more was heard for more than two months, but on
January 28, 1915, a small advance party from the Turkish army was beaten
back east of El-Kantara. British airmen watched the desert well and kept
the British army well informed of the Turkish movements. The Turks had
found it impossible to convey their full force across the desert, and
the forces which finally arrived seemed to have numbered only about
twelve thousand men. The main attack was not developed until February
2d.
According to an account in the London Times, on that date, the enemy
began to move toward the Ismailia Ferry. They met a reconnoitering party
of Indian troops of all arms, and a desultory engagement ensued to which
a violent sandstorm put a sudden end about three o'clock in the
afternoon. The main attacking force pushed forward toward its
destination after nightfall. From twenty-five to thirty galvanized iron
pontoon boats, seven and a half meters in length, which had been dragged
in carts across the desert, were hauled by hand toward the water. With
one or two rafts made of kerosene tins in a wooden frame, all was ready
for the attack. The first warning of the enemy's approach was given by a
sentry of a mountain battery who heard, to him, an unknown tongue across
the water. The noise soon increased. It would seem that Mudjah
Ideem--"Holy Warriors"--said to be mostly old Tripoli fighters,
accompanied the pontoon section, and regulars of the Seventy-fifth
regiment, for loud exultations, often in Arabic, of "Brothers, die for
the faith; we can die but once," betrayed the enthusiastic irregular.
The Egyptians waited until the Turks were pushing their boats into the
water, then the Maxims attached to the battery suddenly spoke, and the
guns opened at point-blank range at the men and boats crowded under the
steep bank opposite them. Immediately a violent fire broke out on both
sides of the Canal.
A little torpedo boat with a crew of thirteen, patrolling the Canal,
dashed up and landed a party of four officers and men to the south of
Tussum, who climbed up the eastern bank and found themselves in a
Turkish trench, and escaped by a miracle with the news. Promptly the
midget dashed in between the fires and enfiladed the eastern bank amid a
hail of bullets, and destroyed several pontoon boats lying unlaunched on
the bank. It continued to harass the enemy, though two officers and two
men were wounded.
As the dark, cloudy night lightened toward dawn fresh forces went into
action. The Turks, who occupied the outer, or day, line of the Tussum
post, advanced, covered by artillery, against the Indian troops, holding
the inner or night position, while an Arab regiment advanced against the
Indian troop at the Serapeum post. The warships on the Canal and lake
joined in the fray. The enemy brought some six batteries of field guns
into action from the slopes west of Kataiba-el-kaeli. Shells admirably
fused made fine practice at all the visible targets, but failed to find
the battery above mentioned which with some help from a detachment of
infantry, beat down the fire of the riflemen on the opposite bank and
inflicted heavy losses on the hostile supports advancing toward the
Canal.
Supported by land and naval artillery the Indian troops took the
offensive, the Serapeum garrison, which had stopped the enemy
three-quarters of a mile from the position, cleared its front, and the
Tussum garrison, by a brilliant counter-attack, drove the enemy back.
Two battalions of Anatolians of the Twenty-eighth regiment were thrown
into the fight, but the artillery gave them no chance, and by 3.30 in
the afternoon a third of the enemy, with the exception of a force that
lay hid in bushy hollows on the east bank between the two posts, were in
full retreat, leaving many dead, a large proportion of whom had been
killed by shrapnel. Meanwhile the warships on the lake had been in
action, a salvo from a battleship woke up Ismailia early, and crowds of
soldiers and some civilians climbed every available sand hill to see
what was doing, till the Turkish guns sent shells sufficiently near to
convince them that it was safer to watch from cover.
At about eleven in the morning two six-inch shells hit the Hardinge near
the southern entrance of the lake. They first damaged the funnel, and
the second burst inboard. Pilot Carew, a gallant old merchant seaman,
refused to go below when the firing opened and lost a leg. Nine others
were wounded, one or two merchantmen were hit but no lives were lost. A
British gunboat was struck. Then came a dramatic duel between the
Turkish big gun, or guns, and a warship. The Turks fired just over, and
then just short, at 9,000 yards. The warship sent in a salvo of more
six-inch shells than had been fired that day.
Late in the afternoon of the 3d there was sniping from the east bank
between Tussum and Serapeum, and a man was killed on the tops of a
British battleship. Next morning the sniping was renewed and the Indian
troops, moving out to search the ground, found several hundred of the
enemy in the hollow previously mentioned. During the fighting some of
the enemy, either by accident or design, held up their hands, while
others fired on the Punjabis, who were advancing to take the surrender,
and killed a British officer. A sharp fight with the cold steel
followed, and a British officer killed a Turkish officer with a sword
thrust in single combat. A body of a German officer with a white flag
was afterward found here, but there is no proof that the white flag was
used. Finally all the enemy were killed, captured or put to flight. With
this the fighting ended, and the subsequent operations were confined to
the rounding up of prisoners, and the capture of a considerable amount
of military material left behind. The Turks, who departed with their
guns and baggage during the night of the 3d, still seemed to be moving
eastward.
So ended the battle of the Suez Canal.
Two more incidents in the Turkish campaign remain to be noticed. Report
having come that the town of Akaba on the Red Sea was being used as a
mine-laying station, H. M. S. Minerva visited the place, and found it
occupied by soldiers under a German officer. The Minerva destroyed the
fort and the barracks and the government buildings. Another British
cruiser, with a detachment of Indian troops, captured the Turkish fort
at Sheik Said, at the southern end of the Red Sea. And so for the time
ended all Turkish movements against Great Britain. That such movements
should have been possible seems hard to believe. For a century the
British had been the friends and allies of the Turkish Government. In
the Crimean War their armies had fought side by side with the Turkish
troops against Russia. In the Russo-Turkish War Lord Beaconsfield, in
the negotiations which preceded the treaty of Berlin, had saved for
Turkey much of its territory. It was only the British influence and the
fear of the British power which had prevented Russia from taking
possession of Constantinople a half a century before. The English had
always been popular in Turkey and there was every reason at the
beginning of the war to believe that their popularity had not waned.
There is reason to believe that the average Turk had little sympathy
with the course of his government, and if a free expression of the
popular will had been possible the Turkish army would never have been
sent against either the Englishmen or the Frenchmen. But long years of
German propaganda had done their work. The power of Enver Pasha was
greater than that of the weakling Sultan and the war was forced upon the
Turkish people by German tools and German bribes.
CHAPTER XII
RESCUE OF THE STARVING
The sufferings of Belgium during the German occupation were terrible,
and attracted the attention and the sympathy of the whole world. To
understand conditions it is necessary to know something of the economic
situation. Since it had come under the protection of the Great Powers,
Belgium had developed into one of the greatest manufacturing countries
in the world. Nearly two million of her citizens were employed in the
great industries, and one million two hundred thousand on the farms. She
was peaceful, industrious and happy. But on account of the fact that
more than one-half of her citizenship earned their living by daily labor
she found it impossible to produce foodstuff enough for her own needs.
Seventy-eight per cent of her breadstuffs had to be imported. From her
own fields she could hardly supply her population for more than four
months.
The war, and the German occupation, almost destroyed business. Mines,
workshops, factories and mills were closed. Labor found itself without
employment and consequently without wages. The banks would extend no
credit. But even if there had been money enough it soon became apparent
that the food supply was rapidly going. The German invasion had come
when the crops were standing ripe upon the field. Those crops had not
been reaped, but had been trampled under foot by the hated German.
One feature of Belgian industrial life should be understood. Hundreds of
thousands of her workmen were employed each day in workshops at
considerable distances from their own homes. In times of peace the
morning and evening trains were always crowded with laborers going to
and returning from their daily toil. One of the first things seized upon
by the German officials was the railroads, and it was with great
difficulty that anyone, not belonging to the German army, could obtain
an opportunity to travel at all, and it was with still greater
difficulty that supplies of food of any kind could be transported from
place to place. Every village was cut off from its neighbor, every town
from the next town. People were unable even to obtain news of the great
political events which were occurring from day to day, and the food
supply was automatically cut off.
But this was not the worst. One of the first moves of the German
occupation was to quarter hundreds of thousands of troops upon their
Belgian victims, and these troops must be fed even though the Belgian
and his family were near starvation. Then followed the German seizure of
what they called materials for war. General von Beseler in a despatch to
the Kaiser, after the fall of Antwerp, speaks very plainly:
The war booty taken at Antwerp is enormous--at least five hundred cannon
and huge quantities of ammunition, sanitation materials, high-power
motor cars, locomotives, wagons, four million kilograms of wheat, large
quantities of flour, coal and flax wool, the value of which is estimated
at ten million marks, copper, silver, one armored train, several
hospital trains, and quantities of fish.
The Germans proceeded to commandeer foodstuffs and raw materials of
industry. Linseed oil, oil cakes, nitrates, animal and vegetable oils,
petroleum and mineral oils, wool, copper, rubber, ivory, cocoa, rice,
wine, beer, all were seized and sent home to the Fatherland. Moreover,
cities and provinces were burdened with formidable war contributions.
Brussels was obliged to pay ten million dollars, Antwerp ten million
dollars, the province of Brabant, ninety millions of dollars, Namur and
seventeen surrounding communes six million four hundred thousand
dollars. Finally Governor von Bissing, on the 10th of December, 1914,
issued the following decree:
A war contribution of the amount of eight million dollars to be paid
monthly for one year is imposed upon the population of Belgium. The
payment of these amounts is imposed upon the nine provinces which are
regarded as joint debtors. The two first monthly payments are to be made
by the 15th of January, 1915, at latest, and the following monthly
payments by the tenth of each following month to the military chest of
the Field Army of the General Imperial Government in Brussels. If the
provinces are obliged to resort to the issue of stock with a view to
procuring the necessary funds, the form and terms of these shares will
be determined by the Commissary General for the banks in Belgium.
At a meeting of the Provincial Councils the vice-president declared:
"The Germans demand these $96,000,000 of the country without right and
without reason. Are we to sanction this enormous war tax? If we listened
only to our hearts, we should reply 'No I ninety-six million times no!
because our hearts would tell us we were a small, honest nation living
happily by its free labor; we were a small, honest nation having faith
in treaties and believing in honor; we were a nation unarmed, but full
of confidence, when Germany suddenly hurled two million men upon our
frontiers, the most brutal army that the world has ever seen, and said
to us, 'Betray the promise you have given. Let my armies go by, that I
may crush France, and I will give you gold.' Belgium replied, 'Keep your
gold. I prefer to die, rather than live without honor.' The German army
has, therefore, crushed our country in contempt of solemn treaties. 'It
is an injustice,' said the Chancellor of the German Empire. 'The
position of Germany has forced us to commit it, but we will repair the
wrong we have done to Belgium by the passage of our armies.' They want
to repair the injustice as follows: Belgium will pay Germany
$96,000,000! Give this proposal your vote. When Galileo had discovered
the fact that the earth moved around the sun, he was forced at the foot
of the stake to abjure his error, but he murmured, 'Nevertheless it
moves.' Well, gentlemen, as I fear a still greater misfortune for my
country I consent to the payment of the $96,000,000 and I cry
'Nevertheless it moves.' Long live our country in spite of all."
At the end of a year von Bissing renewed this assessment, inserting in
his decree the statement that the decree was based upon article
forty-nine of The Hague Convention, relating to the laws and usages of
war on land. This article reads as follows: "If in addition to the taxes
mentioned in the above article the occupant levies other moneyed
contributions in the occupied territory, they shall only be applied to
the needs of the army, or of the administration, of the territory in
question." In the preceding article it says: "If in the territory
occupied the occupant collects the taxes, dues and tolls payable to the
state, he shall do so as far as possible in accordance with the legal
basis and assessment in force at the time, and shall in consequence be
bound to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied
territories to the same extent as the National Government had been so
bound."
The $96,000,000 per annum was more than six times the amount of the
direct taxes formerly collected by the Belgian state, taxes which the
German administration, moreover, collected in addition to the war
assessment. It was five times as great as the ordinary expenditure of
the Belgian War Department.
[Illustration: Map: Denmark on the North, Elbe River on the East,
Switzerland on the South, Eastern England on the West.]
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN AND ALSACE-LORRAINE ACQUISITIONS
But this was not all. In addition to the more or less legitimate German
methods of plunder the whole country had been pillaged. In many towns
systematic pillage began as soon as the Germans took possession. At
Louvain the pillage began on the 27th of August, 1914, and lasted a
week. In small bands the soldiers went from house to house, ransacked
drawers and cupboards, broke open safes, and stole money, pictures,
curios, silver, linen, clothing, wines, and food. Great loads of such
plunder were packed on military baggage wagons and sent to Germany. The
same conditions were reported from town after town. In many cases the
houses were burnt to destroy the proof of extensive thefts.
Nor were these offenses committed only by the common soldiers. In many
cases the officers themselves sent home great collections of plunder.
Even the Royal Family were concerned in this disgraceful performance.
After staying for a week in a chateau in the Liege District, His
Imperial Highness, Prince Eitel Fritz and the Duke of Brunswick, had all
the dresses which were found in a wardrobe sent back to Germany. This is
said to be susceptible of absolute proof.
In addition to this form of plunder special pretexts were made use of to
obtain money. At Arlon a telephone wire was broken, whereupon the town
was given four hours to pay a fine of $20,000 in gold, in default of
which one hundred houses would be sacked. When the payment was made
forty-seven houses had already been plundered. Instance after instance
could be given of similar unjustifiable and exorbitant fines.
Under treatment like this Belgium was brought in a short time into
immediate sight of starvation. They made frantic appeals for help. First
they appealed to the Germans, but the German authorities did nothing,
though in individual cases German soldiers shared their army rations
with the people. Then an appeal was made to Holland, but Holland was a
nation much like Belgium. It did not raise food enough for itself, and
was not sure that it could import enough for its own needs.
From all over Belgium appeals were sent from the various towns and
villages to Brussels. But Brussels, too, was face to face with famine.
To cope with famine there were many relief organizations in Belgium.
Every little town had its relief committee, and in the larger cities
strong branches of the Red Cross did what they could. Besides such
secular organizations, there were many religious organizations,
generally under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church.
In Brussels a strong volunteer relief organization was formed on
September 5th under the patronage of the American and Spanish Ministers,
Mr. Brand Whitlock and the Marquis of Villalobar. This committee, known
as the Central Relief Committee, or more exactly La Comite Central de
Secours et d'Alimentation pour l'Agglomeration bruxelloise, did
wonderful work until the end of the war. But though there was plenty of
organization there were great difficulties ahead.
In order to import food, credit had to be established abroad, permission
had to be obtained to transport food stuffs into Belgium through the
British blockade. Permission to use the railroads and canals of Belgium
had to be obtained from Germany, and, most important of all, it had to
be made certain that no food thus imported should be seized by the
German troops.
Through the American and Spanish ministers permission was obtained from
Governor-General Kolmar von der Goltz to import food, and the
Governor-General also gave assurance that, "Foodstuffs of all sorts
imported by the committee to assist the civil population shall be
reserved exclusively for the nourishment of the civil population of
Belgium, and that consequently these foodstuffs shall be exempt from
requisition on the part of the military authorities, and shall rest
exclusively at the disposition of the committee."
With this assurance the Central Relief Committee sent Emil Francqui and
Baron Lambert, members of their committee, together with Mr. Hugh
Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, whose activities in behalf
of Belgium attracted much favorable notice, to the city of London, to
explain to the British Government the suffering that existed in Belgium,
and to obtain permission to transport food through the British blockade.
In the course of this work they appealed to the American Ambassador in
England, Mr. Walter Hines Page, and were introduced by him to an
American mining engineer named Herbert Clark Hoover, who had just become
prominent as the chairman of a committee to assist Americans who had
found themselves in Europe when the war broke out, and had been unable
to secure funds.
Mr. Hoover took up the matter with great vigor, and organized an
American committee under the patronage of the ministers of the United
States and of Spain in London, Berlin, The Hague and Brussels, which
committee obtained permission from the British Government to purchase
and transport through the British blockade, to Rotterdam, Holland,
cargoes of foodstuffs, to be ultimately transferred into Belgium and
distributed by the Belgian Central Relief Committee under the direction
of American citizens headed by Mr. Brand Whitlock.
[Illustration: Painting: Several ships and two airplanes.]
AN AIRPLANE CONVOY
Food ships successfully convoyed by seaplanes in clear weather when
submarines were easier to detect.
188 HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR
[Illustration: Painting]
BRITISH LIGHT ARTILLERY GETTING IN ON THE GALLOP
Always the guns must follow closely in the wake of the infantry to
break up German counter attacks and hold the ground gained. Here a
detachment of the Royal Horse Artillery storms through a deserted
Flanders village, straining every nerve to save those few seconds that
may mean the saving or the loss of the new positions won.
The following brief notices, in connection with this committee appeared
in the London Times:
October 24 1914.--A commission has been set up in London, under the
title of The American Commission for Relief in Belgium. The Brussels
committee reports feeding 300,000 daily.
November 4.--The Commission for Relief in Belgium yesterday issued their
first weekly report, 3 London Wall Buildings. A cargo was received
yesterday at Brussels just in time. Estimated monthly requirements,
60,000 tons grain, 15,000 tons maize, 3,000 tons rice and peas. Approved
by the Spanish and American ministers, Brussels.
The personality of the various gentlemen who devoted themselves to
Belgian relief is interesting, not only because of what they did, but
because they are unusual men. The Spanish Minister, who bore the
peculiar name of Marquis of Villalobar y O'Neill, had the appearance of
an Irishman, as he was on the maternal side, and was a trained diplomat,
with delightful manners and extraordinary strength of character. Another
important aid in the Belgian relief work was the Mexican Charge
d'Affaires Senor don German Bulle. Hugh Gibson, secretary of the
American Legation, wittily described this gentleman as the
"representative of a country without a government to a government
without a country." The businessman in the American Legation was this
secretary. Mr. Gibson had the appearance of a typical Yankee, though he
came from Indiana. He was about thirty years old, with dark eyes, crisp
hair, and a keen face. He was noted for his wit as well as his courage.
Many interesting stories are told of him. He had been often under fire,
and he was full of stories of his exploits told in a witty and modest
way.
The following incident shows something of his humor. Like most of the
Americans in Belgium he was followed by spies. With one of these Gibson
became on the most familiar terms, much to the spy's disgust. One very
rainy day, when Gibson was at the Legation, he discovered his pet spy
standing under the dripping eaves of a neighboring house. Gibson picked
up a raincoat and hurried over to the man.
"Look here, old fellow," said he, "I'm going to be in the Legation for
three hours. You put on this coat and go home. Come back in three hours
and I'll let you watch me for the rest of the day."
Mr. Brand Whitlock, the American Minister, was a remarkable man. Before
coming to Belgium he had become a distinguished man of letters.
Beginning as a newspaper reporter in Chicago, he had studied law and
been admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1894, and to the Bar of the State
of Ohio in 1897. He had entered into politics, and been elected mayor of
Toledo, Ohio, in 1905, again in 1907, 1909 and 1911. Meanwhile he had
been writing novels, "The Thirteenth District," "The Turn of the
Balance," "The Fall Guy," and "Forty Years of It." He had accepted the
appointment of American Minister to Belgium with the idea that he would
find leisure for other literary work, but the outbreak of the war
affected him deeply. A man of a sympathetic character who had lived all
his life in an amiable atmosphere, had been a member of prison reform
associations and charitable societies, he now found himself surrounded
by a storm of horrors. Day by day he had to see the distress and
suffering of thousands of people. He threw himself at once into the work
of relief. His health was not strong and he always looked tired and
worn. He was the scholarly type of man, the kind who would be happy in a
library, or in the atmosphere of a college, but he rose to the
emergency.
The American Legation became the one staple point around which the
starving and suffering population could rally. Belgians will never
forget what he did in those days. On Washington's Birthday they filed
before the door of the American Legation at Number 74 Rue de Treves,
men, women and children of all classes; some in furs, some in the
garments of the poor; noblemen, scholars, workmen, artists, shopkeepers
and peasants to leave their visiting cards, some engraved, some printed
and some written on pieces of paper, in tribute to Mr. Whitlock and the
nation which he represented.
But the man whose name stands cut above all others as one of the biggest
figures in connection with the work of relief was Mr. Herbert C. Hoover.
Mr. Hoover came of Quaker stock. He was born at West Branch, Iowa, in
1874, graduated from Leland Stanford University in 1895, specialized in
mining engineering, and spent several years in mining in the United
States and in Australia. He married Miss Lou Henry, of Monterey,
California, in 1899, and with his bride went to China as chief engineer
of the Chinese Imperial Bureau of Mines. He aided in the defense of
Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion. After that he continued engineering
work in China until 1902, when he became a partner of the firm of
Bewick, Moreing & Co., mine operators, of London, and was consulting
engineer for more than fifty mining companies. He looked extremely
youthful; smooth shaven, with a straight nose, and a strong mouth and
chin. To him, more than anyone else, was due the creation and the
success of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. The splendid
organization which saved from so much suffering more than seven million
non-combatants in Belgium and two million in Northern France, was his
achievement.
A good story is told in the Outlook of September 8, 1915, which
illustrates his methods. It seems that before the commission was fairly
on its feet, there came a day when it was a case of snarling things in
red tape and letting Belgium starve, or getting food shipped and letting
governments howl. Hoover naturally chose the latter.
When the last bag had been stowed and the hatches were battened down
(writes Mr. Lewis R. Freeman, who tells the story), Hoover went in
person to the one Cabinet Minister able to arrange for the only things
he could not provide for himself--clearance papers.
"If I do not get four cargoes of food to Belgium by the end of the
week," he said bluntly, "thousands are going to die from starvation, and
many more may be shot in food riots."
"Out of the question," said the distinguished Minister; "there is no
time, in the first place, and if there was, there are no good wagons to
be spared by the railways, no dock hands, and no steamers. Moreover, the
Channel is closed for a week to merchant vessels, while troops are being
transferred to the Continent."
"I have managed to get all these things," Hoover replied quietly, "and
am now through with them all, except the steamers. This wire tells me
that these are now loaded and ready to sail, and I have come to have you
arrange for their clearance."
The great man gasped. "There have been--there are even now--men in the
Tower for less than you have done!" he ejaculated. "If it was for
anything but Belgium Relief--if it was anybody but you, young man--I
should hate to think of what might happen. As it is--er--I suppose
there is nothing to do but congratulate you on a jolly clever coup. I'll
see about the clearance at once."
Mr. Lloyd George tells the following story: It seems that the Commission
on Belgian Relief was attempting to simplify its work by arranging for
an extension of exchange facilities on Brussels. Mr. Lloyd George, then
Chancellor of the Exchequer, sent for Hoover. What happened is told in
Mr. George's words:
"'Mr. Hoover,' I said, 'I find I am quite unable to grant your request
in the matter of Belgian exchange, and I have asked you to come here
that I might explain why.'
"Without waiting for me to go on, my boyish-looking caller began
speaking. For fifteen minutes he spoke without a break--just about the
clearest expository utterance I have ever heard on any subject. He used
not a word too much, nor yet a word too few. By the time he had finished
I had come to realize, not only the importance of his contentions, but,
what was more to the point, the practicability of granting his request.
So I did the only thing possible under the circumstance, told him I had
never understood the question before, thanked him for helping me to
understand, and saw to it that things were arranged as he wanted them."
On April 10, 1915, a submarine torpedoed one of the food ships chartered
by the commission. A week later a German hydro-airplane tried to drop
bombs on the deck of another commission ship. So Hoover paid a flying
visit to Berlin. He was at once assured that no more incidents of the
sort would occur.
"Thanks," said Hoover. "Your Excellency, have you heard the story of the
man who was nipped by a bad-tempered dog? He went to the owner to have
the dog muzzled. 'But the dog won't bite you,' insisted the owner. 'You
know he won't bite me, and I know he won't bite me,' said the injured
party doubtfully, 'but the question is, does the dog know?'"
"Herr Hoover," said the high official, "pardon me if I leave you for a
moment. I am going at once to 'let the dog know.'"
This story, which is told by Mr. Edward Eyre Hunt in his delightful book
about Belgium, "War Bread," may be apocryphal, but it illustrates well
Hoover's habit of getting exactly what he wants.
When Mr. Hoover accepted the chairmanship of the Commission for Relief
in Belgium he established his headquarters at 3 London Wall Buildings,
London, England, and marshaled a small legion of fellow Americans,
business men, sanitary experts, doctors and social workers, who, as
unpaid volunteers, set about the great task of feeding the people of
Belgium and Northern France. The commission soon became a great
institution, recognized by all governments, receiving contributions from
all parts of the earth, with its own ships in every big port, and in the
eyes of the Belgians and French, who received their daily bread through
its agency, a monument of what Americans could do in social organization
and business efficiency, for Americans furnished the entire personnel of
the commission from the beginning.
The commission was a distinct organization from the Belgian National
Committee, through and with which it worked in Belgium itself. Its
functions were those of direction, and supervision of all matters that
had to be dealt with outside Belgium. In the occupied territories it had
the help of thousands of Belgian and French workers, many of them women.
The commission did not depend, according to Mr. Hoover, on anyone of its
American members for leadership. Anyone of them could at any time take
charge and carry on the work. "Honold, Poland, Gregory, Brown, Kellogg,
Lucey, White, Hunsiker, Connet, and many others who, at various periods,
have given of their great ability and experience in administration could
do it." At the same time it was admitted that the commission would never
have been so successful if Belgium had not already had in existence a
well-developed communal system. The base of the commission's
organization was a committee in every commune or municipality.
"You can have no idea what a great blessing it was in Belgium and
Northern France to have the small and intimate divisions which exist
under the communal system," said Mr. Hoover. "It is the whole unit of
life, and a political entity much more developed than in America. It has
been not only the basis of our relief organization, but the salvation of
the people."
Altogether there were four thousand communal committees linked up in
larger groups under district and provincial committees, which in turn
came under the Belgian National Committee. Contributions were received
from all over the world, but the greater part from the British and
French governments.
When Mr. Hoover began his work he appealed to the people of the United
States, but the American response to the appeal was sadly disappointing.
During his stay in America, in the early part of 1917, Mr. Hoover
expressed himself on the subject of his own country's niggardliness,
pointing out at the same time that the chief profits made out of
providing food for Belgium had gone into American pockets. Out of the
two hundred and fifty millions of dollars spent by the commission at
that time, one hundred and fifty millions had been used in the United
States to purchase supplies and on these orders America had made a war
profit of at least thirty million dollars. Yet in those two years the
American people had contributed only nine million dollars!
Mr. Hoover declared: "Thousands of contributions have come to us from
devoted people all over the United States, but the truth is that, with
the exception of a few large gifts, American contributions have been
little rills of charity of the poor toward the poor. Everywhere abroad
America has been getting the credit for keeping alight the lamp of
humanity, but what are the facts? America's contributions have been
pitifully inadequate and, do not forget it, other peoples have begun to
take stock of us. We have been getting all the credit. Have we deserved
it? We lay claim to idealism, to devotion to duty and to great
benevolence, but now the acid test is being applied to us. This has a
wider import than mere figures. Time and time again, when the door to
Belgium threatened to close, we have defended its portals by the
assertion that this was an American enterprise; that the sensibilities
of the American people would be wounded beyond measure, would be
outraged, if this work were interfered with. Our moral strength has been
based upon this assertion. I believe it is true, but it is difficult in
the face of the figures to carry conviction. And in the last six or
eight months time and again we have felt our influence slip from under
us."
The statement that Germans had taken food intended for the Belgians was
disposed of by Mr. Hoover in a speech in New York City. "We are
satisfied," he said, "that the German army has never eaten one-tenth of
one per cent of the food provided. The Allied governments never would
have supplied us with two hundred million dollars if we were supplying
the German army. If the Germans had absorbed any considerable quantity
of this food the population of Belgium would not be alive today."
The plan of operation of the Belgian Commission needs some description.
Besides the headquarters in London there was an office in Brussels, and,
as Rotterdam was the port of entry for all Belgian supplies, a
transshipping office for commission goods was opened in that city. The
office building was at 98 Haringvliet, formerly the residence of a Dutch
merchant prince.
Captain J. F. Lucey, the first Rotterdam director, sat in a roomy office
on the second floor overlooking the Meuse. From his windows he could see
the commission barges as they left for Belgium, their huge canvas flags
bearing the inscription "Belgian Relief Committee." He was a nervous,
big, beardless American, a volunteer who had left his business to
organize and direct a great transshipping office in an alien land for an
alien people.
Out of nothing he created a large staff of clerks, wrung from the Dutch
Government special permits, loaded the immense cargoes received from
England into canal boats, obtained passports for cargoes and crews, and
shipped the foodstuffs consigned personally to Mr. Brand Whitlock.
Something of what was done at this point may be understood from a
reference in the first annual report of the commission published October
31, 1915:
The chartering and management of an entire fleet of vessels, together
with agency control practically throughout the world, has been carried
out for the commission quite free of the usual charges by large
transportation firms who offered these concessions in the cause of
humanity. Banks generally have given their exchange services and have
paid the full rate of interest on deposits. Insurance has been
facilitated by the British Government Insurance Commissioners, and the
firms who fixed the insurance have subscribed the equivalent of their
fees. Harbor dues and port charges have been remitted at many points and
stevedoring firms have made important concessions in rates and have
afforded other generous services. In Holland, exemption from harbor dues
and telegraph tolls has been granted and rail transport into Belgium
provided free of charge. The total value of these Dutch concessions is
estimated at 147,824 guilders. The German military authorities in
Belgium have abolished custom and canal dues on all commission imports,
have reduced railway rates one-half and on canals and railways they give
right of way to commission foodstuffs wherever there is need.
By mid-November gift ships from the United States were on their way to
Rotterdam, but the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was first in the
transatlantic race.
One of the most thrilling experiences of the first year's work was the
coming of the Christmas ship, a steamer full of Christmas gifts
presented by the children of America to the children of war-ridden
Belgium. The children knew all about it long before the ship arrived in
Rotterdam. St. Nicholas' day had brought them few presents. They were
hungry for friendliness, and the thought of getting gifts from children
across the sea filled them with joy.
Many difficulties arose, which delayed the distribution of these gifts.
The Germans insisted that every package should be opened and every scrap
of writing taken out before the gifts were sent into Belgium. This was a
tremendous task, for notes written by American children were tucked away
into all sorts of impossible places.
Three motor boats made an attempt to carry these gifts into Belgium by
Christmas day. They carried boxes of clothing, outfits for babies,
blankets, caps, bonnets, cloaks, shoes of every description, babies'
boots, candy, fish, striped candy canes, chocolates and mountains of
nuts, nuts such as the Belgians had never seen in their lives before:
pecans, hickory nuts, American walnuts, and peanuts galore. There were
scores of dolls, French bisques, smiling pleasantly, pop-eyed rag dolls,
old darky mammy dolls, and Santa Clauses, teddy bears, picture books,
fairy books and story books.
One child had written on the cover of her book: "Father says I ought to
send you my best picture book, but I think that this one will do."
These gifts made the American aid to Belgium a thousand times more
intimate and real, and never after that was American help thought of in
other terms than those of burning gratitude. Among these gifts were
hundreds of American flags, which soon became familiar to all Belgium.
The commission automobiles bore the flag, and the children would
recognize the Stars and Stripes and wave and cheer as it went by.
Thousands upon thousands of gifts to the Belgian people followed the
Christmas ship. All, or a great part, of the cargoes of one hundred and
two ships consisted of gift goods from America and indeed from all parts
of the world, and the Belgians sent back a flood of acknowledgments and
thousands of beautiful souvenirs. Some of the most touching remembrances
came from the children. Every child in the town of Tamise, for example,
wrote a letter to America.
One addressed to the President of the United States reads as follows:
Highly Honored Mr. President: Although I am still very young I feel
already that feeling of thankfulness which we, as Belgians, owe to you,
Highly Honored Mr. President, because you have come to our help in these
dreary times. Without your help there would certainly have been
thousands of war victims, and so, Noble Sir, I pray that God will bless
you and all the noble American people. That is the wish of all the
Belgian folk.
On New Year's day Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, issued his
famous pastoral:
Belgium gave her word of honor to defend her independence. She has kept
her word. The other powers had agreed to protect and to respect
Belgium's neutrality. Germany has broken her word, England has been
faithful to it. These are the facts. I consider it an obligation of my
pastoral charge to define to you your conscientious duties toward the
power which has invaded our soil, and which for the moment occupies the
greater part of it. This power has no authority, and, therefore, in the
depth of your heart, you should render it neither esteem, nor
attachment, nor respect. The only legitimate power in Belgium is that
which belongs to our King, to his government, to the representatives of
the nation; that alone is authority for us; that alone has a right to
our heart's affection and to our submission.
Cardinal Mercier was called the bravest man in Belgium. Six feet five in
height, a thin, scholarly face, with grayish white hair, and a forehead
so white that one feels one looks on the naked bone, he presented the
appearance of some medieval ascetic. But there was a humorous look about
his mouth, and an expression of sympathy and comprehension which gave
the effect of a keenly intelligent, as well as gentle, leader of the
nation.
At the beginning of the war the Roman Catholic party was divided. Some
of its leaders were opposed to resistance to the invaders. Many priests
fled before the German armies. But the pastoral letter of Cardinal
Mercier restored to the Church its old leadership. In him conquered
Belgium had found a voice.
On New Year's Sunday, 1915, every priest at the Mass read out the
Cardinal's ringing challenge. There were German soldiers in the
churches, but no word of the letter had been allowed to reach the ears
of the authorities, and the Germans were taken completely by surprise.
Immediately orders came from headquarters prohibiting further
circulation of the letter, and ordering that every copy should be
surrendered to the authorities. Soldiers at the bayonet's point extorted
the letter from the priests, and those who had read it were put under
arrest. Yet, somehow, copies of the letter were circulated throughout
Belgium, and every Belgian took new heart.
As far as the Cardinal was concerned German action was a very delicate
matter. They could not arrest and imprison so great a dignitary of the
Church for fear of the effect, not only upon the Catholics of the outer
world, but on the Catholics in their own empire. An officer was sent to
the Cardinal to demand that the letter be recalled. The Cardinal
refused. He was then notified that it was desired that he remain in his
palace for the present. His confinement lasted only for a day.
The Americans who were in Belgium as representatives of the Relief
Commission had two duties. First, to see that the Germans did not seize
any of the food supplies, and second, to see that every Belgian who was
in need should receive his daily bread. The ration assigned to each
Belgian was 250 grams of bread per day. This seems rather small, but the
figure was established by Horace Fletcher, the American food expert, who
was one of the members of the commission.
Mr. Fletcher also prepared a pamphlet on food values, which gave recipes
for American dishes which were up to that time unknown to the Belgians.
He soon got not only the American but the Belgian committeemen talking
of calories with great familiarity.
Some of the foods sent from America were at first almost useless to the
Belgians. They did not know how to cook cornmeal and oatmeal, and some
of the famished peasants used them as feed for chickens. Teachers had to
be sent out through the villages to give instructions.
A great deal of difficulty developed in connection with the bread. The
supply of white flour was limited; wheat had to be imported, and milled
in Belgium. It was milled so as to contain all the bran except ten per
cent, but in some places ten or fifteen per cent of cornmeal was added
to the flour, not only to enable the commission to provide the necessary
ration, but also to keep down the price. As a result the price of bread
was always lower in Belgium than in London, Paris or New York.
Much less trouble occurred in connection with the distribution of bread
and soup from the soup kitchens. In Antwerp thirty-five thousand men
were fed daily at these places. At first it often occurred that soup
could be had, but no bread. The ration of soup and bread given in the
kitchens cost about ten cents a day. There were four varieties of soup,
pea, bean, vegetable and bouillon, and it was of excellent quality.
Every person carried a card with blank spaces for the date of the
deliveries of soup. There were several milk kitchens maintained for the
children, and several restaurants where persons with money might obtain
their food.
It was necessary not only to fight starvation in Belgium but also
disease. There were epidemics of typhoid and black measles. The
Rockefeller Foundation established a station in Rotterdam called the
Rockefeller Foundation War Relief Commission, and some of the women
among its workers acted as volunteer health officers. People were
inoculated against typhoid, and the sources of infection traced and
destroyed. Another form of relief work was providing labor for the
unemployed. A plan of relief was drawn up and it was arranged that a
large portion of them should be employed by the communal organizations,
in public works, such as draining, ditching, constructing embankments
and building sewers. The National Committee paid nine-tenths of the
wages, the commune paying the other tenth. The first enrolment of
unemployed amounted to more than 760,000 names, and nearly as many
persons were dependent upon these workers.
Providing employment for these led to certain complications. The Germans
had been able up to this time to secure a certain amount of labor from
the Belgians. Now the Belgian could refuse to work for the German, and a
great deal of tact was necessary to prevent trouble. As time went on the
relief work of the Commission was extended into the north of France,
where a population of more than 2,000,000 was within the German zone.
The work was handled in the same way, with the same guarantees from
Germany.
In conclusion a word may be said of the effect of all this suffering
upon the Belgian people, and let a Belgian speak, who knew his country
well and had traveled it over, going on foot, as he says, or by tram,
from town to town, from village to village:
"I have seen and spoken with hundreds of men of all classes and all
parts of the country, and all these people, taken singly or united in
groups, display a very definite frame of mind. To describe this new
psychology we must record the incontestably closer union which has been
formed between the political sections of the country. There are no
longer any political parties, there are Belgians in Belgium, and that is
all; Belgians better acquainted with their country, feeling for it an
impulse of passionate tenderness such as a child might feel who saw his
mother suffering for the first time, and on his account. Walloons and
Flemings, Catholics and Liberals or Socialists, all are more and more
frankly united in all that concerns the national life and decisions for
the future.
"By uniting the whole nation and its army, by shedding the blood of all
our Belgians in every corner of the country, by forcing all hearts, all
families, to follow with anguish the movement of those soldiers who
fought from Liege to Namur, from Wavre to Antwerp or the Oise, the war
has suddenly imposed wider horizons upon all, has inspired all minds
with noble and ardent passions, has compelled the good will of all to
combine and act in concert in order to defend the common interests.
"Of these profoundly tried minds, of these wonderful energies now
employed for the first time, of these atrocious sufferings which have
brought all hearts into closer contact, a new Belgium is born, a
greater, more generous, more ideal Belgium."
CHAPTER XIII
BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES
The month of October, 1914, contained no important naval contests. On
the 15th, the old British cruiser Hawke was torpedoed in the North Sea
and nearly five hundred men were lost. On the other hand, on the 17th of
October, the light cruiser Undaunted, accompanied by the destroyers,
Lance, Legion and Loyal, sank four German destroyers off the Dutch
coast. But the opening of November turned the interest of the navy to
the Southern Pacific. When the war began Admiral von Spee, with the
German Pacific squadron, was at Kiaochau in command of seven vessels.
Among these was the Emden, whose adventurous career has been already
described. Another, the Karlsruhe, became a privateer in the South
Atlantic.
Early in August von Spee set sail from Kiaochau with two armored
cruisers, the Gneisenau and the Scharnhorst and three light cruisers,
the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurmberg. These ships were comparatively new,
well armed, and of considerable speed. They set off for the great trade
highways to destroy, as far as possible, British commerce. Their route
led them to the western coast of South America, and arrangements were
made so that they were coaled and provisioned from bases in some of the
South American states which permitted a slack observance of the laws
respecting the duties of neutrals.
A small British squadron had been detailed to protect British commerce
in this part of the world. It was commanded by Rear Admiral Sir
Christopher Cradock, a distinguished and popular sailor, who had under
his command one twelve-year-old battleship, the Canopus, two armored
cruisers, the Good Hope and the Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and
an armed liner, the Otranto. None of these vessels had either great
speed or heavy armament. The equipment of the Canopus, indeed, was
obsolete. Admiral Cradock's squadron arrived at Halifax on August 14th,
thence sailed to Bermuda, then on past Venezuela and Brazil around the
Horn. It visited the Falkland Islands, and by the third week of October
was on the coast of Chile. The Canopus had dropped behind for repairs,
and though reinforcements were expected, they had not yet arrived.
One officer wrote, on the 12th of October, "From now till the end of the
month is the critical time, as it will decide whether we shall have to
fight a superior German force from the Pacific before we can get
reinforcements from home or the Mediterranean. We feel that the
admiralty ought to have a better force here, but we shall fight
cheerfully whatever odds we have to face."
Admiral Cradock knew well that his enemy was superior in force. From
Coronel, where he sent off some cables, he went north on the first of
November, and about four o'clock in the afternoon the Glasgow sighted
the enemy. The two big German armored cruisers were leading the way, and
two light cruisers were following close. The German cruiser Leipzig does
not seem to have been in company. The British squadron was led by the
Good Hope, with the Monmouth, Glasgow and Otranto following in order. It
was a beautiful spectacle. The sun was setting in the wonderful glory
which one sees in the Pacific, and the British ships, west of the
German, must have appeared to them in brilliant colors. On the east were
the snowy peaks of the Andes. Half a gale was blowing and the two
squadrons moved south at great speed. About seven o'clock they were
about seven miles apart and the Scharnhorst, which was leading the
German fleet, opened fire. At this time the Germans were shaded by the
inshore twilight, but the British ships must have showed up plainly in
the afterglow. The enemy fired with great accuracy. Shell after shell
hit the Good Hope and the Monmouth, but the bad light and inferior guns
saved the German ships from much damage. The Good Hope was set on fire
and at 7.50 exploded and sank. The Monmouth was also on fire, and turned
away to the western sea. The Glasgow had escaped so far, but the whole
German squadron bore down upon her. She turned and fled and by nine
o'clock was out of sight of the enemy. The Otranto, only an armed liner,
had disappeared early in the fight. On the following day the Glasgow
worked around to the south, and joined the Canopus, and the two
proceeded to the Straits of the Magellan. The account of this battle by
the German Admiral von Spee is of especial interest:
"Wind and swell were head on, and the vessels had heavy going,
especially the small cruisers on both sides. Observation and distance
estimation were under a severe handicap because of the seas which washed
over the bridges. The swell was so great that it obscured the aim of the
gunners at the six-inch guns on the middle deck, who could not see the
sterns of the enemy ships at all, and the bows but seldom. At 6.20 P.
M., at a distance of 13,400 yards, I turned one point toward the enemy,
and at 6.34 opened fire at a distance of 11,260 yards. The guns of both
our armored cruisers were effective, and at 6.39 already we could note
the first hit on the Good Hope. I at once resumed a parallel course,
instead of bearing slightly toward the enemy. The English opened their
fire at this time. I assume that the heavy sea made more trouble for
them than it did for us. Their two armored cruisers remained covered by
our fire, while they, so far as could be determined, hit the Scharnhorst
but twice, and the Gneisenau only four times. At 6.53, when 6,500 yards
apart, I ordered a course one point away from the enemy. They were
firing more slowly at this time, while we were able to count numerous
hits. We could see, among other things, that the top of the Monmouth's
forward turret had been shot away, and that a violent fire was burning
in the turret. The Scharnhorst, it is thought, hit the Good Hope about
thirty-five times. In spite of our altered course the English changed
theirs sufficiently so that the distance between us shrunk to 5,300
yards. There was reason to suspect that the enemy despaired of using his
artillery effectively, and was maneuvering for a torpedo attack.
"The position of the moon, which had risen at six o'clock, was favorable
to this move. Accordingly I gradually opened up further distances
between the squadrons by another deflection of the leading ship, at
7.45. In the meantime it had grown dark. The range finders on the
Scharnhorst used the fire on the Monmouth as a guide for a time, though
eventually all range finding, aiming and observations became so inexact
that fire was stopped at 7.26. At 7.23 a column of fire from an
explosion was noticed between the stacks of the Good Hope. The Monmouth
apparently stopped firing at 7.20. The small cruisers, including the
Nuremburg, received by wireless at 7.30 the order to follow the enemy
and to attack his ships with torpedoes. Vision was somewhat obscured at
this time by a rain squall. The light cruisers were not able to find the
Good Hope, but the Nuremburg encountered the Monmouth and at 8.58 was
able, by shots at closest range, to capsize her, without a single shot
being fired in return. Rescue work in the heavy sea was not to be
thought of, especially as the Nuremburg immediately afterward believed
she had sighted the smoke of another ship and had to prepare for another
attack. The small cruisers had neither losses nor damage in the battle.
On the Gneisenau there were two men slightly wounded. The crews of the
ships went into the fight with enthusiasm, everyone did his duty, and
played his part in the victory."
Little criticism can be made of the tactics used by Vice-Admiral Spee.
He appears to have maneuvered so as to secure the advantage of light,
wind and sea. He also seems to have suited himself as regards the range.
Admiral Cradock was much criticised for joining battle with his little
fleet against such odds, but he followed the glorious traditions of the
English navy. He, and 1,650 officers and men, were lost, and the news
was hailed as a great German victory. But the British admiralty were
thoroughly roused. Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, chief of
the war staff, proceeded at once with a squadron to the South Atlantic.
With him were two battle cruisers, the Invincible and the Inflexible,
three armored cruisers, the Carnovan, the Kent and the Cornwall. His
fleet was joined by the light cruiser Bristol and the armed liner
Macedonia. The Glasgow, fresh from her rough experience, was found in
the South Atlantic. Admiral Sturdee then laid his plans to come in touch
with the victorious German squadron. A wireless message was sent to the
Canopus, bidding her proceed to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
This message was intercepted by the Germans, as was intended.
[Illustration: Photograph]
Copyright International News Service
THE SINKING OF THE GERMAN CRUISER "BLUECHER"
This dramatic photograph from the great North Sea Battle in 1915 shows
the stricken ship just as she turned turtle and was about to sink.
Officers and men can be seen swarming like ants on the upper side of
the hull. Others, who either fell or preferred to take their chance in
the sea, are shown swimming away from the wreck.
[Illustration: Painting]
GERMANY BRINGS THE WAR TO EAST COAST TOWNS OF ENGLAND
By raids with light cruisers on the coast towns, and Zeppelins and
airplanes further inland, Germany sought to frighten the British
populace. At Hartlepool, where this scene was enacted, several
civilians, some of them women and children, were killed by bursting
shells of the raiders.
Admiral von Spee, fearing the Japanese fleet, was already headed for
Cape Horn. He thought that the Canopus could be easily captured at Port
Stanley, and he started at once to that port. Admiral Sturdee's
expedition had been kept profoundly secret. On December 7th the British
squadron arrived at Port Stanley, and spent the day coaling. The
Canopus, the Glasgow and the Bristol were in the inner harbor, while the
remaining vessels lay outside. On December 8th, Admiral von Spee arrived
from the direction of Cape Horn. The battle that followed is thoroughly
described in the report of Vice-Admiral Sturdee from which the
following extracts have been made:
"At 8 A. M., Tuesday, December 8th, a signal was received from the
signal station on shore. 'A four-funnel and two-funnel man-of-war in
sight from Sapper Hill steering north.' The Kent was at once ordered to
weigh anchor, and a general signal was made to raise steam for full
speed. At 8.20 the signal service station reported another column of
smoke in sight, and at 8.47 the Canopus reported that the first two
ships were eight miles off, and that the smoke reported at 8.20 appeared
to be the smoke of two ships about twenty miles off. At 9.20 A. M. the
two leading ships of the enemy, the Gneisenau and Nuremburg, with guns
trained on the wireless station, came within range of the Canopus, which
opened fire at them across the lowland at a range of 11,000 yards. The
enemy at once hoisted their colors, and turned away. A few minutes later
the two cruisers altered course to port, as though to close the Kent at
the entrance to the harbor. But at about this time it seems that the
Invincible and Inflexible were seen over the land, and the enemy at once
altered course, and increased speed to join their consorts. At 9.45 A.
M. the squadron weighed anchor and proceeded out of the harbor, the
Carnovan leading. On passing Cape Pembroke light, the five ships of the
enemy appeared clearly in sight to the southeast, hull down. The
visibility was at its maximum, the sea was calm, with a bright sun, a
clear sky, and a light breeze from the northwest. At 10.20 the signal
for a general chase was made. At this time the enemy's funnels and
bridges showed just above the horizon. Information was received from the
Bristol at 11.27 that three enemy ships had appeared off Port Pleasant,
probably colliers or transports. The Bristol was therefore directed to
take the Macedonia under orders and destroy transports.
"The enemy were still maintaining their distance, and I decided at 12.20
P. M. to attack, with the two battle cruisers and the Glasgow. At 12.47
P. M. the signal to 'Open fire and engage the enemy' was made. The
Inflexible opened fire at 12.55 P. M. at the right-hand ship of the
enemy, and a few minutes later the Invincible opened fire at the same
ship. The deliberate fire became too threatening, and when a shell fell
close alongside her at 1.20 p. m. she, the Leipsig, turned away, with
the Nuremburg and Dresden, to the southwest. These light cruisers were
at once followed by the Kent, Glasgow and Cornwall.
"The action finally developed into three separate encounters. First, the
action with the armored cruisers. The fire of the battle cruisers was
directed on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The effect of this was
quickly seen, when, with the Scharnhorst leading, they turned about
seven points to port, and opened fire. Shortly afterwards the battle
cruisers were ordered to turn together with the Invincible leading. The
enemy then turned about ten points to starboard, and a second chase
ensued until, at 2.45, the battle cruisers again opened fire. This
caused the enemy to turn into line ahead to port and open fire. The
Scharnhorst caught fire forward, but not seriously, and her fire
slackened perceptibly. The Gneisenau was badly hit by the Inflexible.
"At 3.30 P. M. the Scharnhorst turned about ten points to starboard, her
fire had slackened perceptibly, and one shell had shot away her third
funnel. Some guns were not firing, and it would appear that the turn was
dictated by a desire to bring her starboard guns into action. The effect
of the fire on the Scharnhorst became more and more apparent in
consequence of smoke from fires and also escaping steam. At times a
shell would cause a large hole to appear in her side, through which
could be seen a dull, red glow of flame.
"At 4.04 P. M. the Scharnhorst, whose flag remained flying to the last,
suddenly listed heavily to port, and within a minute it became clear
that she was a doomed ship, for the list increased very rapidly until
she lay on her beam ends. At 4.17 P. M. she disappeared. The Gneisenau
passed on the far side of her late flagship, and continued a determined,
but ineffectual, effort to fight the two battle cruisers. At 5.08 P. M.
the forward funnel was knocked over, and remained resting against the
second funnel. She was evidently in serious straits, and her fire
slackened very much.
"At 5.15 P. M. one of the Gneisenau's shells struck the Invincible. This
was her last effective effort. At 5.30 P. M. she turned toward the
flagship with a heavy list to starboard, and appeared to stop, the steam
pouring from her escape pipes, and smoke from shell and fires rising
everywhere. About this time I ordered the signal 'Cease fire,' but
before it was hoisted, the Gneisenau opened fire again, and continued to
fire from time to time with a single gun. At 5.40 P. M. the three ships
closed in on the Gneisenau, and at this time the flag flying at her fore
truck, was apparently hauled down, but the flag at the peak continued
flying. At 5.50 'Cease fire' was made. At 6 P. M. the Gneisenau keeled
over very suddenly, showing the men gathered on her decks, and then
walking on her side as she lay for a minute on her beam ends before
sinking.
"The prisoners of war from the Gneisenau report that by the time the
ammunition was expended some six hundred men had been killed and
wounded. When the ship capsized and sank there were probably some two
hundred unwounded survivors in the water, but, owing to the shock of the
cold water, many were drowned within sight of the boats and ships. Every
effort was made to save life as quickly as possible, both by boats and
from the ships. Life buoys were thrown and ropes lowered, but only a
portion could be rescued. The Invincible alone rescued a hundred and
eight men, fourteen of whom were found to be dead after being brought on
board. These men were buried at sea the following day, with full
military honors.
"Second, action with the light cruisers. About one P. M. when the
Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau turned to port to engage the Invincible
and the Inflexible, the enemy's light cruisers turned to starboard to
escape. The Dresden was leading, and the Nuremburg and Leipzig followed
on each quarter. In accordance with my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent
and Cornwall at once went in chase of these ships. The Glasgow drew well
ahead of the Cornwall and Kent, and at 3 P. M. shots were exchanged with
the Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow's object was to endeavor to
outrange the Leipzig, and thus cause her to alter course and give the
Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action. At 4.17 P. M. the
Cornwall opened fire also on the Leipzig; at 7.17 P. M. the Leipzig was
on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow ceased fire. The
Leipzig turned over on her port side and disappeared at 9 P. M. Seven
officers and eleven men were saved. At 3.36 P. M. the Cornwall ordered
the Kent to engage the Nuremburg, the nearest cruiser to her. At 6.35 P.
M. the Nuremburg was on fire forward, and ceased firing. The Kent also
ceased firing, then, as the colors were still observed to be flying on
the Nuremburg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five
minutes later, on the colors being hauled down, and every preparation
was made to save life. The Nuremburg sank at 7.27, and as she sank a
group of men were waving the German ensign attached to a staff.
"Twelve men were rescued, but only seven survived. The Kent had four
killed and twelve wounded, mostly caused by one shell. During the time
the three cruisers were engaged with the Nuremburg and Leipzig, the
Dresden, which was beyond her consorts, effected her escape, owing to
her superior speed. The Glasgow was the only cruiser with sufficient
speed to have had any chance of success, however she was fully employed
in engaging the Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or
Kent could come up and get within range. During this time the Dresden
was able to increase her distance and get out of sight. Three, Action
with the enemy's transports. H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only two
ships, the steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present. Both ships
were sunk after removal of the crews."
Thus was annihilated the last squadron belonging to Germany outside the
North Sea. The defeat of Cradock had been avenged. The British losses
were very small, considering the length of the fight and the desperate
efforts of the German fleet. Only one ship of the German squadron was
able to escape, and this on account of her great speed. The German
sailors went down with colors flying. They died as Cradock's men had
died.
The naval war now entered upon a new phase. The shores of Great Britain
had for many years been so thoroughly protected by the British navy that
few coast fortifications had been built, except at important naval
stations. Invasion on a grand scale was plainly impossible, so long as
the British fleets held control of the sea. With German guns across the
Channel almost within hearing it was evident that a raiding party might
easily reach the English shore on some foggy night. The English people
were much disturbed. They had read the accounts of the horrible
brutalities of the German troops in Belgium and eastern France, and they
imagined their feelings if a band of such ferocious brutes were to land
in England and pillage their peaceful homes. There was a humorous side
to the way in which the yeomanry and territorials entrenched themselves
along the eastern coast line, but the Germans, angry at the failure of
their fleets, determined to disturb the British peace by raids, slight
as the military advantage of such raids might be.
On November 2d a fleet of German warships sailed from the Elbe. They
were three battle cruisers, the Seydlitz, the Moltke, and the Von Der
Tann; two armored cruisers, the Blucher and the York, and three light
cruisers, the Kolberg, the Graudenz, and the Strasburg. They were mainly
fast vessels and the battle cruisers carried eleven-inch guns. Early in
the morning they ran through the nets of a British fishing fleet. Later
an old coast police boat, the Halcyon, was shot at a few times. About
eight o'clock they were opposite Yarmouth, and proceeded to bombard that
naval station from a distance of about ten miles. Their range was poor
and their shells did no damage. They then turned swiftly for home, but
on the road back the York struck a mine, and was sunk.
[Illustration: Map: Great Britain on the West, Denmark and Germany on
the East.]
ENGLISH COAST TOWNS THAT WERE RAIDED
On the 16th of December they came again, full of revenge because of the
destruction of von Spee and his squadron. Early in the morning early
risers in Scarborough saw in the north four strange ships. Scarborough
was absolutely without defense. It had once been an artillery depot but
in recent years had been a cavalry station, and some few troops of this
service were quartered there. Otherwise it was an open seaside resort.
The German ships poured shells into the defenseless town, aiming at
every large object they could see, the Grand Hotel, the gas works, the
water works and the wireless station. Churches, public buildings, and
hospitals were hit, as well as private houses. Over five hundred shells
were fired. Then the ships turned around and moved away. The streets
were crowded with puzzled and scared inhabitants, many of whom, as is
customary in watering places, were women, children and invalids.
At nine o'clock Whitby, a coast town near Scarborough, saw two great
ships steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later the ships were
firing. The old Abbey of Hilda and Cedman was struck, but on the whole
little damage was done. Another division of the invaders visited the
Hartlepools. There there was a small fort, with a battery of
old-fashioned guns, and off the shore was a small British flotilla, a
gunboat and two destroyers. The three battle cruisers among the German
raiders opened fire. The little British fleet did what they could but
were quickly driven off. The German ships then approached the shore and
fired on the English battery, the first fight with a foreign foe in
England since 1690. The British battery consisted of some territorials
who stood without wavering to their guns and kept up for half an hour a
furious cannonading. A great deal of damage was done; churches,
hospitals, workhouses and schools were all hit. The total death roll was
119, and the wounded over 300. Six hundred houses were damaged or
destroyed, but there was a great deal of heroism, not only among the
territorials, but among the inhabitants of the town, and when the last
shots were fired all turned to the work of relief.
Somewhere between nine and ten o'clock the bold German fleet started for
home. The British Grand Fleet had been notified of the raid and two
battle cruiser squadrons were hurrying to intercept them. But the
weather had thickened and the waters of the North Sea were covered with
fog belts stretching for hundreds of miles. And so the raiders returned
safe to receive their Iron Crosses. The German aim in such raids was
probably to create a panic, and so interfere with the English military
plans. If the English had not looked at the matter with common sense
they might easily have been tempted to spend millions of pounds on
seaboard fortifications, and keep millions of men at home who were more
necessary in the armies in France. But the English people kept their
heads.
Germany, perceiving the indignation of the world at these bombardments
of defenseless watering places, endeavored to appease criticism by
describing them as fortified towns. But the well-known excellence of the
German system of espionage makes it plain that they knew the true
condition of affairs. These towns were not selected as fortified towns,
but because they were not, and destruction in unfortified towns it was
thought would have a greater effect than in a fortified town where it
would be regarded as among the natural risks of war.
During the rest of the year of 1914 no further sea fight took place in
the North Sea nor was there any serious loss to the navy from torpedo or
submarine. But on the first of January, 1915, the British ship
Formidable, 15,000 tons, was struck by two torpedoes and sunk. The
previous day she had left Sheerness with eight vessels of the Channel
fleet and with no protection from destroyers. The night was a bright
moonlight and for such vessels to be moving in line on such a night
without destroyers shows gross carelessness. Out of a crew of 800 men
only 201 were saved, and the rescue of this part of the crew was due to
the seamanship of Captain Pillar of the trawler Providence, who managed
to take most of those rescued on board his vessel.
On January 24th the German battle cruiser squadron under Rear-Admiral
Hipper set sail from Wilhelmshaven. What his object was is not known. He
had enlarged the mine field north of Helgoland and north of the mine
field had stationed a submarine flotilla. It is likely that he was
planning to induce the British fleet to follow him into the mine field,
or within reach of his submarines. That same morning the British battle
cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty put to sea.
According to the official report of the English Admiral he was in
command of the following vessels; battle cruisers, the Lion, Princess
Royal, the Tiger, the New Zealand, and the Indomitable; light cruisers,
the Southampton, the Nottingham, the Birmingham, the Lowestoft, the
Arethusa, the Aurora and the Undaunted, with destroyer flotillas under
Commodore Tyrwhitt. The German Admiral had with him the Seydlitz, the
Moltke, the Derfflinger, the Blucher, six light cruisers and a destroyer
flotilla. The English Admiral apparently had some hint of the plans of
the German squadron. The night of the 23d had been foggy; in the
morning, however, the wind came from the northeast and cleared off the
mists. An abridgment of the official report gives a good account of the
battle, sometimes called the battle of Dogger Bank:
"At 7.25 A. M. the flash of guns was observed south-southeast; shortly
afterwards the report reached me from the Aurora that she was engaged
with enemy ships. I immediately altered course to south-southeast,
increased speed, and ordered the light cruisers and flotillas to get in
touch and report movements of enemy. This order was acted upon with
great promptitude, indeed my wishes had already been forestalled by the
respective senior officers, and reports almost immediately followed from
the Southampton, Arethusa, and Aurora as to the position and composition
of the enemy. The enemy had altered their course to southeast; from now
onward the light cruisers maintained touch with the enemy and kept me
fully informed as to their movements. The battle cruisers worked up to
full speed, steering to the southward; the wind at the time was
northeast, light, with extreme visibility.
"At 7.30 A. M. the enemy were sighted on the port bow, steaming fast,
steering approximately southeast, distance fourteen miles. Owing to the
prompt reports received we had attained our position on the quarter of
the enemy, and altered course to run parallel to them. We then settled
down to a long stern chase, gradually increasing our speed until we
reached 28.5 knots.
"Great credit is due to the engineer staffs of the New Zealand and
Indomitable. These ships greatly exceeded their speed. At 8.52 A. M., as
we had closed within 20,000 yards of the rear ship, the battle cruisers
maneuvered so that guns would bear and the Lion fired a single shot
which fell short. The enemy at this time were in single line ahead, with
light cruisers ahead and a large number of destroyers on their starboard
beam. Single shots were fired at intervals to test the range, and at
9.09 the Lion made her first hit on the Blucher, the rear ship of the
German line. At 9.20 the Tiger opened fire on the Blucher, and the Lion
shifted to the third in the line, this ship being hit by several salvos.
The enemy returned our fire at 9.14 A. M., the Princess Royal, on coming
into range, opened fire on the Blucher. The New Zealand was also within
range of the Blucher which had dropped somewhat astern, and opened fire
on her. The Princess Royal then shifted to the third ship in the line
(Derfflinger) inflicting considerable damage on her. Our flotilla
cruisers and destroyers had gradually dropped from a position, broad on
our beam, to our port quarter, so as not to foul our range with their
smoke. But the enemy's destroyers threatening attack, the Meteor and M
division passed ahead of us.
"About 9.45 the situation was about as follows: The Blucher, the fourth
in their line, showed signs of having suffered severely from gun fire,
their leading ship and number three were also on fire. The enemy's
destroyers emitted vast columns of smoke to screen their battle
cruisers, and under cover of this the latter now appeared to have
altered course to the northward to increase their distance. The battle
cruisers therefore were ordered to form a line of bearing
north-northwest, and proceeded at the utmost speed. Their destroyers
then showed evident signs of an attempt to attack. The Lion and the
Tiger opened fire upon them, and caused them to retire and resume their
original course.
"At 10.48 A. M. the Blucher, which had dropped considerably astern of
the enemy's line, hauled out to port, steering north with a heavy list,
on fire, and apparently in a defeated condition. I consequently ordered
the Indomitable to attack the enemy breaking northward. At 10.54
submarines were reported on the starboard bow, and I personally observed
the wash of a periscope. I immediately turned to port. At 10.03 an
injury to the Lion being reported as being incapable of immediate
repair, I directed the Lion to shape course northwest.
"At 11.20 I called the Attack alongside, shifting my flag to her, and
proceeded at utmost speed to rejoin the squadron. I met them at noon,
retiring north-northwest. I boarded and hoisted my flag on the Princess
Royal, when Captain Brock acquainted me with what had occurred since the
Lion fell out of line, namely, that the Blucher had been sunk and that
the enemy battle cruisers had continued their course to the eastward in
a considerably damaged condition. He also informed me that a Zeppelin
and a seaplane had endeavored to drop bombs on the vessels which went to
the rescue of the survivors of the Blucher."