The Austrians had been largely reinforced by German troops, and were

moving forward to the relief of Przemysl, and also to drive Brussilov

from the Galician mountains. Brussilov's movements had been partly

military and partly political. From the passes in those mountains

Hungary could be attacked, and unless he could be driven away there was

no security for the Hungarian cornfields, to which Germany was looking

for food supplies. Moreover, from the beginning of the Russian movement

in Galicia, northern Bukovina had been in Russian hands. Bukovina was

not only a great supply ground for petrol and grain, but she adjoined

Roumania which, while still neutral, had a strong sympathy with the

Allies, especially Italy. The presence of a Russian army on her border

might encourage her to join the Allies. Austria naturally desired to

free Roumania from this pressure. The leading Austrian statesmen, at

this time, were especially interested in Hungary. The Austrian Minister

of Foreign Affairs was Baron Stephen Burian, the Hungarian diplomatist,

belonging to the party of the Hungarian Premier, Count Tisza. It was his

own country that was threatened. The prizes of a victorious campaign

were therefore great.

The campaign began in January amid the deepest snow, and continued

during February in the midst of blizzards. The Austrians were divided

into three separate armies. The first was charged with the relief of

Przemysl. The second advanced in the direction of Lemberg, and the third

moved upon Bukovina. The first made very little progress, after a number

of lively battles. It was held pretty safely by Brussilov. The second

army was checked by Dmitrieff. Further east, however, the army of the

Bukovina crossed the Carpathian range, and made considerable advances.

This campaign was fought out in a great number of battles, the most

serious of which, perhaps, was the battle of Koziowa. At that point

Brussilov's center withstood for several days the Austrian second army

which was commanded by the German General von Linsengen. The Russian

success here saved Lemberg, prevented the relief of Przemysl and gave

time to send reinforcements into Bukovina.

The Austrian third army, moving on Bukovina, had the greatest Austrian

success. They captured in succession Czernowitz, Kolomea, and Stanislau.

They did not succeed, however, in driving the Russians from the

province. The Russians retired slowly, waiting for reinforcements. These

reinforcements came, whereupon the Austrians were pushed steadily back.

The passes in the Carpathians still remained in Austrian hands, but

Przemysl was not relieved or Lemberg recaptured. On March 22d Przemysl

fell.

The capture of Przemysl was the greatest success that Russia had so far

attained. It had been besieged for about four months, and the taking of

the fortress was hailed as the first spectacular success of the war. Its

capture altered the whole situation. It released a large Russian army,

which was sent to reinforce the armies of Ivanov, where the Austrians

were vigorously attacked.

By the end of March the Russians had captured the last Austrian position

on the Lupkow pass and were attacking vigorously the pass of Uzzok,

which maintained a stubborn defense. Brussilov tried to push his way to

the rear of the Uzzok position, and though the Austrians delivered a

vigorous counter-attack they were ultimately defeated. In five weeks of

fighting Ivanov captured over seventy thousand prisoners.

During this period there was considerable activity in East Prussia, and

the Courland coast was bombarded by the German Baltic squadron. There

was every indication that Austria was near collapse, but all the time

the Germans were preparing for a mighty effort, and the secret was kept

with extraordinary success. The little conflicts in the Carpathians and

in East Prussia were meant to deceive, while a great army, with an

enormous number of guns of every caliber, and masses of ammunition, were

being gathered. The Russian commanders were completely deceived. There

had been no change in the generals in command except that General

Ruzsky, on account of illness, was succeeded by General Alexeiev. The

new German army was put under the charge of von Hindenburg's former

lieutenant, General von Mackensen. This was probably the strongest army

that Germany ever gathered, and could not have numbered less than two

millions of men, with nearly two thousand pieces in its heavy batteries.

On April 28th, the action began. The Austro-German army lay along the

left of the Donajetz River to its junction with the Biala, and along the

Biala to the Carpathian Mountains. Von Mackensen's right moved in the

direction of Gorlice. General Dmitrieff was compelled to weaken his

front to protect Gorlice and then, on Saturday, the 1st of May, the

great attack began. Under cover of artillery fire such as had never been

seen before bridges were pushed across the Biala and Ciezkowice was

taken. The Russian positions were blown out of existence. The Russian

armies did what they could but their defense collapsed and they were

soon in full retreat.

The German armies advanced steadily, and though the Russians made a

brave stand at many places they could do nothing. On the Wisloka they

hung on for five days, but they were attempting an impossibility. From

that time on each day marked a new German victory, and in spite of the

most desperate fighting the Russians were forced back until, on the

11th, the bulk of their line lay just west of the lower San as far as

Przemysl and then south to the upper Dniester. The armies were in

retreat, but were not routed. In a fortnight the army of Dmitrieff had

fallen back eighty-five miles.

The Grand Duke Nicholas by this time understood the situation. He

perceived that it was impossible to make a stand. The only thing to do

was to retreat steadily until Germany's mass of war material should be

used up, even though miles of territory should be sacrificed. It should

be a retreat in close contact with the enemy, so that the Austro-German

troops would have to fight for every mile. This meant a retreat not for

days, but perhaps for weeks. It meant that Przemysl must be given up,

and Lemberg, and even Warsaw, but the safety of the Russian army was of

more importance than a province or a city.

On May 18th the German War Office announced their successes in the

following terms: "The army under General von Mackensen in the course of

its pursuit of the Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of

Subiecko, on the lower Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica.

Under the pressure of this advance the Russians also retreated from

their positions north of the Vistula. In this section the troops under

General von Woyrach, closely following the enemy, penetrated as far as

the region northwest of Kielce. In the Carpathians Austro-Hungarian and

German troops under General von Linsingen conquered the hills east of

the Upper Stryi, and took 3,660 men prisoners, as well as capturing six

machine guns. At the present moment, while the armies under General von

Mackensen are approaching the Przemysl fortresses and the lower San, it

is possible to form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In the

battles of Tarno and Gorlika, and in the battles during the pursuit of

these armies, we have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69 cannon,

and 255 machine guns. In these figures the booty taken by the Allied

troops fighting in the Carpathians, and north of the Vistula, is not

included. This amounts to a further 40,000 prisoners. Przemysl

surrendered to the German's on June 3, 1915, only ten weeks after the

Russian capture of the fortress, which had caused such exultation."

General von Mackensen continued toward Lemberg, the capital of Galicia.

On June 18th, when the victorious German armies were approaching the

gates of Lemberg, the Russian losses were estimated at 400,000 dead and

wounded, and 300,000 prisoners, besides 100,000 lost before Marshal von

Hindenburg's forces in Poland and Courland. On June 23d Lemberg fell.

The weakness of Russia in this campaign arose from the exhaustion of her

ammunition supplies, but great shipments of such supplies were being

constantly forwarded from Vladivostock.

When the German army crossed the San, Wilhelm II, then German Emperor,

was present. It is interesting to look back on the scene. Here is a

paragraph from the account of the Wolff Telegraphic Bureau: "The Emperor

had hurried forward to his troops by automobile. On the way he was

greeted with loud hurrahs by the wounded, riding back in wagons. On the

heights of Jaroslav the Emperor met Prince Eitel Friedrich, and then,

from several points of observation, for hours followed with keen

attention the progress of the battle for the crossing."

While the great offensive in Galicia was well under way, the Germans

were pushing forward in East Prussia. Finding little resistance they

ultimately invaded Courland, captured Libau, and established themselves

firmly in that province. The sweep of the victorious German armies

through Galicia was continued into Poland. On July 19th William the War

Lord bombastically telegraphed his sister, the Queen of Greece, to the

effect that he had "paralyzed Russia for at least six months to come"

and was on the eve of "delivering a coup on the western front that will

make all Europe tremble."

It would be futile to recount the details of the various German

victories which followed the advance into Poland. On July 24th, the

German line ran from Novgorod in the north, south of Przasnysz, thence

to Novogeorgievsk, then swinging to the southeast below Warsaw it passed

close to the west of Ivangorad, Lublin, Chelm, and then south to a point

just east of Lemberg. Warsaw at that time was in the jaws of the German

nutcracker.

On July 21st, the bells in all the churches throughout Russia clanged a

call to prayer for twenty-four hours' continual service of intercession

for victory. In spite of the heat the churches were packed. Hour after

hour the people stood wedged together, while the priests and choirs

chanted their litanies. Outside the Kamian Cathedral an open-air mass

was celebrated in the presence of an enormous crowd. But the German

victories continued.

On August 5th Warsaw was abandoned. Up to July 29th hope was entertained

in military quarters in London and Paris that the Germans would stand a

siege in their fortresses along the Warsaw salient, but on that date

advices came from Petrograd that in order to save the Russian armies a

retreat must be made, and the Warsaw fortresses abandoned. For some time

before this the Russian resistance had perceptibly stiffened, and many

vigorous counter-attacks had been made against the German advance, but

it was the same old story, the lack of ammunition. The armies were

compelled to retire and await the munitions necessary for a new

offensive.

The last days of Russian rule in Warsaw were days of extraordinary

interest. The inhabitants, to the number of nearly half a million,

sought refuge in Russia. All goods that could be useful to the Germans

were either removed or burned. Crops were destroyed in the surrounding

fields. When the Germans entered they found an empty and deserted city,

with only a few Poles and the lowest classes of Jews still left. Warsaw

is a famous city, full of ancient palaces, tastefully, adorned shops,

finely built streets, and fourscore church towers where the bells are

accustomed to ring melodiously for matins and vespers. In the Ujazdowske

Avenue one comes to the most charming building in all Warsaw, the

Lazienki Palace, with its delicious gardens mirrored in a lovely lake.

It is a beautiful city.

The fall of Warsaw meant the fall of Russian Poland, but Russia was not

yet defeated. Von Hindenburg was to be treated as Napoleon was in 1812,

The strategy of the Grand Duke was sound; so long as he could save the

army the victories of Germany would be futile. It is true that the

German armies were not compelled, like those of Napoleon, to live on the

land. They could bring their supplies from Berlin day by day, but every

mile they advanced into hostile territory made their task harder. The

German line of communication, as it grew longer, became weaker and the

troops needed for garrison duty in the captured towns, seriously

diminished the strength of the fighting army, The Russian retreat was

good strategy and it was carried on with extraordinary cleverness.

It is unnecessary to describe the events which succeeded the fall of

Warsaw in great detail. There was a constant succession of German

victories and Russian defeats, but never one of the Russian armies

enveloped or destroyed. Back they went, day after day, always fighting;

each great Russian fortress resisted until it saw itself in danger, and

then safely withdrew its troops. Kovno fell and Novogeorgievsk, and

Ivangorad, then Ossowietz was abandoned, and Brest-Litovsk and Grodno.

On September 5th the Emperor of Russia signed the following order:

Today I have taken supreme command of all the forces of the sea and land

armies operating in the theater of war. With firm faith in the clemency

of God, with unshakable assurance in final victory, we shall fulfil our

sacred duty to defend our country to the last. We will not dishonor the

Russian land.

The Grand Duke Nicholas was made Viceroy of the Caucasus, a post which

took him out of the main theater of fighting but gave him a great field

for fresh military activity. He had been bearing a heavy burden, and had

shown himself to be a great commander. He had outmaneuvered von

Hindenberg again and again, and though finally the Russian armies under

his command had been driven back, the retreat itself was a proof of his

military ability, not only in its conception, but in the way in which it

was done.

The Emperor chose General Alexieff as his Chief of General Staff. He was

the ablest of the great generals who had been leading the Russian army.

With this change in command a new spirit seemed to come over Russia. The

German advance, however, was not yet completely checked. It was

approaching Vilna.

The fighting around Vilna was the bitterest in the whole long retreat.

On the 18th of September it fell, but the Russian troops were safely

removed and the Russian resistance had become strong. Munitions were

pouring into the new Russian army. The news from the battle-front began

to show improvement. On September 8th General Brussilov, further in the

south, had attacked the Germans in front of Tarnopol, and defeated them

with heavy loss. More than seventeen thousand men were captured with

much artillery. Soon the news came of other advances. Dubno was retaken

and Lutsk.

The end of September saw the German advance definitely checked. The

Russian forces were now extended in a line from Riga on the north, along

the river Dvina, down to Dvinsk. Then turning to the east along the

river, it again turned south and so on down east of the Pripet Marshes,

it followed an almost straight line to the southern frontier. Its two

strongest points were Riga, on the Gulf of Riga, which lay under the

protection of the guns of the fleet, and Dvinsk, through which ran the

great Petrograd Railway line. Against these two points von Hindenburg

directed his attack. And now, for the first time in many months, he met

with complete failure. The German fleet attempted to assist him on the

Gulf of Riga, but was defeated by the Russian Baltic fleet with heavy

losses. A bombardment turned out a failure and the German armies were

compelled to retire.

[Illustration: Map: Riga and Surroundings.]

THE GERMAN ATTACK ON THE ROAD TO PETROGRAD

A more serious effort was made against Dvinsk but was equally

unsuccessful and the German losses were immense. Again and again the

attempt was made to cross the Dvina River, but without success; the

German invasion was definitely stopped. By the end of October there was

complete stagnation in the northern sector of the battle line, and

though in November there were a number of battles, nothing happened of

great importance.

During the year 1916 the Russian armies seemed to have had a new birth.

At last they were supplied with guns and munitions. They waited until

they were ready. In March a series of battles was fought in the

neighborhood of Lake Narotch, and eight successive attacks were made

against the German army, intrenched between Lake Narotch and Lake

Vischenebski. The Germans at first were driven back and badly defeated.

Later on, however, the Russian artillery was sent to another section,

and the Germans were able to recover their position. During June the

Russians attacked all along the southern part of their line. In three

weeks they had regained a whole province. Lutsk and Dubno had been

retaken; two hundred thousand men and hundreds of guns, had been

captured, and the Austrian line had been pierced and shattered. Further

south the German army had been compelled to retreat and the Russian

armies were in Bukovina and Galicia. On the 10th of August Stanislau

fell.

By this time two Austrian armies had been shattered, over three hundred

and fifty thousand prisoners taken, and nearly a million men put out of

action. Germany, however, was sending reinforcements as fast as

possible, and putting up a desperate defense. Nevertheless everything

was encouraging for Russia and she entered upon the winter in a very

different condition from her condition in the previous year. Then she

had just ended her great retreat. Now she had behind her a series of

successes. But a new difficulty had arisen in the loss of the political

harmony at home which had marked the first years of the war. Dark days

were ahead.

CHAPTER XXII

HOW THE BALKANS DECIDED

For more than half a century the Balkans have presented a problem which

disturbed the minds of the statesmen of Europe. Again and again, during

that period, it seemed that in the Balkan mountains might be kindled a

blaze which might set the world afire. Balkan politics is a labyrinth

in which one might easily be lost. The inhabitants of the Balkans

represent many races, each with its own ambition, and, for the most

part, military. There were Serbs, and Bulgarians, and Turks, and

Roumanians, and Greeks, and their territorial divisions did not

correspond to their nationalities. The land was largely mountainous,

with great gaps that make it, in a sense, the highway of the world.

From 1466 to 1878 the Balkans was in the dominion of the Turks. In the

early days while the Turks were warring against Hungary, their armies

marched through the Balkan hills. The natives kept apart, and preserved

their language, religion and customs.

In the nineteenth century, as the Turks grew weaker, their subject

people began to seek independence. Greece came first, and, in 1829,

aided by France, Russia and Great Britain, she became an independent

kingdom. Serbia revolted in 1804, and by 1820 was an autonomous state,

though still tributary to Turkey. In 1859, Roumania became autonomous.

The rising of Bulgaria in 1876, however, was really the beginning of the

succession of events which ultimately led to the World War of 1914-18.

The Bulgarian insurrection was crushed by the Turks in such a way as to

stir the indignation of the whole world. What are known as the

"Bulgarian Atrocities" seem mild today, but they led to the

Russo-Turkish War in 1877.

The treaty of Berlin, by which that war was settled in 1878, was one of

those treaties which could only lead to trouble. It deprived Russia of

much of the benefit of her victory, and left nearly every racial

question unsettled. Roumania lost Bessarabia, which was mainly inhabited

by Roumanians. Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to the

administration of Austria. Turkey was allowed to retain Macedonia,

Albania and Thrace. Serbia was given Nish, but had no outlet to the sea.

Greece obtained Thessaly, and a new province was made of the country

south of the Balkans called Eastern Rumelia. From that time on, quarrel

after quarrel made up the history of the Balkan peoples, each of whom

sought the assistance and support of some one of the great powers.

Russia and Austria were constantly intriguing with the new states, in

the hope of extending their own domains in the direction of

Constantinople.

The history of Bulgaria shows that that nation has been continually the

center of these intrigues. In 1879 they elected as their sovereign

Prince Alexander of Battenburg, whose career might almost be called

romantic. A splendid soldier and an accomplished gentleman, he stands

out as an interesting figure in the sordid politics of the Balkans. He

identified himself with his new country. In 1885 he brought about a

union with Eastern Rumelia, which led to a disagreement with Russia.

Serbia, doubtless at Russian instigation, suddenly declared war, but was

overwhelmed by Prince Alexander in short order. Russia then abducted

Prince Alexander, but later was forced to restore him. However, Russian

intrigues, and his failure to obtain support from one of the great

powers, forced his abdication in 1886.

In 1887 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became the Prince of

Bulgaria. He, also, was a remarkable man, but not the romantic of his

predecessor. He seems to have been a sort of a parody of a king. He was

fond of ostentation, and full of ambition. He was a personal coward, but

extremely cunning. During his long reign he built up Bulgaria into a

powerful, independent kingdom, and even assumed the title of Czar of

Bulgaria. During the first days of his reign he was kept safely on the

throne by his mother, the Princess Clementine, a daughter of Louis

Phillippe, who, according to Gladstone, was the cleverest woman in

Europe, and for a few years Bulgaria was at peace. In 1908 he declared

Bulgaria independent, and its independence was recognized by Turkey on

the payment of an indemnity. During this period Russia was the protector

of Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian fox was looking also for the aid of

Austria. Serbia more and more relied upon Russia.

[Illustration: Painting]

Official Canadian War Records.

"TIME'S UP! OVER YOU GO!"

The word comes from the officer, watch in hand, "Time's up! Over you

go!" and instantly the men from the Dominion begin to climb out of the

trench. The picture shows the departure of the first of the three or

more lines or "waves" that moves forward over "No Man's Land" against

the enemy trenches.

[Illustration: Photograph]

Photo by International Film Service.

TRANSPORTING WOUNDED AMID THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FRONT

The isolated mountain positions were only accessible to the bases of

operations by these aerial cable cars. This picture, taken during the

Austrian retreat, shows a wounded soldier being taken down the

mountain by this means.

[Illustration: Photograph: Soldier working on a telephone connection.]

Copyright Underwood and Underwood, N. Y.

British Official Photo

THE NERVE-SYSTEM OF THE FIGHTING ARMIES

What the nerves are to the human body the signal system was to the

armies, transmitting warnings of danger from the outposts to a central

brain, and flashing back the thing to be done to meet it.

The Austrian treatment of the Slavs was a source of constant irritation

to Serbia. Roumania had a divided feeling. Her loss of Bessarabia to

Russia had caused ill feeling, but in Austria's province of Transylvania

there were millions of Roumanians, whom Roumania desired to bring under

her rule. Greece was fearful of Russia, because of Russia's desire for

the control of Constantinople. All of these nations, too, were deeply

conscious of the Austro-German ambitions for extension of their power

through to the East. Each of these principalities was also jealous of

the other. Bulgaria and Serbia had been at war; many Bulgarians were in

the Roumanian territory, many Serbians, Bulgarians and Greeks in

Macedonia. There was only one tie in common, that was their hatred of

Turkey. In 1912 a league was formed, under the direction of the Greek

statesman, Venizelos, having for its object an attack on Turkey. By

secret treaties arrangements were made for the division of the land,

which they hoped to obtain from Turkey.

War was declared, and Turkey was decisively defeated, and then the

trouble began. Serbia and Bulgaria had been particularly anxious for an

outlet to the sea, and in the treaty between them it had been arranged

that Serbia should have an outlet on the Adriatic, while Bulgaria was to

obtain an outlet on the AEgean. The Triple Alliance positively refused

Serbia its share of the Adriatic coast. Serbia insisted, therefore, on a

revision of the treaty, which would enable her to have a seaport on the

AEgean.

An attempt was made to settle the question by arbitration, but King

Ferdinand refused, whereupon, in July, 1913, the Second Balkan War

began. Bulgaria was attacked by Greece and Serbia, and Turkey took a

chance and regained Adrianople, and even Roumania, which had been

neutral in the First Baltic War, mobilized her armies and marched toward

Sofia. Bulgaria surrendered, and on the 10th of August the Treaty of

Bucharest was signed by the Balkan States.

As a result of this Bulgaria was left in a thoroughly dissatisfied state

of mind. She had been the leader in the war against Turkey, she had

suffered heavy losses, and she had gained almost nothing. Moreover she

had lost to Roumania, a territory containing a quarter of a million

Bulgarians, and a splendid harbor on the Black Sea. Serbia and Greece

were the big winners. Such a treaty could not be a final settlement. The

Balkans were left seething with unrest. Serbia, though she had gained

much, was still dissatisfied. Her ambitions, however, now turned in the

direction of the Jugoslavs under the rule of Austria, and it was her

agitation in this matter which directly brought on the Great War. But

Bulgaria was sullen and ready for revenge. When the Great War began,

therefore, Roumania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece were strongly in

sympathy with Russia, who had been their backer and friend. Bulgaria, in

spite of all she owed to Russia in the early days, was now ready to find

protection from an alliance with the Central Powers. Her feeling was

well known to the Allies, and every effort was made to obtain her

friendship and, if possible, her aid.

Viviani, then Premier of France, in an address before the French Chamber of

Deputies, said:

The Balkan question was raised at the outset of the war, even before it

came to the attention of the world. The Bucharest Treaty had left in

Bulgaria profound heartburnings. Neither King nor people were resigned

to the loss of the fruits of their efforts and sacrifices, and to the

consequences of the unjustifiable war they had waged upon their former

allies. From the first day, the Allied governments took into account the

dangers of such a situation, and sought a means to remedy it. Their

policy has proceeded in a spirit of justice and generosity which has

characterized the attitude of Great Britain, Russia and Italy as well as

France. We have attempted to re-establish the union of the Baltic

peoples, and in accord with them seek the realization of their principal

national aspirations. The equilibrium thus obtained by mutual sacrifices

really made by each would have been the best guarantee of future peace.

Despite constant efforts in which Roumania, Greece and Serbia lent their

assistance, we have been unable to obtain the sincere collaboration of

the Bulgarian Government. The difficulties respecting the negotiations

were always at Sofia.

At the beginning of the war it appears, therefore, that Bulgaria was

entering into negotiations with the Allies, hoping to regain in this

way, some of the territory she had lost in the Second Baltic War. Many

of her leading statesmen and most distinguished generals favored the

cause of Russia, but in May came the great German advance in Galicia,

and the Allies' stalemate in the Dardanelles, and the king, and his

supporters, found the way clear for a movement in favor of Germany.

Still protesting neutrality they signed a secret treaty with Berlin,

Vienna and Constantinople on July 17th. The Central Powers had promised

them not only what they had been asking, in Macedonia, but also the

Greek territory of Epirus. This treaty was concealed from those

Bulgarian leaders who still held to Russia, and on the 5th of October

Bulgaria formally entered into war on the side of Germany, and began an

attack on Serbia.

The full account of the intrigue which led to this action has never been

told. It is not improbable that King Ferdinand himself never had any

other idea than to act as he did, but he dissembled for a long time. He

set forth his claims in detail to the Allies, who used every effort to

induce Roumania, Greece and Serbia to make the concessions that would be

necessary. Such concessions were made, but not until it was too late. In

a telegram from Milan dated September 24th, an account is given of an

interview between Czar Ferdinand and a committee from those Bulgarians

who were opposed to the King's policy.

"Mind your own head. I shall mind mine!" are the words which the King

spoke to M. Stambulivski when he received the five opposition members

who had come to warn him of the danger to which he was exposing himself

and the nation.

The five members were received by the King in the red room at the Royal

Palace and chairs had been placed for them around a big table. The King

entered the room, accompanied by Prince Boris, the heir apparent, and

his secretary, M. Boocovitch.

"Be seated, gentlemen," said the King, as he sat down himself, as if for

a very quiet talk. His secretary took a seat at the table, a little

apart to take notes, but the conversation immediately became so heated

and rapid that he was unable to write it down.

The first to speak was M. Malinoff, leader of the Democratic party, who

said: "The policy adopted by the Government is one of adventure, tending

to throw Bulgaria into the arms of Germany, and driving her to attack

Serbia. This policy is contrary to the aspirations, feeling and

interests of the country, and if the Government obstinately continues in

this way it will provoke disturbances of the greatest gravity." It was

the first allusion to the possibility of a revolution, but the King

listened without flinching. M. Malinoff concluded: "For these reasons we

beg your Majesty, after having vainly asked the Government, to convoke

the Chamber immediately, and we ask this convocation for the precise

object of saving the country from dangerous adventures by the formation

of a coalition Ministry."

The King remained silent, and, with a nod, invited M. Stambulivski to

speak. M. Stambulivski was a leader of the Agrarian party, a man of

sturdy, rustic appearance, accustomed to speak out his mind boldly, and

exceedingly popular among the peasant population. He grew up himself as

a peasant, and wore the laborer's blouse up till very recently. He stood

up and looking the King straight in the face said in resolute tones: "In

the name of every farmer in Bulgaria I add to what M. Malinoff has just

said, that the Bulgarian people hold you personally responsible more

than your Government, for the disastrous adventure of 1913. If a similar

adventure were to be repeated now its gravity this time would be

irreparable. The responsibility would once more fall on your policy,

which is contrary to the welfare of our country, and the nation would

not hesitate to call you personally to account. That there may be no

mistake as to the real wishes of the country I present to your Majesty

my country's demand in writing."

He handed the King a letter containing the resolution voted by the

Agrarians. The King read it and then turned to M. Zanoff, leader of the

Radical Democrats, and asked him to speak. M. Zanoff did so, speaking

very slowly and impressively, and also looking the King straight in the

face: "Sire, I had sworn never again to set foot inside your palace, and

if I come today it is because the interests of my country are above

personal questions, and have compelled me. Your Majesty may read what I

have to say in this letter, which I submit to you in behalf of our

party."

He handed the letter and the King read it and still remained silent.

Then he said, turning to his former Prime Minister and ablest

politician: "Gueshoff, it is now your turn to speak."

M. Gueshoff got up and said: "I also am fully in accord with what M.

Stambulivski has just said. No matter how severe his words may have been

in their simple unpolished frankness, which ignores the ordinary

formalities of etiquette, they entirely express our unanimous opinion.

We all, as representing the opposition, consider the present policy of

the Government contrary to the sentiments and interests of the country,

because by driving it to make common cause with Germany it makes us the

enemies of Russia, which was our deliverer, and the adventure into which

we are thus thrown compromises our future. We disapprove most absolutely

of such a policy, and we also ask that the Chamber be convoked, and a

Ministry formed with the co-operation of all parties."

After M. Gueshoff, the former Premier, M. Daneff also spoke, and

associated himself with what had already been said.

The King remained still silent for a while, then he, also, stood up and

said: "Gentlemen, I have listened to your threats, and will refer them

to the President of the Council of Ministers, that he may know and

decide what to do."

All present bowed, and a chilly silence followed. The King had evidently

taken the frank warning given him as a threat to him personally, and he

walked up and down nervously for a while. Prince Boris turned aside to

talk with the Secretary, who had resumed taking notes. The King

continued pacing to and fro, evidently very nettled. Then, approaching

M. Zanoff, and as if to change the conversation, he asked him for news

about this season's harvest.

M. Zanoff abruptly replied: "Your Majesty knows that we have not come

here to talk about the harvest, but of something far more important at

present, namely, the policy of your Government, which is on the point of

ruining our country. We can on no account approve the policy that is

anti-Russian. If the Crown and M. Radoslavoff persist in their policy we

shall not answer for the consequences. We have not desired to seek out

those responsible for the disaster of 1913, because other grave events

have been precipitated. But it was a disaster due to criminal folly. It

must not be repeated by an attack on Serbia by Bulgaria, as seems

contemplated by M. Radoslavoff, and which according to all appearances,

has the approval of your Majesty. It would be a premeditated crime, and

deserve to be punished."

The King hesitated a moment, and then held out his hand to M. Zanoff,

saying: "All right. At all events I thank you for your frankness." Then,

approaching M. Stambulivski, he repeated to him his question about the

harvest.

M. Stambulivski, as a simple peasant, at first allowed himself to be led

into a discussion of this secondary matter, and had expressed the hope

that the prohibition on the export of cereals would be removed, when he

suddenly remembered, and said:

"But this is not the moment to speak of these things. I again repeat to

your Majesty that the country does not want a policy of adventure which

cost it so dear in 1913. It was your own policy too. Before 1913 we

thought you were a great diplomatist, but since then we have seen what

fruits your diplomacy bears. You took advantage of all the loopholes in

the Constitution to direct the country according to your own views. Your

Ministers are nothing. You alone are the author of this policy and you

will have to bear the responsibility."

The King replied frigidly, "The policy which I have decided to follow is

that which I consider the best for the welfare of the country."

"It is a policy which will only bring misfortune," replied the sturdy

Agrarian. "It will lead to fresh catastrophes, and compromise not only

the future of our country, but that of your dynasty, and may cost you

your head."

It was as bold a saying as ever was uttered before a King, and Ferdinand

looked astonished at the peasant who was thus speaking to him. He said,

"Do not mind my head; it is already old. Rather mind your own!" he added

with a disdainful smile, and turned away.

M. Stambulivski retorted: "My head matters little, Sire. What matters

more is the good of our country."

The King paid no more attention to him, and took M. Gueshoff and M.

Danoff apart, who again insisted on convoking the Chamber, and assured

him that M. Radoslavoff's government would be in a minority. They also

referred to the Premier's oracular utterances.

"Ah!" said the King. "Has Radoslavoff spoken to you, and what has he

said?"

"He has said--" replied the leaders, "that Bulgaria would march with

Germany and attack Serbia."

The King made a vague gesture, and then said: "Oh, I did not know."

This incident throws a strong light upon the conflict which was going on

in the Balkan states, between those Kings who were of German origin, and

who believed in the German power, and their people who loved Russia.

King Ferdinand got his warning. He did not listen, and he lost his

throne. All this, however, took place before the Bulgarian declaration

of war. Yet much had already shown what King Ferdinand was about to do.

The Allies, to be sure, were incredulous, and were doing their best to

cultivate the good will of the treacherous King, On September 23rd the

official order was given for Bulgaria's mobilization. She, however,

officially declared that her position was that of armed neutrality and

that she had no aggressive intentions. As it has developed, she was

acting under the direction of the German High Command.

It was at this period that Germany had failed to crush Russia in the

struggle on the Vilna, and, in accordance with her usual strategy when

one plan failed, another was undertaken. It seemed to her, therefore,

that the punishment of Serbia would make up for other failures, and

moreover would enable her to assist Turkey, which needed munitions,

besides releasing for Germany supplies of food and other material which

might come from Turkey. They therefore entrusted an expedition against

Serbia to Field Marshal von Mackensen, and had begun to gather an army

for that purpose, north of the Danube.

This army of course was mainly composed of Austrian troops, but was

stiffened throughout by some of the best regiments from the German army.

To assist this new army they counted upon Bulgaria, with whom they had

already a secret treaty, and in spite of the falsehoods issued from

Sofia, the Bulgarian mobilization was meant for an attack on Serbia. The

condition of affairs was well understood in Russia.

On October 2, 1915, M. Sazonov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs,

issued the following statement: "The situation in the Balkans is very

grave. The whole Russian nation is aroused by the unthinkable treachery

of Ferdinand and his Government to the Slavic cause. Bulgaria owes her

independence to Russia, and yet seems willing now to become a vassal of

Russia's enemies. In her attitude towards Serbia, when Serbia is

fighting for her very existence, Bulgaria puts herself in the class with

Turkey. We do not believe that the Bulgarian people sympathize with the

action of their ruler therefore, the Allies are disposed to give them

time for reflection. If they persist in their present treacherous course

they must answer to Russia." The next day the following ultimatum from

Russia was handed the Bulgarian Prime Minister:

Events which are taking place in Bulgaria at this moment give evidence

of the definite decision of King Ferdinand's Government to place the

fate of its country in the hands of Germany. The presence of German and

Austrian officers at the Ministry of War and on the staffs of the army,

the concentration of troops in the zone bordering on Serbia, and the

extensive financial support accepted from her enemies by the Sofia

Cabinet, no longer leave any doubt as to the object of the present

military preparations of Bulgaria. The powers of the Entente, who have

at heart the realization of the aspirations of the Bulgarian

people, have on many occasions warned M. Radoslavoff that any hostile

act against Serbia would be considered as directed against themselves.

The assurances given by the head of the Bulgarian Cabinet in reply to

these warnings are contradicted by facts. The representative of

Russia, bound to Bulgaria by the imperishable memory of her liberation

from the Turkish yoke, cannot sanction by his presence preparations for

fratricidal aggression against a Slav and allied people. The

Russian Minister has, therefore, received orders to leave Bulgaria with

all the staffs of the Legation and the Consulates if the Bulgarian

Government does not within twenty-four hours openly break with the

enemies of the Slav cause and of Russia, and does not at once proceed to

send away the officers belonging to the armies of states who are at war

with the powers of the Entente.

Similar ultimatums were presented by representatives of France and Great

Britain. Bulgaria's reply to these ultimatums was described as bold to

the verge of insolence. In substance she denied that German officers

were on the staffs of Bulgarian armies, but said that if they were

present that fact concerned only Bulgaria, which reserved the right to

invite whomsoever she liked. The Bulgarian Government then issued a

manifesto to the nation, announcing its decision to enter the war on the

side of the Central Powers. The manifesto reads as follows:

The Central Powers have promised us parts of Serbia, creating an

Austro-Hungarian border line, which is absolutely necessary for

Bulgaria's independence of the Serbians. We do not believe in the

promises of the Quadruple Entente. Italy, one of the Allies,

treacherously broke her treaty of thirty-three years. We believe in

Germany, which is fighting the whole world to fulfill her treaty with

Austria. Bulgaria must fight at the victor's side. The Germans and

Austro-Hungarians are victorious on all fronts. Russia soon will have

collapsed entirely. Then will come the turn of France, Italy and Serbia.

Bulgaria would commit suicide if she did not fight on the side of the

Central Powers, which offer the only possibility of realizing her desire

for a union of all Bulgarian peoples.

The manifesto also stated that Russia was fighting for Constantinople

and the Dardanelles; Great Britain to destroy Germany's competition;

France for Alsace and Lorraine, and the other allies to rob foreign

countries; the Central Powers were declared to be fighting to defend

property and assure peaceful progress. The manifesto filled seven

columns in the newspapers, and discussed at some length Bulgaria's trade

interests. It attacked Serbia most bitterly, declaring that Serbia had

oppressed the Bulgarian population of Macedonia in a most barbarous

manner; that she had attacked Bulgarian territory and that the Bulgarian

troops had been forced to fight for the defense of their own soil. In

fact it was written in quite the usual German manner.

Long before this M. Venizelos, the Greek Premier, had perceived what was

coming. Greece was bound by treaty to assist Serbia if she were attacked

by Bulgaria. On September 21st, Venizelos asked France and Britain for a

hundred and fifty thousand troops. On the 24th, the Allies agreed to

this and Greece at once began to mobilize. His policy was received with

great enthusiasm in the Greek Chamber, and former Premier Gounaris, amid

applause, expressed his support of the government.

On October 6th an announcement from Athens stated that Premier Venizelos

had resigned, the King having informed him that he was unable to support

the policy of his Minister. King Constantine was a brother-in-law of the

German Emperor, and although professing neutrality he had steadily

opposed M. Venizelos' policy. He had once before forced M. Venizelos'

resignation, but at the general elections which followed, the Greek

statesman was returned to power by a decisive majority.

Intense indignation was caused by the King's action, though the King was

able to procure the support of a considerable party. Venizelos'

resignation was precipitated by the landing of the Allied troops in

Saloniki. They had come at the invitation of Venizelos, but the

opposition protested against the occupation of Greek territory by

foreign troops. After a disorderly session in which Venizelos explained

to the Chamber of Deputies the circumstances connected with the landing,

the Chamber passed a vote of confidence in the Government by 142 to 102.

The substance of his argument may be found in his conclusion:

"We have a treaty with Serbia. If we are honest we will leave nothing

undone to insure its fulfillment in letter and spirit. Only if we are

rogues may we find excuses to avoid our obligations."

[Illustration: Map]

TWELVE MILES EAST OF MONASTIR BEGAN THE GREAT ALLIED

OFFENSIVE THAT DEFEATED BULGARIA IN SEPTEMBER, 1918

Upon his first resignation M. Zaimis was appointed Premier, and declared

for a policy of armed neutrality. This position was sharply criticised

by Venizelos, but for a time became the policy of the Greek Government.

Meantime the Allied troops were arriving at Saloniki. On October 3d,

seventy thousand French troops arrived. A formal protest was made by the

Greek commandant, who then directed the harbor officials to assist in

arranging the landing. In a short time the Allied forces amounted to a

hundred and fifty thousand men, but the German campaign was moving

rapidly.

The German Balkan army captured Belgrade on the 9th of October, and by

that date two Bulgarian armies were on the Serbian frontier. Serbia

found herself opposed by two hundred thousand Austro-Germans and a

quarter of a million Bulgarians. Greece and Roumania fully mobilized and

were watching the conflict, and the small allied contingent at Saloniki

was preparing to march inland to the aid of Serbia.

The conduct of Greece on this occasion has led to universal criticism.

The King himself, no doubt, was mainly moved by his German wife and the

influence of his Imperial brother-in-law. Those that were associated

with him were probably moved by fear. They had been much impressed by

the strength of the German armies. They had seen the success of the

great German offensive in Russia, while the French and British were

being held in the West. They knew, too, the strength of Bulgaria. The

national characteristic of the Greeks is prudence, and it cannot be

denied that there was great reason to suppose that the armies of Greece

would not be able to resist the new attack. With these views Venizelos,

the greatest statesman that Greece had produced for many years, did not

agree, and the election seemed to show that he was supported by the

majority of the Greek people.

This was another case where the Allies, faced by a dangerous situation,

were acting with too great caution. In Gallipoli they had failed,

because at the very beginning they had not used their full strength.

Now, again, knowing as they did all that depended upon it, bound as they

were to the most loyal support of Serbia, the aid they sent was too

small to be more than a drop in the bucket. It must be remembered,

however, that the greatest leaders among the Allies were at all times

opposed to in any way scattering their strength. They believed that the

war was to be won in France. Military leaders in particular yielded

under protest to the political leaders when expeditions of this

character were undertaken.

Certainly this is true, that the world believed that Serbia had a right

to Allied assistance. The gallant little nation was fighting for her

life, and public honor demanded that she should be aided. It was this

strong feeling that led to the action that was taken, in spite of the

military opinions. It was, however, too late.

In the second week of October Serbia found herself faced by an enemy

which was attacking her on three sides. She herself had been greatly

weakened. Her losses in 1914, when she had driven Austria from her

border, must have been at least two hundred thousand men. She had

suffered from pestilence and famine. Her strength now could not have

been more than two hundred thousand, and though she was fairly well

supplied with munitions, she was so much outnumbered that she could

hardly hope for success. On her west she was facing the Austro-German

armies; on her east Bulgaria; on the south Albania. Her source of

supplies was Saloniki and this was really her only hope. If the Allies

at Saloniki could stop the Bulgarian movement, the Serbians might face

again the Austro-Germans. They expected this help from the Allies.

At Nish the town was decorated and the school children waited outside

the station with bouquets to present to the coming reinforcements. But

the Allies did not come.

Von Mackensen's plan was simple enough. His object was to win a way to

Constantinople. This could be done either by the control of the Danube

or the Ottoman Railroad. To control the Danube he had to seize

northeastern Serbia for the length of the river. This was comparatively

easy and would give him a clear water way to the Bulgarian railways

connected with Constantinople. The Ottoman railway was a harder route to

win. It meant an advance to the southeast, which would clear the Moravo

valley up to Nish, and then the Nishava valley up to Bulgaria. The

movements involved were somewhat complex, but easily carried out on

account of the very great numerical superiority of von Mackensen's

forces.

On September 19th Belgrade was bombarded. The Serbian positions were

gradually destroyed. On the 7th of October the German armies crossed the

Danube, and on the 8th the Serbians began to retreat. There was great

destruction in Belgrade and the Bulgarian General, Mishitch, was forced

slowly back to the foothills of the Tser range.

For a time von Mackensen moved slowly. He did not wish to drive the

Serbians too far south. On the 12th of October the Bulgarian army began

its attack. At first it was held, but by October 17th was pushing

forward all along the line. On the 20th they entered Uskub, a central

point of all the routes of southern Serbia. This practically separated

the Allied forces at Saloniki from the Serbian armies further north.

Disaster followed disaster. On Tuesday, October 26th, a junction of

Bulgarian and Austro-German patrols was completed in the Dobravodo

mountains. General von Gallwitz announced that a moment of world

significance had come, that the "Orient and Occident had been united,

and on the basis of this firm and indissoluble union a new and mighty

vierbund comes into being, created by the victory of our arms."

[Illustration: Map: Proposed railroad through Germany, Austria-Hungary,

the Balkans, Turkey, to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf.]

GERMANY'S DREAM: "THE BREMEN-BERLIN-BOSPORUS-BAGDAD-BAHN"

The road from Germany, through Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria to Turkey

lay open. On October 31st, Milanovac was lost, and on November 2nd,

Kraguyevac surrendered, the decisive battle of the war. On November 7th,

Nish was captured. General Jecoff announced: "After fierce and

sanguinary fighting the fortress of Nish has been conquered by our brave

victorious troops and the Bulgarian flag has been hoisted to remain

forever."

The Serbian army continued steadily to retreat, until on November 8th,

advancing Franco-British troops almost joined with them, presenting a

line from Prilep to Dorolovo on the Bulgarian frontier. At this time the

Bulgarian army suffered a defeat at Izvor, and also at Strumitza. The

Allied armies were now reported to number three hundred thousand men.

The Austro-Germans by this time had reached the mountainous region of

Serbia, and were meeting with strong resistance.

On November 13th, German despatches from the front claimed the capture

of 54,000 Serbian prisoners. The aged King Peter of Serbia was in full

flight, followed by the Crown Prince. The Serbians, however, were still

fighting and on November 15th, made a stand on the western bank of the

Morava River, and recaptured the town of Tatova.

At this time the Allied world was watching the Serbian struggle with

interest and sympathy. In the House of Lords, Lord Lansdowne in a

discussion of the English effort to give them aid said: "It is

impossible to think or speak of Serbia without a tribute to the wondrous

gallantry with which that little country withstood two separate

invasions, and has lately been struggling against a third. She repelled

the first two invasions by an effort which I venture to think formed one

of the most glorious chapters in the history of this Great War."

Serbia, however, was compelled once more to retreat, and their retreat

soon became a rout. Their guns were abandoned and the roads were strewn

with fainting, starving men. The sufferings of the Serbian people during

this time are indescribable. Men, women, and children struggled along in

the wake of the armies without food or shelter. King Peter himself was

able to escape, with the greatest difficulty. By traveling on horseback

and mule back in disguise he finally reached Scutari and crossed to

Brindisi and finally arrived at Saloniki on New Year's Day, crippled and

almost blind, but still full of fight.

"I believe," he said, "in the liberty of Serbia, as I believe in God. It

was the dream of my youth. It was for that I fought throughout manhood.

It has become the faith of the twilight of my life, I live only to see

Serbia free. I pray that God may let me live until the day of redemption

of my people. On that day I am ready to die, if the Lord wills. I have

struggled a great deal in my life, and am tired, bruised and broken from

it, but I will see, I shall see, this triumph. I shall not die before

the victory of my country."

The Serbian army had been driven out of Serbia. But the Allies who had

come up from Saloniki were still unbeaten. On October 12th, the French

General Serrail arrived and moved with the French forces, as has already

been said, to the Serbian aid. They met with a number of successes. On

October 19th they seized the Bulgarian town of Struminitza, and occupied

strong positions on the left bank of the Vardar. On October 27th they

occupied Krivolak, with the British Tenth Division, which had joined

them on their right. They then occupied the summit of Karahodjali, which

commanded the whole section of the valley. This the Bulgarians attacked

in force on the 5th of November, but were badly repulsed. They then

attempted to move toward Babuna Pass, twenty-five miles west of

Krivolak, where they hoped to join hands with the Serbian column at that

point.

They were being faced by a Bulgarian army numbering one hundred and

twenty-five thousand men, and found themselves in serious danger. They

were compelled to fall back into what is called the "Entrenched Camp of

Kavodar" without bringing the aid to the Serbian army that they had

hoped. The Allied expedition to aid Serbia had failed. It was hopeless

from the start, and, if anything, had injured Serbia by raising false

expectations which had interfered with their plans.

During the whole of this disastrous campaign a desperate political

struggle was going on in Greece. On November 3rd, the Zaimis Cabinet

tendered its resignation to King Constantine. The trouble was over a

bill for extra pay to army officers, but it led to an elaborate

discussion of the Greek war policy. M. Venizelos made two long speeches

defending his policy, and condemning the policy of his opponents in

regard to the Balkan situation. He said that he deplored the fact that

Serbia was being left to be crushed by Bulgaria, Greece's hereditary

enemy, who would not scruple later to fall on Greece herself. He spoke

of the King in a friendly way, criticizing, however, his position. He

had been twice removed from the Premiership, although he had a majority

behind him in the Greek Chamber.

"Our State," he said, "is a democracy, presided over by the King, and

the whole responsibility rests with the Cabinet. I admit that the Crown

has a right to disagree with the responsible Government if he thinks the

latter is not in agreement with the national will. But after the recent

election, non-agreement is out of the question, and now the Crown has

not the right to disagree again on the same question. It is not a

question of patriotism but of constitutional liberty."

When the vote was taken the Government was defeated by 147 to 114.

Instead of appointing Venizelos Premier, King Constantine gave the

position to M. Skouloudis, and then dissolved the Greek Chamber by royal

decree. Premier Skouloudis declared his policy to be neutrality with the

character of sincerest benevolence toward the Entente Powers. The

general conditions at Athens during this whole time were causing great

anxiety in the Allied capitals, and the Allied expedition were in

continual fear of an attack in the rear in case of reverse. They

endeavored to obtain satisfactory assurances on this point, and while

assurances were given, during the whole period of King Constantine's

reign aggressive action was prevented because of the doubt as to what

course King Constantine would take.

It was not till August 27th, 1916, that Roumania cast aside her role of

neutral and entered the war with a declaration of hostilities on

Austria-Hungary. Great expectations were founded upon the supposedly

well-trained Roumanian army and upon the nation which, because of its

alertness and discipline, was known as "the policeman of Europe." The

belief was general in Paris and London that the weight of men and

material thrown into the scale by Roumania would bring the to a speedy,

victorious end.

Germany, however, was confident. A spy system excelling in its detailed

reports anything that had heretofore been attempted, made smooth the

path of the German army. Scarcely had the Roumanian army launched a

drive in force into Transylvania on August 30th, when the message spread

from Bucharest "von Mackensen is coming. Recall the army. Draft all

males of military age. Prepare for the worst."

And the worst fell upon hapless Roumania. A vast force of military

engineers moving like a human screen in front of von Mackensen's array,

followed routes carefully mapped out by German spies during the period

of Roumanians neutrality. Military bridges, measured to the inch, had

been prepared to carry cannon, material and men over streams and

ravines. Every Roumanian oil well, mine and storehouse had been located

and mapped. German scientists had studied Roumanian weather conditions

and von Mackensen attacked while the roads were at their best and the

weather most favorable. As the Germans swept forward, spies met them

giving them military information of the utmost value. A swarm of

airplanes spied out the movements of the Roumanians and no Roumanian

airplanes rose to meet them.

[Illustration: Photograph]

THE USEFUL ROLE OF THE CARRIER PIGEON AT THE FRONT

No one would think of giving a Distinguished Service Medal to a

pigeon, but some of them performed service under fire that would have

entitled a soldier to it. Here American officers heading a division

are attaching a message to a pigeon in front of the headquarters

dugout.

[Illustration: Photograph]

BAGDAD THE MAGNIFICENT FALLS TO THE BRITISH

General Maude is here shown making his formal entry at the head of his

troops into the ancient city. This occurred on March 11, 1917, and was

the most notable exploit of General Maude, commander of the British

Mesopotamian expedition until his death by cholera nine months

afterwards.

General von Falkenhayn, co-operating with von Mackensen, smashed his way

through Vulkan Pass, and cut the main line running to Bucharest at

Craiova. The Dobrudja region was over-run and the central Roumanian

plain was swept clear of all Roumanian opposition to the German advance.

The seat of government transferred from Bucharest to Jassy on November

28, 1916, and on December 6th Bucharest was entered by von Mackensen,

definitely putting an end to Roumania as a factor in the war.

The result of the fall of Roumania was to release immense stores of

petroleum for German use. British and Roumanian engineers had done their

utmost by the use of explosives to make useless the great Roumanian oil

wells, but German engineers soon had the precious fluid in full flow.

This furnished the fuel which Germany had long and ardently desired. The

oil-burning submarine now came into its own. It was possible to plan a

great fleet of submersibles to attempt execution of von Tirpitz's plan

for unrestricted submarine warfare. This was decided upon by the German

High Command, the day Bucharest fell. It was realized that such a policy

would bring the United States into the war, but the Kaiser and his

advisers hoped the submarine on sea and a great western front offensive

on land would force a decision in favor of Germany before America could

get ready. How that hope failed was revealed at Chateau-Thierry and in

the humiliation of Germany.

CHAPTER VII

THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA

In our previous discussion of the British campaign in Mesopotamia we

left the British forces intrenched at Kurna, and also occupying Basra,

the port of Bagdad. The object of the Mesopotamia Expedition was

primarily to keep the enemy from the shores of the Gulf of Persia. If

the English had been satisfied with that, the misfortune which was to

come to them might never have occurred, but the whole expedition was

essentially political rather than military in its nature.

The British were defending India. The Germans, unable to attack the

British Empire by sea, were hoping to attack her by land. They had

already attempted to stir up a Holy War with the full expectation that

it would lead to an Indian revolution. In this they had failed, for the

millions of Mohammedans in India cared little for the Turkish Sultan or

his proclamations. Through Bagdad, however, they hoped to strike a blow

at the English influence on the Persian Gulf. The English, therefore,

felt strongly that it was not enough to sit safely astride the Tigris,

but that a blow at Bagdad would produce a tremendous political effect.

It would practically prevent German communication with Persia, and the

Indian frontier.

As a matter of fact the Persian Gulf and the oil fields were safe so

long as the English held Kurna and Basra, and the Arabs were of no

special consequence. The real reason for the expedition was probably

that about this time matters were moving badly for the Allies. Serbia

was in trouble in the Balkans, Gallipoli was a failure, something it

seemed ought to be done to restore the British prestige. Up to this time

the Mesopotamia Expedition had been a great success, but it had made no

great impression on the world. The little villages in the hands of the

British had unknown names, but if Bagdad should be captured Great

Britain would have something to boast of; something would keep up its

prestige among its Mohammedan subjects.

Before the expedition to Bagdad was determined on, there had been

several lively fights between the English forces and the Turks. On March

3d a Turkish force numbering about twelve thousand appeared at Ahwaz

where the British had placed a small garrison to protect the pipe line

of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The British retirement led to heavy

fighting, with severe losses.

A number of lively skirmishes followed, and then the serious attack

against Shaiba. The Turkish army numbered about eighteen thousand men,

of whom eleven thousand were regulars. The fighting lasted for several

days, the Turks being reinforced. On the 14th of April, however, the

English attacked in turn and put the whole enemy force to flight. The

British lost about seven hundred officers and men, reported a Turkish

loss of about six thousand. In their retreat the Turks were attacked by

their Arab allies, and suffered additional losses. From that time till

summer there were no serious contests, although there were occasional

skirmishes which turned out favorably to the British.

By this time the Turks had collected a considerable army north of Kurna,

and on May 31st an expedition was made to disperse it. On June 3d the

British captured Amara, seventy-five miles above Kurna, scattering the

Turkish army. Early in July a similar expedition was sent against

Nasiriyeh, which led to serious fighting, the Turks being badly defeated

with a loss of over two thousand five hundred men.

Kut-el-Amara still remained, and early in August an expedition was

directed against that point. The Turks were found in great force, well

intrenched, and directed by German officers. The battle lasted for four

days. The English suffered great hardship on account of the scarcity of

water and the blinding heat, but on September 29th they drove the enemy

from the city and took possession. More than two thousand prisoners were

taken. The town was found thoroughly fortified, with an elaborate system

of trenches extending for miles, built in the true German fashion. Its

capture was the end of the summer campaign.

The British now had at last made up their minds to push on to Bagdad.

General Townshend, whose work so far had been admirable, protested, but

Sir John Nixon, and the Indian military authorities, were strongly in

favor of the expedition. By October, Turkey was able to gather a large

army. She was fighting in Transcaucasia, Egypt, Gallipoli and

Mesopotamia. Little was going on in the first three of these fronts, and

she was able therefore to send to Mesopotamia almost a quarter of a

million men.

[Illustration: Map: Bagdad in the Northwest corner, Basra in the Southeast

corner.]

THE MESOPOTAMIAN SECTOR, WHERE THE BRITISH ROUTED THE TURKISH ARMY

Kut-el-Amara first besieged and captured by the Turks, was retaken by

General Maude on February 26,1917; Bagdad the Magnificent felt on

March 11th. It was here that General Maude, the hero of Mesopotamia,

died on November 18, 1917.

To meet these, General Townshend had barely fifteen thousand men, of

whom only one-third were white soldiers. He was backed by a flotilla of

boats of almost every kind,--river boats, motor launches, paddle

steamers, native punts. The British army was almost worn out by the

fighting during the intense heat of the previous summer. But their

success had given them confidence.

In the early days of October the advance began. For some days it

proceeded with no serious fighting. On the 23d of October it reached

Azizie, and was halted by a Turkish force numbering about four thousand.

These were soon routed, and the advance continued until General

Townshend arrived at Lajj, about seven miles from Ctesiphon, where the

Turks were found heavily intrenched and in great numbers. Ctesiphon was

a famous old city which had been the battle ground of Romans and

Parthians, but was now mainly ruins. In these ruins, however, the Turks

found admirable shelter for nests of machine guns. On the 21st of

November General Townshend made his attack.

[Illustration: Map]

Map of Gen. Townshend's Lines of Attack on Kut-El-Amara

The Turks occupied two lines of intrenchments, and had about twenty

thousand men, the English about twelve thousand. General Townshend's

plan was to divide his army into three columns. The first was to attack

the center of the first Turkish position. A second was directed at the

left of that position, and a third was to swing widely around and come

in on the rear of the Turkish force. This plan was entirely successful,

but the Turkish army was not routed, and retreated fighting desperately

to its second line. There it was reinforced and counter-attacked with

such vigor that it drove the British back to its old first trenches. The

next day the Turks were further reinforced and attacked again. The

British drove them back over and over, but found themselves unable to

advance. The Turks had lost enormously but the English had lost about

one-third of their strength, and were compelled to fall back. They

therefore returned on the 26th to Lajj, and ultimately, after continual

rear guard actions, to Kut. There they found themselves surrounded, and

there was nothing to do but to wait for help.

By this time the eyes of the world were upon the beleaguered British

army. Help was being hurried to them from India, but Germany also was

awake and Marshal von Der Goltz, who had been military instructor in the

Turkish army, was sent down to take command of the Turkish forces. The

town of Kut lies in the loop of the Tigris, making it almost an island.

There was an intrenched line across the neck of land on the north, and

the place could resist any ordinary assault. The great difficulty was

one of supplies. However, as the relieving force was on the way, no

great anxiety was felt. For some days there was constant bombardment,

which did no great damage. On the 23d an attempt was made to carry the

place by assault, but this too failed. The relieving force, however, was

having its troubles. These were the days of floods, and progress was

slow and at times almost impossible. Moreover, the Turks were constantly

resisting.

The relief expedition was composed of thirty thousand Indian troops, two

Anglo-Indian divisions, and the remnants of Townshend's expedition, a

total of about ninety thousand men. General Sir Percy Lake was in

command of the entire force. The march began on January 6th. By January

8th the British had reached Sheikh Saad, where the Turks were defeated

in two pitched battles. On January 22d he had arrived at Umm-el-Hanna,

where the Turks had intrenched themselves.

After artillery bombardment the Turkish positions were attacked, but

heavy rains had converted the ground into a sea of mud, rendering rapid

movement impossible. The enemy's fire was heavy and effective,

inflicting severe losses, and though every effort was made, the assault

failed.

For weeks the British troops bivouacked in driving rain on soaked and

sodden ground. Three times they were called upon to advance over a

perfectly flat country, deep in mud, and absolutely devoid of cover

against well-constructed and well-planned trenches, manned by a brave

and stubborn enemy, approximately their equal in numbers. They showed a

spirit of endurance and self-sacrifice of which their country may well

be proud.

But the repulse at Hanna did not discourage the British army. It was

decided to move up the left bank of the Tigris and attack the Turkish

position at the Dujailah redoubt. This meant a night march across the

desert with great danger that there would be no water supply and that,

unless the enemy was routed, the army would be in great danger.

General Lake says: "On the afternoon of March 7th, General Aylmer

assembled his subordinate commanders and gave his final instructions,

laying particular stress on the fact that the operation was designed to

effect a surprise, and that to prevent the enemy forestalling us, it was

essential that the first phase of the operation should be pushed through

with the utmost vigor. His dispositions were, briefly, as follows: The

greater part of a division under General Younghusband, assisted by naval

gunboats, controlled the enemy on the left bank. The remaining troops

were formed into two columns, under General Kemball and General Keary

respectively, a reserve of infantry, and the cavalry brigade, being held

at the Corps Commander's own disposal. Kemball's column covered on the

outer flank by the cavalry brigade was to make a turning movement to

attack the Dujailah redoubt from the south, supported by the remainder

of the force, operating from a position to the east of the redoubt. The

night march by this large force, which led across the enemy's front to a

position on his right flank, was a difficult operation, entailing

movement over unknown ground, and requiring most careful arrangement to

attain success."

Thanks to excellent staff work and good march discipline the troops

reached their allotted position apparently undiscovered by the enemy,

but while Keary's column was in position at daybreak, ready to support

Kemball's attack, the latter's command did not reach the point selected

for its deployment in the Dujailah depression until more than an hour

later. This delay was highly prejudicial to the success of the

operation.

When, nearly three hours later, Kemball's troops advanced to the attack,

they were strongly opposed by the enemy from trenches cleverly concealed

in the brushwood, and were unable to make further ground for some time,

though assisted by Keary's attack upon the redoubt from the east. The

southern attack was now reinforced, and by 1 P.M. had pushed forward to

within five hundred yards of the redoubt, but concealed trenches again

stopped further progress and the Turks made several counter-attacks with

reinforcements which had by now arrived from the direction of Magasis.

It was about this time that the Corps Commander received from his

engineer officers the unwelcome news that the water supply contained in

rain-water pools and in Dujailah depression, upon which he had reckoned,

was insufficient and could not be increased by digging. It was clear,

therefore, that unless the Dujailah redoubt could be carried that day

the scarcity of water would, of itself, compel the troops to fall back.

Preparations were accordingly made for a further assault on the redoubt,

and attacks were launched from the south and east under cover of a heavy

bombardment.

The attacking forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in the redoubt. But

here they were heavily counter-attacked by large enemy reinforcements,

and being subjected to an extremely rapid and accurate shrapnel fire

from concealed guns in the vicinity of Sinn After, they were forced to

fall back to the position from which they started. The troops who had

been under arms for some thirty hours, including a long night march,

were now much exhausted, and General Aylmer considered that a renewal of

the assault during the night could not be made with any prospect of

success. Next morning the enemy's position was found to be unchanged and

General Aylmer, finding himself faced with the deficiency of order

already referred to, decided upon the immediate withdrawal of his troops

to Wadi, which was reached the same night.

For the next month the English were held in their positions by the

Tigris floods. On April 4th the floods had sufficiently receded to

permit of another attack upon Umm-el-Hanna, which this time was

successful. On April 8th the Turkish position at Sanna-i-yat was

attacked, but the English were repulsed. They then determined to make

another attempt to capture the Sinn After redoubt. On April 17th the

fort of Beit-Aiessa, four miles from Es Sinn, on the left bank, was

captured after heavy bombardment, and held against serious

counter-attacks. On the 20th and 21st the Sanna-i-yat position was

bombarded and a vigorous assault was made, which met with some success.

The Turks, however, delivered a strong counter-attack, and succeeded in

forcing the British troops back.

General Lake says: "Persistent and repeated attempts on both banks have

thus failed, and it was known that at the outside not more than six

days' supplies remained to the Kut garrison. The British troops were

nearly worn out. The same troops had advanced time and again to assault

positions strong by art and held by a determined enemy. For eighteen

consecutive days they had done all that men could do to overcome, not

only the enemy, but also exceptional climatic and physical obstacles,

and this on a scale of rations which was far from being sufficient in

view of the exertions they had undergone but which the shortage of river

transports, had made it impossible to augment. The need for rest was

imperative."

On April 28th the British garrison at Kut-el-Amara surrendered

unconditionally, after a heroic resistance of a hundred and forty-three

days. According to British figures the surrendered army was composed of

2,970 English and 6,000 Indian troops. The Turkish figures are 13,300.

The Turks also captured a large amount of booty, although General

Townshend destroyed most of his guns and munitions.

During the period in which Kut-el-Amara was besieged by the Turks, the

British troops had suffered much. The enemy bombarded the town almost

every day, but did little damage. The real foe was starvation. At first

the British were confident that a relief expedition would soon reach

them, and they amused themselves by cricket and hockey and fishing in

the river. By early February, however, it was found necessary to reduce

the rations, and a month later they were suffering from hunger. Some

little help was given them by airplanes, which brought tobacco and some

small quantities of supplies. Soon the horses and the mules were

slaughtered and eaten. As time went on the situation grew desperate;

till almost the end, however, they did not lose hope. Through the

wireless they were informed about the progress of the relief expeditions

and had even heard their guns in the distance. They gradually grew,

however, weaker and weaker, so that on the surrender the troops in the

first lines were too weak to march back with their kits.

The Turks treated the prisoners in a chivalric manner; food and tobacco

was at once distributed, and all were interned in Anatolia, except

General Townshend and his staff, who were taken to Constantinople. Later

on it was General Townshend who was to have the honor of carrying the

Turkish plea for an armistice in the closing days of the war.

The surrender of Kut created a world-wide sensation. The loss of eight

thousand troops was, of course, not a serious matter, and the road to

India was still barred, but the moral effect was most unfortunate. That

the great British nation, whose power had been so respected in the

Orient, should now be forced to yield, was a great blow to its prestige.

In England, of course, there was a flood of criticism. It was very plain

that a mistake had been made. A commission was appointed to inquire into

the whole business. This committee reported to Parliament on June 26,

1917, and the report created a great sensation. The substance of the

report was, that while the expedition was justifiable from a political

point of view, it was undertaken with insufficient forces and inadequate

preparation, and it sharply criticized those that were responsible.

It seems plain that the military authorities in India under-estimated

their opponent. The report especially criticized General Sir John Eccles

Nixon, the former commander of the British forces in Mesopotamia, who

had urged the expedition, in spite of the objection of General

Townshend. Others sharing the blame were the Viceroy of India, Baron

Hardinge, General Sir Beauchamp Duff, Commander-in-Chief of the British

forces in India, and, in England, Major-General Sir Edmund Barrow,

Military Secretary of the India office, J. Austen Chamberlain, Secretary

for India, and the War Committee of the Cabinet. According to the

report, beside the losses incurred by the surrender more than

twenty-three thousand men were lost in the relieving expedition. The

general armament and equipment were declared to be not only

insufficient, but not up to the standard.

In consequence of this report Mr. Chamberlain resigned as secretary for

India. In the House of Commons, Mr. Balfour, Secretary of Foreign

Affairs, supported Lord Hardinge, who, at the time of the report, was

Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He declared the criticism of Baron

Hardinge to be grossly unjust. After some discussion the House of

Commons supported Mr. Balfour's refusal to accept Baron Hardinge's

resignation, by a vote of 176 to 81. It seems to be agreed that the

civil administration of India were not responsible for the blunders of

the expedition. Ten years before, Lord Kitchener, after a bitter

controversy with Lord Curzon, had made the military side of the Indian

Government free of all civilian criticism and control. The blunders here

were military blunders.

The English, of course, were not satisfied to leave the situation in

such a condition, and at once began their plans for a new attempt to

capture Bagdad. The summer campaign, however, was uneventful, though on

May 18th a band of Cossacks from the Russian armies in Persia joined the

British camp. A few days afterwards the British army went up the Tigris

and captured the Dujailah redoubt, where they had been so badly defeated

on the 8th of March. They then approached close to Kut, but the weather

was unsuitable, and there was now no object in capturing the city.

In August Sir Percy Lake was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Sir

Frederick Stanley Maude, who carefully and thoroughly proceeded to

prepare for an expedition which should capture Bagdad. A dispatch from

General Maude dated July 10, 1917, gives a full account of this

expedition. It was thoroughly successful. This time with a sufficient

army and a thorough equipment the British found no difficulties, and on

February 26th they captured Kut-el-Amara, not after a hard-fought

battle, but as the result of a successful series of small engagements.

The Turks kept up a steady resistance, but the British blood was up.

They were remembering General Townshend's surrender, and the Turks were

driven before them in great confusion.

The capture of Kut, however, was not an object in itself, and the

British pushed steadily on up the Tigris. The Turks occasionally made a

stand, but without effect. On the 28th of February the English had

arrived at Azizie, half way to Bagdad, where a halt was made. On the 5th

of March the advance was renewed. The Ctesiphon position, which had

defied General Townshend, was found to be strongly intrenched, but

empty. On March 7th the enemy made a stand on the River Diala, which

enters the Tigris eight miles below Bagdad. Some lively fighting

followed, the enemy resisting four attempts to cross the Diala. However,

on March 10th the British forces crossed, and were now close to Bagdad.

The enemy suddenly retired and the British troops found that their main

opponent was a dust storm. The enemy retired beyond Bagdad, and on March

11th the city was occupied by the English.

The fall of Bagdad was an important event. It cheered the Allies, and

proved, especially to the Oriental world, the power of the British army.

Those who originally planned its capture had been right, but those who

were to carry out the plan had not done their duty. Under General Maude

it was a comparatively simple operation, though full of admirable

details, and it produced all the good effects expected. The British, of

course, did not stop at Bagdad. The city itself is not of strategic

importance. The surrounding towns were occupied and an endeavor was made

to conciliate the inhabitants. The real object of the expedition was

attained.

CHAPTER XXV

CANADA'S PART IN THE GREAT WAR

By COL. GEO. G. NASMITH, C. M. G., TORONTO

When, in August,1914, war burst suddenly upon a peaceful world like

distant thunder in a cloudless summer sky, Canada, like the rest of the

British Empire, was profoundly startled. She had been a peace-loving,

non-military nation, satisfied to develop her great natural resources,

and live in harmony with her neighbors; taking little interest in

European affairs, Canadians, in fact, were a typical colonial people,

with little knowledge even of the strength of the ties that linked them

to the British Empire.

Upon declaration of war by Great Britain Canada immediately sprang to

arms. The love of country and empire which had been no obvious thing

burst forth in a patriotic fervor as deep as it was spontaneous and

genuine. The call to action was answered with an enthusiasm the like of

which had rarely, if ever, been seen in any British colony.

The Canadian Government called for 20,000 volunteers--enough for a

single division--as Canada's contribution to the British army. In less

than a month 40,000 men had volunteered, and the Minister of Militia was

compelled to stop the further enrolment of recruits. From the gold

fields of the Yukon, from the slopes of the Rockies on the west to the

surf-beaten shores of the Atlantic on the east; from workshop and mine;

from farm, office and forest, Canada's sons trooped to the colors.

It will be the everlasting glory of the men of the first Canadian

contingent, that they needed no spur, either of victory or defeat: they

volunteered because they were quick to perceive that the existence of

their Empire was threatened by the action of the most formidable

nation-in-arms that the world had ever seen. They had been stirred by

the deepest emotion of a race--the love of country.

A site for a concentration camp was chosen at Valcartier, nestling among

the blue Laurentian hills, sixteen miles from Quebec, and convenient to

that point of embarkation. Within four days 6,000 men had arrived at

Valcartier; in another week there were 25,000 men. From centers all over

Canada troop trains, each carrying hundreds of embryo soldiers, sped

towards Valcartier and deposited their burdens on the miles of sidings

that had sprung up as though by magic.

The rapid evolution of that wild and wooded river valley into a model

military camp was a great tribute to the engineering skill and energy of

civilians who had never done the like before. One day an army of woodmen

were seen felling trees; the next day the stumps were torn out and the

hollows filled; on the third day long rows of tents in regular camp

formation covered the ground, and on the fourth day they were occupied

by civilian soldiers concentrated upon learning the rudiments of the art

and science of war.

Streets were laid out; miles of water pipes, sunk in machine-made

ditches, were connected to hundreds of taps and shower baths; electric

light was installed; three miles of rifle butts completed, and in two

weeks the camp was practically finished--the finest camp that the first

Canadians were destined to see. The building of Valcartier camp was

characteristic of the driving power, vision and genius of the Minister

of Militia, General Sir Sam Hughes.

Of the 33,000 men assembled at Valcartier, the great majority were

civilians without any previous training in warfare. About 7,000

Canadians had taken part in the South African war, fifteen years before,

and some of these, together with a few ex-regulars who had seen active

service, were formed into the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry.

Otherwise, with the exception of the 3,000 regulars that formed the

standing army of Canada, the men and most of the officers were amateurs.

It was therefore a feat that the Canadian people could well afford to be

proud of, that in the great crisis they were able, through their

aggressive Minister of Militia, not only to gather up these forces so

quickly but that they willingly and without delay converted their

industries to the manufacture of all necessary army equipment. Factories

all over the country immediately began turning out vast quantities of

khaki cloth, uniforms, boots, ammunition, harness, wagons, and the

thousand and one articles necessary for an army.

Before the end of September, 1914, the Canadian Expeditionary Force had

been roughly hewn into shape, battalions had been regrouped and

remodeled, officers transferred and re-transferred, intensive training

carried on, and all the necessary equipment assembled. On October 3,

1914, thirty-three Atlantic liners, carrying the contingent of 33,000

men, comprising infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, signalers,

medical corps, army service supply and ammunition columns, together with

horses, guns, ammunition, wagons, motor lorries and other essentials,

sailed from Gaspe basin on the Quebec seaboard to the battle-field of

Europe.

It was probably the largest convoy that had ever been gathered together.

This modern armada in three long lines, each line one and one-half miles

apart, led by cruisers and with battleships on the front, rear and

either flank, presented a thrilling spectacle. The voyage proved

uneventful, and on October 14th, the convoy steamed into Plymouth,

receiving an extraordinary ovation by the sober English people, who

seemed temporarily to have gone wild with enthusiasm. Back of that

demonstration was the conviction that blood had proved thicker than

water and that the apparently flimsy ties that bound the colonies to the

empire were bonds that were unbreakable. The German conviction that the

British colonies would fall away and the British Empire disintegrate

upon the outbreak of a great war had proved fallacious. It was,

moreover, a great demonstration of how the much-vaunted German navy had

already been swept from the seas and rendered impotent by the might of

Britain's fleet.

A few days later the Canadians had settled down on Salisbury Plain in

southern England for the further course of training necessary before

proceeding to France. There, for nearly four months in the cold and the

wet, in the fog and mud, in crowded, dripping tents and under constantly

dripping skies, they carried on and early gave evidence of their powers

of endurance and unquenchable spirit.

Lord Roberts made his last public appearance before this division and

addressing the men said in part: "Three months ago we found ourselves

involved in this war--a war not of our own seeking, but one which those

who have studied Germany's literature and Germany's aspirations, knew

was a war which we should inevitably have to deal with sooner or later.

The prompt resolve of Canada to give us such valuable assistance has

touched us deeply. . . .

"We are fighting a nation which looks upon the British Empire as a

barrier to her development, and has in consequence, long contemplated

our overthrow and humiliation. To attain that end she has manufactured a

magnificent fighting machine, and is straining every nerve to gain

victory.... It is only by the most determined efforts that we can defeat

her."

And this superb German military organization, created by years of

tireless effort, was that which Canadian civilians had volunteered to

fight. Was it any wonder that some of the most able leaders doubted

whether men and officers, no matter how brave and intelligent, could

ever equal the inspired barbarians who, even at that very moment, were

battling with the finest British and French regulars and pressing them

steadily towards Paris?

In a short chapter of this kind attempting to deal with Canada's effort

in the great war it is obviously impossible to go into detail or give

more than the briefest of historical pictures. Consequently much that is

fascinating can be given but a passing glance: for greater detail larger

works must be consulted. Nevertheless it is well to try and view in

perspective events as they occurred, in order to obtain some idea of

their relative importance.

In February, 1915, the first Canadian division crossed the Channel to

France, and began to obtain front-line experiences in a section of the

line just north of Neuve Chapelle.

While the first division had been going through its course of training

in England a second division had been raised in Canada and arrived in

England shortly after the first left it.

During that period the conflict in Europe had passed through certain

preliminary phases--most of them fortunate for the Allies. The

unexpected holding up of the German armies by the Belgians had prevented

the enemy from gaining the channel ports of Calais and Boulogne in the

first rush. Later on the battle of the Marne had resulted in the rolling

back of the German waves until they had subsided on a line roughly drawn

through Dixmude, Ypres, Armentieres, La Bassee, Lens, and southward to

the French border and the trench phase of warfare had begun.

[Illustration: Photograph]

ON VIMY RIDGE, WHERE CANADA WON LAURELS

The Canadians took the important position of Vimy Ridge on Easter

Monday, April 9, 1917. They advanced with brilliance, having taken the

whole system of German front-line trenches between dawn and 6.30 A.

M. This shows squads of machine gunners operating from shell-craters

in support of the infantry on the plateau above the ridge.

[Illustration: Photograph]

Photo from Western Newspaper Union

GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE

Commander of the Canadian forces on the Western Front.

The British held the section of front between Ypres and La-Bassee, about

thirty miles in length, the Germans, unfortunately, occupying all the

higher grounds.

Shortly after the arrival of the Canadian division the British,

concentrating the largest number of guns that had hitherto been gathered

together on the French front, made an attack on the Germans at Neuve

Chapelle. This attack, only partially successful in gains of terrain,

served to teach both belligerents several lessons. It showed the British

the need for huge quantities of high explosives with which to blast away

wire and trenches and, that in an attack, rifle fire, no matter how

accurate, was no match for unlimited numbers of machine guns.

It showed the enemy what could be done with concentrated artillery

fire--a lesson that he availed himself of with deadly effect a few weeks

later.

Though Canadian artillery took part in that bombardment the infantry was

not engaged in the battle of Neuve Chapelle; it received its baptism of

fire, however, under excellent conditions, and after a month's

experience in trench warfare was taken out of the line for rest.

The division was at the time under the command of a British general and

the staff included several highly trained British staff officers.

Nevertheless the commands were practically all in the hands of

Canadians--lawyers, business men, real-estate agents, newspapermen and

other amateur soldiers, who, in civilian life as militiamen, had spent

more or less time in the study of the theory of warfare. This should

always be kept in mind in view of subsequent events, as well as the fact

that these amateur soldiers were faced by armies whose officers and

men--professionals in the art and science of warfare--regarded

themselves as invincible.

In mid-April the Canadians took over a sector some five thousand yards

long in the Ypres salient. On the left they joined up with French

colonial troops, and on their right with the British. Thus there were

Canadian and French colonial troops side by side.

Toward the end of April the Germans reverted to supreme barbarism and

used poison gas. Undismayed, though suffering terrible losses, the

heroic Canadians fought the second battle of Ypres and held the line in

the face of the most terrific assaults.

When the news of the second battle of Ypres reached Canada her people

were profoundly stirred. The blight of war had at last fallen heavily,

destroying her first-born, but sorrow was mixed with pride and

exaltation that Canadian men had proved a match for the most

scientifically trained troops in Europe. As fighters Canadians had at

once leaped into front rank. British, Scotch and Irish blood, with

British traditions, had proved greater forces than the scientific

training and philosophic principles of the Huns. It was a glorious

illustration of the axiom "right is greater than might," which the

German had in his pride reversed to read "might is right." It was

prophetic of what the final issue of a contest based on such divergent

principles was to be. So in those days Canadian men and women held their

heads higher and carried on their war work with increased determination,

stimulated by the knowledge that they were contending with an enemy more

remorseless and implacable than those terrible creatures which used to

come to them in their childish dreams. It was felt that, a nation which

could scientifically and in cold blood resort to poison gases--contrary

to all accepted agreements of civilized countries--to gain its object

must be fought with all the determination, resources and skill which it

was possible to employ.

Canada's heart had been steeled. She was now in the war with her last

dollar and her last man if need be. She had begun to realize that

failure in Europe would simply transfer the struggle with the German

fighting hordes to our Atlantic provinces and the eastern American

states.

The famous Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was originally

composed of soldiers who had actually seen service and were therefore

veterans. Incidentally they were older men and most of them were married

but the call of the Empire was insistent.

In the winter of 1914-15 the British line in Flanders was very thin and

the P. P. C. L. I's. being a trained regiment was sent over to France

several weeks before the first Canadian division. It soon earned the

name of a regiment of extraordinarily hard-fighting qualities and was

all but wiped out before spring arrived. The immortal story of this

gallant unit must be read in detail if one wishes to obtain any clear

conception of their deeds of valor--of what it is possible for man to go

through and live. However, it was but one regiment whose exploits were

later equaled by other Canadian regiments and it would therefore be

invidious to select anyone for special praise. After operating as a

separate regiment for nearly two years and having been recruited from

the regular Canadian depots in England, it became in composition like

other Canadian regiments and was finally incorporated in the third

Canadian division.

In the spring of 1915, a Canadian cavalry brigade was formed in France

made up of Strathcona's Horse, King Edward's Horse, the Royal Canadian

Dragoons and Canadian Mounted Rifles.

After the second battle of Ypres, the Canadians after resting and

re-organization, were moved to a section of the line near LaBassee. Here

they fought the battle of Festubert--a series of infantry attacks and

artillery bombardments, which gained little ground.

Shortly afterwards they fought the battle of Givenchy, equally futile,

as far as material results were concerned. Both of these battles had the

double object of feeling out the strength of the German line and of

obtaining the Aubers Ridge, should the attacks prove successful. In both

battles the Canadians showed great aptitude for attack, and tenacity in

their hold of captured trenches. They also learned the difficult lesson

that if an objective is passed by the infantry the latter enter the zone

of their own artillery fire and suffer accordingly.

In September, 1915, the Second Canadian Division arrived in Flanders and

took its place at the side of the First Canadian Division, then

occupying the Ploegsteert section in front of the Messines-Wytschaete

Ridge. The rest of the winter was spent more or less quietly by both

divisions in the usual trench warfare, and battling with mud, water and

weather.

It was here that the Canadians evolved the "trench raid," a method of

cutting off a section of enemy trench, killing or taking prisoners all

the enemy inhabitants, destroying it and returning with little or no

loss to the attacking party. This method was quickly copied from one end

of the Franco-British line to the other; it proved a most valuable

method of gaining information, and served to keep the troops, during the

long cold winter months, stimulated and keen when otherwise life would

have proved most dull and uninteresting.

The Third Canadian Division was formed in January and February, 1916.

One infantry brigade was composed of regiments which had been acting as

Canadian corps troops, including the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light

Infantry, and the Royal Canadian Regiment. The second infantry brigade

was made up of six Canadian mounted rifle regiments, which had comprised

part of the cavalry brigade. These two brigades, of the Third Division,

under the command of General Mercer of Toronto, almost immediately began

front-line work.

During this period, the Germans, making desperate efforts extending over

weeks of time, did their utmost to break through the French line at

Verdun and exhaust the French reserves. To offset these objects, a

fourth British army was assembled, which took over still more of the

French line, while a series of British attacks, intended to pin down the

German reserves all along the line, was inaugurated. One of these

developed into a fight for the craters--a terrible struggle at St. Eloi,

where, blasted from their muddy ditches, with rifles and machine guns

choked with mud and water; with communications lost and lack of

artillery support, the men of the Second Canadian Division fought gamely

from April 6th to April 20th, but were forced to yield the craters and

part of their front line system to the enemy.

Notwithstanding this the men of the Second Canadian Division at St. Eloi

fought quite as nobly as had their brothers of the First Division just a

year before, at the glorious battle of Ypres, a few miles farther north.

But it was a bitter experience. The lesson of failure is as necessary in

the education of a nation as that of success.

On June 2d and 3d, the Third Canadian Division, which then occupied part

of the line in the Ypres salient, including Hooge and Sanctuary Wood,

was smothered by an artillery bombardment unprecedented in length and

intensity. Trenches melted into irregular heaps of splintered wood,

broken sand bags and mangled bodies. Fighting gallantly the men of this

division fell in large numbers, where they stood. The best infantry in

the world is powerless against avalanches of shells projected from

greatly superior numbers of guns. The Canadian trenches were

obliterated, not captured.

By this time Britain had thoroughly learned her lesson, and now

countless shells and guns were pouring into France from Great Britain

where thousands of factories, new and old, toiled night and day, under

the inspiring energy of Mr. Lloyd George.

On June 13th, in a terrific counter-attack, the Canadians in turn

blasted the Huns from the trenches taken from them a few days before.

The First Canadian Division recaptured and consolidated all the ground

and trench systems that had been lost Thus ended the second year of

Canadian military operations in the Ypres salient. Each of the three

Canadian divisions had been tried by fire in that terrible region, from

which, it was said, no man ever returned the same as he entered it.

Beneath its torn and rifted surface, thousands of Canadians lie, mute

testimony to the fact that love of liberty is still one of the most

powerful, yet most intangible, things that man is swayed by.

A very distinguished French general, speaking of the part that Canada

was playing in the war, said, "Nothing in the history of the world has

ever been known quite like it. My countrymen are fighting within fifty

miles of Paris, to push back and chastise a vile and leprous race, which

has violated the chastity of beautiful France, but the Australians at

the Dardanelles and the Canadians at Ypres, fought with supreme and

absolute devotion for what to many must have seemed simple abstractions,

and that nation which will support for an abstraction the horror of this

war of all wars will ever hold the highest place in the records of human

valor."

The Fourth Canadian Division reached the Ypres region in August, 1916,

just as the other three Canadian divisions were leaving for the Somme

battle-field farther south. For a while it occupied part of the line

near Kemmel, but soon followed the other divisions to the Somme, there

to complete the Canadian corps.

It may be stated here that though a fifth Canadian division was formed

and thoroughly trained in England, it never reached France. Canada,

until the passing of the Military Service Act on July 6,1917, depended

solely on voluntary enlistment. Up to that time Canada, with a

population of less than 9,000,000, had recruited 525,000 men by

voluntary methods. Of this number 356,986 had actually gone overseas.

Voluntary methods at last, however, failed to supply drafts in

sufficient numbers to keep up the strength of the depleted reserves in

England, and in consequence conscription was decided upon. By this

means, 56,000 men were drafted in Canada before the war ended. In the

meantime, through heavy fighting the demand for drafts became so

insistent that the Fifth Canadian Division in England had to be broken

up to reinforce the exhausted fighting divisions in France.

It would be an incomplete summary of Canada's part in the war that did

not mention some of the men who have been responsible for the success of

Canadian arms. It is obviously impossible to mention all of those

responsible; it is even harder to select a few. But looking backward one

sees two figures that stand forth from all the rest--General Sir Sam

Hughes in Canada, and General Sir Arthur Currie commander of the

Canadian corps.

To General Sir Sam Hughes must be given the credit of having foreseen

war with Germany and making such preparations as were possible in a

democracy like Canada. He it was of all others who galvanized Canada

into action; he it was whose enthusiasm and driving power were so

contagious that they affected not only his subordinates but the country

at large.

Sir Sam Hughes will be remembered for the building of Valcartier camp

and the dispatch of the first Canadian contingent. But he did things of

just as great importance. It was he who sought and obtained for Canada,

huge orders for munitions from Great Britain and thereby made it

possible for Canada to weather the financial depression, pay her own war

expenditures and emerge from the war in better financial shape than she

was when the war broke out. It was easy to build up a business once

established but the chief credit must go to the man who established it.

Sir Sam Hughes was also responsible for the selection of the officers

who went overseas with the first Canadian contingent. Among those

officers who subsequently became divisional commanders were General Sir

Arthur Currie, General Sir Richard Turner, General Sir David Watson,

Generals Lipsett, Mercer and Hughes.

Of these generals, Sir Arthur Currie through sheer ability ultimately

became commander of the Canadian corps. This big, quiet man, whose

consideration, prudence and brilliancy had won the absolute confidence

of Canadian officers and men alike, welded the Canadian corps into a

fighting force of incomparable effectiveness--a force which was set the

most difficult tasks and, as events proved, not in vain.

When Canada entered the war she had a permanent force of 3,000 men. When

hostilities ceased on November 11, 1918, Canada had sent overseas

418,980 soldiers. In addition to this about 15,000 men had joined the

British Royal Air Service, several hundred physicians and veterinarians,

as well as 200 nurses, had been supplied to the British army, while many

hundreds of university men had received commissions in the imperial army

and navy.

In September, October and November, 1916, the Canadian corps of four

divisions, which had been welded by General Byng and General Currie into

an exceedingly efficient fighting machine, took its part in the battle

of the Somme--a battle in which the British army assumed the heaviest

share of the fighting and casualties, and shifted the greatest burden of

the struggle from the shoulders of the French to their own. The British

army had grown vastly in power and efficiency and in growing had taken

over more and more of the line from the French.

The battle of the Somme was long and involved. The Franco-British forces

were everywhere victorious and by hard and continuous fighting forced

the Hun back to the famous Hindenburg line. It was in this battle that

the tanks, evolved by the British, were used for the first time, and

played a most important part in breaking down wire entanglements and

rounding up the machine gun nests. The part played in this battle by the

Canadian corps was conspicuous, and it especially distinguished itself

by the capture of Courcelette. Although the battles which the Canadian

corps took part in subsequently were almost invariably both successful

and important, they can be merely mentioned here. The Canadian corps now

known everywhere to consist of shock troops second to none on the

western front, was frequently used as the spearhead with which to pierce

particularly tough parts of the enemy defenses.

On April 9th to 13th, 1917, the Canadian corps, with some British

support, captured Vimy Ridge, a point which had hitherto proved

invulnerable. When a year later, the Germans, north and south, swept the

British line to one side in gigantic thrusts they were unable to disturb

this key point, Vimy Ridge, which served as an anchor to the sagging

line. The Canadian corps was engaged at Arleux and Fresnoy in April and

May and was effective in the operations around Lens in June. Again on

August 15th, it was engaged at Hill 70 and fought with conspicuous

success in that toughest, most difficult, and most heart-breaking of all

battles--Passchendaele.

In 1918, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade won distinction in the German

offensive of March and April. On August 12, 1918, the Canadian corps was

engaged in the brilliantly successful battle of Amiens, which completely

upset the German offensive plan. On August 26th to 28th the Canadians

captured Monchy-le-Preux, and, in one of the hammer blows which Foch

rained on the German front, were given the most difficult piece of the

whole line to pierce--the Queant-Drocourt line. This section of the

famous Hindenburg line was considered by the enemy to be absolutely

impregnable, but was captured by the Canadians on September 3d and 4th.

With this line outflanked a vast German retreat began, which ended on

November 11th with the signing of the armistice.

To the Canadians fell the honors of breaking through the first

Hindenburg line by the capture of Cambrai, on October 1st to 9th. They

also took Douai on October 19th, and Dena on October 20th. On October

26th to November 2d they had the signal honor of capturing Valenciennes

thereby being the first troops to break through the fourth and last

Hindenberg line.

It surely was a curious coincidence that Mons, from which the original

British army--the best trained, it is said, that has taken the field

since the time of Caesar--began its retreat in 1914, should have been

the town which Canadian civilians were destined to recapture. The war

began for the professional British army--the Contemptibles--when it

began its retreat from Mons in 1914; the war ended for the British army

at the very same town four years and three months later, when on the day

the armistice was signed the men from Canada re-entered it. Was it

coincidence, or was it fate?

During the war Canadian troops had sustained 211,000 casualties, 152,000

had been wounded and more than 50,000 had made the supreme sacrifice.

Put into different language this means that the number of Canadians

killed was just a little greater than the total number of infantrymen in

their corps of four divisions.

The extent of the work involved in the care of the wounded and sick of

the Canadians overseas may be gathered from the fact that Canada

equipped and sent across the Atlantic, 7 general hospitals, 10

stationary hospitals, 16 field ambulances, 3 sanitary sections, 4

casualty clearing stations and advanced and base depots of medical

stores: The personnel of these medical units consisted of 1,612

officers, 1,994 nursing sisters and 12,382 of other ranks, or a total of

about 16,000. This will give some conception of the importance of the

task involved in the caring for the sick and wounded of about 90,000

fighting troops, some 60,000 auxiliary troops behind the lines and the

reserve depots in England.

[Illustration: Map]

FROM THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS TO YPRES

Map showing the Northeastern frontiers of France, and neutral Belgium

through which the German armies poured in 1914. The battle line held

straight from Belfort to Verdun, with the exception of the St. Mihiel

salient. Above Verdun the line veered to the west, north of Rheims,

marking a wide curve toward St. Quentin and Arras and bending back to

Ypres, held by the Canadians throughout the war.

The work of the Canadian Red Cross Society included the building and

equipping of auxiliary hospitals to those of the Canadian Army Medical

Corps; providing of extra and emergency stores of all kinds, recreation

huts, ambulances and lorries, drugs, serums and surgical equipment

calculated to make hospitals more efficient; the looking after the

comfort of patients in hospitals providing recreation and entertainment

to the wounded, and dispatching regularly to every Canadian prisoner

parcels of food, as well as clothes, books and other necessaries: The

Canadian Red Cross expended on goods for prisoners in 1917 nearly

$600,000.

In all the Canadian Red Cross distributed since the beginning of the war

to November 23, 1918, $7,631,100.

The approximate total of voluntary contributions from Canada for war

purposes was over $90,000,000.

The following figures quoted from tables issued by the Department of

Public Information at Ottawa, show the exports in certain Canadian

commodities, having a direct bearing on the war for the last three

fiscal years before the war (1912-13-14), and for the last fiscal year

(1918); and illustrates the increase, during this period, in the value

of these articles exported:

VALUES

Average for 1912-1913-1914 1918

Foodstuffs $143,133,374 $617,515,690

Clothing, metals, leather, etc 45,822,717 215,873,357

----------- -----------

Total $188,956,091 $833,389,047

As practically all of the increase of food and other materials went to

Great Britain, France and Italy, the extent of Canada's effort in

upholding the allied cause is clearly evident and was by no means a

small one.

The trade of Canada for 1914 was one billion dollars; for the fiscal

year of 1917-18 it was two and one-half billion dollars.

Approximately 60,000,000 shells were made in Canada during the war.

Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities a shell committee was formed

in Canada to really act as an agent for the British war office in

placing contracts. The first shells were shipped in December, 1914, and

by the end of May, 1915, approximately 400 establishments were

manufacturing shells in Canada. By November, 1915, orders had been

placed by the Imperial Government to the value of $300,000,000, and an

Imperial Munitions Board, replacing the shell committee, was formed,

directly responsible to the Imperial Ministry of Munitions.

During the war period Canada purchased from her bank savings

$1,669,381,000 of Canadian war loans.

Estimates of expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31,1919,

demonstrated the thoroughness with which Canada went to war. They

follow:

Expenditure Expenditure Total

In Canada Overseas Expenditures

Pay of 110,000 troops in

Canada and 290,000

in England and France. $50,187,500 $70,312,500 $120,500,000

Assigned pay, overseas troops 54,000,000 --- 54,000,000

Separation allowances 21,750,000 6,000,000 27,750,000

Rations, Canada,

50 cents per day;

England, 38-1/2 cents per day. 20,075,000 21,000,000 41,075,000

Clothing and necessaries 19,080,000 --- 19,080,000

Outfit allowances,

officers and nurses 1,000,000 700,000 1,700,000

Equipment, including harness,

vehicles, tents, blankets, but

not rifles, machine guns, etc 20,000,000 --- 20,000,000

Ordnance service --- 1,800,000 1,800,000

Medical services 5,000,000 --- 5,000,000

Ammunition 5,000,000 --- 5,000,000

Machine guns 2,000,000 --- 2,000,000

Ocean transport 4,612,500 --- 4,612,500

Railway transport 11,062,500 450,000 11,512,500

Forage 450,000 --- 450,000

Veterinary service, remounts --- 3,000,000 3,000,000

Engineer works, housing 2,750,000 1,250,000 4,000,000

Civilian employees 2,920,000 750,000 8,670,000

Sundries, including recruiting,

censors, customs dues, etc. 3,000,000 --- 3,000,000

Overseas printing and stationery --- 300,000 300,000

General expenses overseas --- 1,800,000 1,800,000

Maintenance of troops in France

at 9s. 4d. each per day --- 115,000,000 115,000,000

----------- ------------ ------------

Total $217,887,500 $225,162,500 $443,050,000

CHAPTER VIII

IMMORTAL VERDUN

France was revealed to herself, to Germany and to the world as the

heroic defender of civilization, as a defender defying death in the

victory of Verdun. There, with the gateway to Paris lying open at its

back, the French army, in the longest pitched battle in all history,

held like a cold blue rock against the uttermost man power and resources

of the German army.

General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff and military

dictator of the Teutonic allies, there met disaster and disgrace. There

the mettle of the Crown Prince was tested and he was found to be merely

a thing of straw, a weak creature whose mind was under the domination of

von Falkenhayn.

For the tremendous offensive which was planned to end the war by one

terrific thrust, von Falkenhayn had robbed all the other fronts of

effective men and munitions. Field Marshal von Hindenburg and his crafty

Chief of Staff, General Ludendorf, had planned a campaign against Russia

designed to put that tottering military Colossus out of the war. The

plans were upon a scale that might well have proved successful. The

Kaiser, influenced by the Crown Prince and by von Falkenhayn, decreed

that the Russian campaign must be postponed and that von Hindenburg must

send his crack troops to join the army of the Crown Prince fronting

Verdun. Ludendorf promptly resigned as Chief of Staff to von Hindenburg

and suggested that the Field Marshal also resign. That grim old warrior

declined to take this action, preferring to remain idle in East Prussia

and watch what he predicted would be a useless effort on the western

front. His warning to the General Staff was explicit, but von Falkenhayn

coolly ignored the message.

[Illustration: Map: Verdun in the Southwest corner, to Maucourt toward

the Northeast.]

IMMORTAL VERDUN, WHERE THE FRENCH HELD THE GERMANS WITH THE INSPIRING

SLOGAN "THEY SHALL NOT PASS"

Why did Germany select this particular point for its grand offensive?

The answer is to be found in a demand made by the great Junker

associations of Germany in May, 1915, nine months before the attack was

undertaken. That demand was to the effect that Verdun should be attacked

and captured. They declared that the Verdun fortifications made a

menacing salient thrust into the rich iron fields of the Briey basin.

From this metalliferous field of Lorraine came the ore that supplied

eighty per cent of the steel required for German and Austrian guns and

munitions. These fields of Briey were only twenty miles from the great

guns of Verdun. They were French territory at the beginning of the war

and had been seized by the army of the Crown Prince, co-operating with

the Army of Metz because of their immense value to the Germans in war

making.

As a preliminary to the battle, von Falkenhayn placed a semicircle of

huge howitzers and rifles around the field of Briey. Then assembling the

vast forces drained from all the fronts and having erected ammunition

dumps covering many acres, the great battle commenced with a surprise

attack upon the village of Haumont on February 21, 1916.

The first victory of the Germans at that point was an easy one. The

great fort of Douaumont was the next objective. This was taken on

February 25th after a concentrated bombardment that for intensity

surpassed anything that heretofore had been shown in the war.

Von Falkenhayn, personally superintending the disposition of guns and

men, had now penetrated the outer defenses of Verdun. The tide was

running against the French, and shells, more shells for the guns of all

caliber; men, more men for the earthworks surrounding the devoted city

were needed. The narrow-gauge railway connecting Verdun with the great

French depots of supplies was totally inadequate for the transportation

burdens suddenly cast upon it. In this desperate emergency a transport

system was born of necessity, a system that saved Verdun. It was fleet

upon fleet of motor trucks, all sizes, all styles; anything that could

pack a few shells or a handful of men was utilized. The backbone of the

system was a great fleet of trucks driven by men whose average daily

rest was four hours, and upon whose horizon-blue uniforms the stains of

snow and sleet, of dust and mud, were indelibly fixed through the

winter, spring, summer and fall of 1916, for the glorious engagement

continued from February 21st until November 2d, when the Germans were

forced into full retreat from the field of honor, the evacuation of Fort

Vaux putting a period to Germany's disastrous plan and to von

Falkenhayn's military career.

Lord Northcliffe, describing the early days of the immortal battle,

wrote:

"Verdun is, in many ways, the most extraordinary of battles. The mass of

metal used on both sides is far beyond all parallel; the transformation

on the Douaumont Ridge was more suddenly dramatic than even the battle

of the Marne; and, above all, the duration of the conflict already looks

as if it would surpass anything in history. More than a month has

elapsed since, by the kindness of General Joffre and General Petain, I

was able to watch the struggle from various vital viewpoints. The battle

had then been raging with great intensity for a fortnight, and, as I

write, four to five thousand guns are still thundering round Verdun.

Impossible, therefore, any man to describe the entire battle. The most

one can do is to set down one's impressions of the first phases of a

terrible conflict, the end of which cannot be foreseen.

"My chief impression is one of admiration for the subtle powers of mind

of the French High Command. General Joffre and General Castelnau are men

with especially fine intellects tempered to terrible keenness. Always

they have had to contend against superior numbers. In 1870, when they

were subalterns, their country lost the advantage of its numerous

population by abandoning general military service at a time when Prussia

was completely realizing the idea of a nation in arms. In 1914, when

they were commanders, France was inferior to a still greater degree in

point of numbers to Prussianized Germany. In armament, France was

inferior at first to her enemy. The French High Command has thus been

trained by adversity to do all that human intellect can against almost

overwhelming hostile material forces. General Joffre, General

Castelnau--and, later, General Petain, who at a moment's notice

displaced General Herr--had to display genius where the Germans were

exhibiting talent, and the result is to be seen at Verdun. They there

caught the enemy in a series of traps of a kind hitherto unknown in

modern warfare--something elemental, and yet subtle, neo-primitive, and

befitting the atavistic character of the Teuton. They caught him in a

web of his own unfulfilled boasts.