THE GREAT WAR THE CAUSES AND THE WAGING OF IT THEOj^BMERVEY COLUMBIA, S. C. THE STATE COMPANY, PRINTERS 1917 COPYRIGHT, 1917 BY THEO. D. JERVEY ^ ■5^ / •CI.A476775 OCT 27ibl7 PREFACE The following short stoiy of the Great War was prepared by the author in the winter and spring of 19V when it became probable that the United State** would be drawn in through the resumption by Germany of unrestricted sub- marine activity against neutral shipping and neutral non- combatants. It was thought that in the Southern States, especially, a clear undei-standing of the causes of the war and a truthful account of the waging of it, up to our entrance in it, might be of some value to those who might not have given much attention to the consideration of such before this time. In this connection, if it was advisable for the representatives of the French and British Governments to indicate to us their mistakes, it was thought by the author appropriate that, while revealing, to some extent, the splen- did courage, devoted patriotism and wonderful determina- tion of the Allies to exhibit, at the same time, the evidence of courage, capacity and determination of our foes which a study of the war reveals. Also, if there have been mistakes made by our Allies, as yet not as apparent to them as to some of us, the revelation of such might be as helpful to us and to them as was the recital by them of those they did see and thought necessary to expose to us so clearly. CONTENTS Page Preface 3 Chapter I— The Cause of the War 7 Chapter II — The Invasion of France and Belgium.... 2Q Chapter III — The Saving Power of Toleniiue 41 Chapter IV — The Recourse to "Germania Triuniphans" 53 Chapter V — Verdun and "Der Tag" G6 Chapter VI— The Ebbing of the Tide 82 Chapter VII— The Sul)marine Challenge 03 CHAPTER I. THE CAUSE OF THE WAR To obtain in reasonable space and time a definite idea of The War. it miglit be a mistake for the average man to review the facts which led up to it any further back than 1890, the twentieth year of the German Empire. Two facts of great significance occurred in that year. The first was the cession by Great Britain to Germany of tlie ishmd of Heligohmd. by which the coast of Germany was immensely strengthened against invasion. The second was the passing of Bismarck, whose resignation was accepted by the young Emperor William the Second, by whom, from that date, the policies of Prussia and the Ger- man Empire were directed, by such Chancellors as were willing to become his mouthpiece. In the administration of Bismarck, the German army did not absolutely control the German State. In the adminis- tration of the young Emperor, it at once became apparent, it was increasingly to do so; for that able and resourceful ruler at once identified himself with the aspirations of the army chiefs and, with great tact, drew together the military of Austro-Hungary and Germany through ever\' device which could arouse in them a generous emulation and a fraternization. Eor this purpose cavalry rides, between Berlin and Vienna and Berlin and Buda Pest, became the order of the day, and accordingly up and down the roads, betwixt the capitals, young German, Austrian and Hunga- rian officers continually' thundered, making a record for man and beast and receiving, from the German Emperor, marked attentions. It was thus the beginning of an era; but outside of Ger- many few persons had any idea of the inflation of German ambition ; for. indeed, to some extent, it was a period of reaction throughout the world. A few years previously in England, with the shattering of the great Liberal party over the question of Home Eule for Ireland, the government 8 THE GREAT WAB of the United Kingdom had passed to the Conservatives, under Lord Salisbury, with whom had united the Whigs under Lord Hartington and a few Radicals under the strongest of them, the able, accomplished and prepossessing Joseph Chamberlain, the brass screw manufacturer of Bir- mmgham; for Lord Randolph Churchill, the brilliant Tory Democrat, to whom the party was greatly indebted for its return to power, had been utilized, but not retained. In Russia, Alexander the Third, after consulting for a short while with Loris Melikoff, entrusted by his father with the preparation of a Constitution, dismissed that liberal statesman and submitted himself to the guidance of the bigot Pobiedonotseff, whose policy it was forcefully to Russianize Finland and Poland. Even in the United States of America an attempt had been made to get back to conditions from which the great liberal President Rutherford B. Hayes had freed the Re- public when in 1876, he had made the patriotic declara- tion:- The flag of the Union floats over independent states and not oA^er conquered provinces." With the failure of the Federal Force Bill of 1890 to F^.^'^,?*^^'''^' *^'^ ^^'* '^^'^'^^^ ^f disaffection produced by the War between the States vanished, as the Spanish war eight years later indicated, and possibly, this trust reposed and vindicated in America helped to sustain the belief in the efficacy of such in Great Britain, for, with the resur- rection of the great Liberal party in 1905, generous pro- visions for home rule were granted the conquered republics of South Africa, the bulk of the inhabitants of which were thus knit to the Empire. That the position of the British Empire in 1890 was not entirely secure was not altogether lost sight of by some observers, although the quarter from which danger was to come the cession of Heligoland indicated ignorance of- and by one, apparently competent to judge, time was deemed to be all that was essential to render it absolutely secure In 1 «on ^/''^^''^^ «f ^^'^at^r Britain," Sir Charles Dilke, in 18.J0, forecasted the development of the three great peoples of the world, as they then appeared to him. TEE GREAT ^\ AR 9 Dilke had started life as a Kadical; but, being a man of property, besides considerable possessions in England, he had an estate in France. He had been a great traveller; had made some friendships and many ac(iuaintances at the various capitals of Europe; had known Gambetta inti- mately: and. through this wide knowledge, possessed to an extraordinary degree insight into European questions and the forces which govern their development. Credited witli conspicuous clearness of judgment and great linguistic accpiirenients, as Under Secretary of Foreign Atl'airs, he had been in a position to gauge the movements of European politics, as few men in England could, and a synopsis of his forecast, read at this date, is not without interest. It is as follows : "The greatest nations of the old world. ai)art from us, are limited in territory situate in temperate climes, and France and (lermany can hope to play but little |)art in the later politics of the next century, while the future seems to lie between our own jieople — in the present British empire and in the United State.s — and the Russians, who, alone among the continental nations of Europe, are in possession of unbounded I'cgions of fertile land, outside of P^urope. but in climates in which white men i-an work upon the soil." After a comparison of the — at that day and prospective — resources of these three great powers, in which he not unnaturally inclined to the opinion that, upon the whole, the British Emjiire was holding "her own against the com- petition of her great daughter, although the United States 'was' somewhat gaining upon her", he affirmed that "both were leaving Russia far 'astern'', and that it was possible that "the growth of Canada and Australia" might "enable the British Empire, not only to continue to rival the United States, but even to reassert her supremacy in most points." His conclusion was: — "The danger in our path is that the enormous forces of European militarism nuiy crush the old country and destroy the integrity of our Enijiire before the growth of the newer communities that it contains has made it too strong for the attack. It is conceivable that within the next few years 10 THE GREAT ^Y AR Great Britain might be drawn into war, and receive in that war, at the hands of a coalition, a blow from which she would not recover, and one of the consequences of which Avould be the loss of Canada and India and the proclama- tion of Australian independence." Within a year from the publication of this forecast and the dismissal of Bismarck appeared a German book, "The Nation Armed", in which some indication of the direction in which the new European political currents were tending, was given. General Baron Colmar von der Goltz was a great favorite of the young German Emperor William the Second and, later, made by him reorganizer of the Turkish army. Almost as if in answer to the suggestion of what part Germany might hope to play in the later politics of the next century, in 1891, in "The Nation Armed", he gave his view. It was "Preparedness": — "To Avork without relaxation in perfecting our army and our national military organization more and more, will be for us the supremest political wisdom. The increase of our moral force, of that power which decides war, should march Avith our material progress. We say increase and not main- tenance; for moral forces never remain at the same level, they decrease as soon as they cease to increase. It is then necessary, before everything, to convince ourselves and to convince the generation, which we have to educate, that the moment for repose has not come; that the prediction of a supreme struggle, having for result the existence and the grandeur of Germany is no vain chimera issuing from the ambition of some aspiring fools; that the supreme struggle will inevitably burst some day, grave and terrible, as every struggle of nations called upon to inaugurate great political revolutions. This sentiment should lead us to do every- thing, by example, by word of mouth, by the pen, to strengthen in our hearts and in those of our children our unshakable fidelity to the Emperor, our passionate love of country, our spirit of sacrifice and of abnegation. Under these conditions final victory in the future struggle will not fail to still belong to the German armv, which ought to be and remain the amied German nation." As to the exact nature and scope of the supreme struggle which this great soldier foresaw, he did not enter into the TEE GREAT ^y AR 11 details; but, as the appetite gi'ows by what it feeds upon, in 1895, in "Germania Triumphans", a lesser personage sketched them in vivid colors, although he did conceive the German people might stop half way on the far reaching road he led them to, "Germania Triumphans" is a picture of world conditions from 11)00 to 1915. The author says:— "By the beginning of the Twentieth Century the drawing together of the Germans will have become so dangerous that in England Free Trade will lose a considerable number of i)artisans. Then the federation of the Britannic terri- tories will be realized. They would form an immense eco- nomic territoiy protected against strange commerce. Of all the continental powers (lermany would suffer most from this state of things. The situation would soon become intol- erable. A pretext would permit an escape from it. In 1902 the Sultan of Turkey would propose to Germany and Aus- tro-Iiungary a custom union. Russia, taking exception to this, would call upon France. In that country there would be division of opinion, some viewing with satisfaction the long expected occasion of a war with Germany, others, that it would be better to come to an understanding with the government of Berlin. This division of opinion would be the consequence of the amelioration of the Franco-German relations. Thev would have become so amicable that the Emperor William, responding to the invitation of the French government, would have visited the Exposition in 1900. A little while afterwards, he would have even pro- posed to France a customs union. Despite these conciliating suggestions, no French minister would have dared to affront opinion and conclude the treaty. Negotiations would drag along to the beginning of 190.S; linally Russia would declare war and drag France along with her. The latter would gain some victories in the Italian heights, but, in the east, victory would range itself upon the side of Germany, and Paris would l)e menaced with a new bombardment. Peace would be concluded, but, in the interest of her policy, Germany would demand nothing from France, contenting herselt with the statu quo ante, and renewing even her proposal of an alliance. France, convinced this time of the impossibility of reconquering, Alsace Lorraine would be gained by this conduct. Free in the west, the German Emperor would return with all his forces against Russia. His armies would march at once upon Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Ger- man fleet would blockade the shores of the Baltic and the 12 THE GREAT WAR Gulf of Finland. The Austrian army would operate in the region of Kiev and the Turks would take the Caucasus in the rear. Under this triple attack Russia, overwhelmed, would sue for peace, which would be signed at St. Peters- burg. Germany, as the principal conqueror, would demand and receive the lion's share. She would acquire the Baltic provinces, Poland, Volhynia, Podolia and the Crimea. Tur- key would receive the entire region between the Black and the Caspian Seas. Austria would receive Bessarabia and constrain the Balkan States, upon whom would be imposed German princes, to form Avith her a Federal State. The German tongue would be proclaimed the official language of Austria, where various agencies would assure the unshakable siipremacy of 'Germanism.' Soon after the peace of St. Petersburg, Austria, Turkey and France would send dele- gates to Berlin to elaborate a vast Zollverein. They would recognize the impossibility of suppressing completely all customs and Avould adopt two tariffs. One very much reduced would be reserved for the confederated States, the otner, prohibitive, would be applied to products exterior to the Zollverein. A customs parliament installed at Berlin would attend to this economic organization ; but the division of votes between the different States would assure the supre- macy to Germany. "Her conimerce favored by gi-eat works, and especially by the prolongation of the railways from Anatolia to the Persian Gulf, would obtain a considerable extension Ger- man agriculture would become flourishing and suffice, thanks to new territories, to all the needs of the population. A period of peace would commence. The Berlin government would institute a series of social reforms and methodically organize German colonization even in Europe. In spite of this privileged situation, affairs would be always difficult Avith America. German diplomacy would succeed in con- vincing the French and Italian governments of the necessity of intervention, and, in 1912, the fleets of the three powers would commence hostilities upon the coasts of America, llie difficulties would be numberless; but finally the troops ot the Union would be defeated and peace signed at Mexico. Ihe allies Avould receive a considerable war indemnity Ger- many would acquire Mexico and Guatemala; France the Central American States. These acquisitions would in the first month of 1913 excite protests from England. The allies would declare war upon her. The German Emperor would be named supreme chief of the combined fleets. First Great Britain would be starved. Finally the continental THE GREAT ^y AR 13 troops would be able to debark; a rmolli, and the Archduke, probably numbered something like 700.000 or 800.000 men. While General Dimuiitrieff. a Bulgar, who had achieved some reputation in the war between the Balkan peoples and Turkey, was given General Russky's former command, to the latter was entrusted the defense of Poland and Cour- land, into which latter province General Rennenkamp had been driven from East Prussia. Hindenberg. in this campaign, advanced almost up to Warsaw ; but from there was forced to fall back, and the Austrians, being left rather in the lurch, the army of Gen- eral Dankl suffered severely. In these battles General Russky out-generalled the great Hindenberg, and, as the result of this offensive. East Prus- sia was again invaded on the extreme eastern frontier, the centre of the Russian army advancing almost to the German boundary of Silesia and Posen. while, along the Carpathians almost to Cracow, Galicia was occupied by the Grand Duke Nicholas. In the same month the British army, increased to 180,000, the Belgian army numbering 45.000, and two French armies, under Maud'huy and cVUrbal, bloodily repulsed the German 44 THE GREAT WAR attacks around Ypres. The fighting there was probably the fiercest which had up to this time occurred in the war, and, while the losses of the Allies reached, in the two months of October and November, 130,000, in the month of October alone the German casualties were by them reported at 279,- 000, of which more than two-thirds were here inflicted, again under the eye of the German Emperor. But, although east and west the German invasion had again failed, two events happened at this time calculated to greatly hearten the Germans. The first, by long odds the most spectacular, was valued beyond its worth, valuable as it was to them. The second was for a short while actually deemed what would prove in the long run an injury to the German cause, which, however, German thoroughness and ability utilized enormously. The British admiralty had secured some successes. The Emden, under her gallant commander, Muller, had been overhauled, outclassed and sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney. The Konigsberg, shut up in an African river by colliers sunk at the mouth and a squadron under Admiral Craddock, was hunting for the remainder of the Germans. The strength of this squadron was rather carelessly dis- closed by the press. It consisted of what in previous naval battles would have been accounted formidable vessels — the Good Hope, armored cruiser, 14,100 tons, mounting two 9.2-inch guns and sixteen 6-inch guns; the Monmouth, armored cruiser, 9,800 tons, mounting fourteen 6-inch guns, and the Glasgow, a much newer but smaller cruiser, of 4,800 tons, at least two knots swifter, but carrying only two 6-inch and ten 4-inch gims. Off the coast of Chili this squadron, accompanied by a transport, encountered the squadron of Graf von Spee, con- sisting of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, sister ships, of 11,420 tons each, whose batteries totalled sixteen 8.2-inch and twelve 5.9-inch guns; the Nurnberg and Dresden of 3,544 tons each, adding twelve guns of 4.1-inch to the heavier guns above enumerated. In tonnage there was not much more than the difference of a thousand tons, the British squadron aggregating 28,700, the German, 29,770; but, in TEE GREAT WAR 45 weight of metal discharged from a broadside, the latter had an advantage, and they were newer vessels. Either from over-confidence or sterling appreciation of the fact that, situated as the}' were, damage to the German ships was more important than serious damage to his own, rather than avoid. Craddock engaged under additional dis- advantages, himself on the skyline about an hour or so before dusk. The action was fought during a storm and ended in the darkness. The two largest vessels of the British squad- ron were sunk, the other escaped. The German vessels received very little injury. To the world at large the sink- ing of these two large vessels in those lonely waters at night, while a storm was raging, was an awe-inspiring event; but all Germany rang with exultation over this, the greatest defeat the British navy had experienced in a century. Synchronizing, as it did, with the entrance of Turkey in the war upon the side of Germany, it may have had some- thing to do with it. But whether so or not, Germany, as subsequent events indicated, could well afford the 414,000 casualties among her best troops, to obtain the GOO.OOO or 700.000 Turkish troops her leadership and training would make efficient; and so, in the early part of November, two offensives were started. Falkenhayne, with all the masses he could command in the West, driving furiously for the channel ports; while at the same time, with two new gen- erals, Mackensenn and Below, and a new army, Hindenberg stirred up the Austrians for an attack upon Poland. From November 1st to November 12th. with continued desperate assaults, the Germans hurled themselves against the French and British lines which protected Ypres. The position of the Belgians had been made secure by the flood- ing of the position in their front and upon the next sector the full fury of the assault was pressed; and there, in the opinion of high French authorities, nothing was more con- spicuously demonstrated than the value of Lord Haldane's Territorial Army, there withstanding the finest troops which Germany could bring against them, and measuring fully up to the best regulars in the French or English line. "While the thunder of this conflict in the West was still reverberating, Hindenberg pushed into Poland and, at the 46 TEE GREAT ^V AR outset, with a force under Below at Kutnow, Avon a con- siderable victor}^, for which Hindenberg was made a Field Marshal. It Avas followed by a daring thrust on the part of Mackensenn, which almost succeeded, but which Russky foiled, thereby necessitating eA^ery effort upon the part of Mackensenn to extricate tAvo of his army corps, AA'hich the Russians almost succeeded in surrounding, but which finally cut their way out with heaA'y loss. In German East Africa and the Cameroons, meanAA'hile, the German forces Avere holding their own, and had it not been for the statemanship of Kitchener, a disaster might haA^e occurred in South Africa. There, as well as in India and Ireland, the Germans had counted confidently on dis- affection; but, AAath that trust in others and breadth of thought Avhich is the accompaniment of all true stateman- ship. Kitchener had delivered oA^er entirely to the greatest soldier he had ever faced in arms, the conduct of the defense of South Africa. Constitutional government granted the Boers and Home Rule secured thereby, had clinched the loyalty of Botha and the great majority of those, who hardly ten years previous, had stood out in arms, and they undertook the full responsibility for affairs. As Botha stated, in assuming the burden of affairs, German South Africa could have been invaded by Indian forces. Colonial forces or the British in South Africa; but the Imperial Government had asked the Union to do the Avork, and he declared he was proud to haA^e been asked. With fearless firmness and candor, he uncovered the treacherous neutrality of the Hertzog faction, showing that there was open but one of two courses, either loyalty and help or disloyalty and treason. Tolerance and trust extended in the past had its effect. The mass of the Boers rallied to his side, despite the arguments of such prominent South Africans as ex-Presi- dent Steyne, DeWet and Hertzog, of the Orange State, and Beyers of Transvaal. Botha's position, however, was extremely hazardous, for if there were but few whites in German South Africa, there Avere some and numerous well trained black troops, and an abundance of arms and munitions. In an endeaA^or to draw the disaffected element into touch with the Germans, Maritz, THE GREAT ^y AR 47 a Boer officer, deserted, and, joining the Germans, led an in- vasion of Cape Colony. That was the signal. Under DeWet and Beyers the revolt broke out at home. In vain Botha appealed to Steyne and Hertzog. They stood apart, by their silence tacitly encouraging the rebels. With that far look ahead into the future, which the great alone can explore, Botha refused the aid of any of the British residents, and, arming Boer against Boer, at the first attack of his oppon- ents, refusing all proti'ers of parley, called upon them for an unconditional surrender. Then, falling upon Beyers with inconceivable celeritv, he overwhelmed his force, Beyers himself being drowned, as in his flight he crosse«i a river. Then the great South African turned upon that one of his former associates, who. in the eyes of almost all of the English, save Conan Doyle, and numbers of the Dutch, was esteemed a gi'eater warrior than himself, and DeWet, following the tactics upon which his fame had been erected, swiftly fled. Had he been allowed to move at any great length through the country, there is no telling what might have been the effect, for it was hardly more than a decade since, to the admiration of the world, he had circled South Africa, heart- ening his followers with his ubiquity and the fierce blows he struck, as he flashed from point to point. He was a great partisan leader, perhaps the greatest who has ever fought, and his flight was no indication that the cause he sustained was lost, for the longer the struggle could be maintained, the greater chance that the neutrals, Hertzog and Steyne would come in. But it was no British general who followed him over the wide veldt. It was a Boer, his superior in all the arts of war and chase in those regions of long distances and scattered habitations, and. with every double, fast on his flying traces came the relentless tracker, who would not be denied. Captured he was, and with his capture the rebel- lion collapsed. In the dark days just prior to the capture of DeWet, when the fate of South Africa hung in the balance, and with it a great rent in the empire seemed impending, the Tory statesman. Lord Milner, whose policies there had been set aside by the Liberal party of Great Britain in 48 THE GREAT ^V AR 1906. while now expressing admiration for the tolerance of the empire, asked in a public speech : "Whether a system so loosely tolerant as the British Imperial system could stand an enormous strain; whether the advantages w^hich we gained from tolerance, from our easy-goingness were sufficient to compensate for the weak- ness which arose from our very imperfect organization, from the fact that our empire was as loosely knit as it was?" Botha and his men had answered it, and, in the message he now sent tO' Great Britain, he indicated what a wise and understanding heart he possessed. He said : "I am sure my English friends will understand what is expedient when I tell them that continued denunciation of the rebels may wound just those whom I know Englishmen have no desire to wound. I mean the Dutch, who have been responsible for quelling this rebellion. The Loyalists have discharged a painful duty out of a stem sense of honor, and having relatives and friends often among the rebels, they regard the whole rebellion as a lamentable business upon which the curtain should be rung down with as little declam- ation, as little controversy and as little recrimination as pos- sible. To those who call for the infliction of severe penal- ties upon the ringleaders I wish to say: Be sure justice will be done. In due time courts will be constituted to deal with these men. For myself, personally, the last three months have provided the saddest experience of all my life. I can say the same for General Smuts, and, indeed, for every mem- ber of the government. The late war, our South African war, is but a thing of yesterday. You will understand my feelings and the feelings of the loyal commandos, when among the rebel dead we found, from time to time, men who had fought in our ranks during the dark days of that cam- paign. The loyal commandos have had a hard task to per- form and they have performed it. The cause of law and order has been and will be vindicated. Let that be enough. This is no time for exultation or for recrimination. Let us spare one another's feelings. Remember we have to live together in this land long after the war is ended." With this so well said, he turned to the task of conquering German South Africa. Meanwhile, in England, to meet the difficulties engendered by Turkey's entrance in the Avar upon the side of the Central THE GREAT ^V AR 49 powers, and the threat of an attack upon Egypt and the con- sequent cutting of England's communication with the Dominions and with India, Winston Churchill, head of the British Admiralty, proi)Osed an attack upon the Darda- nelles, a forcing of the straits and a seizure of Constantino- ple. It was the suggestion of a genius. For the land portion of a combined force, the British Military Director at the War Office thought that there should be at least 60,000 men; but, in the opinion of the admiralty officials, the mere appearance of the British fleet at the straits, where they believed the forts were short of ammunition, would be the signal for a revolution in Con- stantinople. Lord Kitchener thought a greater number than 40,000 troops would be required, and an immense effort was even then being made to send every available man to France. But the British minister telegraphed that the Prime Minister of Greece had jirojwsed to otter the co-operation of a Greek army corps of three divisions and that the King favored it. Whether he did or not, and whether the difference was entirely in the route they should take in getting to Constan- tinople, there was some evidence later to indicate that Rus- sia did not look with too friendly an eye on any Greek force approaching what she regarded as her especial prize, and a strategic conception of the very greatest value to the Allies was unimproved, when it almost certainly would have been successful. The Antwerp expedition, which the press could not under- stand, and Craddock's overwhelming defeat, which the press had helped to bring about, had obscured appreciation of the daring which had bottled the entire German fleet, with the exception of von Si>ee's squadron, and that even then a powerful British squadron of something like 76,000 tonnage, and mounting twelve 12-inch gims, against von Spee's six- teen 8.2-inch guns, was searching for the latter, was happily unknown to the press and public, and Sturdee was thus enabled to bring the smaller German squadron to battle. Early in December, like a clap from a clear sky, came the announcement that off the Falkland Islands the British 50 THE GREAT WAR admiral had caught the squadron of von Spee and, sinking four, was in pursuit of the fifth, a result for which, if the insistent critics of the admiralty had only had sufficient tem- per to analyze it, Craddock's defeat had been a very great contributing cause, in inducing the Germans to keep together. But those who had criticised Churchill for Craddock's defeat, were loath to give him credit for this, the most com- plete and effective blow struck so far during the struggle, with the exception of the epoch-making Battle of the Marne, and so the daring stroke for the seizure of the straits of the Dardanelles was still delayed. An expedition from India, however, had landed at the head of the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal was being put in a state of defense. Germany had failed to crush France, but she had seized and was holding nine-tenths of Belgium and about 8,000 square miles of the most important part of France, with regard to which, the munition supply of that country was added, instead of to France, to the great store of her enemy. Yet, if France was weakened thereby, such loss was more than counterbalanced by the steady increase in the power of the British Empire, freed by the victory of Sir Frederick Sturdee from further prey upon her far-extended lines of communication and expanding, under the amazing volunteer movement, to proportions beyond the conceptions of the world. If anything was wanted to help this wonderful patriotic movement, the idiotic Zeppelin warfare uj^on the cities of England kept it continually warm, and, with a loss at the end of 1914 of 850,000 in casualties, the Gennan staff now turned its attention to that strategy which had been dis- cussed in "Germania Triumphans" twelve years earlier, viz. : everything that German}^, Austria and Turkey could do to be brought to bear upon Russia. Russia, if she had not accomplished all that had been expected of her, and had made the task of the French and British unnecessarily hard with regard to the Balkans, yet had done most of the heavy work, and, with her great armies TEE GREAT ^V AR 51 intact and on the edge of Germany, holding almost all of Galicia, she now called for action at the Dardanelles. By both the Allied and the Central powers a diplomatic play was made for the accession of Bulgaria and Greece, and, if as claimed, 40,000 men furnished by France and Great Britain would not have brought in Greece, it would seem as if it would have been good judgment to have fur- nished the number demanded, unless it was absolutely beyond the power of those two governments to furnish such. But, apparently, Great Britain and France would not con- sent to come to such conditions as Greece demanded to secure from her her treaty obligations to Serbia, and, mean- while, Germany was lending money to Bulgaria, a condition of affairs which indicated a closer accord than was safe for Serbia without help. What Great Britain and France could furnish to Greece in the way of troops, to sustain her entrance being put at 40,000 men, was by the Greek staff deemed inadequate, and, if by lending to Bulgaria Germany had interrupted negotia- tions with Greece, which might have brought Bulgaria in on the side of the Entente, Germany had accomplislied a great deal. By inducing Austria to suspend her efforts against Serbia and bend all her energies against Russia, Gennany also not only secured a necessary force to assist her in her attack, but, by puffing up the Serbians, made them less amenable to the suggestions of the French and British. The consequence was that while preparations went on for the Russian drive, the effort to get the Balkan peoples together failed, or, at least, halted. The question then arose: could the fleet alone force the Dardanelles ? That was the question at the beginning of the year. It is all veiy well for a commission to state now that it would have been better to have used a land and sea force; but, if the land force was not available and a sea force w^as, it became an immense question as to the effect of a refusal to try it, in the face of a request from so important a mem- ber of the Allied forces as Russia was at that time. Refusal 52 THE GREAT WAR to try might have brought Russia to a stop, and that, hap- pening in Januai-y, 1915, would have meant the victory of Germany. All these conditions have to be carefully weighed by any fair-minded investigator of the Dardanelles cam- paign. For fully five weeks Russia had been maintaining the brunt of the efforts of Germany, Austria and Turkey. The French effort, which had been enormous for three months and a half, had been, of necessity, slackened under the drain in men and material it had occasioned. The British had barely been able to make good their casualties, and both French and British felt it imperative to prepare for an offensive in the spring, to drive the Germans out of France and Belgium. The suggestion of an early attack on the Dardanelles was, therefore, one which presented to the minds of the French and British governments many difficul- ties. But no difficulty was as great as that which might arise from a disappointed Russia. The idea of the French gen- eral, Joffre, and veiy probably also General Kitchener, was that if the German loss, which had reached 850,000 in the first five months of the war, could be kept at 150,000 a month for a year, or, at most, a couple of years, Germany would be obliged to sue for peace. It was the policy of attrition. If Russia ceased her efforts it was at an end before Britain's strength could be attained. CHAPTER IV. THE RECOURSE TO "GERMANIA TRIUMPHANS" With the opening of the year 1915, Russia, pressed by (irernian. Austrian and Turkish armies, requested action at the Danhinelles. The British Secretar}' of War dechired no troops were yet available for such an operation, and when it is recollected that of the forces sent to France from Mons to the Marne, and thence to the Aisne and Ypres, in repell- ing the assaults of the German hosts, something like 25 per cent, of the British had been killed, wounded and captured; that every one of the 180,000 men in line between the (ier- man armies and Calais was needed, and more; that, in addi- tion, the invasion of the Cameroons had to be pressed and East Africa defended and that Egypt, a point of vital inter- est in the communications of the empire, was threatened, not only by Turkey, but by all the ^rahommedan powers of Africa, in spite of the fact that from ever\' walk in life in unprecedented numbers, Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen and Colonials were volunteering for service, it was difficult to see from where the necessary land force for the Darda- nelles could be obtained. Yet it was a supreme question. Could Russia be denied the effort? Upon Russia, at this stage, almost every hope of the Allies depended. Growing by great and steady acces- sions, the vast forces of the British Empire were taking shape and would, in time, become of enormous effect, but time was essential to their full development. Upon Russia every effort of the Central powers was now concentrated. Twice had the Russian armies under Russky driven back the redoubted conqueror of Tannenberg, and the Grand Duke, at the same time, had crowded the Austrian armies back to the Carpathians. Now-, extended in a long line from the North Sea on the outskirts of Prussia, and occupying almost the whole of Galicia from Cracow to Bukowina, the Russians had, in small detachments, penetrated into the plains of Hungary, 64 THE GREAT WAR where, if they could once pour in mass and effect a juncture with the Serbian armies to the West, the war would be mov- ing to a SAvift conclusion. But to effect this, an arrangement with Roumania was, at this stage, of the most extreme importance, and this Rus- sian and Roumanian political considerations rendered dif- ficult. Almost any concession that could have been made to Roumania should have been granted, as without such both flanks of the Russian grand army had to be protected, and the invasion of Hungary only carried out across the Car- pathians with the most costly frontal attacks. In addition, in the Caucasus, Russia had now to meet the invasion of five Turkish corps, or something like 200,000 men, in shattering two of which, among the mountain snows her own forces suffered; and so, beset on every side, she called upon her allies for something in the way of a diversion to relieve the strain to which she was subjected, and to enable her to push with all her strength against the crumbling forces of Aus- tria. If there was not available British or French troops, there was available the mighty forces of the great British navy, its officers chafijig for some opportunity to exert the enor- mous power of which they felt themselves capable and denied, by the prudent course of the German naval authori- ties, keeping the German fleet in harbor, except for an occa- sional dash out to harry the coast of Britain and scuttle back to port before the British ships could catch them. And just at this time, to add to the impression of Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee's destruction of Graf von Spee's squadron, an even more powerful British squadron in the North Sea, under Sir David Beatty, consisting of five of the greatest battle cruisers afloat, three of which were from 26,- 000 to 28,000 tons, and two of 17,000 tons, overhauled in the North Sea four great German cruisers, three of which were about on a par with the heaviest of the British, and the other about 2,000 tons lighter than the two inferior British vessels. While in tonnage, 90,240, to the British 115,200, and mounting but eight 12-inch and twenty 11-inch guns, to the twenty-four 13.5-inch and sixteen 12-inch guns, which con- TEE GREAT ^YAR 55 stituted the heavy ordnance of their enemies, the Germans, in their secondarj^ batteries, disposed of twelve 8.2-inch and fort}'- four 5.9-inch guns, against the British twelve 6-inch and thirty-two 4-inch guns, and, in a sturdy stand-up fight, would not have had great odds against them ; but, in the headlong flight, in which they sped back to harbor, the Blucher, of 15,000 tons, was sunk and two of the finest cruisers of the German navy set on fire and damaged, ere the three remaining escaped. The encounter, therefore, increased the confidence of the British in their navy, drove the Germans to the plan of the submarine warfare only, and the British to the attack upon the Dardanelles, unsupported by any land force. AMiile the Allies, with a formidable fleet of older vessels with very heavy guns were bombarding the forts at the entrance of the strait, the Germans, under Hindenberg, were attacking l)oth flanks of tlie great Russian army in Courland and Bukowina. They drove Rennenkamp out of East Prus- sia, but were unsu'ccessful in their attempt at Prasnyz, northwest of WaiMaw, where the losses were heavy. But Rennenkamp's defeat had forced Russky to send him rein- forcements, and when the Austrians. under General Pflanzer, occupied Bukowina, and advancing further, captured Stan- islau, in Galicia, the Grand Duke Nicholas was also obliged to reinforce his left wing. This drew strength away from the point of attack in the Carpathians, and the London Times had to admit that the Germans had achieved some successes, yet, in the opinion of Lord Northcliff'e's greatest paper, the German strategy appeared "to be resolving itself into a succession of violent expensive and unproductive blows, delivered alternately on each front,'' with regard to which it expressed the opinion : •^If the German headquarter staff can derive any sincere satisfaction from their more recent attempt to hack through the Russian lines, we fail to discern the cause of their thank- fulness." Concerning the Dardanelles, the same paper declared the news "extremely favorable," and after reciting the entrance 56 TEE GREAT WAR of the fleet into the straits and progress therein for four miles, continued as follows : "We have every reason to hope and believe that the task of forcing the Dardanelles, which the Allied fleets have so admirably begun, will be carried through successfully. The moment a way is forced through the Darda- nelles from end to end, Constantinople will lie at the mercy of the guns of the Allied fleets. ... It cannot be too often emphasized that the present attack on the Darda- nelles is an operation which, if completed, must have enor- mous influence upon every portion of the theatre of war. Kussia needs closer communications with the open sea, and she will get them. The Balkan kingdoms, who have been fed too long upon Gennan lies, will know where they stand when they hear the sound of the Allied guns. The other results wiiich must follow the clearing of the Dardanelles and the inevitable collapse of the Turks are immeasurable. THE ATTACK IS AN EXAMPLE OF FAR SEEING VISION OF A KIND WHICH THE ALLIES HAVE HITHERTO TOO OFTEN LACKED." Could endorsement of Churchill's view have gone further? But that was not all. General Sir Arthur Paget, on a special mission to the Bal- kans, sent a telegram to Earl Kitchener, at about the same time, that the operations at the Dardanelles had made so deep an impression, that all chances of Bulgaria intervening against the Entente was gone. The Germans, too, realized the terrible significance of this drive for Constantinople and, while preparing to crush Rus- sia, with magnificent energy, drew attention to France and Belgium. Near Soissons, in a fierce assault, they drove Maunoury's army across the Aisne with serious losses of men and guns, and what might have been a disaster was only saved by the prompt action of a Colonel Nivelle, later to rise to high station. In their attack upon the English at La Bassee, they failed to budge the stubborn islanders, almost invincible upon the defense, but they achieved their real purpose, for, rising to the fly cast, the British losing sight of the grand and incalculable possibilities at the Darda- nelles, and encouraged by the ignorant and opinionated press, fancied the opportunity had come to drive the Ger- mans out of Belgium, and, with a loss of 12,000, won the TEE GREAT WAR 57 battle of Neuve Chappelle, which cost the Germans a few square miles and casualties as great or possibly greater. In Champagne also General crp^sperey inflicted a loss upon the Germans of some 15,000. But the results of these two efforts were trifling as compared to the possibilities at the Darda- nelles, in giving the Allies closer communications with the Russian front, where the Grand Duke's army had forced the Duklow, Luchow and Rosztoki Passes in the Carpathians and sent his Cossacks galloping into the plains of Hungary, while something like 80,000 prisoners had fallen into his hands. Russia indeed seemed on the eve of a colossal success. On the 21st of March the great Austrian fortress of Przmysl fell, and with it 130,000 Austrian prisoners and great quanti- ties of material and munitions. It was a dark hour for Germany, but her great captains did not quail, rather they bent themselves the more sternly to the task of striking down their greatest adversary while alone and out of touch with her Allies; for in such case the blow would be all the more crippling. On the other hand, with the first serious reverse to the war vessels in the straits, a change came over the attack, and no one but Churchill had any more heart for a strong off'ensive. A halting, desultory bombardment proceeded, while a land force was prepared and two months after the fleet had opened the attack, the land force, some 80,000 to 100,000 in number, at thi'ee j^oints, forced a landing at terri- fic loss, if with magnificent gallantry. The French force at Kum Kale, which protected the right flank of the British force at Cape Hellas, withdrew, for some reason, and its commander, General d'Amade, was superseded in his com- mand, but the British and Colonials clung firmly to the bloody strips of land they had won. Again, to distract attention from the point of all points, where danger lay to their great plans, the Germans opened an attack upon the French line in Belgium with a gas cloud, which drove them back and, had it not been for the devoted courage of the Canadians in the British army at this point, might have given to the Germans the last bit of Belgium. But this the heroic behavior of the Canadians prevented, and 68 THE GREAT WAR the British commander, being thus enabled to reinforce his line, reformed it, and the French, recovering, regained some of the gi'ound they had lost. Still, at Gallipoli everything for some ten days or two weeks was at a standstill, and by that time the German plans, having been perfected, Mackensenn began the great battle of the Dunajecc. Under a storm of shells he burst through the Russian lines, and the invasion of Hungary was at an end. Three days later Sir Ian Hamilton attempted to push up the Gallipoli peninsular, but apparently was not in sufficient force or lacked that which Mackensenn had had in abun- dance, heavy ordnance, such being only on the old war ves- sels there, which had been saved from further risk in the straits. AVhile the attack upon the Dardanelles, so supremely important for Russia, and, as she weakened, for her Allies, simmered down, Mackensenn, with 30,000 prisoners and 70 guns captured from the Russians, vigorously pushed them back from the Carpathians to the line of the Vistula and the San, and, Avith these mighty, world-resounding blows being recorded, the military correspondent of the London Times, with his microscopic eye fiiTnly fastened upon Neuve Chap- pelle, declared: "The want of an unlimited supply of high explosives was a fatal bar to our success." Undoubtedly, with a greater supply of high explosives at the various points where they were needed in the Allied lines, a greater success might have been achieved, a lesser injury sustained, but the high explosive which was subsequently supplied, in all the quantity needed, did not entirely cure the difficulties that the Allies exiDerienced, and, while the paper was, therefore, deserving of credit in indicating one mode of greatly strengthening the armies, there was no necessity for it to have warred so persistently upon the great English general, to whom, more than any other individual, it was due, that in the last hour of stress and strain, the volunteers of Britain in amazing numbers and devoted cour- THE GREAT WAR 59 age, were to stand in the breach for the civilization of the world. Holding up a considerable force of Turks in the Peninsu- lar, where they crept slowly and painfully forward, the British army at Gallipoli made possible the farther advance of the small British and Indian force which had occupied Basra, near the Persian Gulf. Also they rendered the Turk- ish attack upon the Suez Canal one easily repulsed, but a small British force at Aden was driven in to that city by the Turks. Instead of exerting every effort at the one point where success could have assisted the Russian armies, still falling back for lack of munitions, with the entrance of Italy in the war, upon the side of tlie Entente, a coalition government was formed in (ireat Britain, and Churchill's place in the admiralty was filled by the Conservative leader of former times. Mr. Balfour, who, with the new leader of that ptirty, Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. I^)ng, Mr. Austin Chamberlain and others joined the ministry. A very great man. but an even greater promiser. the hope of the Conservative party, the Radical, Lloyd George, uni- versally acknowledged to have done a mighty work in the accunuUating of munitions and the organizing of industrial effort in the supply of them, now gave out the key to suc- cess, munitions and still more munitions, with which to "blast a way to victory." In the midst of the confusion and change came the simple announcement that Botha had conquered German South Africa. So quietly and expeditiously had he disposed his forces, that the matter was entirely completed before the press had had a fair oi)portunity to advise him how it should be done. Through the early summer, while Lemburg, Lublin and Warsaw fell into the hands of the Germans, the Allied force pushed up a bit on the Gallipoli Peninsular, but could not surmount the height of AchiBaba, which dominated the tip, or the high ridge which barred the Australians higher up on the other edge. Finally, in August, a fresh force of some 50,000 or more troops were dispatched to the Dardanelles. 60 THE GREAT WAR In the opinion of the general in command, the force was just about half or a third of what reinforcements were needed. It apparently was most unfortunately commanded, and, in the execution of the well planned attack, incompe- tently led, but why the general in supreme command did not himself undertake this supremely important task, when he realized the incompetence of his subordinate, has not been shown. After attracting to itself the attention of the world and in some publications being proclaimed, in advance, a great success, the attack ended in failure and, abandoning further effort there, attention now was turned upon the offensive in France where, amply supplied with high explosives, and addressing themselves entirely to "the main," in place of "the subsidiary campaign," it was ardently hoped and be- lieved, the Allies would "blast a way to victory." Indeed, something had to be attempted, for Russia was staggering under the succession of blows which had been showered upon her since the month of May, and her losses in men, material and territory were stupendous. Not only all of Poland, but the greater part of Courland, Vilna, Kovno, Grodno, Minsk and Volhynia, a spread of land greater than one-half of France, had passed into the hands of the conquering Germans, who were almost in gunshot of the great city of Riga, which it was expected they would seize in a week or ten days, while in the South, by Christ- mas, it was anticipated the Austrians would reach Odessa, on the Black Sea. In prisoners alone, it was asserted, the Rus- sian armies had yielded up a million men. The force with which the French and British sought to open the offensive of September, 1915, has been variously estimated from 250,000 British and 900,000 French, to a lit- tle more than one-third that figure for the French. Under Generals Gough, Rawlinson, Castelnau and d'Ur- bal, the assault was made and was sufficiently successful to cause the Germans to suspend their efforts against Russia and bend all energies to resisting the attack. More than 27,- 000 German prisoners were captured and a loss inflicted upon the Germans in killed and wounded of at least 100,000. Many heavy gims and field pieces, machine gims and muni- THE GREAT WAR 61 tions also fell into the hands of the Allies, and at first their losses were slight, but both British and French troops advanced beyond what the staff had anticipated; the losses of both were extremely heavy, the gain in territory' trifling, and the British commander-in-chief raised to a peerage and removed to another field of service was relieved of the supremely important station he had held for a year and a month. At a cost in casualties amounting. l)y their published lists. to 2,148,979, with a loss of onl}^ a hundred or more square miles in Alsace, and their grasp on some 15,000 square miles upon the richest part of France and Belgium unshaken, in addition to a realm in Russia, Germany was now ready to move against Serbia and strike terror into all the Balkan peoples. Under Mackensenn, a force of Austro-Germans moved against the Serbian front, while the Bulgarians prepared to drive in from the East. All efforts to compose the political differences of the Balkan peoples in harmony with the i)ur- poi5es and exigencies of the Entente powers had failed. Even the offer of (\vprus to Greece, a most proper proposal, but received with indignation by an element in England, incapa- ble of understanding the gravity of the situation, or of ever yielding anything, they had set their jaws u|)on, was not sufficient to induce the Greeks to stand to their treaty obli- gations with Serbia, from and out of which Bulgarian ani- mosity had arisen; while their refusal to yield Kavala, later permitted by them to be stolen by the same power, made the concessions of Serbia unavailing. At the invitation of Venizelos, the Greek Prime Minister, it is true an Allied force landed at Saloniki, but almost im- mediately a perfunctory protest against the landing Avas made, while the officials at the same time expedited it. At the Dardanelles, however, inactive and stale, the French and British forces merely held up, as inactive, a large Turkish force and probably assisted the British general, Townshend, in Mesopotamia, with a mixed Anglo-Indian force, to drive the Turks out of Kut El Amara on the Tigris. 62 THE GREAT WAR Both Britain and Russia acknowledged the defeat of their campaigns for the year in the removal of the Grand Duke Nicholas from the command of all the armies of Russia and his dispatch to the comparatively small field of the Cau- casus, and by the discussion in the British parliament con- cerning the removal of the British troops from the Darda- nelles, which, while still delayed, brought about the resigna- tion of Winston Churchill of the unimportant office he had held since his resignation of the admiralty. Why there had been such persistent enmity and criticism of the most efficient head the British navy has had, so far in the war, was and is an interesting question. Judged abso- lutely by published utterances of his harshest critics, he possessed some rare qualities for his high station. Without the slightest taint of questionable pecuniary gain from his official position, never accused of nepotism, throughout an administration of the navy, more capable than any which has succeeded it, fiercely, wildly and foolishly denounced for not resorting to extreme measures by those whose clamor for such was completely and instantly stilled by the grim threat of Gei-man reprisals, it has been calmly stated by excellent, cultured English gentlemen, as if conclusive of the question, that in "ratting" from the Conservative to the Liberal party in 1905, this gi'andson of the Duke of Marl- borough was such a renegade to what the English Book of Common Prayer designates as "our betters," that he actually "revealed the secrets or his class." Now, as a major in the army, he parted with the govern- ment, leaving to them this excellent piece of advice : "Let us look after the war and after the war will look after itself." It was the darkest day for the Allies. Earl Kitchener visited Gallipoli to decide whether the forces there should be withdrawn; and, realizing that this was only delayed, the Turks hurried forces East and catching General Towns- hend's small army within twenty miles of Bagdad outnum- bered it and drove it back in retreat to Kut El Amara, where, with a third or more of his force, he was at once surrounded. Deep into Russia and still with their strong grip sucking the strength out of France and Belgium, the long line of THE GREAT WAR 63 German armies faced their foes far from their own boimd- rievS, save in Alsace. Broken, shattered and streaming into Albania, after a most heroic resistance, the Serbian army abandoned Serbia to the Bulgarians and Austrians. Back to Saloniki fell the French and British, who had advanced to their support, and, at last, to the great relief of the British public and also, quite possibly, to the Turks and Germans, the entire British and French forces were withdrawn from the Gal- lipoli peninsular with scarcely a casualty. Admirable as was the efficiency of those conducting this marvelous retreat, it never seems to have crossed the minds of the eulogists of it. that it may have been as satisfactory a performance to the German Staff as to themselves; for it made impossible the forcing of tiie passage of the Dardanelles, so acutely dangerous to their main plan of World Power. And now, with their casualties amounting to 2,627,085, the Government at Berlin commenced to throw out arrogant intimations of their willingness to entertain peace pro- posals from their adversaries. To blaze the great broad path to Constantinople, over shattered Serbia, had, in the two months with which they had paved it, cost the greater Germany in casualties 375,771 men, more than three times the loss Great Britain had expe- rienced at the Dardanelles and all fronts during the same period, now having enrolled soldiers to the amount of 5,000,000. Germany therefore was in just the position to treat for peace. Although all their larger vessels had been driven from the seas, through their submarine campaign, against the excesses of which the United States was still patiently pro- testing, the Germans had inflicted upon the British a loss of about 200,000 tons in war vessels of the older class and a very much heavier loss in merchant shipping. French, Italians and Russians had also suffered from the submarines as well as Austria and Turkey from English submarines. But the German submarines had also sent to bottom, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian and American neutrals; while they themselves had sustained a loss in war vessels of something like 100,000 tons, by British gunfire. 64 THE GREAT WAR and from the British blockade the German people were undoubtedly suffering. It was the time of all times for the Germans to have shown moderation. Situated as they were, they could well have afforded to have brought all the neutrals to their side by such offers as would, at that time, have appeared mag- nanimous. To Belgium, her ravished territory with an indemnity, to France, hers also, with the offer of a plebiscite in Alsace and Lorraine under certain conditions by which the inhabitants would have been afforded an opportunity to decide their nationality. They could have refrained from insisting upon the return of all their colonies ; have induced Austria to yield to Italy the strip that country had seized, and to Russia, Ruthenia, and persuaded Turkey to have left with Great Britain that portion of Mesopotamia occupied below Bagdad; only insisting, that in the restoration of Serbian territory that portion of Macedonia she had agreed should be Bulgarian should remain such, together with the small bit to the extreme East between the Danube and the Timok rivers, and securing for Serbia an outlet on the Adriatic at Durazzo in exchange, and Skutari to Monte- negro in exchange for Mt. Loftchen to Austria. To the world sick of war and to the great Republic of America striving for peace, these would have seemed wonderful con- cessions for the victors; for few would have realized then what a world would have still remained to Germany. Absolutely dependent upon her genius of organization, her allies, Austria, Bulgaria and Turkey, would have been as wax in her hands. Penetrated and exploited by German industry and skill on the outskirts of the enriched and strengthened Turkish dominion, Persia, Egypt, Abysinia and even the Soudan would have felt the touch of a new and strange power stirring; and, in ten years, the German Empire could have overwhelmed the world in arms, had it not been permitted to dominate it in peace with its ideals. But with their devouring ambition to emulate the British in empire building, the Germans lacked one singular British trait, continually appearing in the leaders of that most remarkable people, when least expected — "surprise at their own moderation." THE GREAT ^YAR 65 For that great blend of the Teuton and the Celt, which had blocked their march into France and in consequence been proclaimed their one foe, the militarists of Germany experienced an intense hate and burned with the desire to bring Great Britain to her knees as a suppliant for peace. Therefore terms of peace the Germans would not state; such must be asked of them, they insisted. Meanwhile that slow-moving, stumbling but persistent and tenacious people, undismayed by zeppelins and submarines, held firmly to the blockade which if slowly and imperfectly, yet to some extent weakened their adversary and gathering together the 5,000,000 of their sons who had freely offered their lives for their country's cause, prepared to array them against the best that Germany could bring into the field. CHAPTER V. VERDUN AND "DER TAG" With the opening of the new year in January, 1916, the British Government addressed itself to the work in hand with those ceremonies, in the distribution of honors which for generations have excited the lively interest, the undis- guised amusement and the unslaked envy of a great portion of the world. Upon the Czar, whose armies rent and riven had been driven back hundreds of miles within their own boundaries, was conferred the appointment of a British Field Marshal. With ponderous politeness, the London Times declared it to be — "a happy compliment, not only to the part which his Impe- rial Majesty has played in the war, but also to the valor of his armies." With some assurance, the paper also added, that the honor was "especially gratifying to all the Allied nations." To Lord Curzon and the Duke of Devonshire were given the Garter, in the opinion of The Times, for "services well earned"; and the appointment of two Labor Members, Mr. Crooks and Mr. Barnes, as Members of the Privy Council was also commended. But, in the elevation of Admiral Sir Charles Beresford to the House of Lords as a Baron; while upon Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, who, in the annihilation of the entire squadron of Graf von Spee, had won for England the most decisive and valuable victory achieved by an English force on land or sea during the whole progress of the war, was bestowed a Baronetcy, it saw no occasion for comment. Winter held the main armies in its clutch; but on the outer edges to the Southeast, Sir John Nixon, Commander in Chief of the Mesopotamian expedition, was relieved of his command, which was entrusted to Sir Percy Lake, under whose orders General Aylmer advanced up the river Tigris THE GREAT Vi" AR 67 to succor the beseiged General Townshend. And while at Saloniki the French General Sarrail was placed in supreme command of the French and British forces there, the Austrians moved into Montenegro and seizing Mt. Loftchen, which dominated Cattaro, proceeded to overrun the little country. In the first month of 1916 little or nothing of importance transpired. The Russians had pushed back into a portion of Galicia and seized about 3,500 square miles of Austrian territory in addition to the strip of about 500 from which they had never been dislodged since the first offensive of 1914; but elsewhere there was no movement of any conse- quence, save the driving into Spanish Africa of the rem- nants of the German forces in the Cameroons, which the united efforts of the French and British expeditionary forces accomplished in this month. In German East Africa, however, not only had no pro- gress been made, but in British East Africa, adjoining, the British under (ieneral Smith Dorrien were defending their own frontier from invasion. This general, having a little later been relieved on account of ill health, the Boer Gen- eral Smuts was asked to take command and accepted. In February' the somewhat stagnant condition of affairs was altered by a heavy blow inflicted upon the Turks in the Caucasus region by the Russians. Breaking their center, the army of the Grand Duke Nicholas pursued them to Erzrum, which he canned by assault, inflicting a loss upon the Turks of about 35,000 men killed, wounded and pris- oners, and a hundred guns and a considerable amount of munitions of war captured. An energetic pursuit of the defeated Turkish army put almost all of Armenia under Russian control. To the south the British expedition up the Tigris did not seem, however, to make much progress in the attempt to relieve General Townshend and with a great space of country still between the Russian and the British armies, the Turks prevented a juncture, which might have injured seriously the Central Powers. All these encounters on the outskirts nevertheless paled into insignificance, in the light of the great assault the Ger- man Crown Prince now made upon Verdun; for, advised 68 THE GREAT WAR by General Haseler, and supplied with 400,000 troops, the heir to the Imperial throne of Germany now essayed to storm France's greatest fortress and convince that country of the uselessness of any further continuance of the struggle against such invincible a foe as Germany. At the time, Verdun was defended by General Herr in command of a section of the right wing of General Langle de Gary, with barely 80,000 men; but as soon as the full magnitude of the attack developed. General Petain was put in command of the defending force, increased to 250,000. At the opening of the assault, in the first week from Feb- ruary 21st to February 28th, the German advance was ominous; but .with arrival of reinforcements and the assumption of the command by Petain, the German assault was checked and thereafter simply furnished a means of exhausting the German army to a greater extent than the French. As through the weeks and months, attack and counter attack followed one another over the shell torn area, wonder was expressed why the British did not in their turn attack the German lines opposed to them, from Ypres to the Somme. They were quite ready to do so; but there were good reasons why they did not. General Joifre did not wish them to ; for while steadily increasing in strength along the eighty miles they held, they as yet numbered but 430,000 troops as opposed to 460,000 Germans on the line and others in reserve, and, while the Irish rebellion was soon crushed, there was an indisposition to denude Ireland and England of all the best trained troops; and so all through March and April the hammering continued at Verdun, concentrating attention on that spot and only distracted briefly by a small event in Mesopotamia, which, nevertheless, aroused great chagrin in England. This was the surrender at Kut El Amara of General Townshend with 3,000 British and 6,000 Indian troops after a seige of 143 days, the expedition under Sir Percy Lake having failed to relieve him. As he had shown distinct ability, he was a loss; and that for a couple of months or more an expeditionary force had been within twenty miles of him and yet unable to get in touch with him THE GREAT ^y AR 69 looked like poor generalship upon the parts of Generals Aylmer or Lake. In contrast upon the arrival of General Smuts, matters in East Africa took on a different complexion and this difficult piece of work was now steadily progressing to a completion. Yet here as everywhere the Germans showed themselves to be masterly organizers. Under their leadership Austrians, Turks and Bulgarians rose to a pitch of efficiency that with- out such they lacked, and this was the same case with the warlike negroes of East xVfrica. The war had now proceeded a sufficiently long time for some estimate of the opposing soldiery to be made and, with the excei)tion of the French, there were as yet no troops quite up to the Germans. To put it as accurately as such a thing could be put at, the French line was perhaps not quite as good; but from the divisional commanders up. it was probably superior. In defense the British were fully up and possibly slightly superior to either French or Ger- mans; but in the offensive tlie inexperience of their officers became at once nuirked. But the British were adapting themselves to tlie necessities of the mammoth war. Slowly it is true, in comparison with the early decisive action of the French military authorities, which had so swiftly raised the commanders of the armies of that nation to the very higliest excellence, the British were yet, to some degree, weeding out the incapables from the stations to which social influence and qualities essentially manly if not supremely mental had elevated these. In valor the bulk of these were all that could be desired, and, to contend with and nde infe- rior races, not lacking the requisit-es; but hardly capable of contending with such scientific fighters and manoeuverers as the Germans. Living pretty strictly up to the rule laid down by that admirable specimen of the Briton of former days, Lord Wolsely, that the best way for a young officer to rise to distinction was by trying to get killed, they were in this most materially assisted by their foes, and the loss of officers had been very heavy. But now, on the fighting line in France, a great army was in every respect preparing itself to meet the Germans and fight the issue out. 70 THE GREAT WAR On the sea, the persistance of President Wilson had at last secured a modification of the submarine warfare, and the retirement from command of Admiral von Tirpitz. In the month of May, the third month of the determined battle at Verdun, the Austrians also launched an offensive against the Italian front and, at first, carried everything before them in their rush. Conditions looked far from encouraging to the Entente ; for the Germans seemed creep- ing, if slowly, yet nearer and nearer to Verdun, and the fact that declarations were occasionally being made, that its capture after all would not be a matter of much importance sounded ominous, especially as the Austrian movement looked very much like an effort at the same time to get into the south of France across northern Italy. It is true, according to the Allies, the attack upon Verdun had been very costly to the Germans ; but, according to the Germans, the French were through it being bled to death. Yet two facts were indisputable, the first, that their approach to it was more and more retarded in the months that past, while their casualties steadily rose at the same time. From 35,198 in February and 63,545 in March, the Ger- man loss rose to 91,162 in April; while, in their peculiarly arranged lists of casualties, although the number of pris- oners lost to the enemy never reached 2,000, varying from 1,345 in February, 1,725 in March and 1,221 in April, the "missing" reported in the same months steadily rose from 2,017 in February to 6,217 in April. It was evidently in connection with the attack upon Verdun, that in May the Austrian army, 300,000 strong, swept down the Trentine upon the Italians and in the first few days carried everything before them, capturing over 23,000 prisoners and driving the Italians out of heights and from passes it had taken them a year to win with con- tinuous fighting. The Austrian force opposed to the Italians upon all fronts had, up to this time, been estimated at about 350,000; but it now rose to at least 600,000 and probably more and, coincidently with the attack, the German assault upon Verdun flamed up with greater fury. Both French and Italians rallied to the defense and the fighting on both fronts became desperate. THE GREAT WAR 71 In the far East, mindful of the danger threatened by the efforts of the British below Kut El Amara under General Gorringe and the Russians moving west from Persia under General Baratoff, to aid the force of about 200,000 Turks opposing them, a mixed Austro-German division was dispatched to Bagdad and, while, in these far separated quarters of the world, the contending forces of soldiery faced each other, on June 30th occurred the greatest naval battle of the world's history. In comnumd of a squadron of six battle cruisers and four of the swiftest battleships of Britain, in tonnage aggrega- ting 254,000 tons and mounting thirty-two 15-inch, thirty- two 13.5-inch and sixteen 12-inch guns, accompanied by the usual complement of light cruisers and torpedo craft. Sir David Beatty sighted the battle cruiser squadron of von Hipper, five in number, of a tonnage amounting to 131,280 and mounting forty 12-inch guns, also attended by light cruisers and torpedo craft. Off the northwestern coast of Denmark at 3 :48 p. m. the squadrons engaged, as the Germans turned southeast, steer- ing for a junction with their battle fleet. The advantage in force was with tlie Britisli ; but, in the half hour which ensued before they reached the main fleet, the Germans suc- ceeded in inflicting upon their pursuers a heavy loss in the sinking of the Queen Mary and Indefatigable, thus wiping out of existence sixteen of the eighty heavy guns opposed to their forty and in half an hour obliterating two ships aggre- gating a tonnage of 45,750 tons with their complement of 1,790 seamen. As the German squadron had the speed and could have escaped this was a daring and splendid achieve- ment and, as long as the valiant esteem skill and valor, will redound to the honor of von Hipper and his men. In their authorized account, the English highly extoll Sir David Beatty for his decision, subsequent to such a loss, when von Hipper had succeeded in leading him into contact with the main German battle fleet, to attempt, with regard to the entire German fleet, what von Hipper had done to his squadron, that is, by battling with it on the way, to lead it to the main British fleet. 72 THE GREAT WAR It might have been taken for granted, that the daring British admiral never for one instant contemplated any other course; for hesitation with regard to such would not only have marked him as far below his gallant adversary, but, also, as hardly fit to hold the high and important com- mand entrusted to him. In spite of his loss, like a veritable British bulldog, Beatty hung upon the German fleet, much stronger in proportion to his powerful squadron than even that had been with regard to von Hipper's, and, for an additional hour and a half, the battle proceeded, the two fleets having come about and now bearing northeast instead of southeast, in which period of time, without experiencing any further very heavy loss, the British succeeded in destroying one of the finest German battle cruisers, prob- ably the Lutzow, later admitted to have been lost in the encounter; but in about two hours from the opening of the battle, the German admiral von Scheer realized that he was doing but little additional injury to his enemy, while being drawn into contact with the main British fleet, and, coming about, steered south again. Even if Beatty had not handled his squadron any better than von Hipper had manoeuvred his, yet he had handled it extremely well; for, if he had sustained a loss of two great ships and possibly 2,000 men, yet he had destroyed an enemy cruiser greater than any in his squadron and led the entire German fleet up to the British main fleet, whose part it was now to destroy it. But Jellico and the admirals under him did not display ability in proportion to the power they wielded. The third battle cruiser squadron under Admiral Hood was leading the main battle fleet and, while it is reported that he observed flashes of gunfire to the southwest at 5 :30 p. m., and sent a swift light cruiser to investigate, which in fifteen minutes became engaged, yet he apparently held still so far east, that upon her return and report, he was obliged to put his helm northwest to reach Beatty, in compliance with whose order, to take position at the head of the British line, he at once did so, and, with his fine vessel carrying six 12-inch gims and 780 men, was promptly sunk. The explan- ation of this immediate loss being that, as he attempted to engage at 8,000 yards, while at no time did Beatty ever get THE GREAT ^Y AE 73 nearer than 1-2,000, and, for the most part, fought at from 14,000 to 18,000 yards. Hood, in coming about, probably did that which Schley at Santiago had had the military intelli- gence to avoid. Hood sank his vessel and lost his entire crew "in a most inspiring manner, worthy of his great naval ancestors;'' Schley lost one man, inflicted great damage on his adversary, and went to his grave the recipient of carping criticism. The one looped in, the other looped out, a pure question of naval tactics. But Admiral Arbuthnot displayed even less tactical abil- ity than Hood, for he succeeded in getting his, the first cruiser scjuadron. between the German and the British battle fleets, which cost the British the Defence and Black Prince sunk, and the Warrior disabled. The German fleet had l)een led to the British main battle fleet, but the latter had apparently come into action in rather a confused way. From about 7 o'clock, followed by the four squadrons of British battleships. Sir David Beatty, with the three battle cruiser s(]uadrons headed southeast, having the German fleet at the same disadvantage as von Spec had had Craddock off" the coast of Chili, and for another hour the battle proceeded, when about 8 o'clock the German fleet, being outfooted and pressed to sea, seemed lost. Outnumbered and outclassed, it was suffering heavily, but it was handled with rare skill. With smoke palls and torpedo attacks, and aided by the mist, von Scheer worked hard to save the beaten fleet, which now for six hours had engaged the gi-eatest navy in the world. The heavy fog at last shut out of view the fleets and the British admiral. Sir John Jellico, confined his search for his adversaries to torpedo attacks, which was perhaps a wise course, but, by the morning, no German ships were to be seen, and the battle was definitely ended. As the result of this great battle, the British promptly admitted the loss of six ships, aggregating a tonnage of 104,700 tons, and mounting eight 13.5-inch, sixteen 12-inch and sixteen 9.2-inch gims. Their loss in personnel was two rear admirals, three or more captains and nearly six thous- and seamen. They also acknowledged that eight destroyers had been lost. The Germans at first onlv admitted the loss 74 THE GREAT WAR of one battleship and four light cruisers, but subsequently- declared that they had also lost a battle cruiser, the Lutzow, of 28,000 tons, previously denied for military reasons. All told, they put their loss at six ships and five destroyers, of an aggregate tonnage of 60,000 tons. According to the British admiral, the German loss amounted to two battleships of the first class, two of the Deutschland class, one battle cruiser, five light cruisers, six destroyers and a submarine, in addition to many others dam- aged so seriously as to be useless for some time. Until the actual loss of the German fleet is known, no ac- curate estimate of the result of the great battle can be arrived at. Yet, from what has been admitted, some deduc- tions can be drawn. First, as the loss of the British in ton- nage, guns and men was not, by any statement, twice as great as the German ; while their strength as a navy, nearly three times as great, the Genmans unavoidably suffered greater loss from the battle than the British. Second, as the Germans did not hesitate to give an incor- rect report, for military reasons, it is most reasonable to presume that their corrected report is still unreliable, espe- cially when contrasted with losses, testified to as seen by the British. Yet it is difficult to dispel the impression that the tAvo German admirals handled their inferior fleet with greater ability than the British, and, if it is true, it is senseless to refuse to admit the fact. Arbuthnot and Hood may have shown great courage, but certainly not much ability. The British admiral in supreme command may have acted with the greatest discretion and exhibited wise caution, but one thing is apparent, when brought to him by his subordinate, he did not destroy the German fleet with the mighty flotilla under his command. In conclusion, one odd fact stands out in the account of this "The Battle of Jutland, published by authority," and that is that the name of every admiral in high command appears save one, who, mentioned by Admiral Jellico in his official report, in the above escapes notice, and that, the admiral who, next to Beatty, had achieved the greatest dis- tinction in the war. The name of Admiral Sir Frederick TBE GREAT ^y AR 75 Doveton Stiirdee, leader of the Main Battle Squadron, vic- tor of the smashinfr firrht off the Falkland Islands, from which not a single German vessel engao:ed remained afloat, does not appear in this account "published by authority." Greatly as Engrhind and all the world was stirred by this, the greatest naval battle of all time, yet it was not as impres- sive an event as the passing of that great soul, who, up to that time, had been Britain's greatest inspiration. Von Moltke. the chief of the German staff, had been retired. Churchill and Tirpitz, heads of the respective navies of Great Britain and Germany, forced out of com- mand, and others, like the Grand Duke Nicholas, com- mander-in-chief of all the armies of Russia, were, too, to relin(iuish their high control of the mighty agencies they had wielded. But Kitchener peri.shed at sea, in the full blaze of completed work, just before the mighty instrument he had fashioned for Britain was al)out to uiake its immense influence felt upon the field of battle, in the tremendous struggle, he, alone, of all the great spirits of his day, had grasped the full significance of. Perhaps he was fortunate in his death, for the war which Lord Northcliffe w\is wag- ing against him might have finally brought him down, as it did bring down the great Prime ^linister who had appointed him and who would never have parted with him. So, dying as he did, with his great work complete, he passed away with more honor than any British soldier since the days of Wellington, and, in the estimation of the world, stands still as the most imposing figure of his period. Meantime. Verdun, in its fourth month, had taken the heaviest toll of all from the Germans, as their casualty lists for May indicated 102,507 in all. Prisoners, as usual, below 2,000. but "missing," 6,771. Relief, however, was about to come to both French and Italians, for in the first days of June, with a rush. General Brusilloff struck the long line in the East, to which he was opposed. From the city of Pinsk in the Pripet marshes, down to the Roumanian frontier, in five armies, under the supreme com- mand of the Austrian Archduke Frederick, some six hun- dred thousand foemen were arrayed along the line they had held during the winter. These armies were commanded, 76 THE GREAT ^Y AR from north to south, by Puhallo, whose line reached from the Pripet marshes to Kolki, by the Archduke Joseph Fer- dinand from Kolki to Dubno; from Dubno to Zalotste by Boehm-Ermolli ; from the edge of the Galician border to the city of Buczacs, by Bothner, with a mixed German- Austrian force; while from there to the Roumanian border, General Pflanzer was in command. General Brusillojff who, with Russky, had shared the dis- tinction of smashing the first Austrian offensive in Septem- ber, 1914, had succeeded General IvanofI in command of one-half of the Russian line. Under him were four armies, the first of which, the anny he had led in those former vic- tories, now under General Kaledin. Below him came Gen- eral Sakharov. Below him General Scherbachev. The low- est part of the line was under General Letchitski. In eight days General Kaledin stormed his way forward fifty miles, capturing Lutsk and, with the assistance of Gen- eral Sakharov, Dubno, and, in so doing, between them securing 70,000 prisoners and 53 guns, a rout sufficient to deprive the Archduke Frederick of his command, which was entrusted to a German general, von Linsingen, rein- forced from the northern Russian line and from France, five army corps from the latter field being dispatched to stem the tide. South of where General Kaledin and Sakharov were operating. General Scherbachev was opposed to General Bothner, whose left wing he could not press back, although against the German general's right wing he was more suc- cessful. It was the hapless General Pflanzer who suffered most. Utterly routed he was chased out of Bukowina, the capital, and all the towns of which were occupied by Gen- eral Letchitski; and with 198,000 prisoners, captured, also 219 guns and 644 machine guns, on the 1st of July General Brusilloff rearranged his lines just as the French and British offensive began on the Western front. There General Foch commanded the French, General Haig the British, north and south of the River Somme and, after an extremely heavy bombardment of the German trenches, the two armies advanced. Steadily and pertina- ciously they pounded the German trenches, moved up, drove back counter-attacks and methodically, step by step, advanced THE GREAT ^y AR 77 with considerable losses, but an ever-increasing list of pris- oners captured. It was not a battle in any respect like the gre^it Russian offensive. It could not be. for Haig and Foch did not have Austrian commanders and polyglot armies to contend with, but were opposed to the very best that Ger- many could i)ring into the field in military force. It was the supreme test as to whether any troops could break the German line. With its continuous hammer of heavy artillery, and its slow but continuous advance, at the end of the first month not as much teiTitory had been recovered as had been seized by the Germans around Verdun; but that battle had been altered to a German defensive action. C^^mtinually described as a failure, yet steadily proceeding, the battle of the Somme required eveiy effort of the (Jermans to hold the small por- tion of territory which jutted into France the farthest, and still, piece by piece, it left their control. On other fields the tide was turning also. In German East Africa General Smuts was making steady pi-ogress. Sei)arating the (lermans near the ocean from the force wliich had been operating on Lake Victoria. and Tan- ganykii. and j)ushing them down, he gradually surrounded them, and although the British force below Kut, on the Tigris, could not surmount that obstacle to an advance on Bagdad, yet in Armenia, above, the Grand Duke Nicholas was still advancing, something of a threat to the Turkish forces, between the two armies, which had pushed into Per- sia. The failure of the Germans was marked by the removal of the talented Falkenhayne from supreme command and the elevation of General Hindenberg, the last hope of Ger- many. The great war had cei-tainly been the grave of reputa- ti(ms, military and political, and more yet were to be brought low. but the remark of the German politician, Zim- mermann, that it was a day of small men, was but another indication of the inability of the clever German to see clearly. That Asquith and Bethman Hollweg still rode such a storm was evidence of pre-eminent political ability, while 78 THE GREAT WAR the fall of Sanzonoff and the elevation of Sturmer in Rus- sia, a foreshadowing of the flexibility of the great German Chancellor, to whom it was apparent that there were more ways of winning a war than through the use solely of troops in the field, and, from him, now there began to issue intima- tions of what was designated "an honorable peace." But to this suggestion Great Britain did not incline a gracious ear. In the first place, it was most indefinite and had only come when it was fully realized that the British Empire was gathering for an immense effort its full strength, now well in hand and capably led. If she had as yet produced no soldier, who in the field could have been called a military genius; nor any compara- ble with Joffre or Hindenberg, Falkenhayne or Foch, or even Brusilloff, Sarrail or Russky; yet, in General Haig, she had a commander capable of handling effectively the vast numbers she could now put into the field, and this alone was a great advance, for the press failed to remember that in the Franco-Prussian war the great von Moltke only admitted that there was one French general capable of handling 200,000 men, and Haig w^as now directing more than half a million. In the month that it had fought. Kitchener's army was a great surprise to the Germans, the artillery in particular being far beyond what the Germans had thought possibly could be produced in the period which had evolved it. In the opinion of Hindenberg, too, the infantr\7^ were "tough fighters," although, Avith regard to the leaders, the grim old German bluntly declared they "were not on the heights." Perhaps it was just as well that they were not. Steady, methodical training in the field, under fire, would get them up to the French and German standard and possibly beyond. Just as the Federal armies rose to the highest efficiency under the stimulating influence of repeated combats with the Confederates under Lee and his lieutenants. Those who failed to trust democracy under trial were too precipitate, the test was still to come. In two years a wea- pon had been forged by democracy which it took autocracy forty to finish to its satisfaction ; now they were to be put in contest with each other. THE GREAT ^y AR 79 Could autocracy or Teutonic efficiency jioint to any spec- tacle as impressive as that which liberal democracy revealed in the Boer general at the head of his British subordinates — IToskins and Xortiiey — and assisted by his South African lieutenant. Van de Venter, with half of German East Africa in his control, the railroad cut, Dar Es Salaam taken and the German force rin